Henan cuisine

Henan (河南, or Honan) is a province located in Central China and is often also referred to by the names Zhongzhou or Zhongyuan, which means ‘midland’.

Henan cuisine is well known for its taste variety including a blend of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty.

The history of the province shows its relation to the affinity towards food culture among the people of Henan, where the motive to bring together the different tastes from the north and the south to blend it into one dish.

[1] Within this period, the entirety of Henan cuisine underwent rapid and robust changes to accommodate the different emerging culinary cultures from the surrounding regions.

By the time the Shang dynasty began in the 17th century BC, Henan cuisine was redesigned with the new seasoning including all different flavours to bring a more harmonious element to it.

Around this time, Henan cuisine was also beginning to be divided into five kinds of dishes based on social status and religious backgrounds.

Much like the nature of its flavours – harmony in terms of social status was also shown to be a diversifying feature of the Henan cuisine.

Some of them are as follows: The food culture of a geographical location is frequently found to be influenced by the social, political, and economic factors, and the development involved in all three sectors together combines to form grounds on which the cuisines are built.

Another essential factor that contributes to the cuisine and its formation is due to the food crop and raw material found in the region.

[4] Various dishes are considered to represent the traditional style of Henan cuisine; however, their popularity depends on the way they are received in society.

It is also noticed that there is a mix in the use of meat in the case of the traditional Kaifeng Tai Si Bao, which is made by stuffing one bird into a bigger one, and then they are glazed with animal fats and steamed along with vegetables.

[8] Another great recipe which is served and treated to the guest in Henan province includes Luoyang Water Banquet which is a soup and involves an intricate and exquisite cooking technique in which the egg slices are carved in the shape of the peony flower which is a local favorite in the capital city of Zhengzhou.

Bianjing Roasted Duck and Grilled Head and tail of Black Carp are two dishes that show the prevalence of sweet and sour taste in cooked meat.