Mandarin cuisine - Definition and Overview

Mandarin cuisine is a cooking style in Beijing, China. It is known as jīng cài (京菜) among Chinese.

Since Beijing has been the Chinese capital city for centuries, its cuisine was influenced by people from all over China. The Emperor's Kitchen was a term referring to the cooking places inside of the Forbidden City of Beijing where thousands of cooks from the different parts of China showed their best cooking skills to please royal families and officials. Therefore, it is at times rather difficult to determine the actual origin of a dish as the term "Mandarin" is generalized and refers not only to Beijing, but other provinces as well.

Some famous Mandarin dishes:

• Peking Duck (北京烤鸭)
• Hot and Sour Soup (酸辣汤)
• Four Seasons Stringbean (四季豆)
• Mutton Hotpot (涮羊肉)
• Sweetened Vinegar Spareribs (糖醋排骨)
• Glazed/Candied Chinese Yam (拔丝山药)
• Chinese fajitas (春饼卷菜 — not to be confused with spring rolls [春卷], which are fried)

See also: cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Szechuan cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Shanghai cuisine, cooking