Greek vs Chinese food & cuisine

Every day eating revolves around wheat breads, vegetables like tomato and eggplant, legumes, greens, and cheeses, feta and graviera, with yogurt as sauce or base. Coastal fish and island seafood sit alongside lamb, goat, pork, and charcoal-grilled souvlaki.  Honey, nuts, and phyllo dough desserts provide a sweet finish. In short: elemental ingredients, careful seasoning, and communal joy. 

At home, families focus more on practical balance: making sure the meal isn’t too oily, too salty, or too monotonous in texture or temperature. The full harmony is more typical of banquets, holiday meals and restaurants.

Another use of wheat is as a comfort food, hilopites, Greek pasta, resembling flat, square-shaped pieces, often homemade and cooked in rich tomato sauce with chicken or lamb.

In Greek cuisine, rice isn’t as essential as in some other cuisines, but it does bring diversity in flavors and textures. It’s used as a filling for tomatoes, bell peppers, and grape leaves, in soups, and in pilafs (though bulgur is also used in pilafs), often seasoned with fresh herbs, olive oil, and lemon. The use of other cereals is minimal.

In the south, rice takes many forms. Long-grain varieties stay fluffy, medium grains are softer, and glutinous rice becomes sticky when cooked, despite containing no gluten. Beyond steamed rice, it appears as congee, noodles, sheets, cakes, and pastries. Fermented or ground, rice yields snacks, steamed cakes, and delicate dumpling skins.

In the north, wheat replaces rice but isn’t baked into crusty loaves. It’s transformed into steamed buns, dumplings, and noodles – hearty dishes suited to the colder climate.

Chinese cuisine transforms starches like wheat, mung beans, peas, potatoes, and sweet potatoes into entirely new textures rather than just flour. These are turned into glass noodles, liangfen (a cool jelly-like dish), and chewy wheat sheets for stir-fries or salads. The goal is to create smooth, slippery, or elastic sensations.

Grains also become fermented seasonings. Black Shanxi vinegar, dark and umami-rich, is made from sorghum, barley, or rice and used for dipping dumplings. Huangjiu, or yellow rice wine, made from rice or millet, serves as both a drink and a cooking ingredient, adding sweetness and aroma to dishes like drunken chicken and red-braised meats.

The most frequently used are tomatoes; they are the base of many sauces and are the star of gemista and Greek salad. Eggplants are often grilled, baked, or fried, mashed into a popular smoky eggplant dip, melitzanosalata. Zucchinis you may find stuffed with rice and herb mixture or transformed into fritters. Roasted peppers might be used in salads, spreads, or served as accompaniments. Spinach, dandelion, and amaranth greens are of widespread use. While okra is more commonly associated with cuisines of the American South, the Middle East, and Africa, it also finds its place in Greek kitchens; here, it is known as bamies.

Greek cuisine stands out for its minimalist approach to pulse preparation. They cook them in olive oil to bring out the natural flavors and season mainly with garlic, onions, tomatoes, oregano, and lemons, while neighboring cuisines incorporate more spices.

Greek cuisine is rich in potato recipes. Lemon is a key ingredient in almost everything – it adds the iconic flavor this cuisine is known for.

Cutting is deliberate and precise. Thin ginger or scallion slices flavor oil quickly; diagonal cuts keep stems crunchy; crosswise cuts help lotus root stay crisp. Using different parts of one vegetable: leaves, stems, roots, adds variety without extra ingredients.

Aromatics like leeks, scallions, garlic chives, and Chinese celery are treated as vegetables, not just seasonings. Clear soups showcase napa cabbage and winter melon, while hot pots highlight mushrooms, greens, and tubers.

Soy stands as a major pillar. China pioneered soy cultivation, using it fresh, dried, fermented, and curdled. No other cuisine has integrated it as deeply.

China also led in mushroom cultivation, with shiitake recorded over 800 years ago, followed by wood ear, enoki, oyster, and straw mushrooms. Valued for texture and umami, dried mushrooms enrich soups and braises with their soaking broth.

