The dishes:Kung Pao Chicken

Relish: Szechuan Cuisine

Flavor: burning spicy and lychee flavore

Features: red appearance, spicy but not fierce, savory, fuller-flavored, succulent, tender and silky taste 

Main Ingredient: chicken breast 250g

Accessories: green Chinese onion 30g; peanuts 70g

Minor Ingredients: garlic seed 10g; ginger 10g

Seasonings: salt 1.5g; aginomoto 1g; sugar 15g; dark soy sauce 2g; light soy sauce 8g; spiced vinegar 15g; red chilli oil 15g

Weight: 350g 

Remarks: Kung Pao Chicken, a world-famous traditional dish of the Han Chinese. It was included in Shandong Cuisine, Szechuan Cuisine and Guizhou Cuisine, but differed in ingredients and ways of cooking. 

[1] The origin of Kung Pao Chicken has relations to Chicken Slices in Bean Sauce of Shandong Cuisine and Diced Chicken in Dry Red Hot Chilli of Szechuan Cuisine. Later Ding Baozhen, the Provincial Governor of Shandong and Viceroy of Szechuan of Qing dynasty, developed and improved the dish, making it into a new one called Kung Pao Chicken, which has handed down to generations so far and also has been classified as Beijing Royal Court Dish. [2] Since then, Kung Pao Chicken has also spread to overseas. 

Kung Pao Chicken is basically chicken cooked, accompanied by peanuts, cucumbers, peppers and other materials. It though appears red in color, is in deed not very spicy, with strong and deep flavor as well as tender taste. It tastes fresh and hot with tender chicken slices and crispy fried peanuts.

The dishes:Sauteed Shelled Shrimp

Relish: Huaiyang Cuisine

Taste: salty-fresh

Features: unique fragrance, crystal-like appearance

main ingredient: shrimp meat 250g

Accessories: lettuce 50g; carrot 40g

Minor ingredient: spring onion 10g

Seasonings: salt 0.3g; aginomoto 3g; pure water 10g

Weight: 350g

Remarks: “Sauteed Shelled Shrimp”is one of the famous specialty cuisines of Shanghai Jing An Hotel. Referring to its development, a famous writer Liang Shih-Chiu once wrote in his Talking about Food in Elegant House:" As for shrimp, restaurants of Fujian did the best. I remembered that Zhong Xin Tang, located in West Chang'an Avenue of Peiping (translator’s note: former name of Beijing), is the only large dinning hall serving Fujian cuisine. They fried shrimps without adding any ingredients. The shrimps they cooked looked fresh, bright and transparent in appearance, and tasted soft and crispy. Fujianese were good at cooking seafood and their skills outshone the rest.” In 1940s, celebrity chefs of Shanghai Jing An Hotel introduced “fried shrimp” from Guangdong and Zhejiang, and reformed the cooking techniques with addition of using superior raw materials and strict cooking process, giving the dish a unique flavor. Once the “Sauteed Shelled Shrimp was served on the table, its unique fragrance started to waft out and its bright and transparent appearance looked more like crystal. Then you would be no surprised to know that Jing An Hotel sold out more than ten tons of shrimps each year.

The dishes:Twice-cooked pork

Relish: Szechuan Cuisine

Flavor: Homely

Features: unique taste, bright red color, fat but not greasy, aromatic flavor on the tongue

Main ingredient: streaky pork 200g

Accessories: green chilli pepper100g; red chilli pepper10g; garlic sprouts 40g

Minor ingredients: garlic seed 10g; ginger 10g; fermented blank beans 10g; thick broad-bean sauce 20g

Seasonings: aginomoto 1.5g; sugar 3g; pure water 20g; red chilli oil 20g; Sweet Bean Sauce 1g

