Christmas all, especially Christmas and Easter, is associated with our confrontation with immense amounts of food. But if you think that we eat a lot at Christmas, you are very, very wrong. The Chinese celebrate fresh Year for 15 days (plus Christmas Eve of the Chinese fresh Year) and eat different dishes almost all day, each of which symbolizes something: happiness, health, long life, success and all the best.
To those who choose to take on the challenge and “pull” all Chinese conventional fresh Year dishes we want quite a few wellness and large acquaintance with gastrologists. Below is the agenda of classes at the dinner table, which is set for the following days of wrestling with the delicacies of Chinese cuisine.
New Year's Eve
Christmas Eve of the Chinese fresh Year is as crucial to modern Chinese as Christmas Eve to us. In China, it's a day erstwhile all household members who usually live and work very, very far distant sit at 1 table. It's a day erstwhile parents and their children, grandchildren and grandparents, brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, and aunts frequently meet after a year. Everyone under the same roof. And since the occasion is exceptional, on the table besides unique dishes that hosts want to give as much joy as possible to long awaited guests. The number of dishes depends, of course, on the wealth of the family, but the canon of the world's supper is steamed fish, cooked chicken, fried pork, shrimp and all dumplings. And, of course, vegetables. Matters of materilane are always crucial in Chinese culture, so dishes on the Christmas table symbolize primarily the success measured in the presently popular means of payment: gold, silver, red banknotes, or electronic yuan.
Cantonese paired fish:
Day One
No 1 rushes to the table after Christmas. Therefore, in the morning, on the first day of Spring Day, the families welcome the fresh year with artificial fires and firecrackers that effectively deter all evil spirits. erstwhile upon a time, it was a work to visit relatives and friends wishing them luck in the fresh year. Today, however, everyone enjoys the opportunities of modern times: young people go together to bars, karaoke, clubs, or another places to spend time together. The elders usually search an angle after starting a rac to take a nap, to sleep off the journey and Christmas dinner. But in the afternoon, everyone gathers at the same table again. In addition to what is left of Christmas Eve, 2 conventional dishes appear: Jiaozi and Niangao. Jiaozi are dumplings stuffed with ground meat and/or vegetables that can be soaked in soy sauce with vinegar or hot peppers.
Jiaozi:
Niangao, on the another hand, is simply a dish that is made of popular “sticky” rice. The Chinese believe that rice symbolizes the sustainability of household ties – common knowing and community. Niangao means “better life next year” in Chinese.
Niangao:
In accordance with the article on Culture-4-travel.com, “Niangao is very sweet and sometimes Chinese families effort to bribe her with Kitchen God believing that if he expresses approval for a well-prepared, tasty dish, eating it on fresh Year's Eve is simply a good luck for the coming fresh year”. The effort to bribe Kitchen God is simply a part of the tradition in China, and it is frequently attempted with sweet dishes a week before Christmas Eve, making certain that the kitchen does not run out of sweet dishes until then. On Christmas Eve tea, sweet fruit and confectionery are besides frequently served, which must be on table eight. Eight is simply a happy number in China.
Day Two
The second day of the fresh year is called “Dog Birthday”. According to tradition, Wonton in the form of gold bars is then given to honor 1 of the Chinese deities, and eats quite a few Chinese dumplings in the form of an ancient gold coin. In the regions of China where dog meat is eaten, he must not be touched that day.
Wonton:
Day 3 and four
After 2 days of feasting, it is time for a break. On the 3rd and 4th day, the Chinese remainder and go to bed early, and they return to the kitchen only on the 4th day of the fresh Year, erstwhile God of Paleniska should be celebrated. Fruit, rice and dough are then eaten, and a sacrifice is made in the form of pork, poultry, eggs and cuttlefish. You drink mostly tea and wine.
Rice wine from Shaoxing:
Day Five
The 5th day of the fresh Year is named in China after Wu. Traditionally, it's God of Fortune's birthday. The most appropriate way to celebrate an crucial deity for Chinese (money, money, money) is the device of an all-night feast. During it, different foods are eaten depending on the region of the country. In the north, Jiaozi is prepared, where sweets, fruit and wine are served. Eat with the windows and doors open, in case Fortune's God is passing and decides to visit
Something good for everyone:
Day Six
The sixth day of the fresh Year is the Day of the Spirit of Poverty. Tradition dictates that on this day of Christmas clean the house, there is an chance to burn the calories accumulated at the Christmas table (preventing besides much failure by eating what remained in the pantry or refrigerator from erstwhile days), to throw distant old clothes, and to wear new, festive and visit old friends. It's another gathering asumpt. As part of a remainder from feasting, the food strategy is cleaned with simple rice and vegetables with mustard.
