Wednesday, May 18, 2016

The traditional snack in the Summer Palace

                            
 
Having grown up in a big family with famous chefs for generations ever since my grand grand-father, I was inborn with the mission of keeping the inheritance of traditional food culture. At the age of 10, I started to publish articles on Chinese Literature Song QING Ling Foundation. I used to combine culture and history together. Besides getting to know the food cooking skills and the history stories behinds them, I also wanted to study the vicissitudes and protection of traditional culture. Influenced by my past experience, I would like to blend literature with culture in my study.
                        More importantly, I came to realize the essence of cultural research was transmissions, trying the best to help people get what I had. Thus, I continuously wrote articles about my grandfather's experiences and published them in USA, expecting more and more people to know the real life of Beijing natives, especially the food culture. Ever since my childhood, I was fond of seeking for the secret of Chinese culture in old Beijing Hutongs. For me, real research is not in laboratory, neither in classroom. It is in life and integrates into my blood and soul. I can go through every Beijing Hutongs with my eyes almost closed and speak out the core skills in cooking famous Beijing and Sichuan cuisines. They are what I think the real reading methods of culture.
                     By the way, I want to let you read my new travel story!!!
                        
                                                             Food and Travel
                        
                      
               Special experience
                  Alone and lonely
“ReallyYou don’t know any history stories about the forbidden city?” I shouted loudly, forgetting I was standing in the big museum. “Sorry, nobody has told me the historical stories of China, so I don’t know how to protect the historical buildings.the little boy answered with a happy  relaxed look on his face. In contrast, I could only return an expression of helplessness to him.
                                                    

This discussion with a little boy, a Chinese visitor in the Forbidden City, reverberated in my mind while I was writing this article. This summer, I went back to china and visited a lot of famous palaces in Beijing, for instance, the summer palace, the great wall and others.
      The entire point of protecting the old buildings is to teach children traditional culture and justice as well; the entire point of teaching the young people is to promote the development of national pride. As to my knowledge, even if I am studying in a culture which is different from Chinese culture, I still remember my motherland’s accomplishments and literature, because I was born there. I think if my country had not given me knowledge and power, I would not be a student in the U.S. now. So I think everyone should know their country’s stories, but this thing happened and changed my mind.
When I went to the Forbidden City, vicissitude and simple breath blew on my face. The old buildings made me feel like returning back to a hundred years ago. The exciting moment was when I finally saw the Hall of Supreme Harmony. As the most magnificent and main hall of the three major buildings of the Forbidden city, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is commonly known as the hall of Golden Chimes. Standing behind the old stone wall of the building. It was like traveling back in time.
Suddenly, a little bad thing caught my attention: NING WANG, a little boy on his trip in the Forbidden City, felt very curious about everything. He wrote his name on the old wall, and drew a picture after writing the sentence. The ancient wall groans of pain, the action made me feel heartbreak. I asked the little child
Do you know this building needs to be protected ?… How many Chinese history stories do you know?”
“I don’t know…”
     “Go away, this is my kid.” The little boy’s father shouted at me.
I opened my mouth and said nothing, it was impossible to tell anything to this little boy because of his father’s rebuke. I wanted to go back home quickly. I imagined what a cultural protector’s life would be; maybe most people will not understand him.
Frustration, helplessness and hopelessness are three bad qualities that can defeat any students when living far away from their confidents and friends. Being a cultural protector is one of the loneliest job, because people always reject their behavior. On the other hand, the cultural protector is a special martyr. There are two difference between the cultural protector and the poet: the protector has to use his actions to make people understand the truth and poets have to use their words to teach people to understand the truth.
                    Hope and happiness
It is Better to be unborn than untaught, for ignorance is the root of misfortune.
                            -----Plato, Ancient Greek philosopher
What is the significance of the martyrs? There is an old saying in China “lay down one’s life for justice.” I thought over the whole conversation again and again, recalling how I was in this position to begin. Ultimately, I couldn’t believe I need to give up teaching the little child. If I did, that would be a sorrow in my life.
Meanwhile, I returned back to my room with hopefulness and happiness, I tried to begin a great work. Using the history books of QING Dynasty as a basis, I studied the history of the Forbidden City by myself every day. About one month later, I created a little club about the Chinese history in the community center. Of course, I was the first group leader. I went to the Forbidden City for a second time. I felt very lucky to meet another girl in the museum, someone who is smart, pretty and who is interested in history.
                                    
