The Beking roast duck

Those ducks are one of the China most famous food !

Last summer I went to Beijing together with my father .We enjoyed our trip with eating Beijing’s specialty .Surely we eagered to the Quanjude,which is famous for Peking Roast Duck.

Quanjude (Chinese: 全聚德) is a famous Chinese restaurant known for its trademark Quanjude Peking Roast Duck and its longstanding culinary heritage since its establishment in 1864 in Beijing, China .

We ordered half of the duck for two of us ,then waited for a long time.When the waiter came to our table with that mouth-watering duck. I couldn’t take my eyes away from the duck when the chef was cutting the duck for us.One thing to mention,the cutting of the duck just like a nice performance that the chef have to cut the duck in front of the customer.

Traditionally, the duck’s crispy skin (with a small amount of meat attached) is shaved off at the table and served with steamed “lotus leaf pancakes” (Chinese: 荷叶饼; pinyin: héyè bǐng), slivered green Chinese onion, and sweet noodle sauce (Chinese: 甜面酱; pinyin: tiánmiànjiàng). Pieces of duck skin are placed on the pancake, along with the sauce and scallions. The pancake is then rolled up and eaten. the rest of the duck meat, as well as the extremities, are served separately. In restaurants, dripped grease from the duck and the remaining bones are prepared for the patron to take away and use in cooking at home. Alternatively, the bones can be used to make a broth.

There is, however, now considerable variation in the serving of Peking duck. This is especially the case in the West, where the dish is often served by Cantonese restaurants. In carving the duck, some restaurants serve the skin separately from the meat. Mu xu pancakes (Chinese: 木须饼, pinyin: mù xū bǐng; or 薄饼, pinyin: báo bǐng, literally “thin pancakes”) are often used in place of lotus leaf pancakes. Other restaurants use pocket bread or mantou (steamed bun) in place of pancakes. A piece of cucumber is sometimes served along with the scallions to balance the strong flavour and grease.

Some restaurants serve the duck “three ways”. In addition to the pancake wrap and the broth, the remaining meat will often be simply stir-fried, or diced, stir-fried, and eaten wrapped in fresh lettuc.

If you are fancy in these amazing dish you can read more about the recipe here .

And if you are so luck that you get a chance to visit Beijing . You can not miss it ,or it will be a regart .You probably could read this article to help you to find where to eat the best Beijing roast duck!

Just take your time and enjoy~=)!

The fruit from China -peach

Many people like peach while they seem never get a close look at this fruit.

I was just thinking about this lovely-looking  fruits yesterday.And was wondering how long I haven’t taste that  succulent fruits .Although I could buy they in Macao from the supermarket or those fruit store .Frankly ,I even don’t notice if there is fresh peach.I have seem the peach tin everywhere.But I still miss the fresh ones

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This is a kind of peach ,and we call it Nectarines.

TIPS FOR NECTATINES 

The nectarine is a cultivar group of peach that has a smooth, fuzzless skin. Though grocers treat fuzzy peaches and nectarines as different fruits, they belong to the same species. Nectarines have arisen many times from fuzzy peaches, often as bud sports. Nectarines can be white, yellow, clingstone, or freestone. Regular peach trees occasionally produce a few nectarines, and vice versa. Their flesh is more easily bruised than fuzzy peaches. The history of the nectarine is unclear; the first recorded mention is from 1616 in England, but they had probably been grown much earlier in central Asia.

The city of Feng Hua ,which near my hometown Ningbo  is famous for it’s high quality juicy peach.

I still remember we went to the peach hills to pick them during that summer holiday ,probably eight or night years ago.That’s really a life-long-memory!The peaches are so fresh that I ate a lot till my stomach was suffering =)

The history of peach 

The scientific name persica derives from an early European belief that peaches were native to Persia (now Iran). The modern botanical consensus is that they originate in China, and were introduced to Persia and the Mediterranean region along the Silk Road in early historical times, probably by about 2000 BC (Huxley et al. 1992)

 Culture

Peaches are known in China and Japan not only as a popular fruit but for the many folktales and traditions associated with it.

In China, the peach was said to be consumed by the immortals due to its mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who ate them. The divinity Yu Huang, also called the Jade Emperor, and his mother called Xi Wangmu also known as Queen Mother of the West. Xi Wangmu ensured the gods’ everlasting existence by feeding them the peaches of immortality. The immortals residing in the palace of Xi Wangmu were said to celebrate an extravagant banquet called the Pantao Hui or “The Feast of Peaches”. The immortals waited six thousand years before gathering for this magnificent feast; the peach tree put forth leaves once every thousand years and it required another three thousand years for the fruit to ripen. Ivory statues depicting Xi Wangmu’s attendants often held three peaches.

