Chinese Eight Cuisines Flavor Guide: A Beginner's Introduction to Regional Seasonings | 中国八大菜系调味品入门指南

这个指南想做的事情很简单：帮你在品尝和烹饪中国菜时，建立一套清晰的味觉坐标系。很多在英国生活的人会把所有中餐混为一谈，但其实川菜、粤菜、鲁菜、苏菜、浙菜、闽菜、湘菜、徽菜这"八大菜系"每一派都有完全不同的调味哲学。川菜靠花椒和豆瓣酱制造那种让舌尖发麻的刺激，粤菜讲究清蒸和原汁原味，徽菜为了应付山路运输用重盐和烟熏来保存食材。理解了这些差异，你再去菜市场或在线商店挑调味品时，就不会再一头雾水。

The idea of dividing Chinese cooking into eight schools crystallised during the Qing dynasty, when distinct regional kitchens had grown sophisticated enough to be catalogued. Each region developed around what nature provided: the spice-rich, foggy basin of Sichuan, the fish-laden Pearl River delta of Guangdong, the wheat plains and seaports of Shandong, the beautiful waterways of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the rugged coasts of Fujian, the mountainous farmland and chili fields of Hunan, and the forested hills of Anhui. Geography did not just influence taste; it dictated which ingredients were available, how they could be preserved, and which techniques would flourish.

"八大菜系"这个说法真正流行开来是在清代。当时中国的各个地方厨房已经成熟到可以被归纳成体系，每个菜系都围绕着本地的自然环境生长出来。四川盆地潮湿多雾，所以那里的人用花椒和辣椒来驱赶湿气；广东珠江三角洲靠着鱼虾丰饶的河海，所以造就了崇尚鲜甜清淡的粤菜；山东既有小麦平原又有海港，于是鲁菜既擅长面点又精于各种海鲜。地理不只是影响了口味，它决定了你能用到什么食材、如何保存它们，以及哪类技艺会得到发展。

Why the Eight Cuisines Matter for Your Kitchen

When you understand the core seasoning of each cuisine, you unlock a whole style of cooking rather than a single recipe. Learn what makes Sichuan food Sichuan, and you can improvise mapo tofu, kong pao chicken, or any red-oil braise. Understand Cantonese seasoning and you can balance a wok of stir-fried greens or a steamed fish without a recipe card in sight. This regional Chinese cuisine guide is really a mental toolkit: it explains the why behind flavours, so that your cooking becomes more instinctive and more authentic.

弄懂了每个菜系的调味核心，你就等于掌握了一整类做菜的方法，而不是死记某一道食谱。知道了川菜靠什么调味，你就可以随手做出一盘像样的麻婆豆腐、宫保鸡丁或者任何红油类菜肴；理解了粤菜的调味思路，眼前没有菜谱也能把一盘青菜炒得爽脆，或把一条鱼蒸得恰到好处。这份地方菜系指南本质上是一套思维工具，它告诉你味道背后的为什么，让你的烹饪变得更直觉、更地道。

关于买调味品这件事，先说一句实在话：下面会提到的每一种食材，在英国都能买得到，大部分还能直接网上下单送到家里。在 mixdiff.com 你能找到发豆瓣酱、香醋、干辣椒和各种复合香料，这些恰恰是让八大菜系各具风味的关键。你可以在一个地方把不同地域的调料配齐，不用为了买齐它们跑遍半座城的亚洲超市。

Sichuan Cuisine: The Art of Numbing Heat

Of all the regional Chinese cuisines, Sichuan is the one most outsiders associate with fire and spice, but the real signature of this kitchen is not single-minded heat. It is the marriage of two very different sensations: la (the burning of chili) and ma (the buzzing, numbing tingle of Sichuan peppercorn). A well-made Sichuan dish should make your lips tingle and then calm them, layering sour, salty, sweet, and umami around the central buzz. If you have tasted a Sichuan vs Cantonese seasoning side by side, you already know how stark the contrast can be.

