Near the end of the meal, a starchy, filling dish such as noodles, Chinese dumplings, or baozi is sometimes served, to ensure that guests are fully satiated. In extremely formal settings, only a small amount of this final dish is taken by the diners, to avoid implying that the host was not sufficiently generous in planning the meal.
How is a Chinese meal normally served?
At a Chinese meal, dishes are served one by one in the middle of the table, and you need to pick up food from the plates and bowls shared with others seated at the table with you.
What are the three main points in Chinese dishes?
Color, scent and taste are the three traditional aspects used to describe Chinese food, as well as the meaning, appearance, and nutrition of the food.
Why is it rude to finish your food in China?
Always leave food on your plate in China. Finishing your plate when dining at someone's home in China suggests the food wasn't filling enough, and that your host was skimping on the portion size. Always leave behind a little food to show the host that their meal was filling and satisfying.
Why do Chinese restaurants give you oranges?
The fruit stems from a old Asian custom. When dining in the chinese style, dishes are served in a family way. The chef shows his hospitality by sending food until you are full. When the oranges are served - you should be so full that you cannot eat another bite of anything.
Why do Chinese drink tea after a meal?
Eases digestion: Hot tea works wonders in washing down your food thereby keeping your throat clear. It eases off the mucus accumulation and helps in breaking down the food better. As a result, you can expect your meal to digest faster and smoother.
Why do Chinese serve rice last?
Final course Near the end of the meal, a starchy, filling dish such as noodles, Chinese dumplings, or baozi is sometimes served, to ensure that guests are fully satiated.
What foods do Chinese not eat?
What Food Chinese People DON'T Eat?Milk Products. If you are a big fan of milk products, you may feel a bit disappointed if you choose to live in China. ... Bread. Unlike people from most western countries, Chinese rarely eat bread for breakfast because its taste is described as “mediocre” by many Chinese people. ... Hot Dogs.
Is it rude to clear your plate in China?
In China, leave some food on your plate – it's rude to clean your plate, like you're telling your host that he or she did not provide you enough.
Why do the Chinese sit on the floor?
As sitting on the floor is as just as sitting in the 'sukhasana pose' with crossed legs helps in improving our digestion process. Slightly bent posture towards the front results in the maintenances of abdominal muscles, which increases the secretion of stomach acids and allows food to digest faster.
Is it rude to tip in a Chinese restaurant?
Is it rude to tip in China? Tipping in China is generally uncommon and can even be considered rude or embarrassing in some circumstances so when taking a taxi, enjoying a refreshing drink or tucking into a delicious meal there's no requirement to leave any gratuities.
How much should you tip at a Chinese restaurant?
Aim to leave 5 to 10% of your bill as a tip, even when ordering takeout. If you can leave more, your servers and favorite restaurants will be grateful.
Why do Chinese restaurants give pineapple?
Pineapple and Asian Cuisine Pineapple is a common product in Asian countries, and not only in desserts. The acid sweetness of pineapple can add excitement to any recipe, bringing forth unexpected flavor notes in meat-based dishes.
What are the characteristics of Chinese cuisine?
Chinese food, rich and colorful, has diversified color, aromatic flavor, and excellent taste as its main features. With these three characteristics, it is not only tasty but also a work of art for people to appreciate.
What are traditional Chinese dishes?
Five best-known, traditional Chinese dishes are Peking duck, biang biang noodles, dim sum, xiaolongbao, and Sichuan hot pot.
What are the types of Chinese food?
These eight culinary cuisines are Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Szechuan and Zhejiang.Anhui (Hui) ... Cantonese (Yu) ... Fujian (Min) ... Hunan (Xiang) ... Jiangsu (Su) ... Shandong (Lu) ... Szechuan (Chuan) ... Zhejiang (Zhe)
What is Chinese food culture?
Chinese people in general are not as concerned about nutrition as Western culture. They are more concerned with the food's texture, flavor, color, and aroma. These are the crucial points for good Chinese cooking. Chinese daily meals consist of four food groups: grains, vegetables, fruit, and meat.
Ordering and Service
When you walk in a restaurant, an employee will lead you to a table. After you are seated, the staff member will give you a menu and help you order. You can ask the waiter to recommend some popular dishes. Most staff in Chinese restaurants don't speak English.
Enjoy Chinese Food and Experience Chinese Dining Culture
If you are interested in Chinese food and dining culture, our food tours offer tourists a great chance to experience China's interesting dining culture in person. Below are our most popular China tours for your inspiration:
Chinese Meals Take a Different Path
The Chinese approach to the preparation and serving of food is very different from what Westerners are familiar with. A Chinese meal might begin with soup and appetizers. However, soup also may be served with the other main dishes—soup is considered to be a beverage, and is often the only liquid served with a meal.
What Is Typically Served?
A notable difference between Chinese and Western cuisine is the importance of grains. Chinese cooking is really grain- and vegetable-based, with meat, seafood, or poultry playing more of a secondary role. A proper Chinese meal always contains an equal balance of fan (grains, rice or other starches) and cai (cooked meat and vegetables).
Even Food Needs to Live in Harmony
What really sets Chinese cuisine apart from Western cuisine is the harmonization of the food. For example, cookbook author Helen Chen writes that her mother never served two spicy dishes or two beef dishes in the same meal.
How Much Food to Serve?
