Showing posts with label Foods. Show all posts

Chinese Noodles has a history of 4,000 years according to an archeological discovery in Qinghai Province where a 50-centimeter-long noodle made of millet was unearthed. Eating Noodles is a part of birthday celebrations in China. Long noodles stand for longevity in Chinese culture. Noodles are regarded as the staple food in North China and usually served as breakfast in South China. The reason lies in the two agricultural patterns in China: wheat and millet are mainly produced in North China while rice is mainly produced in South China. Chinese Noodles are generally made from wheat flour, rice flour, tapioca starch or any kind of starch, with eggs, peanuts, meat, shrimps, vegetables and so forth as ingredients. The most common noodles are wheat flour noodles and rice noodles.

 

Noodles are cooked steamed, fried, boiled, or served in soups. Due to various cooking ways and ingredients, nearly every region of China has its own noodles, such as Lanzhou beef noodles, bean sauce noodles in Beijing (炸酱面), sliced noodles (刀削面) in Shanxi Province, pot noodles (锅盖面) in Zhenjiang City, hot-dry noodles (热干面) in Wuhan, Sichuan noodles with sesame peppery (担担面), Guilin rice noodles (桂林米粉), etc. Today most noodles are made by machine. But handmade noodles are still popular in China. Making ''handmade noodles'' is regarded as a necessary skill for girls in central China. The process involves pressing, pulling and rolling the dough with hand or a rolling pin repeatedly.  Eventually the dough is turned into either long or thin or flat or thick noodles.

 

 

The representative wheat noodles should be Lanzhou beef noodles. A day begins with a bowl of beef noodles for Lanzhou locals in Gansu Province. The city has over one thousand noodles restaurants. And some one million bowls of noodles are consumed daily. Noodles are absolutely the staple of Lanzhou. Beef Noodles are not only the local flavor snack but also enjoy a high reputation in the whole country. It takes few minutes to pull the dough and make a bowl of noodles, but proficiency is strongly required. From sorting flour, kneading with water, covering with a wet cloth, to rolling and pulling the dough, the elasticity of protein in noodles is fully utilized. The history of Lanzhou beef noodles can be traced back to Qing Dynasty. The originator is said to be a Muslim called Mabaozi. Legend has it that Ma Baozi was born in a poor family and he made beef noodles and sold them in the street. Afterwards he added boiled liver of cattle and sheep into beef noodles and found it much more delicious. Since then Ma Baozi had more and more customers and opened a restaurant. His son took over his business and attempted to improve the beef noodles. Today his beef noodles has nearly been a household name in China. It is known that liver can pure toxins in eyes. May be that’s why western Chinese people have brighter eyes. Besides, the authentic Lanzhou beef noodles should have clear soup.
 

Rice noodles fall into different categories such as Mixian (米线), Shahe fen (沙河粉), Rice noodles roll (肠粉). Rice flour and water are the major ingredients of rice noodles. Guilin Rice Noodles is known for its unique flavor. Firstly rice grains are soaked in water to swell; next they will be grinded into liquid. After water is filtered, the dough will be boiled and squeezed into flat or round slices. The round noodles are called Mi Fen(米粉) and the flat noodles are called Qie Fen (切粉). Rice noodles features white, tender, soft and refreshing. The most popular rice noodles in Guilin should be noodles mixed with brine. Brine is the key element to make delicious rice noodles. A number of ingredients are added to make good brine, such as beans, anise, pork, beef, Sanhua wine. Apart from cruising the Li River, having a bowl of rice noodles should also be a must-do for tourist who goes to Guilin. Rice noodles restaurants can be found easily in Guilin.

//visitour

 

Staples are not only the main food on the table of Chinese people but also the main source of their energy. Divergent staples vary from regions to regions, ranging from wheat in the northern China to rice in the southern China. But whatever they are, staples always play a profound impact on people's understanding of the ever-changing seasons, and in the meanwhile make their life much bountiful, healthy and charmed.

 

 

Every year when late rice is ripe, dwellers in Ningbo, Zhejiang province begin to make Chinese New Year's cake, also known as Niángāo, or Year cake – the staple in this long-history city. Actually, it is a tradition for the residents to heraldSpring Festival by making Year cakes.

