A Chinese chef is a person who cooks Chinese cuisine dishes professionally.
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Categories of Chinese Culinary Techniques & Chinese Chefs
Chinese Culinary Techniques are broadly categorized into two types: The Red Board & The White Board.
Board - The word “Board” here refers to Chinese chopping board.
Red Board - The Red Board here refers to the Chinese culinary techniques that involve preparing and cooking of all kinds of dishes made of various meats, seafood, eggs and vegetables, etc. The name came from the color of most meats: red.
White Board – The White Board here refers to the Chinese culinary techniques that involve preparing and cooking of all kinds of pastry food, noodle dishes, Chinese Dim Sum, etc. that are made of flour. The name came from the color of flour: white.
Chinese Chef - The Red Board Chef
A Red Board Chinese Chef thus refers to a Chinese chef who is expert at Chinese Red Board culinary techniques.
Chinese Chef - The White Board Chef
A White Board Chinese Chef thus refers to a Chinese chef who is expert at Chinese White Board culinary techniques.
National Occupational Standards for Chinese Chefs (中国职业资格证书与中式烹调师等级制度)
Although in China, chefs are broadly recognized by Red or White Board, these terms are not used in official documents. Red or White Board terms are frequently considered jargons in the business. Officially, cooking professionals are divided into Chinese-style Chef (i.e. Red Board) and Chinese-style Pastry Chef (i.e. White Board).
Both categories consist of five consecutive levels respectively, and Chinese cooking professionals are expected to learn and practice and attend examinations to obtain official certificates for each level. These levels are:
Reference: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of P. R. China
The Senior Technician is the highest level, and usually the Executive Chef in a superior restaurant is expected to have a Senior Technician certificate.
Red Board Chinese Cuisine
Chinese cuisine (Chinese dishes) is widely known for its Eight Regional Cuisines which have their own features, flavors, materials and unique cooking styles.
These cuisines are:
White Board Chinese Cuisine
Chinese pastry cuisine is broadly divided into Northern Style and Southern Style.
Northern style pastry food is featured by its numerous ways of making food out of flour like noodle, dumplings, buns, cakes, etc. In particular, Lanzhou la mian (hand-pull noodle) is a typical northern style pastry food, originated from northern China, and also widely known as Ramen.
Southern style pastry food is featured by Cantonese Dim sum which is thought of as a kind of delicate refection. Dim sum can include steamed dumplings and buns with all kinds of stuffs: meats, seafood, vegetables, and fruits, etc. and usually served with morning or evening tea.