Cooking of the North

Peking cooking is the most limited of Chinese regional cuisines in terms of variety, but it more than makes up for its narrow range with its art. Its major indigenous foodstuffs are wheat rather than rice, lamb, shellfish from its rivers, and white leafy vegetables such as cabbage and that variety called Tientsin bok choy (which occasionally is referred to as Peking Cabbage).

From its kitchens have come the Mongolian firepot, mutton and lamb in various ways, ground meats sweetened with brown sugar, sweetened soy, and anise-flavored five-spice powder. Peking chefs make wheat noodles, scramble eggs with sugar, and serve steamed wheat-flour buns and loaves far more than they do boiled rice. They are masters of the thin pancake, the Chinese crêpe that is served with Peking Duck and Moo Shoo Pork. Their cooking is drier than the Cantonese, but they use an abundance of sweets. They even have a soy jam they serve on their steamed breads.