 

New Year's cakes of Ningbo city are made from milled late medium to short-grain nonglutinous rice. After it is soaked, ground, steamed and pounded, molecules of rice are reorganized, which enhances its taste. Then, the rice flour mash has to be kneaded on the board before it is cut into bars and pressed on them with mould. Finally, a very common seen footlike niángāo is done. Previously, households in Ningbo made more than fifty-kilogramme-Year cakes before the arrival of Spring festival, and then they would deposit them in the water so that family could enjoy this dainty until the coming year.

 

 

More often than not Ningbo residents have Chinese New Year's cakes as their dinner after toiling in the farmland, in that it saves time. A perfect combination of vegetables and Year cakes can not only cram people but also regarded as a delicacy.

 

Another exquisite dish is Crab Fried with Year Cake. It follows like this: first, wash the crab and chop it into several thick pieces; second, poach Year cakes before soaked in the cold water; then, fry the crab together with shredded ginger for a few minutes; next, fry the Year cakes until they are a little bit burnt and add the crab to them seasoned with cooking wine, white sugar and light soy sauce; finally, put some chopped green onions. In this way the yummy dish is before your eyes!

 

 

 

When Chinese Lunar New Year is around the corner, children on the move will come back to their hometown to usher in the new beginning. On the table there are sumptuous meals that cannot dispense with children's favourite food – Chinese New Year's cakes. The older the children grow, the fewer times the family makes niángāo. Nevertheless, the senior still carry on this tradition despite the fact. In Jingtou Village, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, making niángāo is indeed a ceremonious event. Locals there tend to call this round-shaped Chinese New Year's cake Tuanzi, which means reunion. On these days, neighbours will help each other to make the food, thus Tuanzi of varied shapes come to life. Dwellers often mix steamed rice flour mash with wormwood stored in spring before pounding. Usually, the ready-made Year cakes touches warm and sticky. Scattering golden pollen pini, you will breathe in the refreshing and sweet scent! 

 

Years may elapse but this distinctive taste will always be engraved in the heart of the children, in that it is a dainty, but more importantly, it is symbolic of our own family.

//visitourchina

By reason of the various physical geographies, the unique distribution of Chinese agriculture has taken shape some 1000 years ago that dry farming of millet and wheat is carried out in the Yellow River Valley in north China, while the wet farming of rice is implemented in Yangtze River Basin in south China, which in consequence results in a common phenomenon- northerners prefer wheaten food and southerners cannot live without rice. For thousands of years, to reward toil on the soil, Chinese people live in different regions find a way to make diversified food with the simplex basic material of grains.

 

In north China with the wide stretches of land, the ripe wheat colors the earth with golden yellow every autumn. Since introduced into Central Plains from western Asia some 4000 years ago, the eutrophic wheat has localized and turned into one of the two major crops of China. A leading role on Chinese tables, staple food made from wheat is the primary source of energy offering most calories that people needed. The typical handling of wheat is grinding them into powders and then made into a variety of food, such as noodles (of Lanzhou), rice noodles (of Guilin), steamed buns, dumplings, Chinese deep-fried cakes, Chinese breads and hamburgers.  

 

 

The world known ancient city of Xi’an, the capital for 13 dynasties in ancient China, was once the most bustling city in the world especially in Tang Dynasty (618-907). It attracted people from every corner of the world as well as their tasty food in the meantime. To this day, the city is certainly still the food paradise that every new visitor will explore for featured dishes and snacks in the famous district of the Muslim Street. Among its dozens of famed tempting food, Bai Ji Mo (白吉馍), or Chinese baked flatbread, an indigenous staple Xi’an food, is a must for trying, while Rou Jia Mo (肉夹馍) and Pita Bread (Bai Ji Mo) Soaked in Beef or Lamb Soup (牛/羊肉泡馍) are the typical ways to enjoy this dainty.  

 

 

The authentic Bai Ji Mo is made from wheat flour, which is made into a batter with ingredients such as eggs, and stirred constantly for an extended period of time, and then baked in a mud or clay oven till thoroughly set. Rou Jia Mo, a meat burger or meat sandwich of Chinese which is so famous that even included in the menu of the Café in Florida’s Disney Land, can be traced back to Qin Dynasty (221-206B.C.) and firstly invented by Han people. The meat for Roujiamo was initially the pork, which was stewed for hours in the thick soup comprising more than 30 kinds of spices and seasonings. The soft and glutinous taste of the meat can amazingly combine the simply taste of Baijimo. Promoted in the history by Muslims lived in Xi’an who refused any pork, today, beef and lamb are popular substitutions for meat in the Roujiamo.