Weight: 350g 

Remarks: Twice-Cooked Pork Slices in Hot Sauce is a traditional pork dish of Han Chinese, belonging to Szechuan Cuisine and originating from rural areas of Szechuan [1]In ancient times it was referred to “Quick-fried pork with Oil”; Most families in Szechuan area can make this dish. The characteristics of the Szechuan Style pork dish are: unique in taste, red in color with bright lustre , fat but not greasy with aromatic flavor on the tongue. The so-called “Twice-Cooked” is stir-frying the pork again after boiling it. Twice-Cooked Pork Slices in Hot Sauce plays an important role in Szechuan cuisine and has been regarded as the top one dish as well as the embodiment of Szechuan cuisine. When it comes to Szechuan Cuisine, people will think of Twice-Cooked Pork Slices in Hot Sauce. Because of its excellence in color, flavor and taste, it has been the first choice for the meal.

The dishes:Hangzhou-pepper Beef

Cuisine: Hangzhou 

Taste: salty-fresh

Features: tender beef fillet, sweet scent of Hangzhou pepper, fresh and not spicy

Main ingredient: beef fillet 250g

Accessories: Hangzhou pepper 100g

Minor ingredients:

Seasoning: aginomoto 1.5g; sugar 2g; dark soy sauce 2g; pure water 10g; oyster sauce 15g; seafood sauce 10g

Weight: 350g  

Remarks: a classic gentle Jiangnan delicacy matching refreshing Hangzhou pepper with tender, tasty beef fillet.

Dishes: Baked Garlic Shrimps

Relish: Zhejiang

Taste: salty-fresh 

Features: strong garlic flavor, with shrimps crisp outside and tender inside

Main ingredient: Shrimps 250g

Accessories: breadcrumbs 100g

Minor ingredients: fermented blank beans 3g; dried chilli pepper 1g

Seasonings: salt 2g; aginomoto 2g

Weight: 350g

Remarks: it used fresh live shrimps and stir-fried with breadcrumbs. It is fresh, sweet, salty and spicy but not greasy in taste, and suitable for both the old and the young. For this reason, it became a household dish of 

The dishes:Sweet and Sour Pork

Relish: Cantonese Cuisine

Flavor: Sweet and Sour

Features: fragrant and crisp, little sour and sweet, little spicy, appetizing and tasty, suitable for all seasons

Main ingredient: pork fillet 250g

Accessories: pineapple 90g; green bell pepper 15g

Minor ingredients:

Seasonings: salt 2g; white vinegar 15g; sugar 40g; pure water 60g; OK sauce 15g; L&P sauce 8g; ketchup 40g

Weight: 350g 

Remarks: Sweet and Sour Pork (“GuLu Pork” in Chinese pronunciation), also known as “GuLao Pork”, is one of traditional dishes of Hans in Guangdong. With golden color, the pork meat was wrapped in a layer of sweet and sour sauce mixing sugar with vinegar. It tasted crispy, slightly sweet and sour, and a little spicy, which was appetizing and appropriate for all seasons. The history of the dish could be dated back to Qing dynasty. At that time, many foreigners in Guanzhou liked Chinese food, especially Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs, but they did not like the bone in ribs. So chefs in Guangdong picked pork ribs off bones, added mixed condiments of seasonings and starch, made them into meat balls, fried them in oil pan till they turned into gold in color and crispy in taste, and then dressed them with sugar and vinegar marinade sauce. The dish was sour and sweet, and soon became widely welcomed by customers both home and abroad. Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs had a quite long history, but after changes made it was renamed “GuLao Pork”. However, the foreigners often pronounced the name “ GuLao” into “GuLu” and also people would make “gulu” sounds during chewing the meat because of its high elasticity, thus these two names for the dish “ GuLu” and “GuLao” co-existed for a long time. Sweet and Sour Pork(“GuLu Pork”) enjoyed high reputation at home and abroad. Sour pork with canned pineapple is more often seen in the market. 

