Chinese Food: Chinese American Food

Food and eating have long occupied the Chinese in both the intellectual and sensual realms. While Chinese culinary art developed slowly over millennia, it did absorb and retain past experiences as it incorporated foreign customs and commodities. A defining principle among the very early Chinese was that those who ate raw or uncooked food and did not eat appropriate amounts of grain were regarded as non-Chinese. Another was adherence to the fan-cai (fan-tsai) principle, fan being rice and other grains, and cai (tsai) being vegetables, meats, and other foods. This philosophy mandated the combination of both to prepare a balanced meal. In addition to these principles, Chinese food differs from the foods of the Western world because it aims at creating and enjoying outstanding dishes at all levels of society. All Chinese meals should incorporate all of the basic flavors, which the Chinese believe are acid, salt, sweet, bitter, and pungent.