About Food Eating in Traditional Southern Culture

The most classic food of the southerners

Rice cakes and dumplings, each one is half of the world. By and large, southerners are used to eating rice cakes, while northerners are more particular about eating dumplings. Rice cakes also permeate the north, but they are rather monotonous, and only southerners can make numerous patterns out of them. As for the dumplings, obviously belong to the product of the North, the South also opened a dumpling restaurant, generally have to play the "northern dumplings" front, to show that the authenticity. This is similar to how some stores emphasize "handmade dumplings" as opposed to "machine dumplings" produced on an assembly line. In classical food, the more primitive the production method, the better, as if to maintain the original flavor. In the south of the Yangtze River, rice cakes are sold, and the words "water-ground rice cake" are often printed on the wrapping paper.

While China has long been unified, food customs, there are still regional. As the "southern rice and northern noodles", "southern cake and northern cake", "southern sweet and northern salty" and other renditions, said the south has rice cakes, northern dumplings, can not be wrong, right. Especially on the occasion of the New Year, they are symbolic meaning strong symbolization of food, can be called the table of auspicious classics. Even if the existing living conditions are better, the sea food often dominate, but because the meaning of rice cakes and dumplings on the festivities is far greater than its taste, still can not be deposed. If you think about it, eight generations of ancestors have celebrated New Year's Eve with the help of this quaint food, and future generations are less likely to dare or be willing to rebel against it. Even in other aspects of life, all to "new mankind" self-appointed. I guess it is relatively rare for families to go to KFC or McDonald's for New Year's Eve dinner to celebrate reunion. The more "cultural heritages" like rice cakes and dumplings, the better, as they have become heirlooms of the Chinese people and will not be lost.

The name "rice cake" is a good metaphor for "rising year after year". It seems to be recited more often than not, in good faith. Not only does it sound good, but when you eat it, the flavor is not bad either. Between the lips and teeth, can chew the natural mellow flavor of southern rice. And because of its viscosity, the taste is unique. Jiangsu and Zhejiang people, the night of the New Year's Eve always set a plate of rice cakes on the Baxian table, as an offering. When I was a child, I often steamed and then cold hardened sugar rice cakes, cut into slices, put into the mouth, when the candy to chew and play. My grandmother said, "The little rat is grinding his teeth again. Sweet rice cakes, as well as a meat and oil rice cakes, can be eaten as a snack; cooking, generally use water rice cakes, colorless and tasteless. My hometown people organize banquets, the last and dish out a fried rice cake, both as a drink, but also as a staple food. Fried with yellow sprouts, fried with potherb mustard, if you add shredded meat, even better. The Shanghainese have taken this dish to the "top" level: Fried Rice Cake with Crab. With crab as the ingredient, the rice cake is honorable enough. The fresh flavor of the crab soaks into the thinly sliced rice cake through the hot broth. It is said that if you eat crab fried rice cake, you won't put it down even if you are slapped. Don't believe me, try it?

Old Beijing Spring Festival custom, there is also steaming hot steamed rice cakes, echoing the dumplings, to show that there is plenty of rice and noodles, the family has surplus food. I think, this as a companion to the steamed rice cakes, I am afraid that the southern people brought habits. In Beijing at that time, there were already a lot of southerners. They wouldn't forget the rice cakes because of the dumplings. Still less would they forget their hometown just because they came to the foot of the sky.

Packing dumplings is the only place that shows the dexterity of northerners and the clumsiness of southerners. I mean in terms of craftsmanship. Even a Suzhou girl, who can embroider flowers and birds on silk, can't make a good dumpling. Northern people, but the dumplings will be able to pinch together seamlessly, with style and shape, with an iron ironed generally straight dumplings of good luck, a very important aspect of its shape, like the ancient as "hard currency" of the yuanbao; eating dumplings, similar to the ceremony, symbolically in the "fortune and treasure! The eating of dumplings is similar to a ritual, symbolizing "inviting wealth and prosperity". On the other hand, the dumplings are harmonized to take the symbolism of the change of the old and the new, and the "change of the year".

The Chinese believe that dumplings bring wealth and good luck. If this is considered a superstition, it is also a very beautiful and positive one. There should be a little bit of spiritual support in life, and if it also brings you enjoyment, it may not be a bad thing. People also introduce the custom of drawing lots into their diet, burying copper coins, silver coins, precious stones, pearls and other small lucky objects in the filling of the dumplings to divine their luck. The process of eating dumplings is as exciting as the lottery. Let's see who's going to win the big prize! It adds a romantic longing to the mundane diet. That's the best way to spice things up.

In the Qing Dynasty and even the Republic of China, dumplings were also called "boiled meat and potatoes". "Summer is over, fall is over, and we have to serve our mothers-in-law on New Year's Day, so let's cook the meat and potatoes. Thin skin, stuffed with more, mother-in-law ate smiling, daughter-in-law Fei Zhang Luo." This is a folk song included in Li Guangting's book "Xiangyangyin xieyi" (Explaining the meaning of the countryside) from the Qing Dynasty. It seems that wrapping dumplings helps to integrate the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. A smile!

There is also a proverb in the north: "Eat dumplings on the 30th night - no outsiders." To signify closeness. It can be seen that dumplings are a must for families to celebrate reunion on New Year's Eve. My friend, Issa, wrote a cool review of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala: "How to Cook Dumplings in this Pot". He compared the old Spring Festival Gala to a pot of "cultural dumplings", and whether or not there is something new depends on what kind of filling is wrapped. If you don't eat dumplings on the night of the 30th, you won't feel like you're celebrating the New Year. Just as the Chinese people, if they do not watch the Spring Festival gala, it must be very empty.

In the slow-paced era, the whole family sat around a table to wrap the dumplings, chatting, is a very interesting collective labor. It seems to be more enjoyable than eating. Especially in the Spring Festival, family members are present in full, the happy; who is absent, will let everyone have "all inserted cornelian less a person" sentimental and miss. Buddies and sisters, before the New Year's bell rings, be sure to rush home to eat a bowl of dumplings yo. This is a very humane custom. If you can observe it, do so.

Not only the common people, but also the Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty, made dumplings on the night of the 30th a ritual that could not be omitted. Yehe Yanli Yimin, who has written once again about "New Year's Eve at the Court in the late Qing Dynasty," recalls the old days of the former dynasty. "New Year's Eve twelve o'clock clock will be over, the Empress Dowager ordered all the people Qi to the temple, lined up after a long case, by the Imperial Catering Office will be prepared in advance of a variety of vegetarian dishes on the table, all the people together under the hand to do the vegetarian stuffing are biscuits, so cut the cut, chopped chopped, above the hall suddenly jingle jingle jingle jangle. Cutting and chopping, are handed over to the queen in front of the queen, by the queen, consort, the big princess and other people mix the filling, taste salty and light, decided by the queen. Day to dawn, dumplings have been wrapped. The empress dowager ordered all the people to return to change clothes, re-brush hair and dress up. Not much work, all the people back to the temple. The Empress Dowager sat at the end of the case, and the Empress and others stood beside the case. The Empress Dowager ordered the courtesan to cook the boiled meat and potatoes served up, the Empress Dowager said: at this moment is the new year, the new moon, the new day, the new time to start, we can not forget last year's today today, today we can eat a bowl of peace of rice, this is the blessing of the gods and Buddhas, the ancestors of the shelter. After saying that, ordered everyone to have a meal. Everyone kowtowed to the Empress Dowager to thank you. After eating the boiled meat and potatoes, the day dawned."