Jiangxi Cuisine - Characteristics

Characteristics

• Spiciness: Like the cuisines of its neighbour provinces, Jiangxi cuisine favours overly spicy tastes. In many regions in Jiangxi, chili peppers are directly used as vegetables instead of ingredients to enhance flavour, as in most other Chinese regional cuisines.

• Absence of cold or raw dishes: Cold or raw dishes are rarely served in Jiangxi cuisine as compared to other Chinese cuisines.

• Fish banquets: Jiangxi cuisine is famous for its freshwater fish banquets in contrast with Northeastern Chinese cuisine, which is known for its anadromous fish banquets. This is due to Jiangxi's geographical location, as there are many freshwater zones in the province.

• Fermented black beans and beancurd: There is emphasis on the utilisation of douchi (fermented black beans) and tofu (beancurd) in comparison with other Chinese cuisines. Fried tofu is usually served during Chinese New Year celebrations.

• Tea oil: Jiangxi cuisine uses tea oil as its primary cooking oil. As tea oil can cause stomach problems when consumed uncooked, any dishes that is cooked in tea oil is not served raw, which is the reason for the absence of cold or raw dishes in Jiangxi cuisine. However, Jiangxi cuisine is unique in that tea oil is used almost exclusively as the only cooking oil, with one minor exception being rapeseed oil. Other Chinese cuisines, on the other hand, also use tea oil but supplement it with a variety of other cooking oils.