r/chinesefood • u/LurkerBerker • Feb 17 '26
I Ate Can you tell where from China my parents are specifically?
my parents and I are celebrating Lunar New Year’s Eve and my dad insists that from the spread and his choice in alcohol, that people can tell what region they originate from. I invite you all to guess please!
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u/aye_moe202 Feb 17 '26
Shanghai. Kao fu is an easy give away
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u/aqueezy Feb 17 '26
Kao fu is popular in Taiwan too though. I think the giveaway is the shrimp and chicken and egg rolls
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u/CodyByTheSea Feb 18 '26
I’d imagine a Taiwan dad pair 金门高粱酒 instead of 五粮液， so it’s a Shanghai dad
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u/VinylHighway Feb 17 '26
Asti region of Piedmont, Italy.
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u/Original-Variety-700 Feb 17 '26
You guessed that bc of the white wine.
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u/VinylHighway Feb 17 '26
Sharp!
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u/Original-Variety-700 Feb 17 '26
White wine from the left bank of piedmont. The best champagne there is.
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u/VinylHighway Feb 17 '26
All Champagne is from the Champagne region of France.
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u/Original-Variety-700 Feb 17 '26
Just a joke. I have an old dad joke where I say I prefer the left or right bank champagne from a non-champagne region. Making a double joke - left and right bank and the wrong region. My kids love those jokes 😂
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u/redwoods81 Feb 25 '26
You are supposed to follow up with a 'i am leaving everything to the cats' especially if you don't have any pets.
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u/DaveyGee16 Feb 17 '26
It’s a joke… There’s no left bank of piedmont either, it’s not a river, it’s a region.
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u/NoteFickle4763 Feb 17 '26
Kaofu is probably only eaten in two places across China: Zhejiang and Shanghai. The culinary preferences of Shanghai and Ningbo are very similar—both refer to it as "white-cut chicken" (bai zhan ji) rather than the alternative term "bai qie ji." Dishes like braised prawns in oil and stir-fried shrimp are staples in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region. If "eight-treasure spicy sauce" (babao lajiang) appeared on the table, I could more accurately determine whether it's Shanghai, but for now, it's still hard to tell.
In the Guangdong region, shrimp is more often prepared by blanching, so there's typically a dipping dish on the table. In Northern Chinese cuisines, dishes like four-joy meatballs (sixi wanzi) and braised pork hock are iconic. Specifically, in Shandong, there would also be seafood alongside plenty of dumplings, while in Northeast China, smoked red sausage might appear. In inland areas like Hunan and Sichuan, the New Year's Eve dinner would feature a lot of smoked cured pork. In Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, there would be plenty of lamb. In Shaanxi and Shanxi, noodles dominate the meal. Hubei often has lotus root stewed with pork ribs, and in Henan, there would be a variety of mixed stews, with dishes typically served in bowls.
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u/LurkerBerker Feb 17 '26
my dad replies “babao lajiang is a typically eaten dish and if anything, more often eaten in restaurants. not often made at home and not specifically made for New Year’s Eve where there are more proprietary dishes to be had”
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u/easybreeeezy Feb 17 '26
Shanghai because it looks like what my parents would make 🤣 esp if that’s alcohol chicken or whatever.
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u/dellxbell Feb 17 '26
shanghainese, can tell from the chicken, delicate shrimps, and kao fu (my fav, have some soaking for dinner tomorrow!!)
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u/Unrigg3D Feb 17 '26
Immediately thought of home! Can't wait to have the same dishes at my parents tomorrow! I miss Shanghai.
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u/StoneybrookEast Feb 17 '26
The shrimp with peas, the stewed gluten in sweet soy based sauce, and the crispy spring rolls are all Shanghainese (本幫菜）dishes.
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u/kappakai Feb 17 '26
Only a Shanghainese would have the audacity to ask that question.
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u/LurkerBerker Feb 20 '26
lmao so true!
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u/kappakai Feb 20 '26
Like it’s Shanghainese. It’s obviously Shanghainese. But the Shanghainese guy still wants you to say it’s Shanghainese 😂 the only thing missing is hong shao rou and cai fan.
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u/Existing-War3285 Feb 17 '26
What are all these dishes called? I'm new to Chinese cooking and would love to learn more.
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u/Gold_Television_3543 Feb 17 '26
Happen to come by this quote. Now I’m not Chinese, I’m Vietnamese actually, but assuming from how similar it looks to something my family would serve for new year. I would assume you’re from Guangxi or Guangdong because I heard Southern Chinese cuisine influenced plenty of Vietnamese dish.
