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Which would you rather eat Chinese or Japanese ?

3K views 34 replies 15 participants last post by  dreamshards8 
#1 ·
Just wondering your views on what this community leans towards as far as Chinese or Japanese food. Also of the two which do you think requires more skill to make ?
 
#3 ·
It depends on the day and what I'm in the mood for.  Obviously both cuisines require skill.  I don't think it's useful to try to decide which one is better and which one requires more skill.  They are both wonderfully diverse.
 
#4 ·
I like both equally for the most part. That being said I'm sure there are things on both sides in the cuisines that are very traditional that I would be unfamiliar with and might not like. As far as cooking, I have never prepared Japanese food other than tuna sashimi which was just buying a pound of high grade tuna and having it with soy sauce :p. Chinese cooking I take a stab at about once or twice a month. I find it involves mostly prep and knife work which I enjoy. The amount of mise needed can get kinda ridiculous if your working in a small kitchen, and high heat and good ventilation are critical (the latter only really if the chili and ginger and garlic and what not bothers others in the house, I love it)

Actually today I made fried rice that came out fantastic, even better is that someone else brought Chinese home just a few mins ago from a well known restaurant and imho it can't hold a candle to what I made for lunch /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif. Then again I had made my rice with slightly dehydrated basmati rice, thin strips of a black and bleu ribeye, cubed bbq country style ribs, sautéed garlic, shallots and peppers all in an infused oil/schmaltz from last nights roast chicken. If you have quality leftovers, fried rice can be the perfect medium rather than just reheating and having the same meal over again.

My only caveat with all of this is working in small batches and bringing it together in the end, this tends to even further crowd the kitchen and dirty plates that are just holding plates. The few stray bits out the pan on the floor and oil spritzed stovetop can be abit dismaying as well. I usually keep this in mind and start with absolutely nothing in the sink or dishwasher just because of these factors.

I would love to try and attempt Japanese food; however my family hates it and the ingredients (Especially the fish) and equipment are hard to come by or expensive. So for now Asian flavors are either Indian or Chinese.
 
#5 ·
I had the wonderful opportunity to live with a Japanese for about 5 years and I learned so much from them. Sukiyaki is one of my fav. Dishes and since the mother has passed away so no matter how many times I come close to the way she cooked sukiyaki it will never be the same.

Fried rice was the most challenging thing for me to make. I have crashed and burned with many pots of rice before I got it right.
 
#6 ·
I had the wonderful opportunity to live with a Japanese for about 5 years and I learned so much from them.
I had a roommate who was a foreign exchange student or something of the like for Tulane who was Chinese. It was very strange though, he had never seen a wok, or stir fried before. Before I decided to start cooking for the household regularly, he would only make white rice with steamed celery /img/vbsmilies/smilies/confused.gif... for like 4 weeks. His eyes almost popped out of his head the fist time he saw me use alcohol in a wok to flambé the food. Come to find out he was from a poor rural village in china and ate simple staple food. Needless to say after a year in New Orleans, he brought back quite abit of food knowledge, Asian or otherwise, when he returned. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif
 
#7 · (Edited)
Tough call. Both cuisines have enormous diversity, numerous regional cuisines, etc. Speaking for Chinese cuisine, Sichuan region taste preference is quite different than Shanghai is different from Beijing, is different from Jiangsu/Nanjing preferences, is way different than Guangdong or Hong Kong.  

Japanese cuisine seems to emphasize balance, precision, and aesthetic appeal. It's amazing to think about how something like a piece of fish and rice gets elevated to an art. Though aside from sushi, the stuff that has made it to the US largely seems to be the heavier, richer, more savory foods. Someday I'll go dine at a traditional kaiseki place in Kyoto...

Personally, with regards to Chinese cuisine, my challenge after getting out of the house and being on my own has been getting the tools and experience to recapture the essence of wok stir frying - working with blistering high heats and short cook times, using the right amount of oil, preserving colors and crisp textures, etc.
 
#15 ·
It's like comparing apples to oranges. I like Thai food as well, but would not put several cuisines under one "dome." Each is unique in flavor/ingredients, prep/cooking utensils used and different skills.

If I had to choose, I might lean toward (american) mandarin Chinese, as I love a good noodle, and don't care for raw fish/sushi. However, I do like teppanyaki and Japanese steak houses. It's all good.
 