 



      “Good morning, do you want to know some Chinese history stories?’’
      “Yes, I‘d like to, but I only knew a few things about that.” The strong light from the wall of the museum filled her face, whose smile was lovely full of happiness.
        After that, our group helped a lot of children study the history of the Forbidden City. Unlike work, which you can choose yourself, which job is fixedness and steady, the special experience will appear in your mind forever and ever. Thinking of the cultural protector, the special martyr for the traditional culture, I recall the old saying: “history should be a human teacher.”





Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Beijing Roast Duck

Introduction: When asked about which food is the most popular in Beijing, most people believe that Beijing Roast Duck will be an important choice, but some people consider other delicious snacks. In my opinion, Beijing Roast Duck is the most delicious food. According to my experience, even if I have tasted a lot of Beijing food, I still have special personal interests in roast duck. The relationship between the roast duck and myself is similar to that between my grandpa and me. I come from a very traditional family, so my grandparents told me which restaurants are the most authentic, which food is made by the most famous chef, and which delicious food I should choose.     

When I was 5 years old, my grandpa and I went to a very famous restaurant in Beijing. The waiter gave us a very big roast duck, which was cut in pieces. Almost every culture has rules to signal the beginning of the meal. Similarly, waiter gave us a lot of vegetables, some jam, and some special bread, that is made from some spices and flour. My grandpa and I literally enjoyed the special rules and, not being surprised, it was the beginning of our eating enjoyment. I put some vegetable and meat in the special bread, and put all of them in my mouth. In truth, this first course was nothing compared to the main course that followed. The delicious oil and special smell of that Roast duck filled my being, beyond my imagination. I was so happy and excited that I forgot myself as a diner in the restaurant.   
Ingredients:  Beijing Roast Duck, which was cut in pieces



Chinese Spring Onions  cucumber
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon Salad oil 1 teaspoon Sweet Sauce

Directions
For the preparation
Step 1 : My grandpa told me that cooking the roast duck is a very difficult work. Firstly, they need to choose the hypertrophic healthy duck that lives in forests and ponds
Step 2 : Secondly, they need to kill the duck and apply different kinds of spice in the duck’s body. Roast duck, especially which developed in Chinese traditional culture, is divided into four different parts.
Step 3: At last, the chefs cook the duck in a very secret room. When we tasted the delicious duck, we remembered the hard and sophisticated process.  
Step 4: Please, Eat!      















     
Nutrition:
Vitamin,A 100IV            dietary 1 g
    Fluoride, F   2ug                 Ash              36g
Carotene, beta    10ug         Sodium, Na 200 mg
Lycopene             76 µg            sugar         2g
Magnesium, Mg 8mg           
Phosphorus, P 9 mg
 Potassium, K    7mg
When we question the history of Beijing roast duck, some professors believe the first roast duck originated from LIAO dynasty, but my teacher argues that MING dynasty is the better answer. If I were asked this question, I would have a different answer. The development of cooking roast duck made people do research in Chinese culture, which can be explained by the abstraction. An abstraction can be explained by historic stories, by literature articles and by a lot of ancient sayings. The Beijing roast duck is from the MING dynasty, but the good spices found in roast duck, originate in the LIAO dynasty. Beijing is one of the oldest cities in China, characterized by its history and culture. I think it’s crucial for me to share the Chinese culture to everyone. Nowadays people in growing numbers are beginning to realize that the importance of preserving the Chinese traditional culture, the most important step is to know the Chinese food.      Every generation of old cooks have the stories of the history of Roast duck, sharing the stories can help people understand the culture and gain a sense of pride and belonging. There is an ancient Chinese saying: the most famous food in Beijing is Roast duck.
                                               
