Chinese cuisine: 79 iconic Chinese dishes you need to try

How well do you know Chinese cuisine? Let’s go over 79 succulent traditional Chinese dishes!

Learning Chinese isn’t all about grammar and vocabulary words. Any time you learn a new language, you get a beautiful opportunity to expand your mind and enrich your soul. And, if you choose the right language, you’ll also have a glorious opportunity to make your tummy very happy.

Fortunately for you, Chinese cuisine is one of the richest in the world. Of course, you’re probably already familiar with Chinese food, but as anyone who has been to China can attest, Chinese food inside and outside China is often very different.

So, what are authentic Chinese meals like? Let us walk you through this extensive guide on Chinese dishes!

Table of Contents

• Staples of Chinese food
• Chinese dishes
  • What is China’s national dish?
  • The Eight Great Traditions of Chinese Cuisine
• Chinese desserts
• Chinese breakfast dishes
• Chinese sauces and condiments
• Foreign cuisines in Chinese
• Dietary restrictions in Chinese
• Fun facts about Chinese food culture
• Conclusion

Staples of Chinese cuisine

Let’s start with the very basics: the building blocks of Chinese cuisine. These unmissable staples are present in an overwhelming majority of Chinese meals in one way or another, so they’re truly essential to Chinese cooking. Let’s take a look:

Rice — 米 (mǐ)

This versatile grain is the primary staple food for much of China, providing a majority of carbohydrates for hundreds of millions of people all over the country. In addition to being a wonderful standalone companion to many saucy dishes, the grain is essential for making fried rice, congee, and other rice-based dishes. When ground into flour, rice can also be used to make noodles, rice cakes, and buns, serving as the base for various savory and sweet dishes.

Soy sauce — 酱油 (jiàng yóu)

Soy sauce is an indispensable ingredient in Chinese cooking, adding an umami flavor to meats, vegetables, and marinades. Made from fermented soybeans, soy sauce comes in various forms — from light to dark — adding color and flavor to dishes like stir-fries and soups.

Ginger — 姜 (jiāng)

Along with garlic and scallions, ginger is considered part of the “Holy Trinity” of Chinese cuisine. It is used to eliminate unwanted gamey tastes and introduce warmth to dishes. It’s revered for its distinctive spicy and aromatic qualities. Whether minced, julienned, or used as slices, ginger is an essential ingredient in many stir-fries, stews, and teas.

Garlic— 大蒜 (dà suàn)

Garlic, another member of the Holy Trinity of Chinese cooking, is an essential part of many dishes thanks to its ability to add a unique intensity to dishes. Enhanced by sizzling oils, garlic can serve as an aromatic foundation, infusing diverse dishes with depth and intricacy. Its intensity enhances everything from simple vegetable stir-fries to complex meat dishes.

Wheat — 小麦 (xiǎo mài)

Like rice, wheat is a staple grain in Chinese dishes, used to make buns, noodles, and various other foods. Take noodles for an example, the earliest history can be traced back to ancient China. They serve as a staple in countless dishes, from soups to stir-fries, offering a nutritious and delicious base for all kinds of preparation styles.

Green onion — 葱 (cōng)

The last of the Holy Trinity of ingredients, green onion (or scallion), is an essential aromatic ingredient for many Chinese dishes. They add a mild yet crisp onion flavor and are often used as a garnish or cooked in stir-fries and soups.

Chinese dishes

Now that you have the basic ingredients of Chinese cooking, let’s dive into the food. There are countless delicious Chinese dishes out there for you to try, but we’ll try to keep it concise. Let’s start with the main one: China’s national dish.

What is China’s national dish?

In China, there is considerable debate about what constitutes the national dish, as people from different regions take pride in their local cuisines and believe their own dishes best represent Chinese culture. However, from a global perspective, many people choose Peking duck as the culinary symbol that best represents the nation.

This iconic dish, renowned for its crispy skin and tender meat, has deep historical roots dating back to the imperial kitchens of the Ming Dynasty. Over the centuries, Peking Duck has become a celebrated part of Chinese cuisine, often featured at state banquets and prestigious events, making it an adequate — albeit unofficial — choice for China’s national dish.

