Food and Drink

Bakcang

Bakcang is a Tionghoa traditional food. Bakcang’s word comes from Hokkian dialect that Tionghoa citizens use for daily language. Bakcang is one of symbols to celebrate Peh Cun or Duanwu. The history of Bakcang is to celebrate Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan is a minister of Chu state as a chief assistant. He is a talented and loyal official to the state. He also gave a lot of ideas to improve Chu state by allied with Qi state to bear arms against Qin state. As time goes by, Qu Yuan got a lot of critiques from royal family. It made he felt sad and did suicide by jumping to Miluo’s river. This story had been noted on Shi Ji historical record. The myth tells that he jumped to the river on the fifth day of every fifth lunar month. Chu people felt sad and looked for the relics of the minister under the river. The citizens throw the rice and other foods to the river in other case to shift the fish and shrimp didn’t disquiet the minister. The citizen also thoght to avoid the food from river dragon, they wrapped with leaf so the food named bakcang. Every year there is a dragon ship race in order to celebrate the fisherman who looked for the relics with ship. Bakcang is made from glutinous rice and filled with meat, duck egg yolk, mushroom, small shrimp, ginger, and celery. Bakcang without filling named chaicang and usually chaicang eat with sweetsop fruit or ‘serikaya’. It is a jam which made from sugar, egg, and coconut cream. Bakcang is wrapped with bamboo leaf and bundle with string. Bakcang have triangle prism shape.

Moon Cake

Chinese community eat and share this cake as a way to thanks and pray to God for welfare and fortune they get through this year. Behind the taste and appearance that looks so sweet, this cake might hidden an interesting story in the past. Although the version are countless, but all of them has a great value of philosophy in it.

King Ho Le version

King Ho Le was a greedy king and likes to add wealth for his own good without considering about his people. The people in his régime was so agonize, especially when the King order the palace physician ( doctor ) to make him long live elixir. Queen Jango was the first lady in the palace and she does not agree with what her husband has requested, so she stole the elixir and drank it herself. After drank the elixir Queen Jango disappear and shown up on a master ( sifu ) dream. In that dream the Queen told that she is now live in the moon and therefore called herself Moon Goddess. Since that every year Chinese people always celebrate the struggle of Queen Jango to rescue people from King Ho Le Greed.

Chinese soldier version

Moon cake appears first when Chinese was been invaded by the Mongolian. At their last regime, the government system was so bad. King live in prosperity while citizen suffered. When the kingdom economy fall apart, a few activist spoke out about revolution. A revolution was planned carefully. But, because the control from the Mongolian empire is very strong, letter and messages from the rebel is impossible to be delivered. Finally an activist named Chu Yuen-chang and his senior deputy Liu Po-wen introduce a cake called moon cake. They said when we eat moon cake at bright moon festive ( Chung Chiu festive ) will make them healthy and cast away the diseases. Liu dress like a Tao priest and deliver the cake to townspeople. When the Chung Chiu festive arrive, they open the cake and found a piece of paper with a message in it, “ kill tartar people on day 15 at the 8^th month”. After that the people arise and conduct revolution to fight the Mongolian and they succeed ! Since then the moon cake become traditional cake at bright moon month. (mellyana)

Types of Noodles in china

There are three main categories of Chinese noodles (mien). The most common are wheat flour noodles, which can be made with or without eggs. While today wheat flour noodles are enjoyed throughout China, they originated in the north, where wheat is a staple crop. Depending on the remaining ingredients, wheat noodles can be white or yellow, thin as spaghetti or thick as fettuccine, stiff or extremely elastic.

Made from rice flour, water, and salt, rice noodles can also be thick or very thin, the latter almost resembling long strings of coconut. The same is true of rice sticks. There are also rice paper wrappers which come in either circular or triangular shape. Finally, cellophane noodles are clear noodles made from ground mung bean paste.

In China, making "hand-pulled" noodles is an art involving holding the stretched out paste in both hands and whirling it around several times. Then the paste is laid out on a board and folded and refolded repeatedly. Eventually the paste is transformed into long, thin, noodles. While in China it is still possible to watch vendors make hand-pulled noodles, today most noodles are made by machine.

How to Enjoy Noodles

Noodles are eaten hot or cold, steamed, stir-fried, deep-fried, boiled, or served in a soup. Noodles are an excellent source of protein, low calories; and high in complex carbohydrates.

Readers often ask me to explain the difference between lo mein and chow mein noodles. Actually, the difference between the two lies not in the type of noodles used, but in the way the two dishes are prepared. In the case of chow mein, the ingredients are stir-fried and then served over noodles that have been prepared separately. By contrast, lo mein involves tossing boiled noodles in the wok and mixing them with other ingredients during the final stages of cooking. This allows the noodles to pick up more of the sauce flavor.

There's no hard and fast rules about what type of noodles to use with either dish. (In fact, you'll often find chow mein recipes that substitute rice for the noodles). In the west, it is customary to use crisp noodles when preparing chow mein, while in China chow mein is made with soft noodles. Meanwhile, Italian pastas such as fettuccine or spaghetti work quite well in lo mein recipes. However, theoretically you could use the same noodles to prepare either one.

Types of Noodles used in Chinese cooking

Cellophane Noodles - Also called bean threads, slippery noodles, or even bean vermicelli, cellophane noodles are made from mung bean starch. Before using, soak them in hot (not boiling) water. Cellophane noodles work well in soups and stir-fries, absorbing the flavor of the foods they are cooked with. When deep-fried fried they puff up and become quite crispy.

Egg Flour Noodles - Yellow color, made with eggs, wheat flour, and water, they come in a number of widths and shapes, from the thinner vermicelli to flat thicker noodles (Instant Ramen noodles are a type of egg flour noodle). Used in soups and stir-fries, they need to be boiled before using.

Rice Noodles - Made with rice flour and water, a large variety of rice noodles are available, from thin rice vermicelli to the thick broad flat noodles used in stir-fries and heartier soups. The term “rice sticks” can refer both to the thinner noodles as well as medium-sized and thicker flat noodles. Rice noodles should be soaked in hot water for fifteen - twenty minutes before using. Medium sized rice noodles, called Banh Pho, are used to make Vietnam's popular Pho soup.

Rice Paper - Also made from rice flour and water, rice papers are available in either round or triangular form. The unique patterning on each paper comes from their being dried on bamboo mats in the sun. Available only in dried form, they are firm and must be softened in hot water before use. In Chinese cooking there is a trend towards using them instead of cellophane to make Paper Wrapped Chicken; in Vietnamese cuisine rice papers (Banh Trang ) are used to wrap spring rolls.

Wheat Flour Noodles - Made with wheat flour and water, they are available fresh or dried. As you can see in the photos below, the shape and thickness varies - the Broad Noodles are quite thick and flat, reminding me of coffee stir sticks, while the Tea Flavored Noodles are much thinner. The thinner varieties are often used in light soups, while the thicker ones work well in thicker soups and stir-fries. Boil before using.