 

 

Pita Bread Soaked in Beef or Lamb Soup, simply small slices of Bai Ji Mo cooked or just soaked in beef or lamb soup is another popular staple food in Xi’an. It is a perfect mixture of wheaten Baijimo and thick soup which was stewed for more than ten hours. To enjoy this dish, to break Bai Ji Mo into pieces with hands is the most important part as well as the most enjoyable process. Each person can slice the Mo into different sizes or shapes according to his own eating habits, and for almost every Xi’an people, to lift of finger to do this simple action is indeed a quite enjoyment other than the eating.

//visitourchina

It seems to all eaters that flavour is a top priority. And Chinese people never confine themselves to a flat and monotonous list of food. They are always giving it their best shot at seeking transformation from plant to delicacy. With their own understanding of food in Chinese Cuisines, they create conditions and seize opportunities in the process all the time.

 

Tofu, symbolic of food culture of Central Plains (an area on the lower reaches of the Yellow River which formed the cradle of Chinese civilization), going on a 2000-year journey from birth to prosperity is a kind of dainty that are transformed from soybeans.

 

 

Shou County, a small and ancient town, lies in the north of Anhui province. Residents here have a great affection of this food. They are convinced of their forefathers as the inventors of the great tofu.

 

When it comes to the middle of October, the northern Anhui has harvested soybeans. Tofu, or bean curd is the most popular food if it is made of these fresh soybeans. In the long history of agriculture in China, soybeans have taken up a position of vital importance. Of all known legumes, the soybean is most rich in protein and the most inexpensive food source. However, it was once in a dilemma in that it failed to stimulate people's appetite and was easy to increase flatulence. Consequently, what needs badly is to fine a perfect way to eat soybeans.

 

 

After repeated attempts, sensible people have come up with the way. Grind the soybean and add water to it, and bean milk is done. Then comes the key to transformation from the fluid to tofu - calcium sulfate, a whit powder and mix them. In the boiling bean milk, denaturalized protein and calcium sulfate immediately have gelation effect. It happens so quick that can be noticed within a second. At the sight of the change from white liquid into white solid, you cannot help feeling amazed.

 

As a matter of fact, calcium sulfate had often been recorded in the book of Chinese warlocks in the remote times. Coincidently, the close connection between the white powder and tofu had relation to this. It is believed that more than 2000years ago, Líu Ān (Chinese: 刘安, 179 BC – 122 BC), a Chinese prince who had happened to drop calcium sulfate when cultivating pellet in Bagong Mountain made tofu. No matter how dramatic the story is, Chinese people must have found the way to produce the remarkable tofu through trial and error.

 

 

On all accounts, the presence of tofu has changed the fate of tofu to the core.

 

Tofu is unique in the eyes of Chinese people who are adept in cuisine. With this simple material they have created many dishes or snacks by dent of their imagination. Tofu curd and fried dried milk cake are the cases in point. Those negative factors which set soybeans in an awkward position such as trypsin inhibitor, unabsorbable sugar and phytic acid are all eliminated in the transformation.

 

In the ultimate analysis, tofu provides a way for Chinese people to express their adaptability. All this at the same time attaches a high value on soybeans. Transformation as a traditional means not only brings about dainties to the public but also reveals the wisdom of Chinese people in cuisine.

//visitourchina

Time is the bosom friend of food; time is the mortal enemy of food. Although we have invented diverse ways to preserve food thanks to science and technology, such old ways as pickling, aeration drying, and bloating can not only keep food fresh, but also lead us to distinct and even more unforgettable flavour than that of fresh food. By far, food made by time twice still has a profound impact on Chinese daily diets. More importantly, it reveals the deep feelings of its people towards their hometown, such as kimchi.

 

 

 

In the morning of golden autumn, the ancient Hulan River, originated from Lesser Khingan Mountains, meanders into Songhua River. It has nourished the eastern lands of Songnen Plain and its dwellers for thousands of years. When it comes to September, black soil along the banks produces high quality rice. Soon, it will be covered with ice and snow after the harvest, as if it were a white ocean.