在所有地方菜系里，川菜是被外界误解最深的。很多人以为川菜就是往死里辣，其实川菜真正的招牌不是单纯的辣，而是"辣"和"麻"这两种完全不同感觉的结合。la 是辣椒带来的灼烧，ma 是花椒让舌尖产生的麻痹和震颤。一盘合格的川菜应该让你嘴唇先发麻、再归于平静，在麻和辣的中心层叠着酸、咸、甜、鲜。你要是把川菜和粤菜放在一起对比过调味，就会立刻明白这两派的差距有多大。

The foundation of almost every classic Sichuan dish is a fermented broad-bean paste called doubanjiang, and the most prized version comes from Pixian, a district of Chengdu. Real Pixian doubanjiang is not merely salty and hot; it carries a deep, mellow complexity born of months of sun-drying and aging, with fermented bean, chili, and a whisper of sweetness all folded together. When it is bloomed in hot oil, it releases a fragrance that instantly identifies the dish as Sichuanese, whether you are cooking in Chengdu or in a student kitchen in Manchester.

几乎所有经典川菜的基底都是一坛发酵豆瓣酱，其中名头最响、品质最高的出自成都郫县。真正的郫县豆瓣酱不只是咸和辣，它还有晒制和发酵几个月才能养出来的深沉醇厚，豆香、辣意和一丝回甜交叠在一起。把豆瓣酱放进热油里爆一下，瞬间散发的香气就足以让你判定这道菜是川菜，不论你是在成都的厨房还是曼彻斯特的学生宿舍里做。

The second pillar is the Sichuan peppercorn (hua jiao), which is not actually a peppercorn at all but the dried berry husk of a prickly ash tree. It brings no spiciness; instead it delivers a citrusy, floral aroma and that signature mouth-tingling numbness. Dried red chilis, meanwhile, add the heat, while a spoon of sugar or a splash of black vinegar often balances the spice into something addictive rather than punishing. Together these seasonings explain why Sichuanese dishes like mapo doufu, twice-cooked pork, and dan dan noodles remain globally beloved.

川菜的第二根支柱是花椒。花椒严格来说并不是胡椒，而是花椒树的干果壳。它几乎不带辣味，却能带来一种柑橘花香和标志性的麻口感。干红辣椒则负责提供辣度，而一小勺糖或一点香醋往往能把辣味平衡成一种让人上瘾的组合，而不是只有煎熬。正是这几种调料的配合，解释了一盘麻婆豆腐、回锅肉和担担面为什么能在全世界收获这么多拥趸。

Cantonese Cuisine: Freshness Above All

Cantonese cooking, from Guangdong in the far south, is in many ways the opposite philosophy to Sichuan. Where Sichuan buries ingredients under layers of spice, Cantonese chefs believe the finest compliment you can pay a fresh ingredient is to interfere with it as little as possible. The ideal is a balance of sweet, salty, and savoury that enhances rather than masks. This is why so many Cantonese dishes are steamed, poached, or flash-stir-fried at brutal heat that seals in natural juices in seconds.

粤菜出自南方的广东省，在很多方面和川菜是完全相反的一套哲学。川菜喜欢用层层叠叠的香料去覆盖食材，而粤菜师傅相信，对新鲜食材最大的尊重就是尽量少去打扰它。粤菜的理想是达到甜、咸、鲜的平衡，这种平衡是为了衬托而不是掩盖食材本身。所以好多粤菜都是清蒸、白灼或者猛火快炒，几秒钟内就把食材的汁水锁住。

The two seasonings that define the Cantonese kitchen are oyster sauce and soy sauce, and Cantonese cooks treat good soy sauce with almost the reverence a French chef shows to good butter. Light soy sauce (sheng chou) is used at the table and for seasoning, while dark soy (lao chou) carries colour and a deeper sweetness for braises. Oyster sauce, a thick, glossy condiment made from concentrated oyster extracts, adds a round, saline umami to everything from a plate of kai-lan greens to a sizzling bowl of beef chow fun.

