Title: The Traditional Food in China
What is food? According to the website of dictionary, it gives me an answer as "any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc." I can get the brief idea of what the food is from this definition. While, is that the entire things that the food could bring to the human beings? I hold the different opinion. As I think, food is not only the things that we have to eat every day, but also closely related to our lives. Food, especially the traditional food sometimes could represent a country's culture. The people who live in the country used their diligence and wisdom to create material and spiritual cultures in the different periods of history.
As an international student come to the SCSU for studying, I have been here for almost one year, and tried the most of Chinese restaurant's food in Saint Cloud. I found that the taste of Chinese food here is somewhat different from my hometown, as the dishes are more oily and salty. Instead of using salt, the Chinese restaurants in here refer to use soy sauce when cooked the fried dish. Therefore, I usually cooked by myself, and try to find the real taste of dishes in my hometown in order to relieve my homesick. Just in this week, I asked my friends about the impressions of traditional Chinese food, and the differences between the North and South part of traditional Chinese food. Some of them told me that traditional Chinese food has a long history; it included a variety of dishes; every city has its own characteristic food. The others think that the materials of traditional food should be very common, and easy to buy in the market; those kind of kind must be made by hands; each traditional Chinese food has its own stories in history and some of them are related to the origin of festivals in China.
I confused, whose answer would be included all of my questions. Then, I started to search information from books and websites to find my own answer. Finally, I found that the answers my friends give to me are all the characteristic of traditional Chinese food. According to the book of "Food in Chinese Culture", it says the number of Chinese food is uncountable, and it also accompanied with the history and the development of China. From the website of Wiki, because of the available resources, locate, climate, and history, the food in each part of China has its own cooking style. Actually, as my friend said some traditional Chinese food, especially some famous ones have its culture and custom, such as zongzi, rice glue ball, and dumpling.
Zongzi, a kind of traditional food in China, which is made of sticky rice, salted meat or red bean paste, then, wrapped them in two piece bamboo leaves, and used a slice of bamboo leave or cotton thread to tie it up. In my hometown, people usually use the white and red cotton thread or different sizes to divide the salty and sweet taste of zongzi. After finish it, we put them into a pot and filled with water, and steamed for about two hours. If someone asked a Chinese about when will he or she eat zongzi. I think most of them would said that they usually eaten zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival (on the May 5th of lunar calendar), and some of them may would also talked about a story of zongzi. During the warring states period, there was a man called Qu Yuan, he was a famous poet, and he really loved his country (Chu). While, the country is not very stable at that time as the Qin want to invade the Chu. Qu Yuan tried to advice his king to against with Qin, but it was not successful. Finally, the capital city of Chu was occupied by Qin, which means the Chu was exist in name only. Qu Yuan felt so sorrowful, and he carried a stone and jumped into the Miluo River. In order to avoid fish eating Qu Yuan's body, people put rice in some leaves, wrapped them, and thrown them into the river. Today, the tastes of zongzi is not limited in meat and red bean any more, people also used variety kind of materials, like glace date, chestnut, to make zongzi.
Rice Glue Ball, which could be divided into two parts. In the northern China, people called it Yuanxiao, while, it has another name --Tangyuan in the south part of China. In the northern China, people kneaded the filling into small balls, put the filling on the bamboo basket which is filled with dry sticky rice flour, then, shacked the bamboo basket and added some water until the size of Yuanxiao are medium. While, the people mixed the sticky rice flour with water, kneaded the dough, used the dough to make bolls, and filled with red bean paste in the south part of China. Even though, both sides of China have different name and working process of rice glue ball, they have the same cooking method. Firstly, when we start to cook the rice glue balls, make sure that the water is boiled. Secondly, when we put the rice glue balls into the water, stir them gently in order to avoid them stick at the bottom of stockpot. Thirdly, when the rice glue balls float above the water, we need slow fire, and stir them frequently. The last, but the most important thing is each time when the rice glue balls float above the water, we need to add some cold water, and repeat it two or three times until the Tangyuan are cooked. When people talked about the rice glue ball, they usually thought of a related holiday--Lantern festival, which is celebrated on the fifteenth day of Chinese New Year. I remembered that when I was a child, there will be a lantern show parade at night of every year's Lantern festival. After the parade, my parents would buy a rabbit paper lantern for me. My father help me to light the candle in the lantern, I pulled the lantern, and went back home with my parents. My mother would cook Tangyuan for whole family as a dessert. I do not know what kind of emotion in my heart at that time, but now, I think that would be one of my happiness moments in my life. Tangyuan means reunion; it represents the harmony and happiness of family members.
