Jilin cuisine

Jilin cuisine
Chinese	吉林菜
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jílín cài

Jilin cuisine is the regional cooking style of the Han Chinese with heavy influence from native Manchu, Korean, and Mongolian minorities in the Jilin Province of Northeastern China.

Characteristic features

Due to short growing seasons and prolonged winters, fermentation is the main method of preserving food. Suan cai is very prominent in Jilin cuisine.^[1] The cold winters have also led to the development of a regional brand to hot pot such as Fucha Manchu Hot Pot.^[2][3] The colder climate of Northern China is generally unsuited to grow rice making wheat, buckwheat, and sorghum as the primary sources of starch.^[4] The abundance of starch has given rise to staple steamed buns and noodles dishes of the region.^[1] Jilin cuisine in unique among Chinese cuisine by extensive consumption of raw seafood and vegetables.^[1]

Jilin cuisine is primarily characterized by influences from the three largest minorities of the province.^[2]

• Manchu – boiled pork and blood sausages, cold vegetables
• Korean – fermented vegetables, cold noodles
• Mongolian – lamb dishes

The ethnic Han in Jilin cuisine draw influence from Beijing, Shandong, and even Western cuisine.^[2][5] The deep preference and influence of Shandong cuisine come from immigrants who left the province for Jilin during the Qing Dynasty.^[2]

Jilin cuisine shares similar dishes with neighboring Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces being part of the Northeastern Chinese cuisine.

Notable dishes

English	Chinese	Pinyin	Picture	Notes
Cold Noodles	冷面	lěng miàn		Combination of Han and Korean styles made with sorghum noodles with either sweet/sour or salty flavors.
Steamed White Fish	清蒸白鱼	qīngzhēng bái yú		A specific white fish called bái yú from the Songhua River.
Ginseng Chicken	人参鸡	rénshēn jī		Small chicken stuffed with rice, ginseng, and red dates, boiled.
Fried Vermicelli	煎粉	jiān fěn
Buckwheat noodles	饸饹条	hé le tiáo
Ula hot pot	乌拉火锅	wūlā huǒguō		Ula means river, referring to the Songhua River.
Newly-butchered Pig	杀猪菜	shā zhū cài		A banquet where every part of the pig is made into a dish served on the Lunar New Year.
Double Cooked Pork Slices	锅包肉	guō bāo ròu		Sweet and sour pork dish originally from Harbin.
Fork fire spoon	筱筱火	xiǎo xiǎo huǒ		Buns made with a beef, green onions, fresh ginger, sesame oil filing often stamped with a special iron or "fire fork" to leave the signature of the region.

See also

• Northeastern Chinese cuisine
• Chinese cuisine
• Korean cuisine
• Manchu cuisine

References

1. "Jilin". ifood. Archived from the original on 31 July 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
2. "Jilin Feature Food". Discover China Tours. Archived from the original on 24 July 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
3. "Fucha Manchu Hotpot". Jilin China. 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 31 July 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
4. Falkenheim, Victor. "Jilin". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 24 July 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
5. "Jilin Food". Chinese Food Wiki. 4 January 2022. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2022.