定义粤菜厨房的两味调料是蚝油和豉油。粤菜师傅对待一瓶好酱油，几乎像法国大厨对待一块好黄油那样恭敬。生抽（sheng chou）用于餐桌上调味和烹饪时提味，老抽（lao chou）则负责上色，并带来更深的甜味，多用于红烧。蚝油是浓缩牡蛎精华熬成的浓稠发亮酱料，能给一盘芥蓝或一锅滋滋作响的干炒牛河带来圆润饱满的咸鲜。

Dim sum culture also shaped the Cantonese palate beautifully. Steamed dumplings, silky rice noodle rolls, and delicate shrimp dumplings are all built around the idea of a pristine filling presented with the lightest of sauces. The Cantonese approach reminds many home cooks that restraint is itself a skill, and that a good oyster sauce should taste of the sea without ever tasting fishy. When people talk about Chinese cooking regional differences, the Cantonese insistence on freshness is usually the easiest contrast to feel.

早茶文化也从另一方面塑造了粤菜的审美。清蒸虾饺、滑嫩的肠粉、精致的烧卖，全都是围绕"用最轻的酱汁衬托最干净的馅料"这一理念构建的。粤菜提醒很多家庭厨师：克制本身就是一种功力，一瓶好蚝油应该带有海的味道，却永远不会让人觉得腥。每当人们聊起中国各地烹饪的差异，粤菜对新鲜度的坚持，通常是最容易感受到的鲜明对照。

Shandong Cuisine: The Bold, Savoury School

Shandong cuisine, often called Lu cuisine, is one of the oldest of the eight and is widely credited as a founding influence on northern Chinese imperial cooking. Born on the Yellow River plain with access to both farmland and the sea, the Lu kitchen is famous for bold, salty, savoury flavours and for techniques that coax deep umami out of simple ingredients. Chefs in Shandong were among the first to master the art of the rich, slow-simmered stock that quietly underlies so much of Chinese fine dining.

鲁菜，通常也叫山东菜，是八大菜系里最古老的流派之一，被公认为北方乃至宫廷菜的重要源头。鲁菜诞生于黄河平原上，既有肥沃农田又靠着大海，所以这个派别以浓烈、咸鲜的味道著称，擅长用简单食材逼出深厚的鲜味。山东的师傅是最早掌握老火高汤技艺的群体之一，那种慢火慢炖的高汤，静静支撑着许多中国高级料理的底色。

The seasoning backbone of Shandong food is the holy trinity of scallion, ginger, and garlic, deployed generously and often in huge, fragrant quantities. Where other cuisines treat these aromatics as a background whisper, Lu cuisine lets them lead. A classic Shandong method is to fry scallion segments in hot oil until they turn golden and release their sweet perfume, creating a fragrant base oil that flavours the whole dish. This is so central that scallion oil itself is a treasured condiment in its own right.

鲁菜调味的支柱是葱、姜、蒜这"三件套"，用得极为慷慨，而且常常以惊人的份量登场。别的菜系把这几样芳香料当作背景里的低语，鲁菜却让它们当主角。一个经典的鲁菜手法是把葱段放进热油里炸到金黄、释放出甜香，形成一种香气的底油，用它来给整道菜调味。这种做法如此核心，以至于葱油本身就成了备受珍视的调味品。

Another signature of Shandong is braising in a stock enriched by soy sauce, which lends dishes a glossy mahogany finish and a concentrated savouriness. The province also dabbles in many delicious styles of seafood, from crisp salt-and-pepper prawns to whole fish braised in a sweet-sour Shaoxing sauce. Because its techniques travelled north to Beijing, much of what people think of as classic northern Chinese food, from Peking duck trimmings to hearty noodle broths, owes a quiet debt to the Shandong kitchen.

鲁菜另一个标志是用酱油和醇厚高汤来红烧，这让许多菜肴带上一层亮晶晶的红棕色和高度浓缩的咸鲜味。山东也极擅长各种海鲜，从酥脆的椒盐虾到用甜酸绍兴酒汁烧制的整鱼，样样精彩。因为鲁菜的技艺一路北上到了北京，人们印象里许多"北方经典中餐"，从烤鸭的配菜到浓香的面汤，其实都默默欠着鲁菜一份人情。

Jiangsu Cuisine: The Elegant, Sweet-Salty Balance

Jiangsu cuisine, also known as Su cuisine, flourishes in the lush water towns and rice paddies of the lower Yangtze around cities like Suzhou, Nanjing, and Yangzhou. This is a genteel, measured kitchen that prizes visual beauty, careful knife work, and the delicate interplay of sweetness and savouriness. The region's abundant freshwater fish, tender bamboo shoots, and soft river vegetables give Su cuisine a gentle, almost poetic character that stands far apart from the bold spice of the west.