#16 ·
I couldn't really choose between the 2 as there are things that I love about both cuisines.  I agree that it is like comparing apples to oranges as they are each very different.  That's what I like about living in the US.  I don't have to choose.  I can eat Chinese one day, Japanese the next, and Thai or Vietnamese the next.  The great thing about each of these cuisines is that they all have variations on some kind of noodle bowl.  I could live for a few years eating nothing but Asian style noodle bowls!!!
 
#17 · (Edited)
I couldn't really choose between the 2 as there are things that I love about both cuisines. I agree that it is like comparing apples to oranges as they are each very different. That's what I like about living in the US. I don't have to choose. I can eat Chinese one day, Japanese the next, and Thai or Vietnamese the next. The great thing about each of these cuisines is that they all have variations on some kind of noodle bowl. I could live for a few years eating nothing but Asian style noodle bowls!!!
You and me both. I also like mandarin for pot stickers and moo shu. There are some old school(?) Chinese restaurant dishes I don't see and would like to duplicate like chicken chow mein. Don't see chop suey on menus anymore.

Re sukiyaki, haven't seen it on a menu in years. Clipped a recipe long ago to try, but never got around to it. Hopefully, someone will share an original recipe.
 
#18 ·
There was this documentary I watched yesterday about Cecelia Chiang http://www.soulofabanquetfilm.com/

They mentioned that because of the Cultural Revolution in China, there was really a generation of lost cooks. A lot of the classic dishes are lost. Only chefs who migrated to the US, Taiwan, etc. before Mao remembered and still cooked those dishes. One of the best food movies I've seen
 
#19 · (Edited)
I eat both. The skills to master either are different, but they both take years. If you watch the old Iron Chef knife skills, it puts Iron Chef America contestants to shame (except Morimoto obviously)
Get outta my head @MillionKnives. Lol. Chef Morimoto came to mind, as well. Miss those IC challenges. His food was mouthwatering works of art. Almost too pretty to eat. Very creative and colorful.
 
#20 ·
Fried rice was the most challenging thing for me to make. I have crashed and burned with many pots of rice before I got it right.
I would love to hear your experience on fried rice as well! I do love it and have done much experimentation before coming up with something decent...I would look forward to hearing your thou8ghts.

Now, on to the question of Chinese Vs Japanese cuisine? Too many differences...they're two different cuisines. Heck...it's even difficult to pick a favorite regional Chinese cuisine.

Dan
 
#21 ·
Don't cook your rice too wet, chill in the fridge over night so it loses even more moisture.  Then you fry it in a wok.

What's more interesting is if you do freshly cooked rice,  scramble some eggs, coat all the rice in that egg, and then fry the rice.  That's some skills to keep freshly cooked rice from sticking together!
 
#22 · (Edited)
99% of the fried rice recipes on the net call from anywhere to 2 Table Spoons to 2 Cups of soy sauce and I've seen call anywhere from 3 Tbsp to 1/2 cup of sesame oil.... Craziness !!!! These wet ingredients are what ruin your fried rice. Trust me I have threw many plates of nasty fried rice away in my early years. Yes I do scramble an egg and throw in mid way through along with what ever meat I'm cooking with that day.
 
#23 ·
99% of the fried rice recipes on the net call from anywhere to 2 Table Spoons to 2 Cups of soy sauce and I've seen call anywhere from 3 Tbsp to 1/2 cup of sesame oil.... Craziness !!!! These wet ingredients are what ruin your fried rice. Trust me I have threw many plates of nasty fried rice away in my early years. Yes I do scramble an egg and throw in mid way through along with what ever meat I'm cooking with that day.
So are you recommending not using any wet ingredients like soy sauce or fish sauce? Is sesame oil really a "wet" ingredient?? Do you use salt to season your fried rice? I say let's start a new thread on fried rice. I would love to get better at it and haven't made one in a while anyway.
 
#26 ·
But you need oil to fry rice. I use grapeseed oil to start with and at the end I splash in a little soy sauce and a dash of roasted sesame oil. And don't crowd the pan otherwise it just steams.

I know this is not authentic but my favorite ingredients in fried rice are some kind of smoked pork product, egg, onions and scallions, peppers, carrots and peas hehe.
 
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