What Is Shandong Cuisine?

Shandong cuisine, referred to as Lu cuisine or Lu Cai, boasts a long history in China that dates back as early as 220 B.C.E. Shandong cuisine was recognized as an important style of Chinese cuisine under the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1911 A.C.E.). 

Shandong cuisine is most representative of Northern China, but has also been inherited by Northeastern China. Shandong is a peninsula, and given its location, fish is a main ingredient in Shandong cuisine. The most notable and most famous dish in Shandong cuisine is the "sweet and sour carp," which must come from the Yellow River that flows into the seas surrounding Shandong.

In addition to seafood, other ingredients used in Shandong cuisine include corn, peanuts, small grains such as millet, wheat, oat and barley, and staple vegetables of Shandong province including potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and eggplants.

Some of the typical cooking methods used with Shandong cuisine are quick frying (bao), quick frying with corn flour (lui), stewing (pa), roasting, and boiling.

Some other Shandong cuisine dishes are braised colon in brown sauce, quick-fried double fats (a very traditional Shandong dish of pork tripe and chicken gizzards), and Dezhou grilled duck.