Beijing Cuisine Characteristics

Beijing (北京 bei3 jing1) is a capital of China located in the north of China. Beijing is treated as a province in itself and shares its geographical borders with Hebei province.

Geographical conditions:

Cold winters and hot humid summers.

Main styles within Beijing cuisine (北京 菜 bei3 jing1 cai4 or 京菜 jing1 cai4)

• Imperial (strict selection of ingredients and presentation)
• Aristocrat (is a mixture of is a mixture of Shandong cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine and Cantonese cuisine.)
• Liaoning cuisine (colorful, strong taste)
• Tianjin cuisine (seafood, similar to Beijing but much lighter)

Local popular ingredients:

• Lamb and beef

Popular cooking methods:

• Stewing, frying
• Hot-pot (Mongol pot). Variety of ingredients (meat and vegetables) are put into the hot boiling consommé with a help of chopsticks and cooked for a very brief time.

Cooking focus on:

• Lightness and freshnes