Cantonese cuisine (simplified Chinese: 广东菜; traditional Chinese: 廣東菜; pinyin: Guǎngdōngcài) comes from Guangdong province. It is one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of Chinese cuisine.
Sichuan cuisine, Szechwan cuisine, or Szechuan cuisine (/?s??w?n/ or /?s?t?w?n/;[1] Chinese: 四川菜; pinyin: Sìchuān cài or Chinese: 川菜; pinyin: Chuān cài) is a style of Chinese cuisine originating from Sichuan province in southwestern China. It has bold flavours, particularly the pungency and spiciness resulting from liberal use of garlic and chili peppers, as well as the unique flavor of the Sichuan pepper.
Shanghainese(Shanghai) cuisine, also known as Hu cuisine, is popular style of Chinese food. In a narrow sense, Shanghai cuisine refers only to what is traditionally called Benbang cuisine (本帮菜, lit. "local cuisine") which originated in Shanghai; in a broad sense,it refers to complex and developed styles of cooking under profound influence of those of the surrounding provinces – Jiangsu and Zhejiang –. It takes "color, aroma and taste" as its elements like other Chinese regional cuisines, and emphasizes in particular the use of seasonings，the quality of raw materials and original flavors
Hunan cuisine, also known as Xiang cuisine, consists of the cuisines of the Xiang River region, Dongting Lake, and western Hunan province in China. It is well known for its hot SPICY flavour, fresh aroma and deep colour. Common cooking techniques are include stewing, frying, pot-roasting, braising, and smoking. Due to the high agricultural output of the region, ingredients for Hunan dishes are varied.
"...In 1847, the first Chinese immigrants settled in San Francisco and were followed by thousands who helped to build the transcontinental railways. The meals of hundreds of California families were influcenced by cooks who were Chinese and had been hired as housemen in middle-class homes. They seldom were permitted to prepare Oriental meals, but they held to their art of serving vegetables that do not lose their crispness or color...Other Chinese were cooks for the work gangs...In the early California Chinese restaurants there was a willingness to cater to customers--some proprietors served their non-Chinese clients only what they though those diners wanted, that is chop suey and fried steak. Better restaurants gained fame on San Francisco's Grant Avenue..."
---American Food: The Gastronomic Story, Evan Jones, 2nd edition [Vintage Books:New York] 1981 (p. 166)
"When mining and railroad work were no longer available and discrimination against the Chinese was at its peak, many Chinese men found work as cooks and later opened restaurants. These eateries served primarily foods of their native land to other Chinese patrons. Later they served much the same fare to those willing to try Chinese food...Rare among those who opened these Chinese eateries was a trained cook. Even more rare was someone from China who had a lot of experience eating fine food in restaurants. The immigrants were poor working-class men who cooked and served the foods they remembered eating before they left southern China. At first, they cooked with neither familiar ingredients nor any knowledge about the finer aspects of their own cuisine...Therefore, when they cooked for others in the United States, they prepared improvisations of foods they remembered. But, for their non-Chinese customers, they quickly learned that those in the United States liked beef, chicken, and other meats. So the early Chinese restaurant cooks made southern Chinese food with more animal protien than they would eat themselves. Chinese restaurants still emphasize meats and serve fewer vegetables than are commmonly served in China."
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford University Press:New York] 2004, Volume 1 (p. 235)
