China is known for its wide range of food and variety of materials. People around the world are eating in the local Chinese restaurants, but what do real Chinese people eat? Today we analyzed ten most popular Chinese foods.
Top 1: Peking Duck: One of China's national treasures, Peking duck is a special dining experience where even the meticulous tableside presentation is a treat. Everyone has a favorite part, whether it's the lacquered, crackling-like skin, or slices of dark meat with lush, fatty ribbons, wrapped in pancakes with scallions and hoisin sauce
Top 2: Century Eggs: Also called Millennium Eggs, they are neither kept for one century nor ten. Like a fine Époisses de Bourgogne, it is an acquired taste, and is delicious alone or with tofu.
Top 3: Chicken Feet a.k.a. "Phoenix Claws": The Chinese are indeed cruel to kill off mythical creatures to harvest their feet. Mostly skin and cartilage, the pleasure is in loudly sucking the bones dry. They're even dyed Phoenix Red and served for brunch (dim sum).
Top 4: Hot Pot: Glenn Close gave it a bad name in "Fatal Attraction," but this Chinese version of fondue is a favorite cold-weather way of dining. Cook your own meats and vegetables in a large communal pot of steaming-hot broth.
Top 5: Mapo Tofu: This zesty Sichuan dish is an array of flavors and textures. Soft tofu acts as a buffer in a bright red sauce of ground pork, garlic, fermented black beans, green onions and fire-breathing dragons.
Top 6: Xiao Long Bao: "If you put water into a dumpling, it becomes the dumpling." These Shanghai soup dumplings (which share a name with Bruce Lee) are filled with a flavorful broth — which become lethal weapons when eaten too quickly.
Top 7: Dumplings: Dumplings are an important Chinese New Year food in northern China. On Chinese New Year's Eve, Northerners usually make and eat dumplings. There are many ways to cook dumplings, including boiling, steaming, and frying.
Top 8: Gong Bao Chicken: This is a famous Sichuan-style specialty, popular with both Chinese and foreigners. The major ingredients are diced chicken, dried chili, and fried peanuts.
Top 9: Stinky Tofu: It smells worse than it looks and it actually tastes better than it smells! Stinky tofu is often the culprit when entire sidewalks full of people are choked out as they are engulfed in a thick haze of stench. With enough of the right seasoning (you can see they use a lot), this traditional Chinese dish actually ain’t half bad.
Top 10:Chinese Hamburger: This is the Chinese answer to a western hamburger, though, as a burger aficionado, I take serious issue with the fact that anybody would even call this one. That being said, it is a tasty treat. It’s a homemade, stone-oven cooked bun with juicy, seasoned pork on the inside