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The five flavors of China The origins of vinegar, its discovery and subsequent widespread use, is said to have something to do with people's liking for plums. In ancient Shanxi, plums were not only eaten as thirst quenchers but were also added to soups to give a sour flavor. Because fresh plums aren't available all year round, people gradually developed a way to make plum sauce, which could be preserved for a long time. Later, it was discovered that corn could be used to make sour-flavored sauce through fermentation, and vinegar making began to evolve. According to the agriculturist Jia Sixie in the Northern Wei period (386-534), there were already 22 ways of producing vinegar in his day, and a large number of vinegar workshops appeared in Jinyang (today's Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province). The tradition has been well preserved. Its fully-fledged vinegar industry has earned Shanxi the reputation of the"Home of vinegar" in China. Shanxi people are not alone in their love of sour foods. Food with a distinctive sour flavor also has fans in other parts of China. Sour pickles are popular in the south of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Southwest China's Sichuan province, and Northeast China. Ethnic groups inhabiting Southwest China and those in Central China's Hubei and Hunan provinces are also fond of sour-flavored food.
Commonly used as a condiment, sugar is not always considered as indispensable in flavoring as salt. But for people from East China¡¯s Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, sugar is just as important as salt.
These people are known for their love of light, fresh and sweet food, and sugar is a must-have in their daily cooking. Special local dim sums are also famous for their use of sweet flavors. For instance, Wuxi, a city in Jiangsu, has its own distinctive and popular style of xiaolongbao, a meat-filled steamed bun. The authentic Wuxi-style xiaolongbao isn¡¯t so popular among people from the north of China who think there¡¯s too much sugar added to it. Known as "lands of fish and rice" in China, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces have a rich variety of ingredients for cooking. The typical unprocessed ingredients are fresh and live seafood products. The wide use of sugar as seasoning in this area may be mainly because of its ability to make food taste fresher.
Because they are coastal provinces, Jiangsu and Zhejiang have always had plenty of sea salt but were short of rock salt in ancient times. Sea salt is too strong to be consumed alone, so local inhabitants have for centuries had a habit of mixing it with sugar to achieve a balanced flavor.
Chaozhou, located in the easternmost part of Southeast China¡¯s Guangdong Province, is also famous for a wide variety of sweet dishes. Bird's nest soup, one of Chaozhou's most famous dishes, is surprisingly sweet and subtly flavored. Chaozhou people have long had a tradition of eating sweet food to pray for a happy life.
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