苏菜，也叫淮扬菜体系里的重要一支，生长在长江下游苏州、南京、扬州这些水乡稻田之间。这是一派温和而克制的厨房，讲究摆盘的美感、细致的刀工，以及甜与咸之间细腻的互动。江南丰饶的河鱼、柔嫩的笋尖和绵软的河鲜蔬菜，赋予苏菜一种温柔乃至诗意的气质，和西部菜系的浓烈泼辣形成鲜明对比。

A signature flavour in Jiangsu cooking comes from fermented red bean curd, known as nam yu or southern-style fermented tofu, which appears in two forms: the creamy white kind and the vivid red one. The red version, tinted by red yeast rice, is a workhorse of the Jiangsu pantry, lending a glossy, deeply savoury-sweet layer to braised ribs, soft-shell crab, and characterful steamed fish. A little nam yu in the marinade transforms plain meat into something memorably mellow.

苏菜里有一味标志性的调料叫南乳，也就是南方腐乳，分白腐乳和红腐乳两种。红色的那款用红曲米染成，是苏菜厨房里的主力，能给红烧排骨、软壳蟹和风味独特的清蒸鱼裹上一层油亮、咸鲜带甜的外衣。腌肉时加一点点南乳，平平无奇的肉块就会变得醇厚得让人难忘。

Alongside nam yu, Jiangsu cooks lean on rock sugar, Shaoxing wine, and rich stocks to build a subtle sweetness that never slides into cloying. A famous dish like squirrel-shaped mandarin fish depends on exactly this balance: a crisp, deeply fried fillet dressed in a glossy sweet-and-sour sauce that tastes of restraint rather than excess. In Su cuisine, the skill is in making sugar and salt support a natural flavour instead of shouting over it, a lesson that serves any home cook well.

除了南乳，苏菜师傅还爱用冰糖、绍兴酒和醇厚的高汤来构建一种克制而绵长的甜味，绝不会腻人。像松鼠桂鱼这样的名菜，依赖的正是这种平衡：一条炸得酥脆的鱼淋上油亮的糖醋汁，尝起来是含蓄而不是放肆。苏菜的功力在于让糖和盐去托举食材本味，而不是掩盖它，这种理念对任何家庭厨师都值得借鉴。

Zhejiang Cuisine: Fresh, Tender, and Light

Zhejiang cuisine, or the Zhe kitchen, comes from the coastal province south of the Yangtze, a landscape of tea terraces, lakes, and a long fishing coastline. Its guiding principle is a simple one: keep ingredients fresh, tender, and light, and let the sea and the season speak for themselves. Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and Ningbo each bring their own twist, but they all share a reverence for clean, bright flavours and the clever use of local fermentations.

浙菜出自长江以南的浙江沿海，那里有茶园、湖泊和漫长的渔港海岸线。浙菜的核心理念很简单：保持食材鲜嫩清爽，让大海和时令自己说话。杭州、绍兴、宁波各有各的招数，但共同点都是尊敬干净明亮的风味，善于运用本地出产的发酵制品。

No discussion of Zhejiang cooking is complete without Shaoxing wine, the renowned amber rice wine that is both a prized drinking wine and a kitchen staple. Its nutty, mellow depth is used to braise meats and poultry, and it is the quiet hero in countless classic dishes. Equally distinctive is zao lu, a fragrant residue of fermented rice and grain that Zhejiang cooks turn into a brine for marinating and steaming, giving food a subtle floral, almost wine-like perfume that is like nothing else in Chinese cooking.

