Inspiration of Transformation in Chinese Food Culture

By Md. Osman Goni

ID : 1030927030
Section: 2
Date : 21/4/2014







China is changing rapidly, and the influence of this change extends widely. Chinese food
is not an exception. All Chinese people appreciate that Chinese food is the best, but
Chinese food itself has changed through interchange and fusion with other nations. In
Chinese cuisine, natural tastes just arent enough, and this has led to the development of
new flavors and textures through various processes of transformation. The third episode
of CCTVs A Bite of China, titled Inspiration for Transformation, shows viewers
how raw ingredients are transformed into products like tofu, cheese and yellow wine,
Sausages.
Tofu
Tofu can be regarded Chinese cuisines greatest invention. This episode takes you first to
Shou Town in Anhui Province, believed to be the birthplace of tofu. As the story goes,
Liu An, the Duke of Huainan, unintentionally created tofu 2,000 years ago when he put
soy milk and gypsum together to create a pill of immortality. But whenever and however
tofu was truly created, today it is eaten in hundreds of different forms.Tofu, symbolic of
food culture of Central Plains (an area on the lower reaches of the Yellow River which
formed the cradle of Chinese civilization), going on a 2000-year journey from birth to
prosperity is a kind of dainty that are transformed from soybeans.Shou County, a small
and ancient town, lies in the north of Anhui province. Residents here have a great
affection of this food. They are convinced of their forefathers as the inventors of the great
tofu.When it comes to the middle of October, the northern Anhui has harvested soybeans.
Tofu, or bean curd is the most popular food if it is made of these fresh soybeans. In the
long history of agriculture in China, soybeans have taken up a position of vital
importance. Of all known legumes, the soybean is most rich in protein and the most
inexpensive food source. However, it was once in a dilemma in that it failed to stimulate
peoples appetite and was easy to increase flatulence. Consequently, what needs badly is
to fine a perfect way to eat soybeans.After repeated attempts, sensible people have come
up with the way. Grind the soybean and add water to it, and bean milk is done. Then
comes the key to transformation from the fluid to tofu - calcium sulfate, a whit powder
and mix them. In the boiling bean milk, denaturalized protein and calcium sulfate
immediately have gelation effect. It happens so quick that can be noticed within a second.
At the sight of the change from white liquid into white solid, you cannot help feeling
amazed.As a matter of fact, calcium sulfate had often been recorded in the book of
Chinese warlocks in the remote times. Coincidently, the close connection between the
white powder and tofu had relation to this. It is believed that more than 2000years ago,
Lu !n (Chinese: , 179 BC 122 BC)a Chinese prince who had happened to drop
calcium sulfate when cultivating pellet in Bagong Mountain made tofu. No matter how
dramatic the story is, Chinese people must have found the way to produce the remarkable
tofu through trial and error.On all accounts, the presence of tofu has changed the fate of
tofu to the core.Tofu is unique in the eyes of Chinese people who are adept in cuisine.
With this simple material they have created many dishes or snacks by dent of their
imagination. Tofu curd and fried dried milk cake are the cases in point. Those negative
factors which set soybeans in an awkward position such as trypsin inhibitor,
unabsorbable sugar and phytic acid are all eliminated in the transformation.
In the ultimate analysis, tofu provides a way for Chinese people to express their
adaptability. All this at the same time attaches a high value on soybeans. Transformation
as a traditional means not only brings about dainties to the public but also reveals the
wisdom of Chinese people in cuisine.

Transformation from Milk to Dried Milk Cake
In the breakfast table of Mongolians, milky tea is the eternal staple, which is made of
brick tea, butter, stir-fried millet and fresh milk. Equally, the dried milk cake is the other
food that people in grassland cannot live without. Livestock is the property of a family as
well as a part of the herdsman; they are too precious and the meat is a luxury to be
presented in the table. As a consequence, kinds of dairy food become the main course
offering the vitamins and mineral substances that people can not easily get in grassland
without abundant vegetables and fruits. In Dali of Yunnan Province, thousands of miles
to the south of Inner Mongolia, people use the identical way to transform the milk to
Rushan (, literally a fan made of milk, a particular flaky diary food, and one of the
18 weirdest things of Yunnan). The difference is the making of milk roll is cooperated
with hands; when a milk roll is done, it is pulled to a large slice and reeled up to a
bamboo for air-drying hanging in the courtyards- numerous bamboos wrapped with
Rushan constitute an image as a huge wind bells. The typical way to enjoy Rushan is to
fry it. This tacit understanding of transformation of milk between these two far apart
areas may go back to 800 years ago during the flourishing era of the Mongolians, who
founded Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). When the Hublai (1215-1294, the founding emperor
of Yuan Dynasty) expedited toYunnan, some Mongolians from his troops had settled
down and introduced in their dairy food, the making skills of which hereupon had been
handed down.
As a matter of fact, the wisdom of transformation had shined in remote ancient times, and
all the imaginative transformation had created special flavors and a sublimation of
nutrition, a part of which had taken shape as a kind of culture, inherited by generations to
generations.