The peach often plays an important part in Chinese tradition and is symbolic of long life. One example is in the peach-gathering story of Zhang Daoling, who many say is the true founder of Taoism. Elder Zhang Guo, one of the Chinese Eight Immortals, is often depicted carrying a Peach of Immortality. The peach blossoms are also highly prized in Chinese culture, ranked slightly lower than mei blossom.

Due to its luscious taste and soft texture, in ancient China “peach” was also a slang word for “young bride”, and it has remained in many cultures as a way to define pretty young women (as in English, with peachy or peachy keen).

Chinese Cooking Tips

 

Chinese cooking and Chinese cuisine has different ’styles’ based on geographic regions. For example, there’s Cantonese cuisine

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Char siu is common in places with a large Cantonese-speaking community, including southern China, Malaysia and Singapore. It is also commonly served in Chinese restaurants and food markets in other parts of the world. Many Chinese restaurants, especially Cantonese, hang Char Siu in the shop window.

Peking cuisine

The history of the Peking Duck can be traced as far back as the Yuan Dynasty (1206 - 1368). By the time of the early 15th century it had become one of the favorite dishes of

the imperial Ming family.

The two most famous restaurants in Beijing which serve this specialty are Quanjude and Bianyifang (便宜坊). Both establishments have a history of well over a hundred years and have an extensive network of chain stores.

Shanghai style,

In Shanghainese cuisine, cí fàn tuán (糍饭团) is sometimes consumed together with soy milk as breakfast.

and the ever popular spicy Szechuan cooking.

And there’s more to Chinese cooking than just stir-frying, such as steaming, smoking, barbecuing, braising etc… But for those of us just wanting some simple and ‘regular’ Chinese food, this all gets a little to complicated and confusing. For simple, easy Chinese cooking, click here.

Use these 10 Chinese cooking tips to help you cooking better Chinese food:

1. Use enough oil when stir-frying. This gives best results. If worried about cholesterol and fats in oil, use canola oil - the best oil to use for stir-frying.

2. Try using salt instead of soy sauce. It gives it a nicer color, and tastes better.

3. Cut your ingredients into even sized pieces for best cooking results.

4. Cook the denser ingredients first. Since they take longer time to cook.
5. Use ginger, garlic, and cayenne pepper to spice up your Chinese cooking and also improve your health.
6. Blanche dense vegetables before cooking for best results. For example, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower.
7. You can use starch water to thicken sauces.
8. Prepare your cooking ingredients ahead of time, so you’re never rushed.
9. Try using all types of Chinese cooking ingredients such as dried fungus, Chinese mushrooms, yu choy, Chinese broccoli etc…
10. When cooking something, it should look good, smell good, and most of all, taste good.

Okay, so #10 wasn’t really a tip… But it’s the truth. Everyone wants their food to look, smell, and taste good. Don’t you?

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Continue -Shengjian &Dou hua

Yah,the Douhua is a kind of breakfast usually eaten by the eastern parts of China ,while the southerner perfers to service it as a dessert or snack for the breaktime.

I used to have Douhua with shengjian or xiaolongbao or Cifantuan quite often during the past time,say we can still see many small breakfast inn.But now most of the little booths are replaced by noshery-chain

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In Taiwan, douhua is served with toppings like cooked peanuts, azuki beans, cooked oatmeal, tapioca, mung beans and a syrup flavored with ginger or almond. During the summer, douhua is served with crushed ice; in the winter, it is served warm.

In Hong Kong it is known as bean curd dessert, or by the name dau fu fa (豆腐花) in Cantonese. There, it can be served with ginger or syrup, and sometimes as a mixture with black sesame paste, and sometimes also with coconut milk. Traditionally it is made with wooden bucket, which is sold as dau fu fa in wooden bucket (木桶豆腐花). Dau fu fa is also sold as packed cold dessert at supermarkets.

Guangdounese have these kind of dessert for hundreds of years while the people in northern China

eat douhua with soy sauce as a breakfast , thus making a salty flavour.

As in my hometown we usually have salty douhua plus a plate of shengjian baozi or a steamed boxs of xiaolongbao- a rich breakfast.

Of course we eat those as a breakfast set out ,but you can still make it at your home.

All your need is very simple:a bowl ofsoyabeam milk and a spoon of lactone. 

You need to pay attention to the among of the lactone you ues .It can be the most important part of the making.Be patient if you are not so successful for the first times.Try to practice =)

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Then add water in the lactone,see not too much.

