Yan (a cooking utensil that features the combination of zeng on the above and kettle below)

** Steaming

The basic utensil for steaming is the zeng, an ancient earthen utensil used to steam rice. The zeng was invented during the Yangshao Culture more than 5,000 years ago. A utensil called the "yan" by archeologists, which is a combination of the zeng and kettle, was unearthed at the New Stone sites in southern China. The utensil has a steamer in the middle and the kettle below was used to heat water. The steam rising from the kettle braised the food on the steamer.

On brick and stone reliefs of the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220) are scenes of people using the zeng to steam food. In time, the zeng was no longer made of bronze and pottery but bamboo. The Han reliefs also included carvings of bamboo steamers, although no such written documents were ever discovered.

The steam boiler is another utensil that uses steam to braise food. A bronze steam boiler was unearthed at the Fuhao Tomb of the Yin Ruins of the Shang Dynasty. The object resembles today's steam boilers except that it has a steam bar in the middle. Pottery and porcelain steam boilers were also found from the Han and Tang dynasties.

** Frying

Frying can be traced all the way back to the Yangshao Culture. Many frying utensils found at Yangshao Culture sites near Zhengzhou City in Henan Province are believed to have been used to make flapjacks. This is an important discovery, according to archeologists, who believe that cakes and noodles emerged in a later period, and the findings prove that people knew how to make cakes and noodles about 5,000 years ago.

  Cooking scenes

Archeological excavations, especially brick and stone reliefs from the Han Dynasty, reveal the cooking activities of ancient cooks and some traditional cuisines. Chinese ancestors, such as Fuxi, a legendary emperor (2852-2738BC), who taught people farming, fishing and animal husbandry, and the Yellow Emperor, a part-real, part-legendary personage who is credited with founding the Chinese nation around 4,000BC, have both made contributions to the invention of cooking methods. Later, some cook celebrities also appeared in history. For instance, Yi Yin, a famous strategist who assisted the emperor of the Shang Dynasty to build imperial power, was originally a cook. In ancient times, cooks held a high position. During the Zhou Dynasty (1100-256BC), cooks belonged to the Ministry of Heaven, which ranked before the Ministry of Earth. That is to say, cooks came in second only after the prime minister in feudal China.

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