Yellow Wine
Yellow wine, aka huangjiu, is one of the most ancient wines on Earth, made from rice
and originating south of the Yangtze River. Best paired with crabs, its mellow and
warming finish is just the thing for colder weather. Try it when hairy crab season kicks
off later this month.In terms of diet, flavor overwhelms anything else. Chinese never bind
themselves into a stuffy food list. People persist to seek the inspiration of transformation
through continuously trials. They seem to be born with the ability to utilize
microorganisms like yeasts, fungus and bacteria. Wine should be the oldest sample of
bringing ferment of microorganisms into full play. Yellow Wine (Huangjiu), a Chinese
beverage that is made from grains like rice, millet or wheat with Jiuqu starter culture, is
one of the oldest alcohols in China.It has lower alcohol than that of White Spirit.
Different type of Yellow Wine shows slightly different color such as ecru, tawny and
reddish brown. Moreover, it is often used as a condiment in cooking to remove fishiness
and promote flavor.Shaoxing, a prefecture-level city located on the south bank of
Qiantang River estuary in Zhejiang Province, where the residence of Chinese famous
writer Lu Xun, Tomb of Yu the Great and East Lake can be found, is the origin of
Huangjiu. Winter falls in Shaoxing with a morning drizzle, which is regarded as a good
omen by winemakers, since yeasts prefers prolonged and slight coldness in Yangtze
River Delta Region. The first day of Li Dong (Beginning of Winter, the 19th solar terms
and usually falls around November 7 and ends around November 22) is also the day to
greet the god of wine. Annual ritual is held on this day to show respect for Mother
Nature, marking the beginning of winter brewing. Winemakers are busy with preparing
tributes for sacrifice. Nobody would have a single bit of slight.
Even the best winemaker can not ensure a good wine to be made on account of
changeable weather, wind, air and microorganisms. Shaoxing Wine, namely the Chinese
Rice Wine, Yellow Wine, has a high reputation domestically and internationally. The
water used for brewing is fetched from the Jianhu-MirrorLake. Shaoxing is a typical
water town. Walking along the river bank of Shaoxing, you will find a Chinese Ink
Painting right before your eyes. Dwelling houses are built along rivers which are dotted
with gray boats. Boatmen occasionally have a drink of Shaoxing Wine. Shaoxing natives
like to sip the Yellow Wine. A bottle of Wine is often finished at the end of a day. In
Shaoxing, you will find lots of old people chatting and sucking a mouth of Yellow Wine
at times. And also, walking on the alleys, you will find lines of signboards of pubs. In
Xiuning County of Anhui Province, which is of the identical latitude
withShaoxingCounty and administrated by HuangshanCity, people are also engaged with
making rice wine. Brewing is by no means a tough task for the elders. Rice is an
indispensible part of daily life in the fertile and populous land of lower reach ofYangtze
River. The period before the coming of Chinese New Year is the slack season for
farmers. It couldnt be more natural to make jars of rice wine to treat both guests and
themselves.

Sausage
In terms of preserving food, the intelligent Chinese had already invented various ways in
the remote ancient; curing, drying, pickling, smoking, and freezing are the most
frequently used, which can not only retain the food but also created some entirely
different tastes differing from the fresh. Up to this day, though modern hi-technology has
been applied in maintaining the fresh flavor of the food material, the special flavors of
Chinese food that recreated by the time by means of traditional ways of food-keeping are
still obsessing for people as a indispensable part because they are both the tastes of ones
hometown and some kind of emotions of the traditional Chinese culture. As a matter of
fact, sausages are made in most areas ofChina, and in countryside, they are smoked to be
done in the kitchen. Chinese sausages are usually eaten after steamed, and the typical way
is to be steamed in a clay pot with rice; a pot of rice fully soaked with sausage juice is
always an exciting food in the severe winter. In addition to this, sausages are also enjoyed
after stir-frying with rice, kinds of vegetables or ingredients. The workers in a sausage
factory are quiet busy throughout the year, and will more toilsome in hot summer.
Nowadays, young people are unwilling to engage in such a hard work, and this unique
flavor completely created by hands with heart may disappear in the future. The old
workers regretless tell that in fact, if spend more time to understand this thing you are
doing, you can definitely be rewarded with a strong feeling of success.















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https:www.youtube.comwatch.v=uI4lv90fBuQ.
http:www.chinatouisblog.comblog.cat=12.
http:www.cityweekenu.com.cnshanghaiblogbite-china-tofu-cheese-anu-wine.
http:www.waseua.jpstuuentweeklycontentsenglisheu6Sc.html.