Do you think Chinese food is more/less healthier than your own country

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On 1/20/2023 at 3:03 PM, Jan Finster said:

Are there any Chinese dishes with raw/fresh vegetables [e.g. like a salad]? I have never seen any [I am not counting baby carrots as a treat during breaks at conferences ? ]

 

Yes, quite a few. One I made a lot in China and still make in the US today is Pai Huanggua 拍黄瓜 (made with cucumber -- "smashed cucumber.")

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/53783-another-simple-classic-smashed-cucumber-拍黄瓜/#comment-412400 

 

Although China doesn't officially have salads as standard part of a meal, they do have liang ban 凉拌, which is a cool (room temperature) part of a meal. Often these are equivalent to the salad in a western menu. Sometimes the ingredients have been cooked before being cooled, other times they are made with raw vegetables. 

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/57072-liang-ban-凉拌-the-chinese-equivalent-of-salad-四季豆杏鲍菇凉拌/?tab=comments#comment-442671 

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On 1/21/2023 at 5:37 AM, Jan Finster said:

I feel Chinese food has less sugar

Many dishes in restaurant food in China have lots of sugar added (宫保鸡丁 in particular has handfuls - yes plural). 

[imron]

On 1/21/2023 at 8:03 AM, Jan Finster said:

Are there any Chinese dishes with raw/fresh vegetables [e.g. like a salad]?

拍黄瓜 is a favorite of mine too

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I should probably also mention paocai 泡菜, which are fermented vegetables commonly served with Chinese meals at home or in simple restaurants (家常菜.) Very popular all over China, but especially refined in the south. Tourists and people who only know Chinese food through foreign restaurants tend to not be aware of them. Not technically raw, but have not been cooked over heat. Usually they are lacto-fermented in a brine, other times a natural vinegar (with its "mother") is used. A home is seldom without its big brown clay jug full of fermenting vegetables. Sichuan is famous for its pickles. I'm very fond of Sichuan-style pickled yard-long beans 四季豆。Often green beans and carrots, crisp and tangy. Excellent when the weather is hot.  

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/56777-crazy-for-pickles-泡黄瓜/ 

 

 

[Moshen]

Quote

I should probably also mention paocai 泡菜, which are fermented vegetables

 

Is this the pickled vegetables people put into their rice porridge for breakfast?

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On 1/21/2023 at 11:19 AM, Moshen said:

Is this the pickled vegetables people put into their rice porridge for breakfast?

 

Yes! 

 

Also -- In Yunnan, a large bowl of 泡菜 was nearly always present near the pass-though where you picked up your rice noodles 米线。Often this 泡菜 was recently made, mainly cabbage, still with its light green color. It was an essential additive, along with fresh mint and coarse red chili hot sauce 红油, soy sauce 生抽，and aged black vinegar 老陈醋。Sometimes also a bowl of chopped scallions 葱花。   

 

The 泡菜 that I most often saw at breakfast for adding to rice porridge 粥 was darker in color, made mainly from Chinese mustard greens 芥菜 and spices. It goes without saying that all these things are regional, not uniform across all of China.