The competition is held by satellite station New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) with the mission to restore and demystify the true art of Chinese cuisine. The competition is part of a series of nine competitions aimed at promoting traditional Chinese and Western arts.
Contestants from China, Taiwan, and North America entered in one of the five regional cooking styles of China: Sichuan, Shandong, Huaiyang, Cantonese, and Dongbei. For both the preliminaries and finals, contestants will prepare, within 45 minutes, one required dish and one dish of their own choosing within their cuisine category.
Contestant Ze Zheng from Nevada is a Chinese food trainer for the National Restaurant Association and the head chef at a Las Vegas hotel. Ze said he entered the competition to support NTDTV's mission of reviving traditions, and to continue to learn. For the preliminary round, he made soft-sautéed pork and the required scallion-braised sea cucumber for the Shandong category.
Some of the dishes have rather interesting histories. Dao-Yuan Yao's West Lake vinaigrette fish was the last dish a woman from West Lake, China made for her brother-in-law before she fled her hometown to escape a man who murdered her husband and intended to kidnap her. Its sweet and sour taste is reflective of that bittersweet moment.
In his training in China, Yao studied under a master. “I studied not only his techniques but his character,” Dao said.
Judges will score each entrant on preparation methods (worth 20 percent of final score) and the color, aroma, taste, and cut of the final product (worth 80 percent).
The Finals will be held on Monday. The gold, silver, and bronze winners will collaborate for a banquet on Tuesday evening. Tickets to the banquet are available at www.culinary.ntdtv.com/en
The following are brief descriptions of each of the five major regional styles.
Sichuan cuisine: Native of southwestern China, it is known for bold flavors, particularly the spiciness resulting from liberal use of chili and Sichuan peppercorn. Szechuan cuisine often contains food preserved through pickling, salting, drying and smoking, and is generally spicy.
Shandong cuisine: Born in the eastern coastal areas of China, Shandong cuisine consists of two major styles: Jiaodong style which is characterized by cooking seafood, with light tastes and Jinan style which is famed for its soup and utilizing soups for its dishes.
Huaiyang cuisine: This style was developed in Anhui Province, Jiangsu Province, and Zhjiang Province. It is known for its use of wild game and herbs, both land and sea, and simple methods of preparation. Braising and stewing are common techniques. It selects ingredients strictly, according to the seasons.
Cantonese cuisine: Cantonese food is the best known outside China; most "Chinese” restaurants in Western countries serve Cantonese cuisine. Besides pork, beef, and chicken, Cantonese cuisine incorporates almost all edible meats, including organ meats, chicken feet, duck and duck tongues, snakes and snails. Spices should be used in modest amounts to avoid overwhelming the flavors of the primary ingredients.
Dongbei cuisine: From northeastern China, Dongbei cuisine relies heavily on preserved foods and hearty fare due to the harsh winters and relatively short growing seasons. Pickled cabbage is traditionally made by most households in giant clay pickling vats. The staple crop in northern China is wheat as opposed to rice. Another distinct feature that separates Dongbei cuisine from other Chinese cuisines is to serve more raw vegetables and raw seafood in the coastal areas.
Wendy Tiong contributed to reporting.