聊浙菜绕不开绍兴酒，那是著名的琥珀色米酒，既是珍贵的饮用酒，也是厨房里的常客。它坚果般的醇厚被用来焖烧肉类和禽类，是无数经典菜肴里安静的主角。同样独具一格的是糟卤，那是发酵米粮后留下的芳香残渣，浙菜师傅用它做成腌渍和蒸制的料汁，让食物带上一股花香般的、微微带酒气的香味，在中国烹饪里几乎别处难寻。

A famous Zhejiang dish, Dongpo pork, shows how the region balances richness with restraint: a slab of pork belly slowly braised in Shaoxing wine and soy until it is luxuriously tender, yet never heavy or cloying. The freshness principle also shines in blanched river shrimp and the delicate broth of West Lake fish soup. For home cooks, the biggest lesson from Zhejiang is that a good rice wine and a thoughtful splash of fermented brine can lift a humble ingredient into something refined.

一道著名的浙菜叫东坡肉，最能体现这个地区如何在丰腴与克制之间取得平衡：一大块五花肉用绍兴酒和酱油慢慢焖烧，直到酥软豪华，却绝不沉重腻人。浙菜"新鲜"的原则也体现在白灼河虾和西湖醋鱼的清雅汤汁里。对家庭厨师来说，浙菜最大的启发是：一瓶好米酒和恰到好处的发酵料汁，就能把平凡的食材变出精致感。

Fujian Cuisine: The Fragrant, Seafood-Led Kitchen

Fujian cuisine, from the mountainous but fiercely maritime province facing Taiwan across the strait, is one of the most underrated of the eight schools. Its defining character is a love of the sea and a sophisticated use of "first-flavour soup," a clear, deeply seasoned broth that is meant to be savoured before the main dish. Fujian cooks are masters of layering umami, often drawing on a pantry where fermented and dried seafood products play starring roles.

闽菜出自面向台湾海峡的福建，那是个多山却又极度靠海而生的省份，也是八大菜系里最被低估的一派之一。闽菜的性格是对大海的热爱，以及擅长运用"一汤十变"的清澈高汤，这道汤讲究在主菜之前先让食客细品。福建师傅是叠加鲜味的大师，他们的厨房里，发酵和风干的海味常常担当主角。

Two seasonings instantly mark a dish as Fujianese. The first is fish sauce (yu lu), a salty, amber liquid pressed from fermented anchovies that delivers a concentrated, almost oceanic savouriness to sauces, soups, and stir-fries. The second is hong zao, a brilliant red fermented rice paste made with red yeast rice. Beyond adding a festive crimson colour, hong zao contributes a fruity, sweet, faintly wine-like note that pairs beautifully with seafood, chicken, and even quiet cuts of pork.

有两种调料能让一道菜立刻被认出是闽菜。第一种是鱼露，咸鲜的琥珀色液体，用发酵的凤尾鱼压榨而成，能给酱汁、汤和炒菜带来一股浓缩的、近似海洋的咸鲜。第二种是红糟，用红曲米制成的鲜红色发酵米酱。除了带来喜庆的深红色外观，红糟还有一种果香、微甜、略略带酒气的韵味，和海鲜、鸡肉甚至低调的猪肉搭配都极妙。

Fujian is also home to Buddha jumps over the wall, a notoriously luxurious soup that layers abalone, sea cucumber, scallops, and dozens of other ingredients into a single rich broth. Even in a simpler home version, the Fujian instinct is to build a broth of real depth, using dried scallops, shrimp, and a few drops of good fish sauce. If you love food that tastes unmistakably of the sea, Fujian cooking is a dream region to explore.

福建也是"佛跳墙"的故乡，那是一道出了名奢华的汤菜，把鲍鱼、海参、干贝和几十种食材层层叠进一锅浓郁的高汤里。即使是简化版的家庭做法，闽菜的直觉仍是做一锅真正有深度的汤，用干贝、虾米和几滴好鱼露调味。如果你喜欢那种一口就知道来自大海的味道，闽菜是一个值得好好探索的宝藏菜系。

Hunan Cuisine: Bold Heat, Direct Flavours

Hunan cuisine, from the province south of the Yangtze that loves its chilies, is often mentioned in the same breath as Sichuan, but the two are very different. Where Sichuan builds complex, layered heat with both numbing and burning sensations, Hunan cooking is more direct and honest: it is all about fresh chilies, wok-charred aromatics, and a sharp, lively sourness that cuts through richness. The heat in Hunan is bright and immediate rather than slow-building and numbing.

