China, Stories in Food Meat and Fish

By Dandan Chu

On the earth, since the birth of mankind, carnivores have been the majority. Scientists have shown that eating meat will help produce happy moods because the texture of the meat will stimulate a zone in the brain called the “cingulate cortex,” which will respond to pleasant experiences such as smelling perfume or winning the lottery. The Chinese people, especially the literati from ancient times to the present, always mention all kinds of delicious food made of fish and meat in their poems, such as Su Dongpo and Du Fu, even if when describing the delicious food they were on the road of exile. In many Chinese novels you can find faithful record of dishes on banquet. A Dream of Red Mansions can be seen as a grand review of food.
The Chinese have always had a broad view of food. In their eyes, everything beneficial to human body is medicine, and is food, too. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Sun Simiao, a pharmacist, proposed the idea that the cause of disease should be identified first, and “food therapy should be used, and if of no use, then we come to medication.” Even today, in Guangzhou, you will find that many food stores and Chinese herbal medicine stores seem to accompany each other. Flatbread in mutton soup was a delicious food for soldiers in Tang Dynasty to keep energy for fighting in cold winter. Tibetan fried mutton has the same function. Red-braised pigs’ feet are the most well-known in the widely acclaimed “braising family,” and a good dish for beauty and skin.
Starting from the most popular and well-known “stewed pork in soy sauce”, this book will introduce to you 24 classic Chinese dishes cooked with meat or fish as the main ingredients. Each dish has a long history or interesting story, and some of them are also introduced with a simple and easy-to-follow recipe.
The name of the most famous Chinese appetizer sliced beef and ox tongue in chilli sauce is related to the story of a couple working together to live a happy life. Fried salty flounder and lychee pork express the reverie of the ancient Chinese about love and romance. Chinese people love nature and have enough patience to keep their bacon in winter waiting for shoots of spring, just to taste the dish of ”bamboo shoots fried with bacon”. There is an old Chinese saying that “each place has its own way of supporting its own inhabitants”, which reflects the attitude of Chinese people to live in harmony with nature, and Wenchang in Hainan Province, hometown of many talented Chinese, is also the birthplace of Wenchang Chicken. In the vast Gobi desert in Xinjiang and among the white mountains and black soils in Northeast China, the beauty of raw energy is proved by the “big-plate chicken” and “chicken and hazel mushrooms”. It takes only a few minutes to cook the stir-fried prawns, which once saved a life, so Chinese gentlemen always treat chefs kindly. Good chefs can use a “coiled-dragon-like” dish to occupy a place in such big events as the struggle for the throne. Meanwhile, good cooks are not exclusive in the emperor’s imperial palace; ordinary people also produce their creative dishes, such as Longjing shrimp and piquant pork and refreshing rice. Chinese people are not unable to express their feelings; their feelings and imagination are expressed in food, which can be seen in the so-called “rice killer,” or “three minced ingredients in black”, with its colour palette inspired by Yuanyang terrace, the only agricultural landscape selected as a world heritage site. The name of “lion’s head” (stewed meatball), evolved from “sunflower chopped meat” to “meatball of quadruple happiness,” shows the progress from plain description to bold imagination. “Squirrel-like” fish is also a name with beautiful imaginations, reflecting Chinese people’s yearning for a better life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Design Media Publishing (UK) Limited
• Release date: Jan 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781912268962

Book preview

China, Stories in Food – Meat and Fish

Editor: Dandan CHU, Qian YIN

ISBN: 978-1-912268-96-2

@copyright 2022 Design Media Publishing (UK) Limited.

China,

Stories in Food -

Meat

and

Fish

Design Media Publishing (UK) Limited

Editor’s Words

For the Chinese, food is not only to meet physiological needs. It seems that Chinese people have a gluttonous beast live in their belly. For thousands of years, they have been living with nature. With theatrical imagination and a keen eye for life, the Chinese have accumulated rich history, culture and stories on their dining table. They believe that food is the most important thing for people (in Chinese 民以食为天), and it’s not a question worth debating whether a man works for food or eats to work. For them, food is a source of happiness, and a kind of culture and art.

The simplest way to understand China and Chinese people is to start with Chinese food. Of course, the polite and hospitable Chinese are always willing to invite you to their dining table and share their food. On this occasion, you will have the most comfortable and comprehensive way to get to know Chinese people and their culture.