Vegetables with Chinese mustard:
Day Seven
It is the alleged “Man Day”, a festival of all people, bearing the name Ren Ri in China. On that day, different foods are eaten depending on the region of China. Tradition requires preparing Yu Sheng's dish, the primary ingredient of which is non-stop long noodles (of course, the more you eat it, the longer and happier will be the life of the eater), vegetables and a fattip of natural fish, which is eaten in the hope of full bumblebees in the fresh Year. The full thing is covered with oil, or oil to combine all elements of the dish, while at the same time providing the guests with a “smooth future”.
Yu Sheng:
Why “Man Day”? Well, according to the Chinese mythology of the goddess Nu Wa, for six days, she had made clay and mud all the animals of the world, On the 7th day, you're going to get a man.. The symbol of this story is Yu Sheng's dish containing 7 basic ingredients. The pot is prepared by the hosts, and erstwhile it lands on the table, all the guests mix it with chopsticks, and then, after mixing, they drop it as advanced as possible by shouting “Loh Hei!”, wishing each another happiness and good luck in the fresh year.
Yu Sheng Preparation:
Day Eight
On that day, seven-day holidays end, so adults go back to work and children go to school. Provided that bets and schools begin normal, universal operation. More and more companies and schools besides choose the option of a kax, which is 2 weeks of celebration. On the eighth day of the Spring Day, you must “finish” any meat dishes and cakes that are inactive in the pantry, or fridge.
Beef and peppers:
Day Nine
At midnight, between the eighth and ninth day of the fresh year, the birthday of the Jade Emperor, the God of Heaven, is celebrated, who is celebrated for not eating meat. Many Chinese consider Jade Emperor's day to be More crucial than fresh Year's Christmas Eve. In fact, the richness of food and the number of fireworks fired that day beats the head of the Christmas offer. On that day, 2 separate tables are placed in Chinese houses, covered with mandatory red tablecloths, on which conventional food requirements appear. The Chinese calendar of luck tellers that 1 of the tables should be on “Three bundles of long pasta, 3 cups of green tea, 5 different kinds of fruit and six different types of natural vegetables”, on the another hand, which puts itself in honor of the Jade Emperor's side guard, 5 meat dishes and sweet cakes, among which must include colored turtle-shaped cookies. Hard-cooked red chicken eggs are besides mandatory.
A defender table – you can boast to your neighbors:
Days 10 to 13
After a feast in the day of God Heaven, all dishes of vegetables and meat and vegetables and fruits should be finished. In order to avoid tummy problems and to reconstruct balance in overexerted gastrointestinal systems, simple rice dishes and mustard vegetables are again eaten.
And, of course, he drinks everything with tea. This is the best for digestion. but she's good for everything.
Tea:
Day 14th and 15th
The last day of fresh Year's holidays is the Yuan-Xiao, or Lampion Day. On that day it eats, as if otherwise, a Chinese dish Yuan-Xiao, which resembles the full moon. Tang-Yuan dumplings are besides mandatory on Lampion Day. Even native Chinese confuse these dishes with sweet rice balls, which are most commonly served in water with sugar. The first resembles the moon fully, their form of the balls is suitable for them by turning them in a basket or bowl, they always have a white colour and sweet, broken filling. Tang Yuan in turn are squeezed with their hands like dumplings, so they have a smooth and shiny “skin”, which is suitable for different, bright colors. These dumplings in turn are filled with very different, usually semi-liquid pastes, which are prepared with many different ingredients specified as red beans or sesame (the “sweet” version), or for example peanut cream (with salt and chili).
Rice dumplings Yuan Xiao with sweet bean filling:
Tang Yuan:
New Year’s Advice
While eating fresh Year’s delicacies, be careful not to break the dishes. The Chinese are very superstitious and believe that broken vessels will bring bad luck in all spheres of life in the fresh year. And if that happens and any vessel is broken, you absolutely must not curse. For the full fresh year will be cursed. Chinese fresh Year is simply a full series of different taboos, bans, warrants. It has accumulated for respective 1000 years of celebration. But it's a different story.
Well? You inactive think we eat a lot at Christmas?
Meanwhile,
“Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái” (恭喜发财) – Happiness and Happiness!
Source:
- http://bakingquinn.blogspot.com,
- http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn,
- IAmNotFatdotNet,
- http://yoursmoment.blogspot.com,
- http://www.cookasianfood.com,
- https://www.chinaeducationaltours.com/guide/chinese-lantern-festival-differences-yuanxiao-tangyuan.htm,
- https://www.chinatravel.com/focus/chinese-new-year/celebration.htm#js_day5
Leszek B. Glass
Email: [email protected]
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