Month: November 2014

Categories
China Tea

Lost in Longjing (Part II)

Time flies, it’s been 6 months since I posted Part I; there we looked at harvesting and processing Green Tea, now, in Part II we’ll wrap up with brewing, drinking and selling…

cup_green_tea

Brewing
As we know, the flavors of green tea, whilst fresh and bright in small quantities, if left to brew too long will become unpleasant, bitter and acrid. Where better than a Chinese Government run store to learn about the brewing process?  Unlike most other teas, Green Tea is brewed and consumed in the same glass.

The brewing process is made up of a number of steps:

  1. Most importantly, use water at only 80 to 90 degrees. Boiling water is the the most significant cause of the overly seaweed taste of the leaves that I struggled with for so long. You can in fact brew tea with cold water. The ladies harvesting leaves will typically have large beakers in the field, they will fill these with cold water and brew the tea over the course of about ½ hour; drinking through the day.
  2. Depending on the harvest of leaves, you’ll need to play around with the amount of leaves you use – the rule of thumb (excuse the pun) is a single thumb and forefinger for late March leaves and a three fingers for early April. Place your leaves at the bottom of your glass and quarter fill the cup. Leave the leaves to absorb a small amount of water, expand and open up. At this point you are recommended to deeply inhale the aroma.
  3. Next you fill the cup to the top. You should dip the kettle three times in order to pour water from height. This has the effect of mixing the leaves and ensuring they are well agitated. At this point you should cup the glass to your eye in order to stimulate the eyes and prevent aging.
  4. After about 3 minutes your tea is ready to drink.

Drinking Eating
One of the problems that I immediately had in Hangzhou was how to drink tea without ending up with a mouthful of leaves. I tried blowing, swilling, chopsticks… nothing was particularly effective or elegant. There is an expression in Hangzhou that “people don’t drink tea, they eat it”. Not only is this far more pragmatic, it’s a lot more satisfying. A good set of leaves will stand up to about 3 brews in the same glass – provided that you don’t eat them all in the first glass.

The health benefits of Green Tea have long been recognized. The shop that we visited had a pretty kitsch way of demonstrating this – a mixture of iodine, water and rice is made. To this dark liquid green tea leaves are introduced. After a couple of minutes you’ll see that the leaves absorb the iodine from the rice. The polyphenol in the tea is said to drive this effect. Polyphenol is said to stimulate fat loss, cholesterol reduction etc. There is an even more intriguing variation of the experiment where a green tea extract tablet is shown to remove the iodine 8 times faster and 8 time more. Whilst we found the demo interesting, the salesperson lost a fair amount of credibility when she said that Green Tea contained no caffeine. I’m not a chemist so I’ll pause my discussion of the health benefits at this point. I’m sure her grandmother wouldn’t agree with my skepticism, she has spent her life putting the vapor to her eye and applying a facemask of used leaves with egg – she’s 100 years-old and still alive – hey, it’s got to be true..

eyeglass

Selling
Empress tea is the most valued, it is relatively scarce compared to the other harvests. A good way to know if you’re getting true empress is to study the color. It should be very pale compared with other harvests. Along with the color, the quality of the leaves degrades with age. It gets to a point where the harvests are viable only in the export market (sorry!). As with all things Chinese, locals will choke at the prices we were quoted and say that we were robbed – a kilo of leaves costs $100 for late April, $130 for early April and $200 for late March.

Due to the relative scarcity and value of Longjing, there is a large problem with counterfeit tea being produced, particularly in the Szechuan province. Being China, the people in the shop made great efforts to explain how they were government owned and therefore legitimate. I’ve found it best to not protest too much, similarly, not to be too skeptical. Either way, it was an experience of a life-time.

Categories
China Recipes

Fideos Zhajiang

A veces los platos que definen la vida cotidiana de un país son desconocidos para los extranjeros. Esto suele pasar en el caso de China, un país enorme con distintas geografías, climas y grupos étnicos. Y tampoco tiene nada que ver la comida de los restaurantes de un cierto nivel con lo que come la gente en casa. Esto mismo pasa en España donde los extranjeros se quedan sorprendidos con nuestra variedad de verduras que luego no encuentran en los restaurantes. Cuando salimos preferimos el chuletón, el pescado y el marisco.

Los chinos no invitan a sus amigos a restaurantes a comer comida de todos los días.  Tradicionalmente, los invitan para impresionarlos y para comer productos carísimos como el pepino de mar, el abulón o el ala de tiburón. Los mas jóvenes van a restaurantes de hot pot de Sichuan, un tipo de fondue picantísima en la que se pone todo tipo de pescado, carne, verdura y setas. Y al final cuando llega la cuenta hay peleas porque todos quieren pagar.

