When Ukrainian and Chinese Cuisines Face Off

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There is a saying by Yotam Ottolenghi, a famous British chef, that “food can bring people together in a way nothing else could.” Food is a universal language, that any person can understand through taste. And even though we might have different cultures, we can share them through food. 

In the past, we’ve featured the similarities between German, Korean, Indian, and Cameroonian cuisines and Chinese cuisine. This week we are going to explore Chinese and Ukrainian cuisines. They might be divided by many kilometers, but there are more similarities between the two than we think. 

We are going to compare three separate groups of dishes.

So let’s start now!

Roast Penny Bun Mushrooms vs. King Oyster Mushroom (酱香杏鲍菇)

Both Ukraine and China are famous for their mushrooms. But the mushrooms that grow in each country are different. 

In Ukrainian cuisine, we use penny bun mushrooms that grow in the west of Ukraine. Combining the penny bun mushroom with the potato – the “king of the vegetables” – yields the perfect hot course to try in order to explore Ukrainian cuisine.

In China, mushrooms are popular as well. They are commonly used in Henan and Zhejiang provinces. King oyster mushrooms are one of the rarest fungi, and they are used a lot in Chinese cuisine. 

In Ukraine the mushrooms are roasted or fried, while in China, they tend to be stir-fried with sauce. 

Borscht vs. 福建佛跳墙 (fú jiàn fó tiào qiáng)

Both soups are made from multiple ingredients, merging with each other to create an outstanding flavor that will surprise you. 

“The perfect borscht is what life should be but never is.” – Aleksandar Hemon (a Bosnian-American author, essayist, critic, and television writer)

Borscht has a lot of varieties. Every region has its own style of preparing it. According to long-standing tradition, it is made from 12 ingredients: meat, beans, beets, potatoes, cabbage, onions, carrots, dill, parsley, bay leaf, tomato, and garlic. All these are ingredients you can find in the market. 

In China, 福建佛跳墙 (fú jiàn fó tiào qiáng) is considered one of the most expensive soups, and it has its own different varieties depending on where you are. It is made from different types of seafood, as opposed to borscht, which is made from meat and vegetables. 

Vareniki vs. Dumplings

They might look the same, but they don’t taste the same. 

Both dishes take a big part in their respective country’s cultures. A Chinese person cannot live without dumplings (jiaozi), while a Ukrainian cannot live without vareniki. They both have the same texture, but it is the inside that counts. 

There are multiple varieties of vareniki. You can make the dish with potatoes or with sour cabbage. But the most popular way to make vareniki is by filling the dumplings with cherries and eating them for dessert. Cherries are sour, so it is a perfect dessert for sour-lovers. To pound down the flavor, you can dip the dumplings in sour cream. 

Jiaozi, on the other hand, is made as a main dish with different kinds of meat or vegetables inside. The classic way to eat them is to dip them in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar.

In our society, we have billions of different recipes, but this doesn’t stop us from exploring new flavors. Through this exploration we can understand the culture and life of different nations. 

Images: Darina Lo, Dianping

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