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Further afield in northern China
The culinary traditions of this region include recipes from as far north as historical Manchuria, all the way down to Henan and Shandong.
A chief characteristic of northern cooking is the frequent and lavish use of soy bean paste. This is the basis of many other pastes, such as hoisin and yellow bean, which are used to enrich sauces.
Chefs in the northern regions attach great importance to the use of fresh meat and young vegetables when they are in season, because in the harsh terrain, with difficult transportation and no refrigeration, they needed to make the most of their local products.