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A veggie of the day

Mushroom

Cultivated mushrooms with a white cap and stem. Primarily grown in Europe and English speaking countries.

Hawai Mix 400 g

Hawai Mix 400 g. A quick and healthy ready-made dish. Rice with green peas, corn and red peppers. A vegetarian dish.

Cultivate luck

Lettuce and success.

Chinese cuisine

In the Chinese cuisine the dominant ingredients are: rice, vegetables and soya. Meat and fish are not eaten in such quantities as in other cuisines.

Chinese harmony

In Chinese cuisine there is no clear division into purely meat, vegetable or other dishes; instead, various ingredients are combined to make one single dish. A very characteristic feature is harmonizing the meals, which means that during one meal the Chinese never serve two dishes which contain the same kind of meat or have a similar taste and structure. It is related to a strong belief in the theory proclaimed by the ancient Chinese philosopher Yi Yin. According to this theory, every taste corresponds with a different internal organ - this is why balancing the tastes in a meal helps the body to remain in good health.

Thousands kinds of varieties

Vegetables in Chinese cuisine play an important part. There are thousands of vegetables in Chinese cuisine. Many kinds are originating from China, in many cases they differ from the ones known in Europe.

Chinese cuisine

The size of the country makes it impossible to talk about a homogenous cuisine. In China there are four regional cuisines: northern (Pekin, Shantung, Honan), coast (Fukien, Shanghai), inland (Sichuan, Yunnan) and southern (Canton).

In the cooler northern region the basic food isn’t rice, but wheat. Typical dishes are pasta, noodles and ravioli. Most meals are light and tender. The most frequent garnishing is garlic or green onions, and the spices which are used are mild.

On the coast dominant food is fish and fruits of the sea as well as light soups. Most frequent are meat, poultry and fish dishes, sauted in vegetables and heavily seasoned with soya sauce – this way of preparing meals is called “red cooking”.

In the inland region most popular are hot and heavily spiced dishes. In the meals Shichuan pepper prevails – a kind of spice which is hotter than hot pepper.

Most Chinese dishes known worldwide come from the southern region, from the Canton area. These dishes are light, moderately spiced and contain less fat than the ones in other regions of the country. The most popular seasonings are soya sauce, fresh ginger, sherry and chicken bullion. Not very many hot spices are used, because the original taste of the main ingredients is valued. Many meals of the Canton cuisine are prepared using the technique of so-called fast cooking. It was invented a long time ago, when where was a shortage of kitchen fuel. It consists in quick frying of small, similar in size pieces of food in hot oil for several minutes. During frying the food should be constantly mixed as the pan is energetically shaken.

Aubergine straight from China

The first mentions of aubergine come from China and they date back to the 5th century B.C. From there it made its way to Spain, thanks to the Arab merchants, wandered up to Spain. Suitable climate of Iberia helped aubergine in finding its place on spanish fields and gardens.

Have you eaten rice today?

The most important vegetable in China is, undoubtedly, rice. It is used for making rice dough which is added to fish and meat dishes, it is also the basic ingredient for making sweet cakes with dried fruit, nuts and cream. This is how you make it: rinse 250 g rise in cold water, add 1l water. Cook to boil and then keep cooking on moderate fire for 15-20 minutes. Drain and mix rice with 25 g butter and 2 tablespoons sugar. Put into dish, cover with aluminum foil and place inside a larger pot filled with hot water. Steam for approx.1 hour.

Chinese spaghetti

A typical element of the Chinese cuisine are mushrooms: black ones, so-called cat’s ears, which are slightly glazy and crunchy; and aromatic mushrooms with a tender taste and a pleasant smell. Other frequent ingredients are: ginger, soya sprouts having a great nutritional value, Chinese cabbage added to fish and meat dishes, anise with slightly sweet and picante taste, used for vegetables, sauces and cakes. Also pasta is very popular, known in the Chinese cuisine in four types: eggs and wheat flour pasta, wheat flour pasta (similar to spaghetti), mung beans pasta (transparent) and rice flour pasta.

Dog and rice

As the myth has it, people got acquainted with rice thanks to a wild animal. A long period of heavy rainfalls and floods destroyed all the harvests and made people hunt for animals. One time a wild dog ran up to people. They saw three yellow grains stuck to the dog’s tail. Thankful people did not do the dog any harm, they took the grains from his tail and sowed them. This is how they started to cultivate rice.