Next ,pull in liquor of the lactone into the soya beam milk,mixed it. And after 20mintes.it’s done!That simple.

Not finish yet ,you can continue !

Add some soy sauce ,luxuriantly green and a1/4 spoon of sesame oil.Well that’s perfect!!

Can’t wait ?Try it yourself to make some chinese style breakfast !And enjoy it !

we are what we eat-breakfast of the chinese -1.Shengjian &Douhua

 

Pan-fried Bao(zi)

So ~~~~~~~~~ mouthwatering ? aren’t they?!This is a kind of Chinese breakfast called Shengjian ,and in english we can say pan-fried Baozi.

Look carefully ,and you will find the Shengjian in these two pictures are quite different.

Yes,the shape of them.The second ones just looks like snoball that have no drapes on the surfaces.

You need a local guider to help you to find some small stores that service the best shengjian (the price is reasonable as well)Make sure not visiting those expensive restaurants ,they can not provide the shengjian that wonderful!

Have a lookkkkkkkk at those shengjian from different places!I’m sure you will not satisfied if they are only a feast for eyes,right.I admit that even I am a Chinese I might not  enjoy the best shengjian in China .

Since ,you never know what is the NEXT!!

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Yes,the Xiaolongbao.A kind of Baozi  while they have a smaller sizes and they are succulent  when you bite them~~~^^Another different between shengjian and xiaolongbao is that the way they are cook.

As you see the xiaolongbao are served in the steamed box ,usually contain 10-15 per box.But you order shengjian by individual for you had already saw that they are fried in a big pan.

Ok,surely this is not the end .We  will continue the  shengjian and xiaolongbao’s helpmate -Douhua next time~

Have a cup of Hakkas tea:the Lei tea

I was just reading the comment from a acquaintance whose nick name Children ,put on yesterday: “u r make me hungry, at this chill night…”

=)I hope that he could realize his mistake in English grammar .( chortle)^^

I admit that I’m born to have a kind of blindness,say sensible ,I mean.Or a little bit crazy that I might be infatuated with the name of a person like Children. Even I have never seem him before.I don’t know who he is .And have no idea about what kind of person he might be .However the instinct had already gave me the outline of him.It’s hard to describe the special feelings.Because it’s out of thin air appeared in my life .But I’m sure indeed if the God give me a chance to meet him.I will not refuse to open the nearly dead fire.And I promise it’s my own true feelings.

Ok ,those seems definitely too far from the topic I want to say ,that is the tea!!Oh, my god,so you can tell that I am a person like pursue freedom.Why I mentioned so much outlying stuff ??

Oh,yes!Continue the comment I was reading .I was suddenly inspired when I read the phrase “at this chilly night” Then a topic I want to talk about on my blog today jump out of my mind–Have a cup of Hakkas tea at this chilly night!

Sounds weird !Isn’t it?How can the chilly night remind you of the tea.No connection .Hemmmmm, It is said that the students studying in art has a fast jumpily thinking.^^

Ok, return to my muttons :The Hakkas tea .

China has a rich tea culture  

while the history of tea is really a long story.

The tea bush originated in the area where India, China and Myanmar meet, in the hot wet mountainous regions of the Eastern Himalayas. It was originally eaten and drunk by tribal groups in this area. Over two thousand years ago it was used as a medicine and aid to concentration in China, being helped by the expansion of Buddhism from India.

Origins of human use of tea are described in several myths, but it is unknown as to where tea was first created as a drink.

Ok, Let’s go back to the Lei tea–Origin from Hakkas.Frist of all ,let’s have a brief look about the Hakkas.

The Hakka are a subgroup of the Han Chinese people who live predominantly in the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Fujian in China. Their ancestors are said to have originated in the Henan and Shanxi provinces of northern China over 1,700 years ago. In a series of migrations, the Hakka settled in their present locations in southern China, and then migrated overseas to various nations throughout the world. The Hakka have had a significant influence on the course of Chinese and Overseas Chinese history: in particular, they have been a source of revolutionary and political leaders.

The Lei tea is a representative  thing in the Hakkas’ rich cultural cuisine.And has a function of the healthy body.

HOW TO MAKE THE LEI TEA

OK,believe it or not, only not drinking the tea can be a healthy way ,but also it’s a good exercise for you to make them.Different from the regular tea the lei tea also contain both the black and white sesame as well as the peanut .Well the first step is to twist the green tea leaves with cold water,then add the sesame and grind them until they become soupy .After that ,add the peanut and some extra stuff like caraway or something like that and continue grinding .This process lasts at least 15minutes ,so it might be a though work for those beginner .lThose whose do that at first time usually  exhaust themslve only after 2or 3minutes’ grinding .While a old-hand could finish that quite easily.

after grind that the whole work is half done .Just puring the hot water and add sugar or salt .And the traditional tea is salty.Anyway ,it’s up to you.