 

Inhabitants in Suihua city, Heilongjiang province get accustomed to storing Chinese cabbage for winter in the long course of sever cold. The Korean nationality living here calls kimchi, or spicy cabbage, “grain for winter”. Nowadays, it is not difficult to approach fresh vegetables in winter, but kimchi with unique flavour is still an essential part of the locals’ life. It is no exaggeration to say that it has become a snack sweeping over the world.

 

In the past, due to the shortage of fresh food in the freezing winter, Manchurian used to make pickles and dried vegetables from the fresh at the end of each autumn. Women in this city now tend to send their products to their children in the metropolis.

 

 

 

Cabbages grown in the garden are planted during the first of the three periods of the hot season. Cabbages with tender leaves are the finest ingredients of making kimchi. But how to make it? After cutting Chinese cabbages, you have to remove unnecessary water in them by saline water. Next, place stones above them, which have become smooth owing to a long period of time. Then comes the process of making kimchi in the real sense. As the priority as it is, the residents at dawn are busy with preparatory work. The key step of making the spicy cabbages is to daub them with seasonings including chilli, apples, pears, fish sauce and shrimp meat. Different as they are, seasonings must comprise chilli powder. In the eyes of the Korean nationality, tteok is an indispensible part during festivals, such as Spring Festival and Mid Autumn Festival. Therefore, refreshing kimchi and this sweet and sticky food absolutely form a perfect combination for celebration. Neighbours are mutually assisting in making spicy cabbages, from one household to another. Half a month later, the cabbages in pots will change into kimchi because of fermentation of lactic acid.

 

 

 

The power of time can never be looked down upon. Desire for freshness lasts forever; nevertheless, pickling food is even more attractive for those who still keep their eating habits even though they have been away from hometown for a long time.

In Chinese food, many a dainty is provided with special full-bodied flavor, which is the positive result of fermentation. To transform a raw material to a delicious taste, the intelligent ancestors of Chinese people had created all possible conditions and attempted continuously with their distinctive understanding of food. In the wide stretches of prairie in North China, a kind of fluid tasty nourishes the strong Mongolian herdsmen- it is the Dried Milk Cake transformed from milk.

 

In the breakfast table of Mongolians, milky tea is the eternal staple, which is made of brick tea, butter, stir-fried millet and fresh milk. Equally, the dried milk cake is the other food that people in grassland cannot live without. Livestock is the property of a family as well as a part of the herdsman; they are too precious and the meat is a luxury to be presented in the table. As a consequence, kinds of dairy food become the main course offering the vitamins and mineral substances that people can not easily get in grassland without abundant vegetables and fruits.

 

 

The Ujumqin Grassland of Inner Mongolia takes off its green from the later of September. The Mongolian herdsmen have to seize the days for the last grazing before the severe winter arrives, while the homemakers have to hurry up for making dried yoghourt cakes for the long winter though the fresh milk is not easily fermented as in warm summer. Fetch the fresh milk and lay aside for several days for natural fermentation; after fully fermented, the sour milk become nubbly curd, and the sour cream in the surface, which is the most precious part, will be spooned up; boil the milk to separate the albumen and sour whey. The whey will be reserved for domestic animals, while the albumen is the part to make dried milk cake. When boiling, it is necessary to stir the milk unceasingly so as not to stick to the pan bottom; when the whey is thoroughly boiled away, the hot milk condenses to a roll and is scooped up in a wooden mould. After days, when the air-dried milk is stout, the dried milk cake is done. This kind of cake can be eaten directly, or fried, cooked, and kept for a long time.  

 

 

In many large cities today, there are restaurants specializing in Mongolian dishes, among which the roast lamb back is customers’ preference because the dish in people’s mind is always connecting with the straightforward lifestyle in the grassland; however, for people live in the interior of the grassland, the diary food, which provides them with adequate calories even in severe winter, is exactly the original of their life.

 

In Dali of Yunnan Province, thousands of miles to the south of Inner Mongolia, people use the identical way to transform the milk to Rushan (乳扇, literally a fan made of milk, a particular flaky diary food, and one of the 18 weirdest things of Yunnan). The difference is the making of milk roll is cooperated with hands; when a milk roll is done, it is pulled to a large slice and reeled up to a bamboo for air-drying hanging in the courtyards- numerous bamboos wrapped with Rushan constitute an image as a huge wind bells. The typical way to enjoy Rushan is to fry it.