In China, every table with dishes has a meaning: for sunrise and sunset, for festivals, for memorial days, for reunion and departure, for business, for peace... If you think Chinese people are silent and lack lively expressions of emotion, that’s because you never see them eating, especially when they are entertaining guests, because only on this occasion, they will show their natural characters and complete morality, and you will even think that Chinese people are a happy, Latin type of nation (Lin Yutang, 林语堂). From arrangement of seats, selection of wine, to various cooking techniques and all-encompassing sources of food including everything from the sea, land and air, the Chinese produce dishes full of colour, fragrance and taste, cold or hot, solid or liquid, which will make you feel the wisdom and emotion of this nation.

On the earth, since the birth of mankind, carnivores have been the majority. Scientists have shown that eating meat will help produce happy moods because the texture of meat will stimulate a zone in the brain called cingulate cortex, which will respond to pleasant experiences such as smelling perfume or winning the lottery. The Chinese people, especially the literati from ancient times to the present, always mention all kinds of delicious food made of fish and meat in their poems, such as Su Dongpo (苏东坡) and Du Fu (杜甫), even if when describing the delicious food they were on the road of exile. In many Chinese novels you can find faithful record of dishes on banquet. A Dream of Red Mansions (《红楼梦》)can be seen as a grand review of food.

Starting from the most popular and well-known stewed pork in soy sauce (红烧肉), this book will introduce to you 24 classic Chinese dishes cooked with meat or fish as the main ingredients. Each dish has a long history or interesting story, and some of them are also introduced with a simple and easy-to-follow recipe.

The Chinese have always had a broad view of food. In their eyes, everything beneficial to human body is medicine, and is food, too. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Sun Simiao (孙思邈), a pharmacist, proposed the idea that the cause of disease should be identified first, and food therapy should be used, and if of no use, then we come to medication. Even today, in Guangzhou, you will find that many food stores and Chinese herbal medicine stores seem to accompany each other. Flatbread in mutton soup (羊肉泡馍) was a delicious food for soldiers in Tang Dynasty to keep energy for fighting in cold winter. Tibetan fried mutton (藏式胡辣羊肉) has the same function. Red-braised pigs’ feet (红烧猪蹄) is the most well-known in the widely acclaimed braising family, and a good dish for beauty and skin.

The name of the most famous Chinese appetizer sliced beef and ox tongue in chilli sauce (夫妻肺片) is related to the story of a couple working together to live a happy life. Fried salty flounder (海盐左口鱼) and lychee pork (荔枝肉) express the reverie of the ancient Chinese about love and romance. Chinese people love nature and have enough patience to keep their bacon in winter waiting for shoots of spring, just to taste the dish of bamboo shoots fried with bacon (竹笋炒腊肉). There is an old Chinese saying that each place has its own way of supporting its own inhabitants, which reflects the attitude of Chinese people to live in harmony with nature, and Wenchang in Hainan Province, hometown of many talented Chinese, is also the birthplace of Wenchang Chicken (文昌鸡). In the vast Gobi desert in Xinjiang and among the white mountains and black soils in Northeast China, the beauty of raw energy is proved by the big-plate chicken (大盘鸡) and chicken and hazel mushrooms (小鸡炖蘑菇). It takes only a few minutes to cook the stir-fried prawns (抓炒大虾), which once saved a life, so Chinese gentlemen always treat chefs kindly. Good chefs can use a coiled-dragon-like dish (蟠龙菜) to occupy a place in such big events as the struggle for the throne. Meanwhile, good cooks are not exclusive in the emperor’s imperial palace; ordinary people also produce their creative dishes, such as Longjing shrimp (龙井虾仁) and piquant pork and refreshing rice (粉蒸肉). Chinese people are not unable to express their feelings; their feelings and imagination are expressed in food, which can be seen in the so-called rice killer, or three minced ingredients in black (黑三剁), with its colour palette inspired by Yuanyang terrace, the only agricultural landscape selected as a world heritage site. The name of lion’s head (狮子头, stewed meatball), evolved from sunflower chopped meat to meat ball of quadruple happiness, shows the progress from plain description to bold imagination. Squirrel-like fish (松鼠鱼) is also a name with beautiful imagination, reflecting Chinese people’s yearning for a better life.

Let’s start and enjoy these interesting and delicious stories!

001

Don’t Be a Fool, Eat the Fat!

Hongshaorou, the fatter it is, the better it is, and apparently the dish’s succulent porky layers can make you a genius.

One of the most classic dishes in Chinese cuisine, you’ve probably tried it once or twice but have then been turned off by the proportion of fat to meat on each piece. Don’t be. It’s the fat that