湘菜出自长江以南那个酷爱辣椒的湖南省，常和川菜被一起提起，但两派其实很不一样。川菜构建的是复杂层叠的辣，既有麻又有灼烧；而湘菜更直接、更直白：它强调的是新鲜辣椒、锅气十足的打炝，以及一种能穿透油荤的锐利鲜酸。湘菜的辣是明亮的、立刻到来的，而不是缓缓累积、让舌头麻木的那一种。

The defining seasoning of Hunan is chopped chili (duo jiao), a relish of fresh red chilies roughly chopped and lightly salted and fermented until they develop a bright, tangy, slightly funky punch. Duo jiao is most famous in steamed fish head with chopped chilies, where the relish is spooned over a tender fish head and steamed until the flavours melt together. It is also stirred into stir-fries and egg dishes to deliver an instant hit of heat and sour brightness.

湘菜最具标志性的调料是剁椒，把新鲜红辣椒粗剁，加盐轻腌发酵，直到它们生出明亮、带劲、微微发酵的酸辣感。剁椒最出名的用法是剁椒鱼头，把这份辣椒酱铺在鲜嫩的鱼头上蒸熟，让味道融为一体。剁椒也会拌进炒菜和蛋类里，立刻带来一股热辣和酸爽的明亮冲击。

Hunan cooks also rely on fermented black beans (dou chi), which add a deep, earthy saltiness to many dishes. Used alongside chili, ginger, and garlic, dou chi underpins the robust, savoury character of classics like steamed spareribs with black beans. The overall Hunan spirit is about honesty: ingredients are cooked hard and seasoned boldly, with little interest in subtlety or restraint, which makes the cuisine wonderfully satisfying and comforting to eat.

湖南师傅还常用发酵黑豆，也就是豆豉，给许多菜带来深沉朴实的咸香。豆豉和辣椒、姜、蒜一起，支撑起豉汁蒸排骨这类经典菜醇厚咸鲜的底色。湘菜的整体精神是真诚：食材被大火猛炒，调味大胆直接，对含蓄克制似乎不太感兴趣，这让湘菜吃起来特别过瘾、特别安慰人。

Anhui Cuisine: Earthy, Dark, and Savoury

Anhui cuisine, the Hui kitchen, rises from the forested mountain regions of eastern China, a landscape that taught its people to be resourceful with preservation. Because mountain villages were difficult to reach and fresh food was not always available, Anhui cooks developed a deep skill for curing, drying, and smoking ingredients to make them last. The result is a kitchen that favours rich, dark, savoury flavours, generous use of soy sauce, and a fondness for cooking in a single pot over a slow fire.

徽菜崛起于中国东部那片多山的林地里，那里的地形教会了人们善用各种保存手段。因为山村交通不便、鲜食不易得，徽州师傅发展出了高超的腌制、风干和烟熏技艺来让食材经久耐用。于是这个菜系偏爱浓郁、深沉、咸鲜的味道，酱油用得慷慨，还喜欢用一口锅在小火上慢慢煨。

The star pantry item of Anhui is the dried bamboo shoot, which appears in countless dishes, prized for its tender texture and concentrated woodland umami after being dried and soaked back to life. Paired with soy sauce, the shoots absorb the deep braising liquid and become the earthy heart of soups and stews. Smoked and cured meats also feature heavily, lending their rich, layered flavours to slow-simmered pots that warm a whole household on a mountain winter.