The

the chinese fascinate utensil:bowl and plate

I am just get crazy about the chinese utensil, I mean those various kinds of dishes and bowl.My friends even can’t understand why I bought back so many dishes which in their eyes have little difference .The reason is as simple as those utensil themself. They are so attractive to me. To me they have not the only one function. Also it is an art .Like very great kinds of masterpieces in any other where of the world.

Yesterday ,I went to a gift store that next to the Chengchang Supermarket in Taipa–the City Square.I’ve heard that goods are extremely expensive in that store .But they have discounts these days.So I was just walking about ,and see if there was anything I’m interested in.I found this green grass bowl there ,and the only one left.I felt it special because that I might be not have another chance to own this bowl if I miss it this time .Luckily I now have it.And this is the bowl later I had used to serve with salad to one of my friends P.^^She likes my fruits and vegetable salad very much~Of course here I want to thank Maomi and Xiao helan (another two friends og mine)’s salad dressing.Surely that I could not make such nice salad without those wonderful salad dressing.

It seems the vessel had combine the eastern and western style!

Another detail of the chinese vesses that interest me is its amazing and

exquisite design.I really hope that I could have my own camera soon so that I could upload the pictures of my vessels .But still ,I found some nice images from the internet.

Bowls are ubiquitous. Some bowls can be safe to use in a microwave oven, depending on the material that the bowl is made out of.While many Chinese vessels are made of China which can be used in a microwave oven.However some china can not ,because the lacework of the vessels are gilded

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Some plates’ lines are simple .But like a magic tale that reflect our ancestors’ imagination and wisdom.These withe plate with the black lines is a wonderful piece.You can see the line at each side are different thought they looks like the same and symmetrical seeing from a distance .

So some plates are made as decorative items for display rather than used for food.That is what we consider life is beyond the realism.As I ‘d love to live my live to the fullest I admire those wonderful things and the chinese rich culture.

chinese breakfast:wonton

I can still remember those time when I was in the childhood.I usually when to live in my grandparents ‘ house with my elder brother.What we eat in the morning was usually a same set–a steamed box of Xiao Longbao and a bowl of Wonton. Well I don’t think now I can eat them all .(wow, how big our stomach were at that time!!) 

See?Normally,a box of Xiao Longbao contains ten ,so as Wonton.
Wonton is a type of dumpling common in chinese cuisine.

A wonton is made with a thin ten centimeter square lye-water pastry wrapper made of wheat flour, water, salt, and lye , and filled with savory minced meat.

Another intresting things:we southerner called it wentun,while in the cantonese is called wonton.Only some difference between  the pronounces .However ,the sichuan people called it chaoshou .Of course they tastes different.

The traditional Chinese food:Dumplings（JIAO ZI）

I like these kind of food very much.And it’s really a traditional food of China.We Chinese called it Jiaozi in Pinyin.And it’s a kind of Chinese dumpling.

As we know ,it is quite popular in the north part of China.And most northern families in the mainland China can make them at home while the southern Chinese usual buy them in the supermarket.

Long time ago, Jiaozi were only eat during the Chinese New Year.At that time of the year family members would get together to make dumplings. Since my grandparents are both from North China ,we keep this custom -that is really a wonderful memory .And even my father -a typical southerner are enjoyed making with us .What’s more,he’s work is pretty good=)

The shape of a dumpling resembles a Chinese golden tael , therefore they symbolize good fortune in the coming year. In rural areas, the choicest livestock is slaughtered, the meat ground and wrapped into dumplings, and frozen outside with the help of the freezing weather. Then they are boiled and served for the Chinese New Year feast. Dumplings with sweet, rather than savoury fillings are also popular as a Chinese New Year treat.

Mainly ,we have steamed Jiaozi and we also fried them .

By the way you maybe confused with the wonton: the jiaozi dumpling has a thicker skin and is a flatter, more oblate, double-saucer like shape (similar in shape to ravioli), and is usually eaten with a soy-vinegardipping sauce (and/or hot chili sauce); while a wonton has a thinner skin, is sphere-shaped, and is usually served in broth.

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This is a Cantonese style shrimp wonton.

by the way an interesting variation on Chinese dumplings, known as dim sims can be found in Australia.