Skip to main content

Table 1 Summarizes the key foreign food ingredients that have been integrated into the traditional Chinese food culture

From: Analysis of the health effects of the transition of traditional Chinese food on the emergence of nontraditional eating behaviors

Foreign food ingredient integrated in Chinese food culture

Culture original source

Goat, sheep, and various fruits and vegetables

Western and Central Asia

Sweet potatoes varieties and peanuts

Transported by mariners from Central and South America

Champa rice, drought-resistant rice introduced to the southeastern coastal Fujian Province

Transported from India

Coriander, onions, peas, and sesame seeds

Imported from Bactria, an ancient region in Central Asia

Pomegranates, lima bean, watermelon, muskmelon, carrot, fennel, grapes, celery, and other spices

Came to China through the Overland Silk Road from Central Asia into the Xinjiang Uygur territories in western China (Fig. 1)

Cucumber

Entered China from Western Asia during the Han Dynasty

Red hot chili peppers

Transported Portuguese sailors through sailing the Indian Ocean

Almonds, figs, sugar beets, spinach, and lettuce

Introduced by traders and migrants from the Middle East, Western, and Central Asia