In truth, according to the history of Chinese, there are two different ways to cook the Roast duck, making famous for the Roast duck the world over. The first one is named the “Roasted Duck in stove’’, the other is named the” Braised furnace Roast Duck”. The difference between the two is that the Roast Duck in Stove is famous for its cooking method, while the Braised furnace Roast Duck is famous for its favor. But both of them have very interesting stories.     About one thousand years ago, after a big war, a very small dynasty named SONG appeared in the southern China. For some reasons militarily and economically, the SONG dynasty was much smaller than most other dynasties in Chinese history. Though small, the dynasty was prosperous because it attached great importance to the development of economy. Almost every dynasty has its different food bringing attention to the different culture. Similarly, the SONG dynasty had its famous food – Roast duck. The ZHE JIANG province is rich in duck, so the history of the Peking duck goes back to the SONG dynasty. The SONG dynasty became richer than before, perhaps prompting the fall of the dynasty. After about one hundred years, the YUAN dynasty was established in the central of China, it became the biggest one in ancient China. After the YUAN dynasty was established, it went to war against to the SONG dynasty. After many big battles, the SONG dynasty was replaced by the moguls establishing the YUAN dynasty. The YUAN dynasty took the roast duck and put it in Beijing. The cooks in YUAN dynasty had the energy and time, to develop special cooking technology making the Roast duck better than ever before. These are the stories about the BEIJING Roast duck. Of course, when asked about the history of BEIJING Roast duck it is inconclusive, some people view that it was from other dynasties in China. Before I wrote this article, I assumed I couldn’t write the whole story, because there is no accurate conclusion about the organ of Beijing Roast duck. Conclude with this                           Roast duck, delicious food
                    Special smells and my mouth in the mood
                         One day, in my heart
                         Forget my childhood start
                          Forget my time of life
                               But leave
                        Culture changes, culture of witness
                         Rise and fall, how time files
                          The vicissitudes of history
                               Forever and ever
                              Appear in my mind
                              Fresh blood in my heart
                             Honey taste in my mouth
                         Roast duck, appear in the heyday
                      Roast duck, develop in the war
                      How time flies, how time flies 
                                     
The question of whether the food is cooked by a traditional method or modern cooking method is brought into consideration. Some people argue that the traditional method is the most important way for heritage to develop the culture. However, some others believe that with the rapid development of science and technology, people have found new ways to cook food and improve the quality of life. I think traditional food is more important than the modern cooking method. If you want to know my opinion, I will share it with you.     When my grandpa was a young boy, at no time had the cooking method changed for centuries. Never would modern cooking be used in the Chinese cooking method. Every family cooked the food by themselves. My grandpa’s father, a famous cook, worked in a restaurant; and he felt very proud of his cooking. My grandpa felt very comfortable and secure when he first time ate the Chinese food. My grandpa always had a sense of pride and honor, because our family would make authentic food. The relationship between my grandpa and cooking is similar to that between two brothers. Because my grandfather cooks different kinds of traditional food for his family members almost fifty years. The Chinese traditional food can let us know where the famous restaurants are in the old city. Bringing us to realize the old customs, and which food we need to taste. Long before people understood the importance of protecting the culture, they always kept to the traditional ways of cooking the meal.      Sixty years later, my grandpa, son of the famous cook, almost forgot all the methods of cooking the traditional food. According to his special experience, as a child and he wished people understood the importance of the traditional culture, so he cooked traditional food his whole life to show us the source of emotion. Furthermore, a lot of fresh vegetables and meat couldn’t be purchased in the supermarket in Beijing. The special smell of the food disappeared from the old city. As a result, the traditional food, was forgotten by the people causing everyone to feel the disappointment. In a sense, people forgetting the traditional food, means they forgot their culture and home. Essentially, I didn’t think I could write this article because I seldom tasted the true traditional food. In truth, if my grandpa‘s father had never been a cook, I would not have the understanding about Chinese culture. The writing ideas and subject would have never occurred to me, before I noticed the culture of the lonely and down. Without the new technology and new way of life, the people living in the ancient time were hoping to remember the traditional cooking methods. Now people are surrounded by modern cooking and processed food. People enjoy fast food and frozen food, but it is not only bad for the health, but also makes people forget their traditional culture.     Because of these reasons, we can conclude that the traditional food is a good way to let the people remember the culture.        Little poem:    traditional food, my special memory in my childhood
          Traditional food, my grandpa is proud of traditional method
          Traditional cook, my grandpa spent his whole life knowing it
            Traditional culture, my grandpa loved it all the life
              Which cook is best, what is the culture truth?
        When grandpa was young, he grew up in the traditional culture
            When grandpa was young, he love the traditional food
          When grandpa was young, he was surround by the culture
         When grandpa was old, he stay in the lonely and lonely
          Fallen leaves, dancing in the air, fallen into the ground
     Traditional Culture, after thousand years, forgotten by the people
               Lonely in the heart, lonely in the heart
                 Return back my memory in my heart,
                      Burst tears in my eyes
              Day and night, day by day, years after years
                 Cycles of the seasons, how times files
              Cook the meal in the heart, felt lonely in the heart
             When the people realize, they return back to the culture
                My grandpa and I, we are waiting together
                                       

