Cinnamon, Chinese

I've rarely if ever come across Chinese cinnamon in the UK as we tend to use Indonesian cinnamon and, more recently, Sri Lankan cinnamon.

Chinese cinnamon tree	Chinese cinnamon flowers	Chinese cinnamon quills	Ground Chinese cinnamon

Species:	Cinnamomum cassia.
Origin:	South-East Asia.
Source:	Southern China, Burma, Laos and Vietnam. Commercial cultivation is restricted to China and Vietnam.
Used Part:	Stem bark.
Family:	Lauraceae (laurel family).
Effect:	Strongly aromatic, sweet and warm but slightly bitter and mucilaginous. Compared to Sri Lankan cinnamon, Chinese cinnamon tastes slightly bitter and astringent and it lacks the "liveliness" of Sri Lankan cinnamon.
Etymology:	The common name cassia indirectly derives from Greek kasia which is probably a loan from Semitic traders (cf. Old Hebrew qesīāh). Its ultimate origin is not fully clear but the name, like the spice, probably derives from China. It has been suggested that cassia might be related to the name of the Khasi tribe in North-Eastern India and Bangladesh. For the derivation of cinnamon and similar forms, see Sri Lankan Cinnamon and for another group of names exemplified by kaneel and cannelle see Indonesian Cinnamon.
	In the area from Central Asia to North India, cinnamon spice was traditionally imported from China. Local languages do not distinguish between Chinese and other types of cinnamon, but employ the same name for all cinnamon types. Bengali darchini, Hindi and Puijabi dhal Chini, Urdu dar Chini and Farsi darchi all mean "Chinese wood".
	The name was transferred to a number of unrelated languages: Turkish tarçını, Azerbaijani darçın, Kazakh darshin, Georgian darichini, Arabic darsin and also Armenian tarjin. The cinnamon sold and used in today's India and Central Asia may derive from either variety. Adulteration is common, e.g. by using the bark of the tree that yields Indian bay leaves.
Uses:	Chinese cinnamon was the first cinnamon species to make its way to Europe, at least since Alexander the Great. Before this time, Chinese cinnamon was transported to Egypt (where it was part of mummification mixtures for the pharaohs) and to Palestine (resulting in several mentions in the Bible).
	Today, Chinese cinnamon is the preferred cinnamon species from peninsular South-East Asia to Central Asia. In Western countries, Sri Lankan cinnamon is usually preferred for its purer and less harsh taste. Although Chinese cinnamon is common in the US, it is unavailable in Europe except in Chinese markets.
	In Chinese cookery, Chinese cinnamon is an essential ingredient, used in the famous Chinese five spice and in mixtures of dried spices for slow-simmered hotpots. Together with other spices, Chinese cinnamon is important for Chinese cooking techniques that use large amounts of aromatic liquid as a cooking medium. The two best-known of these are hongshao "red braising"and shui lu "master sauce cooking".
	Red braising means slow cooking in a mixture of dark soy sauce and pastes (often sweet bean paste, hoisin, sugar and rice wine flavoured with fresh ginger, onion, garlic, Chinese cinnamon, star anise, orange peel, fennel, Sichuan pepper and/or liquorice. By this type of cooking, the foods acquire a deep reddish-brown hue. The "master sauce cooking" technique uses a strongly salted and spiced broth (shui lu "salt water") as cooking medium. Flavourings for a master sauce are rice wine, ginger and the red braising spices. The more often the master sauce is used, the more aromatic and "masterly" it tastes.