This dish is as delicious as it is entertaining. The ingredients are relatively simple, and each is served on its own individual plate: crispy marinated duck meat, steamed thin pancakes, sweet bean sauce, paired with julienned green onion (scallion) and cucumber slices. All plates are placed in the center of the table, and everyone assembles their own Peking Duck wrap. It’s a must-try for visitors, especially in Beijing, but this dish can be found all over China.

The Eight Great Traditions of Chinese Cuisine

If you’re not from China, then you might be used to thinking of “Chinese food” as a monolith. However, Chinese food is incredibly diverse, with eight distinct culinary traditions widely recognized as distinct regional variations of Chinese cuisine. Here’s an overview and some standout dishes of each of them:

Sichuan cuisine - 川菜 (chuān cài)

Sichuan cuisine comes from China’s southwestern Sichuan Province. It’s renowned for its bold and spicy flavors, coming from the liberal use of garlic, chili peppers, and Sichuan peppercorn. Sichuan peppercorn adds a distinctive numbing sensation, ensuring that any dish with it is unlike anything else you’ve experienced.

This cuisine uses a variety of cooking methods, including stir-frying, steaming, braising, baking, and the famous Sichuan hot pot (火锅). Here are some of the most popular Sichuan dishes that you have to try when you visit a Sichuan restaurant (or on a trip to Chengdu!):

Cantonese cuisine - 粤菜 (yuè cài)

Cantonese cuisine comes from the province of Guangdong, formerly Romanized as Canton. It’s famous for its emphasis on preserving the natural flavor of ingredients, including plenty of seafood and vegetables. To attain this, Cantonese cooking features techniques like steaming and stir-frying along with mild seasoning and the sparing use of spices, allowing the original flavors to shine through.

Dim sum, a collection of small, bite-sized dishes served with tea, epitomizes the social aspect of Cantonese dining culture.

Hunan cuisine - 湘菜 (xiāng cài)

Hunan cuisine originates from the Hunan Province in south-central China. It’s celebrated for its hot and spicy flavors, fresh aroma, and deep colors. Unlike Sichuan cuisine, which often uses Sichuan peppercorns to achieve a numbing spiciness, Hunan cuisine focuses on pure heat, primarily through the use of fresh chili peppers, garlic, and green onions (scallions).

Hunan cuisine's cooking techniques are diverse, including stewing, frying, pot roasting, braising, and smoking. This culinary tradition is known for its emphasis on oil and broad ingredient variety, including vegetables and meats like fish and pork.

Shandong cuisine - 鲁菜 (lǔ cài)

Shandong cuisine, also known as Lu cuisine, is one of the oldest and most influential culinary traditions in China, forming an integral part of the country’s culinary heritage. Originating from Shandong, it’s characterized by its emphasis on freshness, aroma, crispness, and tenderness.

Shandong cuisine showcases the art of using precise cooking techniques to enhance natural flavors. Given the province's coastal location, it features a wide variety of seafood. It also includes plenty of corn, peanuts, and vegetables. Shandong chefs excel at techniques like braising, deep-frying, and stir-frying, producing dishes that are well-balanced in taste and texture.

Jiangsu cuisine - 苏菜 (sū cài)

Jiangsu cuisine is a prominent branch of Chinese culinary arts from Jiangsu Province, which includes cities like Nanjing, Suzhou, and Yangzhou. It’s known for its carefully selected ingredients and celebrated for its emphasis on freshness and the natural flavors of its components, often highlighted through delicate cooking methods.

The dishes are known for their soft, tender textures, and presentation is equally important, as a dish’s aesthetic appeal should mirror the delicious taste. These are some of the most popular Jiangsu dishes:

Zhejiang cuisine - 浙菜 (zhè cài)

Also known as Zhe cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine originates from — you guessed it — Zhejiang Province in Eastern China, an area known for its wealth and natural beauty. This culinary tradition is celebrated for its seasonality and the natural taste of its ingredients. Zhe cuisine is characterized by its mellow yet rich flavors, with a subtle use of seasoning to enhance, rather than overpower, the primary ingredients.