Chinese Dragon noodles and steamed fish

Introduction: An old saying in China is “carps leading into the dragon’s door.’’ It means that if the carps are able to jump over the door, they will become the new dragon, if they cannot, they will always be fish. These ancient proverbs and legends have encouraged millions of Chinese to be enthusiastic and to work hard in order to eventually become the dragon in the Chinese heart. The Chinese dragon, the most famous animal in history, is a symbol of the culture and nation. Nowadays, even with the development of new technology and science, every generation of Chinese students still called themselves “the descendants of the dragon.” Because of the three important reasons, the Chinese dragon can be the most popular and famous icon in china. Enjoy the photos from Steaming!!! Having grown up in a big family with famous chefs for generations ever since my grand grand-father, I was inborn with the mission of keeping the inheritance of traditional food culture. At the age of 10, I started to publish articles on Chinese Literature Song QING Ling Foundation. I used to combine culture and history together. Besides getting to know the food cooking skills and the history stories behinds them, I also wanted to study the vicissitudes and protection of traditional culture. Influenced by my past experience, I would like to blend literature with culture in my study.
                               

Name: Steamed Seabass--- Qing Zheng Lu Yu( 清蒸鲈鱼)
Ingredients:Seabass(Ocean Perch)
                     Spring Onions, ginger and garlic and salt.
Cuisine Technology:
 Step1. Steaming the Seabass as a skin, I put a lot of vegetables, such as leaks and Spring Onions, and then roll them into the fish.
Step2. My grandfather gave me a very big Seabass, which was cut in pieces.  I put some vegetables in the seabass’s body, and put all of them in the bowl.
Step3. The vegetable stir-fry provides all the vitamins, cellulose and protein people need.
Step4, let's wait for 15 minutes                   

step5, Eat!!!     














                                         
 










               Nutrition:
                  Vitamin A,     130 IV                 Carotene, beta 42 ug Choline, total 3 mg                              Cryptoxanthin    1ug           
                     Ash               45g                    Folate         2ug
                   Sugars            total 5g              potassium     43ug
                   Fibre                5g                  
                 Total dietary      1g
                     Sodium            200mg
                                                                        Phosphorus        20mg
                                                                      potassium             12mg
Food history blackground stories:
 