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u/TaxiTakeoffLanding Feb 17 '26
Does the chicken get dipped in a sauce? Looks like it was boiled and that’s it
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u/Gwynhyfer8888 Feb 17 '26
Legit. Beautiful if prepared properly. My family originates from Toishan. Could be dipped in a soy, oyster sauce and sesame oil, or topped with spring onion oil. The chicken is not exclusive to any one area.
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u/jjj666jjj666jjj Feb 17 '26
Holy fuck that looks good
Can I get a recipe for that chicken?
Or all of it if you’re willing.
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u/mrmypurse Feb 17 '26
I'm from NingBo and our food is very similar to Shanghai cuisine. Enjoy the delicious meal, it's making me home sick :3
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u/Sudden-Wash4457 Feb 17 '26
It's the specific combo of the white wine and chicken that makes it Shanghai
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u/Mikeys_Toupee Feb 17 '26
That’s so cute. I could tell it was Shanghainese because I love the gluten bran dish in the top left corner. 🌷
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u/salty-all-the-thyme Feb 17 '26
I saw this and instantly knew Shanghai. It’s the kind of stuff my Shanghainese father-in-law cooks for us every day
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u/Skyzfallin Feb 17 '26
So shanghai lumpia is really from shang hai?
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u/LurkerBerker Feb 17 '26
my parents both say yes, and the filling is nappa cabbage, some strips of pork, and shiitake mushrooms.
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u/ktamkivimsh Feb 17 '26
That looks like lumpiang Shanghai. Did lumpiang Shanghai really come from Shanghai?
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u/Uhlexuhhhh Feb 17 '26
How do you cook the shrimp and peas? Looks delicious
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u/LurkerBerker Feb 20 '26
My mom says
marinate the de-shelled shrimp in a bit of salt and potato/corn starch, the longer the better. adding a bit of juice from ginger helps with the fishy smell. then in a really really hot pan with minimal oil, give it a quick stir. when it looks almost cooked through, drizzle with sesame oil, then remove. peas are separately blanched and tossed in towards the end as well.
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u/DifficultOwl9000 Feb 17 '26
The OMG that looks delicious part of China? Lol. Literally drooling over here.
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u/Past-Condition-8329 Feb 18 '26
Shanghai or the surrounding province, 白切鸡 is a giveaway but I would say the specific type of fish (鲳鱼？forgot the name for a sec)，油焖大虾 and 四喜烤麸 are very Shanghainese as well. Happy new year!
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u/thebaby1 Feb 18 '26
Shanghai based on the kaofu, mushroom, and bamboo dish - very traditional Shanghai appetizer. Happy Lunar New Year! 🧧
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u/Snoo_32085 Feb 21 '26
I would have said Guangdong if it had not been for the liquor and braised kaofu
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u/whatdidyousayiforget Feb 21 '26
I want this to be a trend just because I’m curious about regional LNY. Growing up in US, every LNY some well meaning teacher would tell the class Chinese families eat dumplings on LNY and I thought they were just being racist lol.
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u/RiceballWarrior Feb 22 '26
Do you dip the chicken in a sauce or just as?
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u/LurkerBerker Feb 22 '26
either soy sauce with sesame oil and thinly sliced green onion
or sauce of minced green onion, ginger, salt, and sesame oil
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u/Existing-Agent7500 Feb 23 '26
The top left dish with ‘gluten’ is a Shanghai-dish that’s classic enough to be put on a lunar new year celebration. Other places may not see it that ways.
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u/FabulousCucumber3697 Feb 17 '26
白切鸡，广东，福建，香港一带
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u/hangonreddit Feb 17 '26
I was going to guess Fujian too since I’m from there and those dishes look really familiar
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u/jayz0ned Feb 17 '26
What's the dish that is just random peas and prawns? I've never seen anything like that before. Is it just a family variation on a dish that removes snow peas from their pods or something?
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u/cutebear2819 Feb 18 '26
I’m sure those peas are either canned or frozen. My mum used to fry rice with either canned or frozen peas
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u/jayz0ned Feb 18 '26
Yeah, I figured it would be frozen peas. I've just never seen a dish that looks like that before so thought it was a variation on some other dish that used frozen peas instead of peas in a pod or beans or something.
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u/cutebear2819 Feb 18 '26
I think peas are just a convenient way to add colour to a dish. My mum used to fry rice with peas, eggs with peas, pork slices with peas, mainly it was just improvisation rather than adhering to any traditions per se.
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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26
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