The dishes:Pork with Bean Sauce

Relish: Northeastern, Beijing

Flavor: soy sauce flavor

Features: moderate salty and sweet, strong sauce flavor, unique taste

Main ingredient: pork fillet 250g

Accessories: winter bamboo shoots100g; green Chinese onion 100g

Minor ingredients:

Seasonings: salt 3g; aginomoto 2g; sugar 8g; dark soy sauce 1g; light soy sauce 20g; seafood sauce 15g; sweet bean sauce 30g

Weight: 350g 

Remarks: it was said that in the thirties of last century in old Beijing city, there was an old man who made tofu living in a warren that was 4 miles away from the northeast of the Forbidden City. Because the neighbors and those who bought tofu from him only knew that his family name was Chen, so they called him old man Chen. In fact, old man Chen was not very old since he was only above fifty years old. But he looked much older than his actual age, and his seasoned and weather-beaten faces revealed his vicissitudes and hardship of life in the past. He came from northeast of China and brought up his only son himself after his wife died in uncontrollable postpartum bleeding. However, this was never the end of his tragedy life and something unexpected might happy any time. In a mine disaster, his only son who was digging coal in the mine at that time died. His daughter-in-law eloped with a man and left his 4-year-old grandson dependent on him for living. In those difficult years when there were natural disasters and wars everywhere in northeastern China, old man Chen was no longer able to survive in his hometown, so he moved down south to Beijing with his grandson. Through overcoming many difficulties, they finally settled down in a warren and made a hard living for selling tofu. Although old man Chen was proficient in making tofu, due to limitted conditions, he could only sell a few boards of tofu and a few kilograms of tin sheets of bean curb to earn little money. With the little money he could anly afford to buy beans to make tofu. The only food for him and his grandson is the leftover bean curb residues, which could only make sure them to get adequately fed. His daily life repeated constantly in this way. After buying beans home, old man Chen selected carefully high-quality beans to make tofu. Then he would make the leftover beans into been sauce. His tofu was popular with customers including purchasing staffs of Wangfujing Roast Duck Restaurant( a famous restaurant in Beijing) and they asked him to deliver tofu to the restaurant everyday. When his grandson, Gouzi, came to the age of 8, old man Chen decided to send him to school. However, he had no extra money to afford his grandson’s study after spending all their savings in buying their little house. Old man Chen set up his mind to earn more money. Thanks to his good workmanship of making tofu and the big order from Wangfujin Roast Duck Restaurant, they could still make ends meet. Every morning, old man Chen would deliver tofu in person to the restaurant with Gouzi. Gradually, they got familiar with the chef and could often see him roasting greasy ducks. Staring at the roast ducks dripping oil and burnt into bright red in color, Gouzi could not move his steps away. On the way home, he suddenly told his grandfather, “ Grandpa, I wanna eat roast duck!” “ Foolish child, I wanna eat, too. But we can not afford it.” the old man Chen said in a bitter smile. But Gouzi still insisted that he wanted to eat roast duck. Old man Chen promised that he would make more tofu to earn more money and then buy roast duck to him at the end of this year. It was soon came to the end of the year, the old man Chen had forgotten his words but Gouzi did not. On new year’s eve, Chen bought back half kilogram of pork and decided to make dumplings as dinner. At this time, Gouzi once again said that he wanted to eat roast duck. This made old man Chen embarrassed because he thought that Gouzi should have forgotton what he said but in deed he did not. Even if he had the money to buy a roast duck, the restaurant was closed at night. Let alone he had no money to do so. He was worried when seeing Gouzi depressed. Turnning over in his mind, Chen asked Gouzi to stay inside the house and he would make roast duck for him. Because old man Chen sent tofu to the roast duck restaurant everyday, he saw how to make and eat the roast duck. Thus he decided to make “roas duck” himself. He picked up the lean meat, cut it into thin slices, and fried them in pan with bean sauce. Then he diced the thin sheets of bean curb into squares. His own “roast duck” was done. Gouzi was so happy to roll the green Chinese onion and the “roast duck”, and enjoyed a happy new year’s dinner with his grandpa. Old man Chen sent Gouzi to school on the second year. After Gouzi graduated from school, he served as an apprentice in Quanjude (another famous roast duck restaurant of Beijing). With a few years of hard working and study, Gouzi became a good cook and he could eat roast duck very often, but he could never have the feelings of his first taste of “roast duck”. When he talked about this with his grandpa, old man Chen told him the truth. With continuous efforts, Gouzi improved grandpa’s “roast duck” and turned into today’s Sauteed Shredded Pork in Sweet Bean Sauce which has strong sauce flavor and tender pork shreds.

