Many people today like various styles of Chinese food, such as Cantonese, Hunan, Szechuan, etc., but fail to realize the smaller and lesser known provinces behind their various expertise into the better known cuisines:
- One such province is Kiangsi, noted for its vinegars, and sweet bean sauces.
- Hangchow, for its soy sauces
- Yenan, for its silver noodles (cellophane).
- Shandong, for its rice noodles and wines.
- Shensi, for its chickens and ducks.
- Kiangsi, for its pigs and oyster sauces.
- Shanghai, for its mushrooms.
So you see to enjoy Chinese cooking, one should never classify a certain style - unknowing they are classifying more than one. Take Szechuan cooking, it doesn't have to be hot to be enjoyable, because western people don't really know true Szechuan hotness, which must be accompanied by two or three other dishes to offset the hotness, which in time disappears