Cultural soaking in food

Cultural soaking in food

First I would talk about dumpling.
Why is Dumpling?
Good question!
Dumpling is the main food for Spring Festive in China. But the traditional Chinese doesn't call this event “Spring Festive” they say it “Guo Nian”.

I guess you going ask “why “again?

Well, if you go to the kitchen make yourself a cup of coffee and bring some biscuits to nibbling. Over there, take that cushion.

Where we were? Oh, GUO NIAN! GUO is a action word, here meant Finally get over it” NIAN is come from a Rumor.
The rumor is long long time ago, as always start like with “long long time ago”. In the endless forest up inside the mountains, there is a giant monster called “NIAN”. “NIAN “ will hunting for food every 365 days, sleep the rest time.
“NIAN “ always come out at the middle night ,so our ancestor called that night “chu xi ye”.Chu means get rid of it. Xi means yesterday. Ye is night. So all those means Get rid of last night.

The rule is everybody must be home with their elders that night. Whatever you near or far away. You have to go back to your oldest male home, stay with them, reunite the family. Now we can see that is kind like the “last Supper”. Because no one know who going be taken by NIAN. So this reunite give chance to everybody see each other, the last minute of his life spent with whole family.
NIAN always come out at midnight, before that, every family is silently sit together with their nerve, because it could be the last supper so the family would cooking the best food. In those days, the best food is pork.
No, no beef or lamb. Chinese character for “home” is a shelter on top, underneath is a pig. Yes , a pig. No , not people. Like this 家. Characters are come out living like other things. Now you can see how important pig is.

Now get back to the best food business. Every family use pork with cabbage to making dumpling. Another question, why is cabbage? Cabbage is the only veges can keep in that snowy winter after harvest. In those days not many family own a buffalo. Or call it no milk cow, that kind cow is golden yellow color, buffalo is black mainly in south China. Cow is ancestor, so the Chinese can ate beef any other time if you can afford , but not this particular night. Lamb never was Chinese style, I mean the HAN Chinese. (93% the population is HAN). Now get back to our result Pork cabbage dumpling.

Do you want to get another cup of coffee? Let's move to my green house. Yes, very comfortable. It is nice laying in here, those shade cloths does a beautiful job. A nap could do me well here.

Alright, alright, I won't fall to sleep. I keep talking. Somehow I feel like my Grandma. You know she always use that quiet tune like record machine, keep going on going on and on......

Don't the Chinese never fight back to the NIAN? That word Pronounce “nee-an”. Yes, somehow they found that NIAN frightened of big noises like thunder and red colours. So our ancestor invent fireworks and charms to stick on the gatepost: red paper with all sorts of wishes written on it. They start burning the firework right at midnight. After midnight everybody get one year older. Aha, now you know why whole the Chinese get one year old in this particular night.. Now, from all that they've been through, they surely have every reason to celebrate. How to celebrate? In those poor times, food is the best! Which kind food is the best? Pork cabbage dumpling!
Of course, as time pass by, people add all sort of pleasure in this event.
Like give present to the kids, visiting friends. Same as food, not just pork cabbage dumpling, all sort kinds food. Dumpling have all sort kinds as well.

Dumpling
Ingredients

pork rasher 250gm, ( always use skinless pork rush, they taste very juice)
Chinese cabbage 500g
shallot 2,
ginger 5g.
Salt 2 tea spoons.
Peanut oil 20g
soy sauce 20g
glass noodle 10g

plain flour 3cups
water 1 cups

Recipe
Put glass noodles in the boiling water.
Chop the pork to 0.5cm square. Chop the cabbage very finely , shallot and ginger do the same.
Put all the chopped things in a big bowl add salt, oil, soy sauce together. Mix well.

.Now add the flour and water together, making dough.

By then the glass noodle will be soft for chopping, Chop to o.5cm long. Add to the mixture , mix again.

Take out the dough, rolling the dough into a long fat snake. Maybe 25mm diameter. Cut 2cm lengths off the roll. Use rolling pin to roll these out into rounds about 8cm diameter.

Put the mixture in the middle, close all the edges . Dadada . There you go, one have been made. Do the same as others.

Then put water in the pan, after boil, put the dumpling in, boil it for 10 minutes. Do not forget stir them in case stick on the bottom of the pan.

Now is yum for the tummy time.