Chinese Food

	Navigation Background Information Lesson Plans Helpful Links Resources Back to Homepage Introduction In China, the food that is served is very symbolic. The variety of food served in the different regions of China is also explored.

Background Information

1. Monkey king and the symbolism of food in the story
2. Yin and Yang in Chinese cooking
3. The Five Elements Theory of Chinese cooking
4. Eight Regional Variations
5. Medicinal Cuisine
6. Symbolism in Chinese food
7. Using chopsticks and table manners

Monkey king and the symbolism of food in the story

In the Monkey King story "Havoc in Heaven," Wang Mu Queen (A Chinese goddess, keeper of the peaches of immortality) had a peach banquet for all the gods in the heaven. (The peach represents longevity and peacefulness in the story.) The peaches in her garden took thousands of years to blossom and would prevent people from aging. To this day peaches are given as presents in China to people to wish them Peacefulness.

Summary of story “Havoc in Heaven”
After complaints about Monkey King from several sources, the Jade Emperor contacts Monkey. Rather than attack him, the Jade Emperor offers Monkey work in heaven in the stables. Monkey thinks he has a very high rank. When he learns it is one of the lowest jobs, he leaves heaven in a huff. The Jade Emperor sends his general to bring Monkey back. They fight with insults and blows but they cannot capture Monkey. Monkey finally agrees to return to Heaven only if Heaven will acknowledge the title he has given himself, “Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.” Since the title is without compensation, the Jade Emperor agrees and assigns Monkey to guard the Garden of Immortal Peaches. These magic peaches take 9,000 years to ripen. Anyone who eats them lives forever. Monkey is supposed to protect the peaches for a special banquet, but he can’t resist their yummy smell, and he eats all the best ones. Then Monkey finds out he isn’t invited to the banquet. Insulted, Monkey goes anyway, and he eats all the delicious food and messes up the banquet table before the guests arrive. Realizing he has done something really bad, he runs away. The Jade Emperor calls upon his army to catch Monkey, but Monkey is too powerful and gets away.

Yin and Yang in Chinese Cooking

Source: http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa101899.htm

"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." (Confucius)

Yin and yang. Hot and cold. Male and female. The philosophy of yin and yang lies at the heart of Chinese culture. The first references to yin and yang come from the I Ching, the five classic works compiled and edited by Confucius. Taken literally, yin and yang mean the dark side and sunny side of a hill. People commonly think of yin and yang as opposing forces. However, it is really more appropriate to view them as complementary pairs. The Chinese believe problems arise not when the two forces are battling, but when there is an imbalance between them in the environment. Floods, divorce, or even a fire in the kitchen - all can be attributed to disharmony in the forces of yin and yang.

This is the traditional symbol for the forces of yin and yang
sometimes described as two fish swimming head to tail.

How does the concept of yin and yang relate to food? A basic adherence to this philosophy can be found in any Chinese dish, from stir-fried beef with broccoli to sweet and sour pork. There is always a balance in color, flavors, and textures. However, belief in the importance of following the principles of yin and yang in the diet extends further. Certain foods are thought to have yin or cooling properties, while others have warm, yang properties. The challenge is to consume a diet that contains a healthy balance between the two. When treating illnesses, an Oriental physician will frequently advise dietary changes in order to restore a healthy balance between the yin and yang in the body. For example, let's say you're suffering from heartburn, caused by consuming too many spicy (yang) foods. Instead of antacids, you're likely to take home a prescription for herbal teas to restore the yin forces. Similarly, coughs or flu are more likely to be treated with dietary changes than antibiotics or cough medicines.

Almost no foodstuff is purely yin or yang - it's more that one characteristic tends to dominate. This is why there is not complete agreement among experts as to which foods exhibit yin or yang forces. It also reinforces that it is not so much the individual ingredients, as the balance and contrast between ingredients in each dish, that is important. Interestingly, cooking methods also have more of a yin or yang property, as the list below demonstrates.

