Doing this project is a challenge for me. Beause it not only required me to explore different types of Chinese food around the city, but also required me be able to to recognize the differences and stories within each type of Chinese food. It was time consuming since I had to search for different Chinese restaurants online and arranged my schedule to actually go there to try new food. However, I benefited a lot from doing this project. Without doing this project, I would never know that there is a difference of ingredients of spicy levels between the food of Sichuan and Chongqing provinces. I have learned many new things about Chinese food, such as the background of the food within each cuisine or province, the differences of tastes of different cuisines, as well as the cooking recipes. Moreover, I even learned how to cook some of these dilicious Chinese food at home by communicating with the chefs of certain Chinese restuarants or by searching for the recipes online. Now, I feel that I am more capable of distingushing the differences of various kinds of Chinese food whenever I go out to eat at a Chinese restaurant.
The main objective of my project is to help people to know more about Chinese food and cultural background along with it. In order to do this, I have interviewed some of my friends who are not native Chinese but all have a favor to Chinese food. I asked them what they thought of Chinese food and how it differed from other types of Asian food such as Japanese food and Korean food. The answers I got were interesting. They thought that Japanese food is all about sushi rolls, and Korean food is more about barbeques. Whereas, the only type of the most popular Asian food that differ from those two previously mentioned is the Chinese food. One thing that caught my attention was that many people tend to easily like the taste of the Chinese food, without actually knowing the differences and background of the food they eat daily. One fascinating thing about Chinese food is that different types of plates have different stories behind. Since there is a strong relation between Chinese traditional culture and food that it is important for people, especially for those who like Chinese food, to get to know the cultural background of the food they eat. For instance, the taste of food in Shaanxi province tends to be more mild tasting compared to the food in other provinces. The main type of food in Shaanxi province is made of flour. This kind of food taste neithor too oleaginous nor spicy. It is just like the people who live there with a characteristic of gentleness and unsophisticated. Personally, I like this type of food. It’s not only because the food has a mild tasting but also because it strongly shows a part of the great Chinese traditional culture. Moreover, it also implies the kindness side of Chinese people. Comparing to the food in Shaanxi, the food in Sichuan taste more spicy and salty. It’s like the people who live there are more energetic and passionate. Therefore, there is a common saying in China which says, “The food of certain places can stand for the characteristics of people who live there”. Chinese culture is so wonderful, especially when it includes a variaty of dilicious food.
Overall, I think that doing this project helps me learn a lot. It was a good way to challenge myself and helped me conquer my fear of completing the project on time. Also, it provided me a better chance to get to know more about my own culture and the food within my country.
