Cultural Eating Pattern Project China By Gabrielle Damin,, Feifei Du, Cory Haenggi, and Carly Hansen

History  The history of Chinese cuisine is marked by both variety and change.  Regional cultural differences vary greatly amongst the different regions of China, giving rise to the different styles of food.  Chinese imperial food originated around the Zhou Dynasty (11 th century B.C. – 476 B.C).  Stir-frying was the chief cooking method during the Southern and Northern Dynasties ( ), and stir-fried dishes became popular as everyday meals among the common people.  In the Sui Dynasty ( ) seafood appeared much more frequently on imperial menus  Soybeans originated in China, but other beans came from abroad. Green beans came from India during the Northern Song Dynasty ( )

Geography  China is located in Southeast Asia  China is the 3 rd largest country in the world  Varied climate and agriculture depending on geographical area  Most of the country consists of mountains and plateaus  North/ Northeast- various deserts and basins with cool and arid temperature  South- tropical with warm, rainy, and humid temperatures  East- low lying valleys and plains with temperature weather  West- mountainous region

Popular Foods  Grains -Tofu - Northern China- Noodles and flour products - Southern China- Rice and rice products  Vegetables- Chinese prefer cooked versus raw vegetables.  -mushrooms, cabbages, peas, beans, leafy greens, seaweed, chili peppers, onions, carrots, celery, broccoli, bamboo shoots.  Fruits- Chinese typically prefer in season fruits.  peaches, apricots, kiwi, pears, apples, oranges, mandarin oranges, lemon, mango, banana, and watermelon in the summer.  -nuts; cashews and walnuts

Popular Foods  Dairy Products- Chinese do not consume large amounts of dairy products and substitutes for soy milk and tofu.  -whole milk and reduced fat milk, fruit flavored yogurts.  Meats- eggs, pork, beef, chicken, duck  Seafood- carp, squid, crab, shrimp, scallops, oysters, and prawn.  Beverages- Hot teas, water, fruit/ vegetable juices.  Spices- ginger, pepper; Five Spice Seasoning is a popular spice mix of Szechuan peppercorn, cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise, and one of or a combination of citrus peel, nutmeg, or cloves.

Popular Dishes  Rice  For the Chinese, rice is the staple food in everyday meals. They eat it as Westerners do bread.  Noodles  Noodles are served and eaten hot or cold, boiled, steamed, stir-fried, deep-fried, or served in soup.  Plain Tea  Green or flower tea: rose, daisy  Pork and beef most affordable, inland  Fish along coastline  Peking Duck in Beijing

Popular Dishes  Noodle soup, vegetable or chicken soups  It’s an ancient tradition to treat a cold or fever with soup. In addition to its ability to comfort, it is believed that certain soups have healing powers. Many soups are consumed for their flavor, as well as for their restorative or invigorating effects. This is heavily linked with traditional Chinese medicine.  Dumplings  Spring Festival

Typical Dinner Menu  An ordinary dinner menu consists of soup, rice, three to four vegetables dishes, and one to two meat dishes.  Soup  Serves as the beverage. Drunken throughout meal.  Rice  Central focus of meal.  Vegetables  Intended to accent/enhance rice.  Prefer cooked to raw vegetables.  Cut into small pieces or thin stripes.  Meat  Braised or stir-fried pork, chicken, beef, or fish.

Typical Dinner Style  Family style  Everything is placed in center of table and is shared.  Main dishes are placed in the center with supporting dishes evenly and attractively spaced around them.  Chopsticks are versatile.  Exercise proper etiquette.

Our Dishes

Our Recipes  Fried Green Pepper with Shredded Pork  2 sliced green peppers  1lb of pork  1t sliced ginger  2 ½ t chopped garlic  2 ½ t soy sauce  1t sugar  1t corn starch  3t water  4t vegetable oil  Dash of salt   Slice pork and place into a bowl  Add a dash of salt into the bowl with pork and mix  Put vegetable oil into a skillet over medium heat  Pour garlic and ginger into the pan  Place the pork into the pan and stir until pork changes color  Pour the sliced pepper into the pan and stir  Cover the pan for 3-5 minutes  Mix cornstarch and water into a small bowl  Pour the liquid mixture into the pan and stir for 1-2 minutes  Ready to serve with noodles  Stir Fried Shredded Potato with Carrot  3 potatoes  3 carrots  1t chili powder  1T chopped garlic  3t vegetable oil  Dash of Salt   Cut potatoes and carrots into thin slices  Soak sliced potatoes in water  Pour vegetable oil into skillet over medium heat  Put chopped garlic into the skillet and stir for 1 minute  Remove the potatoes from the water and place into the skillet with carrots  Continuously stir for minutes  Sprinkle salt and chili pepper into the skillet  Ready to Serve

Our Recipes  Tomato Tofu  2 boxes of firm tofu  3 medium sized tomatoes  ¼ c of chopped green onion  1/8 c of tomato sauce  2c of water  1t sesame oil  2t vegetable oil  Dash of salt   Dice tofu into small pieces  Cut tomato into small pieces  Pour vegetable oil into a medium skillet over medium heat  Pour tomato into pan and stir for 1-2 minutes  Add tomato sauce and water into the pan and mix together  Cover for minutes or until tofu is done and reduce heat  Cold Noodle  2 bags of Organic Ramen   Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until tender (about 4 minutes)  Drain the noodles  Soak noodles in a bowl of cold water and stir a little bit to avoid the noodles sticking together  Transfer noodles into another bowl without water  Ready to serve  Green Tea  Green tea leaves  Hot water   Boil water  Place green tea leaves into a teapot and cover with hot water  Pour out the water to wash the first pot of tea  Fill the tea pot with hot water  Absorb the odor, drink, and enjoy

Additional Information  Yin and Yang-. From Chinese perspective, everything in life is a balance of yin and yang, including food. The Chinese love to eat and food is very important in their culture. Eating a healthy balanced diet is essential and important in life.  Medicinal Cuisine- Traditional Chinese culture believes in using food as a form of medicine. Illness can be treated with eating and using proper foods and herbs.  “Waste not, want not.”- The Chinese believe in being resourceful and every part of the plant and animal can and should be used.  Traditional Chinese food vs. Westernized/ Americanized Chinese food- Authentic Chinese menus focus more on vegetables and bean products where westernized menus focus most attention on meats and vegetables as side dishes. American Chinese food is much greasier than traditional Chinese, and also contains high amounts of salt and sugar. Americanized cooking techniques are very simple compared to the long process for preparing true Chinese dishes. Although both focus on taste, traditional Chinese also emphasize on color and aroma for a successful end product in cooking. Americans typically use frying methods for cooking Chinese dishes, while frying food isn’t common in the Chinese home but is used in restaurants. The Chinese usually find frying food to be unhealthy and use alternate cooking methods.  Popular Chinese cooking methods- Stir fry, deep frying, steaming, red stewing/red cooking, boiling, roasting, poaching.

References  authentic-chinese-food/ authentic-chinese-food/  type.htm type.htm 