Jiaozi, or we can call it dumpling, is one of the most common and popular traditional Chinese food. Actually, the first name of it was not Jiaozi, it called Jiaoer. According to legend it was created by Zhang Zhongjing (the medical sage in the Eastern Han), and it has been existed for more than one thousand and eight hundred years. Jiaozi is the main dish and local snack in the northern China and it is also a symbolic food in the Chinese New Year. There is a ballad said that pass though the Great Cold and Slight Cold, and eat dumplings for the New Year. The whole family members get together and make dumplings would be the most important activity on the New Year's Eve in the traditional Chinese families. The working process and cooking method of Jiaozi are similar as Tangyuan, while they also have some differences. When prepared the dough, we need a little wet gauze to cover it, and put it on the table for one hour. When we start to make dumplings, we need to use rolling pin to make the dumpling wrappers at first. Then, filled with the filling, and kneaded in crescent moon size. The cooking method of Jiaozi could be steamed, fried, and roasted, while, in order to hold the taste and nutriment of dumplings, steamed the Jiaozi is the best cooking way.
As we known, China is a big country; there is a variety kind of traditional food in different located cities. The main meal for Chinese is grain, and because of the differences in geography, climate, and customs, the northern and southern China has diverse kind of traditional main food. People who lived in the north part of China would like to use flour to make their main meal, like noodles. While, in the south side of China, people prefer to eat rice every day. Not only the main meal, but also the local snacks have their own characters in both sides of China. In the northern China, the traditional food in that area is based of wheat. People grow wheat, use wheat to make flour, and use flour to make different kind of cooked wheaten food, such as steamed bread, pancake, and steamed stuffed bun. Except for rice, we can also find many rice products appear on the southerner's tables, like Tangyuan, rice cake, and fried glutinous pudding. Today, because of the development of the country, the distinction between the southern and northern of Chinese food is not that clear. As people do businesses more conveniently, the southerner may find a comfortable city in the north, and decide to live there for a long time; and the northerner may take a nice summer vacation in a coastal city in the south. At the same time, they take their living habits and eating habits to that place, like my grandfather. When he was young, he lived in the northern China with his parents and other family members. During the Anti-Japanese War, my grandfather joined the army, followed them to the south side of China, and stay here until now. I lived in my grandfather's home when I was a little child. We usually eaten noodles or dumplings for lunch, and cooked rice for dinner. I still remembered that the noodles, dumplings, and pancakes are all made by him. When my grandfather made those foods, I always stayed near him, and looked how he did. One of my favorite traditional foods is a kind of pancake, which is made by my grandfather. The same as the other pancakes, he used the dough, and added the filling, but the different is he used a kind of dried vegetable, which is a very common food in the south, and mixed it with meat to make the filling. Instead of steam the pancake, he baked it in a pan without oil. Therefore, the dough could hold the nice smell and original taste of the pancake.
There is a saying said that eating in China. A meal seems like a perfect excuse for getting together with the people around us. The traditional food could be recorded into the history for a long time. Because of the changes of tastes in different period of time, people may create some other foods, but the main characteristic of Chinese traditional food would not be replaced by the others. I think that we would cherish this precious resource, develop it better, and let the generations remember the excellent traditional diet culture in China.
Picture Area:
Zongzi
Picture is from (http://www.google.com/search?q=zongzi&hl=en&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Cdu-TcSrNZKisQOp5LzFBQ&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=1349&bih=555)
the making method of Yuanxiao
Picture is from (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1349&bih=555&site=search&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=yuanxiao&aq=f&aqi=g-s1g-sx1g1g-sx3&aql=&oq=)
the making method of Tangyuan
Picture is from (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1366&bih=555&gbv=2&site=search&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=%E6%B1%A4%E5%9C%86%E5%88%B6%E4%BD%9C&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=)
Rice Glue Balls
Picture is from (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1366&bih=555&gbv=2&site=search&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=%E6%B1%A4%E5%9C%86%E5%88%B6%E4%BD%9C&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=)
Dumplings
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References:
Dictionary-Food. May 1st. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/food>.
Wikipedia-Zongzi. May 1st. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zongzi>.
Baidu-Zongzi. May 1st. <http://baike.baidu.com/view/3058.htm>.
Wikipedia-Tangyuan. May 1st. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangyuan_(food)>.
Baidu-Yuanxiao. May 1st. <http://baike.baidu.com/view/1950.htm>.
Wikipedia-Lantern Festival. May 1st. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantern_Festival>.
Baidu-Jiaozi. May 1st. <http://baike.baidu.com/view/11144.htm>.
Show China: Traditional Chinese food. (2011). May 1st. <http://www.showchina.org/jjzg/bwzg/201101/t846608.htm>.
Baidu-Traditional Chinese diet. May 1st. <http://wenku.baidu.com/view/4426bafb770bf78a65295406.html>.
Anderson, Eugene N., & Chang, Kwang-chih. (1977). Food in Chinese culture: anthropological and historical perspectives (pg.4). New Haven : Yale University Press.
Tiger, Lionel. (1985). China's food : a photographic journey (pg.71). New York, N.Y. : Friendly Press.
Tiger, Lionel. (1985). China's food : a photographic journey (pg.71). New York, N.Y. : Friendly Press.
