Wherever in the world you grew up, you probably grew up with an inaccurate idea of Chinese food. For Americans, it can come as a shock to hear that such familiar dishes as chop suey and General Tso’s chicken are unknown in China itself. By the same token, almost every country in the world has developed its own concept of “Chinese food” geared, sometimes outlandishly, to local tastes. But it could be said that the average Chinese person in China also has a skewed idea of their national cuisine, because they see it through the lens of their own regional cuisine — of which, according to the Chinese Cooking Demystified video above, there are at least 63.
In just 40 minutes, the channel’s co-host Chris Thomas broadly explains all of those cuisines, from the six eaten in Guangdong alone to the various fusions available in the vast-unto-itself region of Inner Mongolia.
Along the way, he highlights such representative dishes as beer fish, blood duck, “steamed double stinky,” lion’s head meatball, braised donkey sandwich, “ol’ buddy noodles,” lamp-shaped rice cake, hairy tofu, and “everybody’s favorite, penis fish.” Of course, quite a few of the items in between will seem more familiar to viewers who’ve never deliberately sought out “authentic” Chinese food: even Peking duck, it turns out, belongs in that category.
Still, the flavors of the Peking duck you can get in Beijing surely beat out those of the versions available in, say, Denver. If you want to taste them, as Thomas explains at the video’s end, “you should travel to mainland China. Is it the easiest place in the world to travel to? No. If you don’t know Chinese, the language barrier can get intense” (though you might consider starting to learn it with the resources we’ve rounded up here on Open Culture). But “if you want easy, go to Disneyland”; if you want to experience “mind-numbing culinary diversity,” it’s time to start planning your eating journey through the Middle Kingdom — and there are hundreds more Chinese Cooking Demystified videos available to make you hungry.
Note: Chinese Cooking Demystified has a related post on their Substack. Titled “63 Chinese Cuisines: the Complete Guide,” the post features helpful maps and commentary. It’s worth checking out.
Related content:
An Archive of 3,000 Vintage Cookbooks Lets You Travel Back Through Culinary Time
The First American Cookbook: Sample Recipes from American Cookery (1796)
Bob Dylan Potato Chips, Anyone?: What They’re Snacking on in China
Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. His projects include the Substack newsletter Books on Cities and the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