Techniques such as quick-frying, steaming, and braising are commonly employed to retain the food’s nutrition and original flavors. Presentation is also key, with dishes often showcasing artistic arrangements that reflect the region’s appreciation for beauty. Zhejiang fare also offers a delicate, sophisticated dining experience, mirroring the serene and lush landscapes of its homeland.

Fujian cuisine - 闽菜 (mǐn cài)

Fujian cuisine, also known as Min cuisine, originates from Fujian Province along China’s southeastern coast. This culinary tradition is distinguished by its rich array of seafood and mountain-grown produce, reflecting the region’s diverse geography. Fujian cuisine is renowned for its emphasis on umami flavors, achieved through the meticulous use of broths and soups, which are considered the soul of Min food.

The cooking methods often involve braising, stewing, and steaming, aiming to preserve the ingredients’ natural juices and flavors. Fujian dishes are also noted for their light yet flavorful profiles, often incorporating a slightly sweet and sour taste, making the cuisine both distinctive and inviting. The use of precise knife skills and presentation further enhances the dining experience, offering a feast for both the palate and the eyes.

Anhui cuisine - 徽菜 (huī cài)

Anhui cuisine, also known as Hui cuisine, originates from Anhui Province in Eastern China, a region rich in biodiversity, including mountains, forests, and rivers. This culinary tradition is deeply rooted in the use of wild, locally sourced ingredients from both the land and rivers, emphasizing their intrinsic flavors and nutritional values.

Anhui cuisine is characterized by its focus on simplicity and purity. It particularly emphasizes braising and stewing in clear broths to enhance the natural tastes of food. Cooking techniques often involve slow-cooking methods to achieve depth of flavor. The cuisine is known for its hearty, comforting qualities, with a rustic charm that reflects the province’s rugged landscape and agricultural heritage.

Chinese desserts

Chinese desserts, unlike many Western desserts, focus on providing a more complex flavor profile than just sweet, sugary goodness. That’s why it might take a little adjusting if you’re used to enjoying ice cream, cake, or chocolate for dessert. Chinese desserts often blend sweet and other flavors, creating very interesting flavors that you may not have tasted before.

In fact, one of the most common ways of saying that a dessert is very tasty is 不甜 (bù tián), which means that the dessert isn’t sweet!

Here are some of the best and most common Chinese desserts:

Chinese breakfast dishes

Chinese breakfast generally focuses on warm dishes, including both savory and sweet items. Breakfast in China is always comforting and hearty, providing enough energy to start the day. You’ll often find fresh ingredients and different textures that bring variety to the first meal of the day. Here are some of the most common Chinese breakfast dishes:

Chinese sauces and condiments

Chinese sauces pack a lot of flavor and variety, making them a huge part of Chinese cooking. Some dishes often mix three or more sauces to create rich and complex flavors, from soy sauce to hoisin sauce, adding kicks of umami and hints of sweetness to bring Chinese dishes to life. Here are some essential Chinese sauces and condiments:

Foreign cuisines in Chinese

Chinese meals are incredible, but anyone who’s spent an extended period of time will eventually start craving some food from other countries. Perhaps some French, Mexican, or Spanish cuisine? Fortunately, China has plenty of excellent foreign restaurants, especially in the bigger cities. Here’s how to talk about foreign cuisines in Chinese. You’ll notice that, as long as you know the country names in Chinese, talking about the cuisines is quite easy!

Dietary restrictions in Chinese

Although China has an incredibly diverse range of cuisines, some of us may have dietary restrictions that prevent us from trying everything China has to offer. If you have an allergy or follow a special diet, here is some helpful vocabulary for you:

Fun facts about Chinese food culture

Five key flavors

The concept of the five key flavors is fundamental in culinary traditions around the world. China places a significant emphasis on balancing these tastes to achieve harmony in a dish. The five key flavors — sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty — interact with each other to enhance the overall sensory experience of a meal.

Sweet

Eastern regions of China, including Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Guangdong provinces, tend to favor sweet flavors. Traditional Chinese medicine asserts that sweetness can “tone the body,” improve mood and mitigate illness. This preference has led to a cuisine that emphasizes sweeter, lighter, and more tender flavors, using seasonings like sugar, honey, and jams to enhance dishes and counterbalance stronger tastes.

