Ancient Chinese food was based colse to rice as far back as 5000 Bce. Interestingly, the evidence from colse to the Yangtse River watershed points to not only boiled rice but to the fermented product that we know as rice wine. It was probably an accidental discovery, but one that has remained very favorite throughout Chinese history.
Wild pig species are native to southern China and appear to have been domesticated colse to 2000 Bce. It's not known at what stage hunting was supplanted by domestication and farming of pigs - bones don't tell that story - but this was probably after the introduction of chickens.
Thai Cooking
Chickens were probably adopted from the area that we now know as Thailand. These were roughly categorically domesticated before pigs. Even today, Dai citizen (Dai and Thai being pretty much interchangeable) live in Xishuangbanna, the area bordering the modern Se Asia countries of Laos and Myanmar (Burma).
In the north, where it was too cold for rice, the local farmers grew millet and some sorghum. These could also be boiled into porridge, or fermented to produce alcohol.
One aged Chinese food item not developed elsewhere is tofu. This fermented bean product was notion to have been made from about 1000 Bce. The soya bean is tasty and supposedly endowed with salutary characteristics. It is meant to be particularly good for diabetics. Soya milk is other product still consumed today.
Food preservation techniques allowed the aged Chinese to keep seasonal crops year round. Salting of meat and pickling of vegetables have long added to the collection of foods, especially over the winter period. Many citizen still eat rice porridge with pickled vegetables for breakfast. It's straightforward to put in order and categorically digested.
When seeing at aged Chinese food we shouldn't forget the favorite drinks. Boiled water has all the time been the favourite as it has long been a principle that food and drink should be consumed when at a climatic characteristic similar to the bodies so as not to disturb the natural balance. This preference may have lead to the discovery of tea leaves as flavouring.
Certainly the early Chinese seem to have experimented with lots of plants and drying methods to produce a wide range of tasty and salutary beverages. The favourites now are:
- Green teas - especially those from Longjing near Hangzhou;
- Fermented teas - Pu'er Tea and Oolong are maybe the most noted of these; and
- Flower teas - such as Jasmine and Chrysanthemum.
Ancient Chinese Food may not have been the most varied. This was largely because of China's relative isolation. Only when hardy adventurers traveled along the Silk Road routes did wheat, cattle and sheep arrive in China. More collection was introduced when China wide southwards, and especially when sea trade brought lots of exotic foodstuffs to Guangzhou (Canton) and beyond. Those developments were for later.
antique Chinese Food
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