First, as an imaginary animal in the ancient times, the Chinese dragon has easily become the people’s symbol for hope and a bright future. One trait of the Chinese dragon is that it is different animal parts; these include the horse, the cow, the snake and all the animals in people’s lives. In fact, during a low period in the Chinese feudal society, the people also had the same experiences and difficulties, as many farmers had; they naturally asked for help from nature. Finally, they wanted to create the usual animals to help them solve the problems. For example: when the droughts had been with Chinese for many centuries, it was the animals that could make the clouds and rains are that were the entire desire of Chinese heart. During the middle of Tang Dynasty, greater disaster and troubles frequently came into their lives. For the ancient Chinese, happiness and enjoyment were found in having enough food, staying with the family members and getting a good sleep. But the drought lasted many years; it means that a lot of people died of hunger and cold. Finally, a big Chinese dragon opened his big mouth and make big rain to save all lives of the people. The relationship between the big dragon and Chinese is similar to the patron and the people on the earth. After the big rain, most of the Chinese people had enough food to eat and to save their lives, so the Chinese emperor named the day of the Rainy in the Year of Dragon Head; it became a famous festival to honor the rainy dragon. Many years later, Chinese can remember this dragon and celebrate the festival.
Secondly, another important reason for the dragon to become the most popular icon in Chinese history came from how the dragon culture and the Chinese traditional food culture came together and interacted with each other in surprising ways. Almost every festival has its special food to commemorate the history. For example: after the rainy festival, people needed to eat the traditional food—“fine noodles.” Using the flour and salt as the main ingredients, the cooks begin to make the noodles as long as the dragon whiskers. Since some people argued that the fine noodles should not have had a thousand year history, the historians have found the ancient food records of the Tang Dynasty to prove that noodles and the Chinese dragon were in the same time. Long before every generation of Chinese children were able to go to school to study Chinese history and literature, they got their information and communicated with each other by eating the fine noodles and listening to the Chinese dragon history. Essentially, the Chinese dragon, with its mysterious, special and interesting features, was invented the thousands years ago, it has been used as one of the important parts of the Chinese culture.
                                                   



Finally, one of the main branches of Chinese traditional philosophy, the Confucians, has had a great relationship with the Chinese dragon culture. The question involved whether the Chinese emperors had held their great power over the country from the Chinese dragon culture; this thought of Confucians is a complex issue that has included two thousand years and billions of people. For example: in ancient China, during thousands of years, emperors still thought their families were the sons of the heaven. Every Chinese lived in the empire and called the emperors the real dragon; the public tell down on the ground and prostrated themselves in worship. Because this feudal society lasted in china for about two thousand years, the Chinese continue to show great respect for the dragon.

                                         
















Chinese recipes: Beijing cuisine, Confucian cuisine and SiChuan Cuisine


Chinese recipes: There is a folk idiom in China, “Hunger breeds discontentment.” How time flies, according to my great grandfather’s statement, Chinese traditional cooking methods originates from the basic oral records between teenagers and masters. When asked about which is the most delicious food in Chinese catering industry, even if some cooks argue that royal snack is the delicious food in the ancient emperors’ plates, most people always choose the public food in our daily life. Essentially, I agree with this opinion and believe that there are three most famous cooking methods in Chinese life. They are Beijing cuisine,  Confucian cuisine and Sichuan cuisine. Yesterday, I took part in a cooking seminar and wrote this article in my paper.
Yummy Spring Pencakes: Beijing Cuisine: 
For the preparation:
 1 Pound bean sprouts 
 1 Tablespoon Apples, raw, without skin, cooked, boiled     




