Elementary (Level 5-6)

Eight Chinese cuisines

What is your favorite Chinese food?

• My favorite Chinese food is …

• I love to eat …
• I always order … at …

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 Choose the sentences that talk about Chinese food.

- Dim sum is usually made with meat and vegetables.

- Xiaolongbao is steamed in bamboo containers.

- Peking duck is roasted in a closed oven or hung oven.

- Spaghetti is usually served with tomato sauce.

- Dong’an chicken tastes spicy and sweet.

- Most hamburgers have lettuce, bacon, and cheese.

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There are many regions, provinces, and cities in China that have their own cuisines.

The most popular cuisines are called the “Eight Chinese cuisines.” They are the

Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan, and Zhejiang cuisines.

Each cuisine uses special seasoning, different cooking methods, and materials to create

food that have unique tastes and characteristics.

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The Anhui cuisine chefs use local ingredients to prepare food like
bamboo shoots and royal pot. The most common food of the
Cantonese cuisine is the dim sum which is prepared by frying and
steaming. The Fujian cuisine is popular because of its use of
seafood to make dishes like oyster omelette and popiah. The
Hunan cuisine dishes like dong’an chicken are very spicy and are
full of chillies.

Questions:
1. What is the most common Cantonese cuisine dish?
2. Which cuisine uses spicy ingredients?

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Nanjing salted duck is a popular dish of the Jiangsu cuisine that is
made of tender meat. The Shandong cuisine chefs use seafood
ingredients to make dishes like sweet-and-sour yellow river carp.
The Sichuan cuisine dishes like Kung Pao chicken and
shuizhuroupian are very spicy. The most popular Zhejiang cuisine
dishes are dongpo pork and longjing shrimp.

Questions:
1. What ingredient do Shandong cuisine chefs often use?
2. How does Sichuan cuisine dishes taste?

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Choose the correct words in the box to complete the passage.

The Anhui cuisine chefs use local __________ to prepare food like bamboo shoots and royal
pot. The most common food of the Cantonese cuisine is the ________ which is prepared by
_________ and steaming. The ____________ is popular because of its use of seafood to make
dishes like oyster omelette and popiah. The ___________ dishes like are very spicy and are full
of chillies.

WORD dim sum ingredients Fujian cuisine

BANK dong’an chicken Hunan cuisine frying

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Choose the correct answer to complete each sentence about Chinese cuisine.
1. Nanjing salted duck is a popular dish of ______________.
a. Italian cuisine b. Sichuan cuisine c. Jiangsu cuisine
2. Nanjing salted duck is made of ____________.
a. seafood b. tender meat c. seasonings
3. Shuizhuroupian is a dish of _______________.
a. Zhejiang cuisine b. French cuisine c. Shanghai cuisine
4. Shandong cuisine chefs use __________ ingredients to make dishes like sweet-and-sour yellow
river carp.
a. vegetables b. seafood c. fruits
5. Sichuan cuisine dishes like Kung Pao chicken are very ________.
a. spicy b. sweet c. sour
6. ___________ is a popular dish of Zhejiang cuisine.
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a. royal pot b. dongpo pork c. oyster omelette
Talk about the eight Chinese cuisines.
Use the following expressions.

- The … cuisine is …
- ... are the ingredients used in the … cuisine.
- The … cuisine chefs use ingredients like …
- The most popular dish of the … cuisine is …
- [Name of dish] is a dish of the … cuisine that is very …
- [Name of dish] is prepared by …

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Choose from the cards below, and make a conversation with your teacher.

Role Card 1 Role Card 2

Your British friend from England visits Your friend will travel around China.
you in China. She wants to try different He calls you to ask for suggestions on
Chinese cuisines. Tell her about the eight what food he should try while he travels.
must-try cuisines in China. What would you suggest?

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You are in a cooking class in the United States.
Your classmates are interested to know about the
Chinese cuisine. What would you tell them?

Hint:

Talk about the Eight Chinese cuisines. You may also talk
about the popular food of each cuisine.

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Here is what you learned about the Eight Chinese cuisines.

• Anhui cuisine chefs use local ingredients for dishes like bamboo shoots and royal pot.
• Dim sum is the most common Cantonese cuisine dish.
• Oyster omelette and popiah made Fujian cuisine popular.
• Hunan cuisine dishes are spicy and have many chilies.
• Nanjing salted duck is a dish of the Jiangsu cuisine.
• Shandong cuisine chefs use seafood ingredients.
• The dishes of the Sichuan cuisine are very spicy.
• Dongpo pork and longjing are dishes of the Zhejiang cuisine.

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