徽州厨房里的明星食材是干笋，无数菜肴里都用它，风干后再泡发，保留了柔嫩口感和一股浓缩的、来自森林的鲜味。干笋和酱油一起吸饱了深厚的红烧汤汁，就成了汤菜和炖菜里最朴实的灵魂。烟熏和腌制的肉类也出场频繁，给慢炖的一锅带来浓郁层叠的味道，在山上寒冷的冬天里暖遍一家人。

A well-known Anhui story is the tale of Huizhou merchants, who travelled far for trade and brought back new ideas and ingredients from every port, enriching their home kitchen in return. This openness blended with hardy preservation techniques to create a cuisine that is at once rustic and surprisingly refined. For the modern cook, Anhui is a reminder that some of the most soulful flavours come from the humble act of preserving and simmering with patience and a good splash of soy.

徽州还有一段流传很广的故事：徽商常年远行经商，从各个港口带回新的想法和食材，反过来滋养了家乡的厨房。这种开放心态加上坚韧的保存技法，造就了一个既质朴又出人意料地精致的菜系。对现代厨师来说，徽菜提醒我们，许多最有灵魂的味道，恰恰来自用耐心和一勺好酱油去保存与慢炖的朴素过程。

Tasting All Eight Cuisines at Home

The joy of a regional Chinese cuisine guide is that you do not have to choose a single loyalty. With a small, well-chosen pantry you can hop between Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Suzhou on successive evenings. The trick is to build your collection around the core seasoning of each school rather than buying random bottles, so that every purchase earns its place and pulls its weight across many dishes.

这份地方菜系指南最大的乐趣就在于，你根本不必只忠诚于某一个流派。只要备好一小套精选调料，你就能连着几个晚上在成都、广州和苏州之间来回穿梭。关键是围绕每个菜系的调味核心来构建你的收藏，而不是随手买一堆不知名的瓶子，这样每一瓶都能物尽其用、在好多道菜里派上用场。

给一个喜欢闯荡的英国厨房，一套实用的起步装备可以这样配：一罐郫县豆瓣酱和一把花椒，用来做川菜经典；蚝油和一瓶像样的生抽，用来做粤菜；南乳用来做苏式红烧；一瓶绍兴料酒给浙菜添香；鱼露和红糟带你尝到闽菜；剁椒和豆豉应对湘菜；再备一袋干笋，专供徽派慢炖。这些东西大多能存放好几个月，几乎不会浪费。

If you would rather taste the cuisines before committing to a full pantry, a wonderful first step is to pick one evening a fortnight and cook a single signature dish from a different region, using ready-made sauces to understand each flavour profile. Start with a Sichuan mapo tofu and a Cantonese soy chicken, then branch out to a Fujian seafood soup or a Hunan stir-fry of potato and green pepper. Each success builds your confidence and your understanding of the eight schools in tangible, delicious ways.

如果你想在配齐一整柜调料之前先尝尝各菜系的味道，一个很棒的第一步是每两周挑一个晚上，用现成的调味酱做一道不同地区的招牌菜，先摸清每种风味的轮廓。先试试川味麻婆豆腐和广式豉油鸡，再扩展到闽式海鲜汤或湘式青椒炒土豆。每一次成功都会以具体而美味的方式，增长你的自信和对八大菜系的理解。

We keep our selection deliberately focused on the seasonings that genuinely define each of the eight cuisines, because we use them ourselves and we know how far a single good jar can go. Whether you are recreating the numbing heat of Chengdu or the gentle sweetness of Jiangnan, the right pantry makes the difference between a dish that is merely Chinese-inspired and one that tastes like it came from the place itself.

我们的选品刻意聚焦在真正定义八大菜系的那几味调料上，因为我们自己就用这些，深知一瓶好调料能走多远。无论你想还原成都的麻与辣，还是江南的清甜温和，选对配料就是"只是沾点中国味"和"仿佛来自当地"之间真正的分水岭。

The Chinese eight cuisines are a treasure of regional cooking. If you made your first Sichuan or Hunan dish after reading this guide, we would genuinely love to hear how it went. Cook boldly, taste widely, and let the flavours of each school teach you something new about the vastness of Chinese kitchens.

八大菜系是中国地方烹饪的一座宝藏。读完这份指南后，如果你第一次做出了川菜或湘菜，我们真的很想听听你的成果。大胆下厨，广泛品尝，让每个流派的风味都带你重新认识中国厨房的广阔。