Los restaurantes chinos baratos en el extranjero sirven, en general comida para occidentales: mucho agridulce, mucho frito, arroz tres delicias, rollitos de primavera y muchos platos que no representan la comida de este país. En los “Chinatowns” americanos o en Londres siempre hay un menú en cantones o mandarín para chinos y si os fijáis, lo que piden no tiene nada que ver con lo que viene en el menú.

Como los occidentales no compartimos la pasión de los chinos por la textura (pies de pollo, texturas gelatinosas) y los tropezones (pollo troceado con huesos) los restaurantes tienden a segregar. Si un chino tuviera que elegir platos españoles probablemente elegiría manitas de cerdo y callos.

Hace poco fuimos a casa de unos amigos aquí en Dalian y este fue el menú que nos sirvieron:  maíz y boniatos asados, cerdo salteado con calabacines, gambas cocidas, taro cocido con azúcar, cerdo salteado con hongos negros, arroz al vapor, sopa de caldo de cerdo y espinaca salteada. Nada de fritos y nada agridulce. Fue un menú simple de fin de semana.

Probablemente uno de los platos mas corrientes y populares de la comida china casera son los huevos revueltos con tomate. Este plato aunque suene aburrido es realmente sabroso. Se calienta en un wok aceite de cacahuete y se echan los huevos revueltos. Después se añade el tomate en trozos y al final una salsa de fécula de patata, sal, azúcar y agua (tan corriente en la cocina china) para espesar. Se puede servir sobre arroz, fideos o también solos. No hay nada mas rápido o simple.

Uno de mis platos favoritos de cocina casera es Zhajiang mian o Fideos Zhajiang, un plato originalmente de Beijing. Aquí en el noreste de China (antigua Manchuria), los platos de fideos de trigo y los bollos (mantou) al vapor son muy populares. Este plato es el equivalente a unos espaguetis boloñesa.

Se cocina el cerdo picado con especias, salsa de soja fermentada dulce (Hoisin), jengibre y cebolleta. Se sirve sobre fideos finos acompañado de verduras en juliana blanqueadas o crudas. También se puede acompañar de verdura de China en conserva (ya cai, zha cai etc.). Las recetas de este tipo de fideos difieren de persona a persona y van de muy dulce a salado. En Corea del Sur es un plato muy popular y barato también.

Zhajiang Mian es comida de estudiantes, oficinistas, trabajadores de fabrica o niños.

Fideos Zhajiang

Ingredientes

  • 3 cdas de aceite de cacahuete o girasol
  • 300 g de panceta de cerdo picada
  • 2 cdas de jengibre picado
  • 1 cebolleta picada
  • ½ taza de salsa Hoisin más 2 cucharadas
  • Sal al gusto
  • Agua
  • 2 anises estrellados
  • 1 pepino en juliana
  • 1 taza de guisantes
  • 1 taza de repollo en juliana
  • 1 zanahoria pequeña en juliana
  • 1 sobrecito de verdura china en conserva (ya cai, zha cai, xue cai) (opcional)
  • 400 g fideos de trigo chinos o similar

Elaboración:

Poner el aceite en un wok y calentar. Añadir el cerdo y saltear hasta que este blanco.

Añadir el jengibre y la cebolleta y saltear un par de minutos. Añadir la salsa hoisin y mezclar bien. Después añadir la sal, el anís estrellado y el agua hasta cubrir la carne. Cocinar a fuego lento durante 15-20 minutos hasta que salsa se haya espesado y reducido.

La salsa tiene que estar un poco más salada de la cuenta cuando la pruebes, si no con los fideos va a resultar un poco soso.

Preparar una olla con agua y llevar a ebullición. Blanquear la zanahoria, los guisantes y el repollo.

Cocinar los fideos según las instrucciones del paquete.

Servir en bols individuales. Primero los fideos y después la carne decorando con la verdura y la verdura en conserva. Mezclar antes de comer.

Blanca Valencia antigua profesora y directora de la escuela de Alambique lleva un año viviendo en China. Es editora de cocina y restaurantes para la revista “Focus on Dalian” y da clases de cocina española y mejicana. En Marzo de 2015 espera poder ir al Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine a estudiar la comida Sichuanesa.

Categories
China Food

Chinese Churros

All cultures claim complete uniqueness when it comes to the things they eat. Such is the feeling we Spanish people have about our beloved churros.

So what a surprise to find morning churrerias that spring up early at dawn to provide a breakfast of churros to the Chinese!
Granted Chinese eating churro or you tiao is vastly different from the Spanish one.