 

 

This tacit understanding of transformation of milk between these two far apart areas may go back to 800 years ago during the flourishing era of the Mongolians, who founded Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). When the Hublai (1215-1294, the founding emperor of Yuan Dynasty) expedited to Yunnan, some Mongolians from his troops had settled down and introduced in their dairy food, the making skills of which hereupon had been handed down.

 

As a matter of fact, the wisdom of transformation had shined in remote ancient times in China, and all the imaginative transformation had created special flavors and a sublimation of nutrition, a part of which had been taken shape as a kind of culture, inherited by generations to generations.

 

Time, the sworn enemy of food, sometimes is also the friend of food. Although we have obtained diversified ways to preserve food by means of modern technology, such old methods as pickling, air-drying, fumigating and salting had once unexpectedly brought us different and sometimes even unrivalled taste of food, which is the taste of time. Even to these days, those cured food still have a strong impact on people’s daily diet. Here I will talk about two cured meat that is popular in South China especially in Hunan Province – bacon and salted fish.

When autumn comes to South China, people there will be tempted by another taste of time – different from the taste of Kimchi in North China. People have their own way to preserve food that is contrast to that of North China as the weather and natural environment is quite different. With the intention of better preserving fresh meat which easily goes bad in humid and hot weather of the south, people created a way which can sometimes be a combination of salting, air-drying and fumigating. The unexpected bonus is they gain a different and even more unforgettable taste. Bacon is a traditional winter necessity for southerners in China. Today, bacon can be seen on family table as well as on the table of top restaurant. Hot Pot Rice (Bao Zai Fan) is a typical way to eat cured meat. Cooking Hot Pot Rice is a both sophisticated and painstaking task. The most difficult thing is timing. Fresh rice and a clay pot are needed to cook a good pot of rice. Rice is to be done with big fire and then be baked on charcoal stove to allow the gravy slowly seep into rice. Warm, fragrant and sticky Hot Pot Rice is always a mouthwatering food right to be eaten in winter.

In central mainland of China, you will have the chance to enjoy a primitive food – salted Hehua fish (scientific name: Procypris merus, actually a kind of carp that is native to China). Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County (Jingzhou for short), a county in the west of Hunan Province, has a mountainous terrain and is quite secluded from the outside world. Winter is the season to make bacon for each family in Jingzhou. Bacon is fairly popular in Sichuan, Hunan andGuangdong Province. It is usually made in the twelfth month of Chinese lunar calendar, early than Chinese Spring Festival. It hardly goes bad. As it is smoked and salted, bacon is free from flies even on ''sauna day''. Moreover, not being too greasy, it has unique flavor and can be appetite-boosting and digestible. In Jingzhou, Fresh meat is first cut into even slices and then daubed with salt which will be melted in homemade rice wine. Jingzhou is abundant in wood resources. Hardwood from tea tree and arbutus is ideal to be used as fuel to fumigate the meat. The ready meat is then to be hanging above the fire pond where cooking takes place. Pine cores and orange peels will be added constantly to make the cured meat more scented. The best place to keep bacon is the dry and lucifugal granary. Bacon must be peeled off with fire and cleansed in rice water before it is cooked.

The eighth month of Chinese lunar calendar is final growth stage of rice and the best time to make salted fish as well. It is essential to make a good wooden bucket, the major material of which is a bunch of China fir. The bucket will eventually be fastened with bamboo splits to avoid erosion of salt. In fact, a Hehua fish is a carp growing in rice paddies and got its name as it likes eating standing grains. The Hehua fish tastes sweet and tender as thriving rice contains high sugars and nutrition. Catching fish in rice paddies is do the most enjoyable and exciting thing for boys and girls in rural areas of Jingzhou. Although these simple boys and girls are short of modern toys, they do not lack fun. The first step to cure the fish is to fry the sticky rice with oil, which is an indispensable condiment. Fresh red peppers, gingers, Shan Nai (Rhizoma Kaempferiae), Mu Jiangzi (Litsea cubeba) and salt are mixed together with fish. Clamp the fish layer upon layer and finally cover the bucket with heavy staffs. Salted fish is edible one month later and usually served along with beans. Bacon is usually served with radish slices. For simple Miao people, Cured meat is not only food but also unforgettable memory in life.

//visitourchina