Cooking Methods

• Boiling
• Poaching
• Steaming

• Deep-frying
• Roasting
• Stir-frying

Types of Foods

The “Five Elements” Theory of Chinese Cooking

Excerpt from http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa041900a.htm

Like the concept of yin and yang, the Five Elements Theory is at the cornerstone of Chinese culture. What is the Five Elements Theory? The Chinese believe that we are surrounded by five energy fields: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. However, the elements are not static: they are constantly moving and changing. (In fact, some scientists think the term "element" is misleading, and prefer to refer to the "five phases" or "five forces.")

Just as an imbalance between yin and yang can produce destructive forces, keeping all elements in balance promotes harmony both in our surroundings and ourselves. Of course, balancing five elements is a little more complicated than achieving harmony between two opposing forces. According to Chinese belief, each element acts upon two others, either giving birth to it or controlling it. For example, wood gives birth to fire and controls or suppresses earth. Similarly, fire gives birth to earth and controls metal. All the elements are constantly interacting with other elements—none stand alone. The table below outlines the relationships.

As for diet, Chinese herbalists believe that, to properly treat a patient, you must know the state of the five elements in their body. A deficiency or an excess of an element can lead to illness. In The Chinese Kitchen: Recipes, Techniques, Ingredients, History, and Memories from America's Leading Authority on Chinese Cooking, Eileen Yin Fei-Lo provides some wonderful examples of how her grandmother used the principles of the five elements theory to cure common illnesses. Treating a cough with winter melon tea and fresh water chestnuts is just one example.

Suffice to say that practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine rely on it to explain the relationships between the body organs and tissues, as well as between the body and the outside environment. The table below outlines the relationship between the five elements and body parts, feelings, colors, and taste.

How would a physician use the above information to make a diagnosis? Let's say a patient suddenly developed a preference for sour food. This could indicate liver problems. Of course, the actual process of examining a patient and making a diagnosis is much more complex than merely consulting a chart. It requires a thorough understanding of the interaction between all the elements.

"He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skills of the physician." (Chinese proverb)

Eight Regional Variations

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/cuisine/eight_cuisines.htm

For most foreigners, “Chinese food” usually implies a lot of deep-fried, strong-flavored and greasy dishes that all taste similar. However, for Chinese people, “Chinese food” is a concept as useless as “German beer,” because, like Chinese culture in general, Chinese food is extremely diverse. China covers a large territory and has many nationalities; hence there is a wide variety of Chinese foods, each with quite different but fantastic and mouthwatering flavors. Because China's local dishes have their own typical characteristics, Chinese food can be divided into eight regional cuisines, the distinction of which is now widely accepted. Certainly, there are many other local cuisines that are famous, such as Beijing Cuisine and Shanghai Cuisine.

• Shandong Cuisine
  Consisting of Jinan cuisine and Jiaodong cuisine, Shandong cuisine, clean, pure and not greasy, is characterized by its emphasis on aroma, freshness, crispness and tenderness. Shallots and garlic are frequently used as seasonings so Shandong dishes taste pungent. Soups are given much emphasis in Shandong cuisine. Thin soups are clear and fresh while creamy soups are thick and taste strong. Jinan chefs are adept at deep-frying, grilling, pan-frying and stir-frying while Jiaodong chefs are famous for cooking seafood with a fresh and light taste.
  
  Typical menu items: Bird's Nest Soup; Yellow River Carp in Sweet and Sour Sauce
• Sichuan Cuisine
  Sichuan Cuisine, known more commonly in the West as “Szechuan,” is one of the most famous Chinese cuisines in the world. Characterized by its spicy and pungent flavors, Sichuan cuisine, with a myriad of tastes, emphasizes the use of chili. Pepper and prickly ash are always in accompaniment, producing the typical exciting tastes. Garlic, ginger and fermented soybean are also used in the cooking process. Wild vegetables and meats such as are often chosen as ingredients, while frying, frying without oil, pickling and braising are used as basic cooking techniques.
  
  It can be said that one who doesn't experience Sichuan food has never reached China.
  
  Typical menu items: Hot Pot; Smoked Duck; Kung Pao Chicken; Water-Boiled Fish; Tasty and Spicy Crab; Twice Cooked Pork; Mapo Tofu
• Guangdong (Cantonese) Cuisine
  Tasting clean, light, crisp and fresh, Guangdong cuisine, familiar to Westerners, usually has fowl and other meats that produce its unique dishes. The basic cooking techniques include roasting, stir-frying, sauteing, deep-frying, braising, stewing and steaming. Steaming and stir-frying are most frequently used to preserve the ingredients' natural flavors. Guangdong chefs also pay much attention to the artistic presentation of their dishes.
  
  Typical menu items: Shark Fin Soup; Steamed Sea Bass; Roasted Piglet; Dim Sum (a variety of side dishes and desserts)
• Fujian Cuisine
  Combining Fuzhou Cuisine, Quanzhou Cuisine and Xiamen Cuisine, Fujian Cuisine is renowned for its choice seafood, beautiful color and magical tastes of sweet, sour, salt and savory. The most distinct feature is their "pickled taste."
  
  Typical menu items: Buddha Jumping Over the Wall; Snow Chicken; Prawn with Dragon's Body and Phoenix's tail
• Huaiyang Cuisine
  Huaiyang Cuisine, also called Jiangsu Cuisine, is popular in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Using fish and crustaceans as the main ingredients, it stresses their freshness. Its carving techniques are delicate, of which the melon carving technique is especially well known. Cooking techniques consist of stewing, braising, roasting, and simmering. The flavor of Huaiyang Cuisine is light, fresh and sweet and its presentation is delicately elegant.
  
  Typical menu items: Stewed Crab with Clear Soup, Long-boiled and Dry-shredded Meat, Duck Triplet, Crystal Meat, Squirrel with Mandarin Fish, and Liangxi Crisp Eel
• Zhejiang Cuisine
  Comprising local cuisines of Hanzhou, Ningbo, and Shaoxing, Zhejiang Cuisine is not greasy. It wins its reputation for freshness, tenderness, softness, and smoothness of its dishes with their mellow fragrance. Hangzhou Cuisine is the most famous one of the three.
  
  Typical menu items: Sour West Lake Fish, Longjing Shelled Shrimp, Beggar's Chicken
• Hunan Cuisine
  Hunan cuisine consists of local cuisines of Xiangjiang Region, Dongting Lake and Xiangxi coteau areas. It is characterized by thick and pungent flavors. Chili, pepper and shallot are usually necessities in this variation.
  
  Typical menu items: Dongan Chicken; Peppery and Hot Chicken
• Anhui Cuisine
  Anhui Cuisine chefs focus much more attention on the temperature in cooking and are good at braising and stewing. Often ham will be added to improve taste and candied sugar added to gain freshness.
  
  Typical menu items: Stewed Snapper; Huangshan Braised Pigeon

Medicinal Cuisine

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/cuisine/medicine.htm

Chinese medicinal cuisine is unique in China and has a long history. Based on traditional Chinese herbal medicine practice, it combines strictly processed traditional Chinese medicine with traditional culinary materials to produce delicious food with health restoring qualities. In China, people contend that food tonic is much better than medicine tonic in fortifying one's health. To cook medicinal food, one has a large variety of fine materials to choose from and each material has its own unique flavor. Generally, processed herbal materials are more commonly used in order to avoid strong odors. However, individuals of different physical status need to select different herbs. The selection of herbs will depend on each individual's condition of health. Due to its herbal nature, it is better to take medicinal food according to the doctor's prescription.

In the cooking of medicinal food, slow cooking methods such as stewing, braising and simmering are usually used in order to extract more of the herbs' healing properties.

Typical medicine cuisine:

• Baby Pigeon Stewed with Gouqi (Medlar) and Huangqi (membranous milk vetch);
• Pork Simmered with Lotus Seed and lily;
• Pig's Kidney Stewed with Eucommia Bark.

Symbolism in Chinese Food

Symbolism is a very important part of Chinese people’s life. A lot of Chinese foods are also symbolic, especially during traditional festivals or other special occasions.

For Chinese New Year:

• Black moss seaweed - wealth
• Dried Bean Curd - happiness
• Chicken - happiness and marriage (especially when served with "dragon foods," such as lobster. Family reunion (if served whole)
• Eggs - fertility
• Egg Rolls - wealth
• Fish served whole - prosperity
• Lychee nuts - close family ties
• Noodles - A long life
• Oranges – wealth, luck
• Chicken - part of the symbolism of the dragon and phoenix. At a Chinese wedding, chicken's feet (sometimes referred to as phoenix feet) are often served with dragon foods such as lobster. Chicken is also popular at Chinese New Year, symbolizing a good marriage and the coming together of families (serving the bird whole emphasizes family unity).
• Peanuts - a long life
• Peaches - peacefulness
• Pomelo - abundance, prosperity, having children
• Seeds (lotus, watermelon, etc.) - having a large number of children
• Tangerines - luck

For a wedding:

• Zao (Chinese date), peanut, guiyuan (longan) and sunflower seeds - having a “noble” (precious) son very soon
• Eggs - fertility

Other occasions:

• Snapper’s head or shell - welcome
• Red Boiled Egg - for newborn baby

Using Chopsticks and Table Manners

Excerpt from http://www.warriortours.com/intro/cuisine_culture.htm

Chopsticks

Chinese simply choose chopsticks as their tableware rather than knife and fork since Chinese people, under cultivation of Confucianism, consider knife and fork bearing sort of violence, like cold weapons. However, chopsticks reflect gentleness and benevolence, the main moral teaching of Confucianism.

Chinese food seems to taste better eaten with chopsticks which are the special utensil Chinese use to dine. It will be an awkward experience for foreigners to use chopsticks to have a meal. Fortunately, learning to eat with chopsticks is not difficult.

The method of using chopsticks is to hold one chopstick in place while pivoting the other one to pick up a morsel. How to position the chopsticks is the hard part. First, place the first chopstick so that thicker part rests at the base of your thumb and the thinner part rests on the lower side of your middle fingertip. Then, bring your thumb forward so that the stick will be firmly trapped in place. At least two or three inches of chopstick of the thinner end should extend beyond your fingertip. Next, position the other chopstick so that it is held against the side of your index finger by the end of your thumb. Check whether the ends of the chopsticks are even. If not, then tap the thinner parts on the plate to make them be even.

Ok, now you are going to practice. Just place a little pressure on the upper chopstick, the one against your index finger, to make it pivot on the index finger while keep the bottom chopstick stationary. Isn't it easy? After a little practice, you can use them to enjoy your Chinese food. You’ll certainly need to take care in the first few attempts.

Using chopsticks to eat rice is a problem to most foreigners. Generally the tip to eat rice is to bring one's rice bowl close to one's mouth and quickly scoop the rice into it with one's chopsticks. Since this is difficult for foreigners, it is perfectly acceptable simply to lift portions of rice to the mouth from the bowl held in the other hand.

There are superstitions associated with chopsticks too. If you find an uneven pair at your table setting, it means you are going to miss a boat, plane or train. Dropping chopsticks will inevitably bring bad luck. Crossed chopsticks are, however, permissible in a dim sum restaurant. The waiter will cross them to show that your bill has been settled, or you can do the same to show the waiter that you have finished and are ready to pay the bill.

Table manners

In China, since people eat together, usually the host will serve you some dishes with his or her own chopsticks as a show of hospitality. Since this is different than Western customs, you can leave the food alone if you feel too awkward.

There are some other rules you are suggested to follow to make your stay in China happier, though you will be forgiven if you have no idea what they are:

• Never stick your chopsticks upright in the rice bowl, since that is usually done at a funeral and will be seen as an extremely impolite gesture to the host and seniors present.
• Make sure the spout of the teapot is not pointing toward anyone.
• Don't tap on your bowl with your chopsticks, since that will be deemed an insult to the host or the chef.
• Never try to turn a fish over and debone it yourself, since the separation of the fish skeleton from the lower half of the flesh will usually be performed by the host or a waiter. Superstitious people will expect bad luck (a fishing boat will capsize).

Lesson Plans

Helpful Links

• http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/cuisine/
  http://www.warriortours.com/intro/cuisine.htm
  both have several topics related to Chinese food
• http://chinesefood.about.com/od/foodandchineseculture/
  several articles about food and Chinese culture
• http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/yinyang.html
  an article “Yin and Yang in Medical Theory”
• http://asiarecipe.com/yinyang.html
  yin and yang concept and principles.
• http://chinesefood.about.com/library/blquotationsch.htm
  Food Quotations - Chinese Philosophers/Proverbs

Resources

Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of the Five Elements, by Dianne M. Connelly