The dishes:Braised Steak Fillet

Relish: Hunan Cuisine

Flavor: Homely

Features: oily but not greasy streaky pork, strong garlic flavor, fresh and fragrant taste

Main ingredient: streaky pork 150g

Accessories: green Hunan pepper 50g; red Hunan pepper 30g; garlic sprout 20g

Minor ingredients: garlic seed: 15g; ginger 10g; chopped chilli 20g; fermented blank beans 5g 

Seasonings: salt 1.5g; aginomoto 1.5; sugar 4g; pure water 15g; red chilli oil 15g

Weight: 350g

Remarks: Fermented Blank Beans Fried Pork Slices is a very common dish on dinner table and many people from Hunan can make this dish at home. For those who love spicy food can choose more spicy chillies which will make the dish more delicious.

The dishes:Mapo Tofu

Relish: Szechuan Cuisine

Flavor: Homely 

Features: hemp, spicy, hot, tender, crisp, fragrant, fresh

Main Ingredients: Beef 20g

Accessories: soft tofu 350g

Minor ingredients: garlic seed 5g; ginger 5g; garlic sprout 15g; thick broad-bean sauce 30g

Seasonings: salt 1.5g; aginomoto 3g; cooking wine15g; sugar 2g; dark soy sauce 5g; red chilli oil 40g; Szechuan pepper oil 3g

Weight: 350g 

Remarks: Mapo Tofu, also known as Chen Mapo Tofu, is one of the traditional dishes of Han people in Szechuan. Its raw materials are mainly tofu, minced meat, hot peppers and Szechuan pepper and so on.

Mapo Tofu was created in the reign of emperor Tongzhi of Qing dynasty, by Mrs. Chen née Liu, the wife of shopkeeper of "Chen Xingsheng’s Restaurant" next to Wanfu Bridge of Chengdu city. Because there were a few pockmarks on her face, people called the dish “Mapo Tofu” as Mapo means a woman with pockmarks on her face in Chinese.

Mapo Tofu, dark red in appearance, matched with green and white, is attractive in its colors. The tofu maintains in good shape and highlights the common features of “Spicy and Hemp” of Szechuan Dishes. It tastes with all hemp, spicy, hot, tender, crisp, fragrant and fresh flavors on your tongue.

The dishes:Yu-Shiang Shredded Pork

Relish: Szechuan Cuisine

Flavor: Homely

Features: salty, sour, sweet, spicy, fragrant, fresh

Main ingredient: pork fillet 150g 

Accessories: lettuce 50g; carrot 50g; black fungus 50g; spring onion 50g

Minor ingredients: garlic seed 15g; ginger 15g; pickled chilli sauce 50g

Seasonings: salt 1g; aginomoto 1.5g; sugar 20g; dark soy sauce 2g; spiced vinegar 20g

Weight: 400g

Remarks: It was said that a long time ago in Szechuan there was a business family within which all members were fond of eating fish and particular about the seasoning and flavor of the fish. So they would use some spices such as spring onion, ginger, garlic, wine, vinegar and soy sauce,etc. to remove fishy odor when cooking fish. One night when the hostess were cooking another dish, she put the leftover ingredients the last time she cooked fish into this dish in order not to waste them. She thought that it might not taste good and her housband might not like the new flavor. Surprisingly, after the man came back, he started to wolf down the dish even before the rice was ready. The wife was worried because she had no idea her husband ate so fast whether because he was too hungry to care about the flavor or just because he liked the dish in deed. But later when her husband could not help to repeatedly praise the dish and ask her again and again how she cooked, she got rid of all her worries and told him the truth. And it were the ingredients of cooking fish that made the dish so delicious, so they started to call it “Fish Flavored Pork Slices”.