Ancient Chinese believed all the laws governing mankind and the human society were an expression of the Dao. Lao Zi, the founder of Dao School revealed, “Man follows the earth. The Earth follows Heaven. Heaven follows the Dao. The Dao follows Nature.” Throughout life, man exchanges matter with nature through dietary intake; therefore, the rules governing dietary intake and cooking are inseparable from the "Dao Follows Nature."

Ancient Chinese long had a profound appreciation of the Dao of dietary intake, emphasizing the dietary "Dao Follows Nature," and incorporated the principles of proper human conduct into diet. For example, Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor, the oldest Chinese medical text, mentioned four dietary principles – nurture, supplement, growth, and balance. That is to say, “five grains nurture, five fruits supplement, five livestock enhance the growth, and five vegetables balance it out.” The four dietary principles in fact advocated a balanced diet.

Just as Lao Zi said, “Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish.” The highest principles of most things correspond to the Dao. The dietary and culinary principles, once exercised to the optimum, also encompass paramount principles governing heaven and earth. 

Wang Xiaoyu, resident chef for renowned food connoisseur Yuan Mei in Qing Dynasty once said, “It’s hard to know oneself, harder yet to know the true taste!” “Harmony” is an important standard and realm in Chinese traditional culinary arts. This balancing and apportioning principle can be subdivided into complementing between meats and vegetables, appropriate collocation of “cold” and “hot” dishes, and different combination and matching of different foods in different seasons. The ability to blend various flavors is called “sweetness”. As the “sweetness is amenable to blending” found in The Book of Propriety, one of the Confucian classics, which means sweet flavors are relatively easy to work with. The Dao of culinary arts is expressly reflected through how the flavors are handled, requiring one to “know well the flavors.”

China has enjoyed a rather long history of development in culinary art, and has formed several distinct regional styles, which have been passed down through generations of master chefs. The most influential cuisines come from Szechuan, Shandong, Huaiyang, Canton and the Northeast, and they represent the best of traditional Chinese culinary artistry complete with color, aroma, flavor, and appealing presentation.

Emperor Qin unified China in 221 B.C., and great many people from China’s Central Plains brought their cooking artistry to the Bashu region, interacting and blending with the fine Bashu folk cuisine, and gradually giving rise to Szechuan cuisine. By Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), the Szechuan style cooking had developed into one of the major culinary schools in China. The Szechuan cuisine has always been particularly dainty about “balancing five flavors” and regards flavor as its foundation. The flavors used in the Szechuan tradition are the most numerous among all culinary schools. The six basic flavors concerned are sesame, spicy hot, sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, and more flavors can be produced through the combination of two or more of the basic flavors. The secret of the famous “hot” Szechwan cuisine lies in its skillful use of hot chili pepper for seasoning, like the addition of red oil for its vibrant red color, and its subtle spicy fragrance.  More than dozens of techniques are employed, such as saute, stir fry, fry and deep fry, quick fry in high heat, braising, and basting. Generally speaking, Szechuan cuisine uses a wide range of materials and creates a wide variety of rich flavors.

The Lu cuisine can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.) in the two countries Qi and Lu, located in today’s Shandong province. By Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), “northern cooking” became well known in Bianliang, the capital of North Song Dynasty, and later was called the Lu cuisine. By Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty, the Lu cuisine had become a major cuisine, and many of its dishes were designated cuisine at the imperial court. At the same time, Lu cuisine also enjoyed wide popularity in the northern region. There are more than 30 techniques used in Lu cooking, especially the use of deep-frying, quick frying, grilling, stewing, and roasting. Lu cooking is fastidious about the purity of its ingredients with emphasis on aroma, freshness, crispness and tenderness. Soup is a well-known part of the Lu cuisine, and features a clear “consommé,” and a thick creamy variety, and has been touted as, “The chef's soup.”

Cantonese cuisine originates from Guangdong Province and is made up of cuisines from three principal areas: Guangzhou, Chaozhou, and Dongjiang. Guangzhou is situated in the subtropics, bordering on the South China Sea, the rainfall is abundant, the area is rich in produce, fresh seafood and delicacies of every kind, and fruits and vegetables are always in season. Therefore, Cantonese chefs have the pick of the vast and varied assortment of material and fine ingredients at their disposal. Cantonese cuisine emphasizes delicate selection and blending of ingredients and seasoning, freshness, tender, crisp, light, nongreasy and delicate flavors. It uses very hot stoves to achieve high temperatures for rapid cooking and sealing of the food flavors.

Huaiyang cuisine is derived from the native cooking styles of the region surrounding the lower reaches of the Huai and Yangtze Rivers and centered upon the cities of Yangzhou and Huai'an in Jiangsu province, hence the name. It originated in early Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.) and gained national fame during Sui (581-617 A.D.) and Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D). Huaiyang cuisine has had profound impact on the culinary culture in Suzhou, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shanghai, all of which quickly took on their own characteristics. The Huaiyang style cooking places a great deal of emphasis on the food preparation and the way the material is cut and presentation. Although seafood and other expensive material are rarely used in Huaiyang cuisine, this school of cooking nevertheless follows strict standards that can be summarized in three words—harmony, precision, and freshness. Harmony means the raw materials that will go into the same dish must be compatible in nature, and the taste is appropriately balanced in saltiness and sweetness etc. Precision means the cutting techniques must be meticulous. Freshness means the food tastes pure and fresh, and the flavors of the ingredients are preserved as much as possible. Huaiyang tradition specializes in braising, stewing, roasting and boiling, as these methods are best at bringing out the flavor of the constituents. Like classic poetry and landscape painting, Huaiyang cuisine oozes intricacy and thoughtfulness, leaving the diner with a deeper appreciation for Chinese culture.

The cuisine of the Northeastern China refers to the cuisines of Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces, and it is well known since the ancient times. Shenyang, a city in Liaoning was the capital of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), as a result, the imperial palace was a heavy influence on the formation of northeastern cuisine. Moreover, northeastern cooking has absorbed different techniques from Lu, Szechwan, and Cantonese cooking, and certain features from traditional Manchurian, Korean, and Mongolian styles. Northeastern cuisine utilizes its mountainous produce to its advantage, and is famed for its wild gamy dishes. Cooking techniques makes use of direct flames, and barbecue, roast etc are its specialty.

China’s five major cuisines have been passed down in an orderly fashion. They each possesses its own unique characteristics. The Northeastern cuisine is likened to a strong man from the north, solid and down-to-earth; Huaiyang cuisine is likened to a delicate maiden south of the Yangzi river, uncomplicated and pretty; Cantonese cuisine, a refined prince, romantic and carefree; Szechuan cuisine, a historical litterateur, with rich contents and full of skills. All of them play pivotal roles in traditional Chinese culinary culture.

The International Chinese Culinary Competition is one of nine competitions hosted by New Tang Dynasty Television. The prelimineries will be held in Taiwan and the U.S. on September 20 and November 17, 2008, respectively, and the final will be held in the US in November 18, 2008. Our mission is to promote authentic Chinese culinary techniques, revive traditional Chinese culinary methods as well as carry forward the exquisite traditional Chinese culinary culture and disseminate the orthodox Chinese culinary philosophy. Through demonstration and exchange of culinary skills, the Competition will help people around the world gain further insight into the characteristics of Chinese cuisine and treasure Chinese culinary arts.

The judge panel will select 5 winners in each of the five categories, and each winner will receive $10,000, a trophy and a certificate. A number of commendations accompanied by a certificate will also be issued.

Reference:
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_Chinese_cuisine