Updated Essential Question: What are the criteria that makes food authentic?

While doing my senior project I’ve been watching many videos about traditional Chinese and Indian street food. I noticed many similarities between both cuisines. Both focus on spices, cooking techniques and fresh ingredients. What stood out to me the most was the importance of the order the ingredients are put in the pot when cooking curries. First the fat goes in (often ghee, sometimes oil), whole spices (like Cumin and Corriander), wet seasonings (for example, grated ginger), ground seasonings that would burn if added too early, and lastly the main ingredient. The chef in ths MilkStreet youtube video who discussed this style of cooking said that the importance of the order is prevalent in making all Indian food as well, not just Curry. This specifc video also exposed me to three seemingly easy to make Indian dishes that I would like to make for the experimental portion of my project. The three Indian Classics were Chicken Vindaloo, Aloo Matar and Butter Chicken. I had heard of Chicken Vindaloo and Butter Chicken before but I had never heard of Aloo Matar before. This learning moment taught me more about Indian food and how it’s supposed to be cooked authentically, the importance of order, and helped me understand how Indian chefs cook.

From another MilkStreet video I was able to learn about traditional Chinese cooking. I learned that Chhina has an ancient culture of gastronomy and “mouth-feel” and texture is very important in traditional Chinese cooking. A technique from this video that stuck with me was called the Sizzling Oil technique where the chef poured boiling hot sesame oil over blanched vegetables. I was very interested by this technique and would like to try and attempt it cooking on my own.

What I got from both videos was insight on how Chinese and Indian cuisine is cooked traditionally. I also got ideas about to make at home since I was struggling to find traditional and authentic recipes that I could realistically make at home. Overall I’ve learned that technique contributes to “authentic” cooking.

videos I reference: