CHINESE FOOD (Part 1) December 23, 2008

Last week (16 Dec, 2008), I had a Pre-Christmas gathering with my friends. We have exchanged our Christmas gifts and had a chinese Chiu Chow style dinner in a restaurant in the evening.

What we had for dinner?

1) 凍烏頭魚 ( Cold Fish)

Actually, this dish is serves as cold condition…..

2) 鹵水鵝片 (Slices of Goose with Soysauce)

3) 潮式煎蠔酪 (Deep Fries of Oyster in Chiu Chou Style)

I think eggs and flour are involved with the oyster.

4) 方魚芥蘭 (Kale with fish)

5) 竹笙鮮菌玉子豆腐 (Bamboo Fungus, mushrooms with Tofu)

6) 糖醋排骨 ( Deep Fried pork with bone)

The one of Deep fries of Oyster in Chiu Chou Style is my favourite! It’s so delicious ! :-p Wanna try ???  :-p :-p :-p

Chinese Big Day: Dongzhi 冬至 December 21, 2008

Today is Dongzhi (Pinyin: Dōng zhì). It is the most important big day to CHINESE. Dongzhi means the Extreme of Winter, which is always around December 21 or 22 every year when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest, i.e., on the first day of the dongzhi solar term.

The origins of this festival:

It can be traced back to the Yin and Yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After the celebration of this festival, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical signifcance of this is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fu ( Returning). Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. Mostly, people will have gathering like westerners in Christmas. What do we eat in Dongzhi? After the big meal (Dinner), we chinese will make Tangyuan ( a ball of glutinous rice), which symbolize reunion.

Tangyuan is a Chinese food made from glutinous rice flour.

How to make it?

1) Glutinous rice flour mixed with a small amount of water to form balls;

2) Cooked and served in boiling water ( Can add some sugarcane while boiling water, so that the Tangyuan can be served with sweet soup~)

Tangyuan can be either filled or unfilled. It is traditionally eatern during Mid-Autumn Festival too! Tangyuan means “Family Unity” as I mentioned in the above.

The main ingredient of making Tangyuan is glutinous rice flour, the filling can be either sweet or savoury.

Sweet fillings can be:

• A piece of cut sugarcane rock candy;



• Sesame paste (ground black sesame seeds mixed with sugar and lard) – the most common filling;
• Red bean paste;
• 
• Chopped peanuts and sugar. Celebrated on the longest night of the year, Dong Zhi is the day when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. The coming of winter is celebrated by families and is traditionally the time when farmers and fishermen gather food in preparation for the coming cold season. It is also a time for family reunions.

Savoury filling is usually a pork meat ball.

I much prefer the tangyuan with sweet fillings especially with peanuts and sugar. It’s so delicious~ :-p

Pink and white tangyuan, symbolizing family unity and prosperity

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongzhi

Beijing Roast Duck/ Peking Duck April 16, 2008

*Beijing Roast Duck / Peking Duck

 

BEIJING ROAST DUCK is a famous duck dish from Beijing. This dish has been invented since the Yuan Dynasty. Nowadays, we served this dish as one of the China’s National Foods.

 

As you can see the above picture, the duck is roasted traditionally in an oven either a closed oven or hung oven .

 

Closed oven : It is built of brick and fitted with metal griddles. The oven is preheated by burning Gaoliang wood at the base. Then the duck is placed in the oven immediately after the fire burns out. Why ? It is because it allows the meat to be slowly cooked through by convection of heat within the oven.

 

Hung oven : It is designed to roast up to 20 ducks at the same time with an open fire fuelled by hardwood from peach or pear trees. Ducks are hung on hooks above the fire and roasted at a temp. of 270°C for 30 to 40 minutes. When the ducks are cooking, the chef may use a pole to dangle each duck closer to the fire for 30 sec intervals.

 

How to serve this dish?

The cooked Beijing Roast Duck is traditionally carved in front of the diners and served in 3 stages.

1) Skin is served dipped in sugar and garlic sauce;

 

**(The chef cut the duck skin and meat into slices)

2) The meat is then served with steamed pancakes, scallions and sweet noodle sauce;

3) The meat can be served with several vegetables, typically cucumber and carrot sticks.

***

(Skin, steamed pancakes, slices of cucumber and scallion and sweet noodle sauce)

The diners spread sauce over the pancake, then the meat with the vegetables are wrapped inside the pancake, and then of course taste it with your mouth lol~ :-p

 

We have eaten the meat and the skin of the roast duck, how about the remaining fat, meat and bones? We Chinese do not waste any food as a good manner, we will use them to make a broth (that means a soup lol).

 

I have tried this dish several times, it is really delicious!!! :-p When I am writing this post, I feel hungry and really want to taste it again! :-p :-p :-p