Sour

Sourness is favored in southern China, especially among minority communities in Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan, as well as in Shanxi Province. The sour taste, achieved through pickling in vinegar, helps preserve food, reduce waste, aid digestion, and balance inner pH in hard water areas. This flavor is celebrated for its ability to refresh the palate, stimulate appetite, and complement the region’s diverse agricultural products.

Bitter

Bitterness, the least common of the five flavors, is associated with Chinese medicinal food. Incorporating slight bitterness into dishes can enhance their freshness and appeal, stimulating the appetite and clearing “heat” from the body. Though rarely used alone, bitterness in Chinese cooking demonstrates the holistic approach to food and health, where taste and medicinal benefits are intertwined, adding depth to the culinary experience.

Spicy

Central and Southern China — particularly Sichuan and Hunan provinces — favor spicy flavors. Spiciness, or “pungent flavor,” helps both stimulate the appetite and expel wind and cold from the body, reduce dampness, and promote qi and blood circulation. The numbing spiciness of Sichuan cuisine, thanks to the Sichuan peppercorn, contrasts with Hunan’s raw heat, showcasing the diverse application of chili peppers to enhance health and comfort in humid climates.

Salty

Salty flavors are popular in coastal and northern China, where salt is abundant and cheap. This flavor is essential for dissolving stagnation in the body, but moderation is key. In northern China, the cold climate led to the tradition of preserving vegetables with salt for winter consumption, a practice that continues today despite the availability of fresh produce, illustrating the deep-rooted cultural tradition.

Chinese Food Guide Pagoda

Just as we have a healthy eating pyramid in the West, China has the Chinese Food Guide Pagoda. These are dietary guidelines that help people understand how to organize a healthy diet. There are five levels to the Chinese Food Guide Pagoda:

Level 1: Cereals and tubers

Cereals and tubers form the base of the Pagoda, providing the majority of dietary energy through carbohydrates. Healthy individuals over two years old should consume a diversified balance of cereals and tubers daily.

Level 2: Vegetables and fruits

This level emphasizes consuming enough fruits and vegetables every day, specifically recommending dark-colored vegetables for their high content of vitamins, phytochemicals, and dietary fiber.

Level 3: Fish, poultry, meat, and eggs

The third level includes proteins like fish, meat, eggs, and tofu. The pagoda recommends moderate consumption of meats, poultry, and other animal proteins. It also encourages choosing fresh sources over processed and preferring lean meat to manage fat intake.

Level 4: Dairy, soybeans, and nuts

The Pagoda highlights these as excellent sources of protein and calcium. Moderate consumption of these food groups should be part of a regular diet to meet nutritional needs.

Level 5: Cooking oil and table salt

The pagoda advises minimal consumption of oil and salt, stressing the importance of balancing these out with other nutritional sources. It also emphasizes the risks associated with high intakes, such as hypertension.

Exercise and water intake

The Pagoda complements a healthy diet with enough water intake and regular exercise to maintain overall health. Typically, inactive adults should consume 7-8 cups daily, but this increases with higher temperatures and physical activity, recommended up to 3 liters daily.

Documentaries and videos about Chinese food

Watching documentaries and YouTube videos about Chinese food and culinary traditions can be a great way to learn about the heritage and history of these foods. A great place to start is the Dianxi Xiaoge YouTube Channel, with over 500 unique videos and over 10 million subscribers. You can sample various aspects of Chinese food culture, from sourcing ingredients to cooking a wide range of regional dishes from scratch and sharing food with family and community members.

Here’s a video from her on how to use soybean to make soymilk, tofu, tofu pudding, dried tofu, and many more soybean products:

Craving Chinese food?

We don’t blame you! With so many types of delicious Chinese fare, it’s hard to know where to start. If all the hard work of learning Chinese has left you ravenous, check out our list of over 200 yummy foods in Chinese to help your appetite. And if you’re satisfied with food for now, check out our Mandarin blog to explore even more topics about Chinese culture, language, society and even Chinese calligraphy art!