As for how much food to serve, plan on having a number of dishes roughly equal to the number of people that will be eating. For example, the menu for a family of 4 or more could consist of one vegetable dish, one meat and one poultry dish, rice, and soup.
Simple Sample Menu
Cream Corn Soup Recipe: The soup is an easy recipe, using canned creamed corn, and can be made ahead of time and reheated if desired.
How Chinese Restaurant Meals are Set Up
In Chinese restaurants, the many different dishes on the menu are usually shared.
How to Use Chinese Menus
A variety of dishes that people share are selected and placed in the middle of the table.
Chinese Menu Items for Various Chinese Food Types
We have provided menus on our various food type pages with the names of dishes written in English and Chinese characters. This means you can select the dish using its English name and point to the Chinese to order. Chinese wording and pronunciations are also included for you to listen for and for ordering verbally.
Food Allergies and Special Requirements
Unfortunately, kosher restaurants and restaurants catering for food allergies are almost non-existent in China. If you have a food allergy or other requirements, see How to Handle Food Allergies When Traveling in China for help on explaining to the restaurant staff how they should prepare your food.
Travel with Us to Taste Authentic Chinese Cuisines
If you want to try China's authentic local foods, our tours will take you to the best local restaurants.
Green Tea With Jasmine
This is by far the most popular tea you will find in Asian restaurants, especially Chinese places. Jasmine tea has such a nice aroma and floral taste. It is my personal favorite flavored tea.
Oolong Tea
Oolong is an interesting tea that is served in many Chinese eateries for its unique and pleasing taste. What is so interesting about it you ask?
Pu-erh Tea
You may not know the name of this tea, but there is a chance you have drank some at a nice Asian restaurant at some time in your life.
Green Tea
Good old fashioned green tea shows up all the time at restaurants. You will notice the classic light green color and earthy aroma.
Blended Teas
Some of the big Chinese Restaurants will buy special blended teas which typically contain a mixture of oolong, green tea, or chrysanthemum flavors.
Oolong Tea
Oolong tea, or wu long, is partly oxidized; it's aromatic with only a hint of bitterness. One well-known variety, tieguanyin (pronounced "tee-goo-an-yin" or "tee-ay-goo-an-yin"), has a fruity, floral taste.
Green Tea
Brewed at a lower temperature than black tea, green tea has a delicate vegetal flavor that sometimes tastes a little like grass.
Jasmine Tea
Jasmine tea has a characteristic jasmine scent, achieved by adding fresh jasmine blossoms to the tea as it dries. Any type of tea can be used to make jasmine tea, but most are either green or oolong.
Pu-erh Tea
Sometimes served in dim sum restaurants, pu-erh (usually pronounced "pu-are" or "pu-air," but may also be called "po-lei" or "bo-lay," according to the Cantonese pronunciation) is an aged tea from China's Yunnan province. It has a rich, earthy taste and a dark red-brown color.
Blended Teas
Some tea manufacturers sell packaged "Chinese restaurant tea" bags. These typically contain blended teas—mixtures of oolong and green tea or pu-erh and chrysanthemum tea.
Table and place settings
In most traditional Chinese dining, dishes are shared communally. Although both square and rectangular tables are used for small groups of people, round tables are preferred for large groups, particularly in restaurants, in order to permit easy sharing.
Sequencing of a meal
Wide variations exist throughout China, but the vast majority of full-course dinners are very similar in terms of timing and dishes.
Manners and customs
Eating is a dominant aspect of Chinese culture, and eating out is one of the most common ways to honor guests, socialize, and deepen friendships.
Bill
The bill for the meal (often called the "check") is presented at the end of the meal, after all the food and drinks have been served. In most restaurants in Chinese countries, there is no tip expected unless it is explicitly posted. Usually, if there is a tip required, it will already be added to the bill.
Ordering and Service
Serving Sequence: Tea, Cold Dishes, Meat, Vegetables, Soup, Fruit
- After you have ordered, tea or a different drink and cold dishes will be served first. Hot dishes are then served one by one. Soup is often the last dish of a meal, followed by fruit for dessert. Tea/drink:Usually, restaurants offer free tea when you are seated. If you want other drinks like juice, soft drinks, wine, or beer, you can order from the...
Serving Space — Seating Arrangements
- If you have a meal in a private room, then the place for serving dishes is near the door. If you have a meal in a public hall, then the place for serving dishes is near the walkway or kitchen. When staff serve dishes, they should warn you to get out of the way. It's wise to leave a seat/space vacant to give the waiter/waitress access to the table. The place for serving dishes is a specific point of di…
Tableware — Rice Bowl, Plates, Cups, Chopsticks, and Spoon
- Restaurants have tableware sets prepared for customers before they are seated. Usually there are seven items: 1. A rice bowl(some restaurants in northern China don't provide a rice bowl) 2. A plateunder the bowl (Chinese cooks don't remove bones so you need this plate for bones, etc.) 3. A small dishfor dipping sauce 4. A tea cup 5. A small (beer) glass(some restaurants may offer a …
Enjoy Chinese Food and Experience Chinese Dining Culture
- If you are interested in Chinese food and dining culture, our food tours offer tourists a great chance to experience China's interesting dining culture in person. Below are our most popular China tours for your inspiration: 1. 8-Day Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai Tour — the Golden Triangle 2. 12-Day Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Guilin, and Hong Kong Cuisine Tour — the Flavor of China Our tou…
Related Articles