French and Italian restaurants are often seen as the most romantic choice for Valentine's Day, but if you and your partner prefer something a bit spicier, why not go for an Indian, Thai or Chinese meal?

With food to share such as prawn crackers, spring rolls, duck pancakes and main meals, it's the perfect way to celebrate this year.

If you'd rather stay in, a Chinese takeaway is perfect for a romantic night in and you'll save on the washing up.

Although some regions in China enjoy sweet and sour chicken, pork balls and egg fried rice, these are typically Westernised versions of Chinese cuisine.

Rice is a staple food everywhere apart from in the colder north where noodles form the basis of most meals.

There are three main types of noodles. Egg noodles are commonly found in Cantonese cooking in soups or stir-fries.

Wheat noodles are cooked, then stir-fried and found mainly in the Shanghai area where sweet flavours dominate.

Rice flour noodles are thin and spindly and are often found in Singapore dishes. In the North wheat-based food such as pancakes and dumplings are popular replacements for rice.

From the Beijing region, dishes such as Peking Duck are well-known and in Cantonese cooking food is steamed, boiled or stir-fried and then eaten with white rice.

Food from the Sichuan (Szechuan) region is notoriously spicy, due to the chilli oil used to cook it in.

In the Hong Kong region markets are full of dogs, snakes and turtles - there is a running joke that residents of this area will eat anything from earth, land or sea.