While we eat them with hot chocolate, or dipped in granulated sugar with a café con leche, the Chinese eat them with sweetened soy milk and hot and sour soup or congee (rice porridge).

It is something that is done in a bit of a haste before running to work while in Spain it is more of weekend leisure activity.

One day I went to a morning market to see how they make you tiao. The process is fairly labor intensive; they use a baking powder, sugar, peanut oil, alkaline water and a host of other ingredients that are secretly guarded by street vendors. The dough is kneaded and rested several times. After, they cut the dough into strips. Using a chopstick or the flat back of a knife, they make a gutter in the middle of each strip hence it looks like two breadsticks stuck together.

IMG_0244

Finally it is fried in peanut oil and served.

Processed with VSCOcam with g3 preset

The end result is light, fluffly and crispy.

Categories
Articles China

Thriving in a Chinese Kitchen (Nov 2014)

Cooking like the Chinese can be extremely rewarding, fast and easy on the pocket; even if only a couple of times a week! Armed with a cleaver, a chopping block and a wok you are ready to go. But where do you learn to cook Chinese food in Dalian? Unfortunately there are no schools or catering colleges for foreigners.

This is where getting your hands on a few good Chinese cookbooks comes in handy, but with over 2,400 on Amazon which ones are good?

Food writer Ken Hom’s books are a wonderful introduction to Chinese food, the recipes veer slightly towards restaurant food, but his step-by-step pictures compensate.

Yan-kit So’s “Classic Chinese Cookbook” is timeless with great photography and both sophisticated and simple recipes. This book introduced Chinese food as haute cuisine to the West. Use it to impress your friends.

If you are a visual person with an interest in food history the tv series “A Bite of China” on CCTV is simply breathtaking.

My most used Chinese cookbook “Chinese Cooking Made Easy” by Shyh-Pwu Tien, was given to me by a friend from Singapore. It was written for Taiwanese and Chinese students struggling to cook Chinese food in the US in the late 90’s. This book has made many a trip to Chinese grocery stores. There is nothing in this book that you can’t cook.

But if I had to choose only one book it would be Fuschia Dunlop’s “Every Grain of Rice”. She has previously written well-researched books on Hunanese and Sichuanese cuisine and is probably the West’s foremost expert on Chinese food. She really shines in her latest book, which fills a gap on the shelves of Chinese cookbooks by dealing exclusively with home-cooked food (like scrambled eggs with tomatoes). The recipes are easy, well written and her sections on ingredients are instructive and inspiring.

Smoked Tofu

This recipe is inspired by her book.

Smoked tofu, red pepper and crunchy soybean stir-fry

  • 3 tbsp of peanut oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • a dash of soy sauce
  • 1 red or green peppers, sliced
  • 1 bunch of Chinese chives, trimmed and cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 packet of smoked tofu, sliced
  • ¼ tsp five spice powder
  • 1 handful of toasted soybeans

Add the oil to the wok and heat. Add the garlic, stir-fry briefly and add the soy sauce. Add the peppers and chives and stir-fry. Add the tofu and five spice powder. Serve in a bowl and sprinkle toasted soybeans.

Categories
Articles

Lentil Salad

When travelling in France don’t just concentrate on the Michelin restaurants with their haute cuisine; get into the bistros and cafes with their traditional food and local clientele.

The repertoire of French regional food is vast and can often be challenging to cook. It is not surprising that many chefs have left their Michelin starred establishment to launch rustic bistros with fixed price menu options. In these establishments the food is heart-warming, belly filling and most importantly it offers the visitor a glimpse into the type of classic home-cooked food that, alas, you will not find in many homes any more. If you need a guide, look for Patricia Well’s book “The Food Lover’s Guide to Paris”.

A rich cassoulet (a dish of duck confit, white beans and sausages), a bubbling potato and celeriac gratin, tangy leeks in vinagraitte and tender Coq au vin are all well worth a bite. But in the spring and summer “lentilles en salade” can be unexpectedly delicious. Lentils are deservedly popular for their earthy taste, cheap price and healthy attributes; they come alive in salads such as this one.

Lentil Salad

Lentil salad with goat cheese, beets and rocket

Serves 4

  • 300 grams of green French lentils
  • 330 gram jar of cooked beetroot
  • 140 gram container of Chavroux goat cheese or feta
  • 50 gram packet of rocket

Dressing

  • 3 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tblsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • sea salt and ground black pepper

Wash the lentils and put them in boiling water, simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until done (they should be a little chewy).

Make the dressing by mixing the ingredients.

When lentils are done, season with a little salt and drain.

Wait for them to cool down.

Mix the lentils with the dressing. Put lentils on plate and place beetroot, goat cheese and rocket on top.