Potatoes, common in the north and west, appear in light, tangy stir-fries or soy-braised stews — never creamy or heavy. Their starch is also used to make noodles.

Lamb is the most iconic meat locally, especially during the Orthodox Easter, when whole lambs are roasted on spits. Dishes like kfeftiko rustic slow-cooked lamb, paidakia lamb chops, and lamb fricassee, braised with greens, are popular.

In the same rocky terrains, goats roam alongside sheep. They are loved and prepared similarly; the meat is flavorful and pairs well with Greek herbs.

With the advent of Christianity in Greece, pork became more prominent as it wasn’t associated with ancient pagan rituals like lamb or beef; the relative ease of pig farming also contributed to its popularity.

Families simply add more meat to familiar dishes – larger portions, richer versions, or more dishes per meal – without changing the vegetable and grain foundation.

Pork is the everyday staple, chicken provides light broths and weekday meals, and duck carries festive importance. Beef, lamb, and offal hold regional significance. China was among the first to domesticate pigs, which became symbols of prosperity and family. They thrived in traditional farms, feeding on crop byproducts and kitchen waste.

Iconic meat dishes include Peking duck with sweet bean sauce, Hong Shao Rou (soy-braised pork belly), Sichuan Twice-Cooked Pork, Dongpo Pork from Hangzhou, spicy Kung Pao Chicken, and Cantonese Char Siu glazed with honey and soy.

Among the Greek islands, seafood specialties feature sun-dried octopus, which you’ll often see hanging outside to dry. This method tenderizes the meat and imparts a unique dried flavor. Once dried, the octopus is grilled, becoming tender and smoky.

Grilled sardines can be found in various cuisines, but the simple Greek preparation typically involves olive oil, lemon, and oregano.

Mollusks are eaten widely, from street stalls to banquets, placing China among the world’s top consumers. Seafood is often cooked alive or freshly killed using quick methods and light sauces — soy, ginger, scallion, Shaoxing wine, or a hint of vinegar. Regional favorites include drunken shrimp in rice wine, salt-and-pepper squid, crab with ginger and scallion, and abalone braised in oyster sauce.

Mountainous terrain favored sheep and goats, so sheep cheeses became dominant; feta is a white, brined, tangy cheese primarily from sheep’s milk, with up to 30% goat’s milk allowed under PDO rules.

Feta is among the oldest recorded cheese styles, linked to descriptions in Homer’s era, and still hugely popular – often cited as about 70% of Greek cheese consumption.

Milk and dairy are rare since most Chinese were historically lactose intolerant. Dairy traditions exist mainly in Inner Mongolia and Tibet, with yogurt, butter tea, and curds. In Han cuisine, dairy appears mostly in modern desserts, milk breads, and Hong Kong–style milk tea.

Instead of dairy, Chinese cuisine turns to soy milk and tofu for creamy textures and protein.

With over 120 million olive trees in Greece, that’s roughly 11 trees for every resident in the country. The majority of the olive oil produced is of extra virgin quality, making it one of the highest percentages in the world. It’s mind-blowing to think about the impact of olives and olive oil on Greek cuisine. One of the most characteristic aspects of Greek food is ladera dishes. These are vegetables cooked slowly in olive oil with tomatoes and herbs, creating a rich, comforting meal.

Nuts grow abundantly throughout Greece; they are enjoyed raw and roasted as a snack, a crunchy addition to salads or pilafs, and in sweets. Nuts, especially almonds, hold religious significance in Greece.

Many of Greece’s desserts, such as baklava, galaktoboureko, and kataifi, rely on phyllo dough soaked in honey or sugar syrup. The combination of crunchy layers with sticky syrup creates a signature texture central to Greek sweets.

Chinese desserts are light, subtly sweet, and texture-focused. Ingredients like rice flour, beans, sesame, nuts, and fruit replace dairy and heavy cream. Sweetness comes from red bean paste, lotus seeds, or glutinous rice rather than refined sugar.