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The best films on Chinese food
Food feeds the soul
while it’s true that the primary function of what we eat is survival and sustenance, the complexity and variety of regional cuisines around the world reveals a simple truth: people just love food.
Chinese people especially have always had an infatuation and deep cultural bond with food. It’s such a part and parcel of daily life in China that many people don’t even realize that food is literally everywhere – walk on any street and you’re guaranteed to hear the common greeting "Have you eaten?" (吃了吗?).
Chinese food culture, however, is as sophisticated and multi-faceted as the nation itself, and its cuisine can’t be narrowed down to something as simple as “Chinese food.” Here we offer a list of the films and documentaries that offer some delectable insights into the foodie soul that runs through Chinese people, what Westerners make of Chinese food, and moreover, how you yourself can embrace Chinese gastronomy.
1
Eat Drink Man Woman | 饮食男女
This mouth-watering film by Oscar-winning Chinese-American director Ang Lee is an intriguing family fable with a plot that surrounds a smorgasbord of Sunday dinners.
Aging master chef Chu, despite being highly respected by his colleagues, is a troubled taciturn father at home who lives with his three adult daughters.
Beneath his aloof exterior, however, Chu is a doting parent who plays mom by doing the girls’ laundry, waking them up in the morning, and of course feeding them with scrumptious dishes. Yet tensions around the dining table turn that Sunday family meal into a tortuous experience for everybody.
Slide for more Chu-style cooking stunts
As the Chu family argues and struggles with generational gaps and changes, food acts as a recurring symbol throughout the film, as the technique and artistry of gourmet Chinese cuisine is put on delicious display.
With so many succulent dishes as a backdrop, Lee passionately conveys the Chinese philosophy that surrounds food: sharing food is an integral part of Chinese society and communication, and is a social experience to be treasured by family and friends alike.
2
Exploring China: A Culinary Adventure
发现中国：美食之旅
You are what you eat. This simple phrase explains the connection between two celebrity chefs of Chinese descent and the homeland that they’ve lived apart from for most of their lives.
This BBC series features old and wise Ken Hom, who was born and raised in the US, and young up and coming chef Ching-He Huang, who was born in Taiwan but raised in the UK, as the pair set out on a foodie trek across China, with a mission to rediscover their roots.
From the imperial capital of Beijing to the tropical jungles of Yunnan, the duo try various regional cuisines served in both the poshest of restaurants and the most humble of homes, delving into the nation's heart and soul through its food.
While the cooking techniques demonstrated by Hom and Huang are, by Chinese standards, a little rough around the edges, they do offer an easy guide for international viewers interested in learning how to cook Chinese food. And the final episode, which features emotional family reunions for both hosts in China, displays just how deep-rooted food is in Chinese culture.
3
The Search for General Tso | 寻味左宗棠鸡
This gastronomical documentary seemingly focus on a staple of Chinese restaurants in America, General Tso’s chicken, yet the 71-minute film with the verve of an engaging detective story ultimately has much more on its plate than that glisteningly sauced fried chicken.
Dedicated to tracing the origins of a popular Chinese-American dish and its historical namesake, the film crew traveled across the Pacific to the chicken’s assumed birthplace, only to find it is barely heard of in China. Yet it sheds light on something even more interesting, a little-considered cultural phenomenon of how Chinese immigrants merge themselves into the US melting pot stirred by prejudice and persecution at early times, and later seasoned with adaptation, innovation and acceptance.
The taste-bud-tickling food imagery paired with a fascinating visualized history guarantees an engrossing film with a lingering aftertaste.
Source: CGTNOficial
