Chinese Cuisine 101

Looking for a place to eat? Visit our online list of restaurants in the Chinatown and downtown areas.

In fact, more than 80 Chinese restaurants are listed in Portland’s Yellow Pages. They offer Cantonese, Mandarin, Shanghai, Hunan-Szechwan, Hong Kong and Chinese Vietnamese cuisine.

Cantonese cuisine emphasizes fresh seafood, vegetables and fruits stir-fried with mild and flavorful sauces. Dim sum, Cantonese for “touch your heart,” is a brunch-style meal of assorted appetizers such as baked and fried stuffed dumplings.

Mandarin or Northern-style cuisines highlight sophisticated sauces flavored with sesame oil and spicy hoisin and soy. Wheat pancakes, buns and noodles are staples of Mandarin culinary traditions.

Fujin or Shanghai-style cooking accentuates fresh seafood and “red-cooked” dishes, braised in a soy-based stock.

Hunan-Szechwan dishes feature spicy hot peppers that give stir-fry dishes their sizzle.

Chop suey houses developed during the early years of Portland’s Chinese community, reflecting an era when Chinese traditional cooking adapted to U.S. tastes. Chop suey houses offer familiar Chinese American dishes such as egg foo young, chow mein and egg rolls.

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