                                                           
Yummy spring Pencakes Recipe by weining wangfood


Introduction: An old saying in Beijing is that “food cures better than medicine.” Not only does Beijing cuisine have at least 20 different cooking methods – fried, boiled, stew, burnt, baked, steamed and so on – but it also provides all necessary human nutrition. Spring Pancakes is the popular foods there. Baking the bread dough as a skin, they cook a lot of vegetables, such as leaks and bean sprouts, and then roll them in the Pancake. The vegetable stir-fry provides all the vitamins, cellulose and protein people need. Eating the Spring Pancakes can help people find old memories and stories because many famous restaurants, called “China Time-honored Brand,” are located in the center of the old districts. Having grown up in a big family with famous chefs for generations ever since my grand grand-father, I was inborn with the mission of keeping the inheritance of traditional food culture. I used to combine culture and history together. Besides getting to know the food cooking skills and the history stories behinds them, I also wanted to study the vicissitudes and protection of traditional culture. Influenced by my past experience, I would like to blend literature with culture in my study. Directions
For the preparation
 Step1. Baking the bread dough as a skin, they cook a lot of vegetables, such as leaks and bean sprouts, and then roll them in the Pancake.
 Step2. My grandfather gave me some vegetables, which was cut in pieces. I put some vegetables in the bread dough, and put all of them in the bowl.
Step3. The vegetable stir-fry provides all the vitamins, cellulose and protein people need. Step4, let's wait for 20 minutes
step5, Eat!!!
Second cuisine: Hot!!! Kong Pao Chicken Introduction:  
The southwestern Chinese like to eat Sichuan cuisine, which impresses people, both famous and profound, with its thick spicy sauce.
Because of the humid climate, cooks will prepare a lot of hot seasoning and fillings with their food. They eat a lot of fish and meat, and hot seafood is the staple in peoples lives. The most common public food in the Sichuan province is Kong Pao Chicken, the hottest food in China. This
name comes from a historical personage Gong Pao, one of the most famous philanthropists in the ing Dynasty, who always helped others and shared his money with the poor. Everyone knew his best food, stirfried chicken, so they cooked the chicken with some hot seasoning, and gave a special name to remember this person. If you want to get more detailed information, please visit another food blog:www.ningweiwangfood.simplesite.com

Thick  spicy pound of chicken breast or white meat 2 Tb salt three teaspoons of chili sauce
 --- cooking cuisine:Step 1 : The southwestern Chinese like to eat Sichuan cuisine, which impresses people, both famous and profound, with its thick spicy sauce.
Step 2 : Clean the white meat and chop into pretty small pieces
Step 3: Cooking peanuts and scallions as the decorations, cooks put them in the bottom of the bowl and then put the chicken and seasoning on the top.
Step 4: Lets wait for 10-15 minutes.
Step 5 : Please, Eat!                                                










Third cuisine:   Tai Chi Tofu
Introduction: Further, people living in the eastern part of china prefer the Confucian cuisine. Confucian cuisine includes well-known dishes, such as the Babao Bean Drum and Candied Floss. About one thousand years ago, the great Chinese philosopher, Confucius, once said: “all within the four seas, Chinese are brothers’’. Over time, the Chinese always use the public saying like: “two heads are better than one” to describe the importance of holding friends together. These sentences tell us that lots of cooks always study different kinds of cooking methods. This is especially true of cooks in fancy restaurants. Obviously, under this historical condition, cooks prefer to make friends with their diners. Confucian cuisine represents Chinese traditional cuisine, in which most cooks are successful at cooking their food by steaming and boiling. Tai Chi Tofu is one of the most representative foods of Confucian cuisine. Cooking meat and scallion as the decorations, cooks put them in the bottom of the bowl. Next, the cooks put the Tofu and seasoning on the top of the meat. Facing the bowl, Tofu looks like a picture of Tai Chi. Finally, it is ready to eat. The more frequently we come to the Confucians’ restaurants, the more friends we would meet. This is the main reason why Chinese love Confucian cuisine.


 Ingredients:
A piece of Tofu

Chinese Spring Onions
A pound of ground beef
2 teaspoons salt, for cooking ground beef
1 teaspoon Salad oil 1 teaspoon Sweet Sauce



Cooking meat and scallions as the decorations, cooks put them in the bottom of the bowl and then put the tofu and seasoning on the top Facing the bowl, the tofu looks like a picture of Tai Chi Finally, it is ready to eat .