Author: Keyi Chen

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Instant Noodle Culture in Contemporary China

Keyi Chen

CHN370W

Instant Noodle Culture in Contemporary China

White is the Korean beef bone soup, yellow are curled noodles, red is the tomato slice, green are fresh vegetables, and pink are crisp sausages. All of these ingredients are put in a small metal pot, giving off tempting scents. The dish looks so delicate by mixing various colors together that it is quite hard to believe this is just a bowl of instant noodle. With the large social and economic changes within several decades, people’s dietary habits and ideas have changed hugely. Instant noodle, as a type of fast food, is even more influenced by the process of modernization. Similar to other Chinese food, instant noodle can be regarded as a cultural indicator; more specifically, it indicates the contemporary food culture which is impacted by traditional Chinese culture, foreign cultures, domestic economic developments, and modern culture in China. In order to make this research more credible, I chose to conduct fieldwork methods, including participant observation and interview, in a supermarket and an instant noodle canteen.

To begin with, the rise and prevalence of instant noodle in the Chinese market are inseparable with traditional Chinese food culture. The origin of Chinese noodles can be traced back to more than 4000 years ago, in Han Dynasty. When noodles first appeared on the stage of history, they were initially counted as one type of Bing(饼)[1]. Later, as the territory of Han Chinese continuously was expanded, and the communication with ethnic minorities became more frequent, noodles had been spread to various regions and then developed to many different types due to regional influences, which include climates, types of staple crops, and preferred flavors of local residents. For example, noodles originated in north China are mainly made from wheat flours while rice noodles are quite popular in Yunnan Province in southwest China. Moreover, simple cooking methods make noodles even more prevalent. Flours made from local staple crops, cold and boiled water, preserved or fresh vegetables, with all these necessities, poor people from lower classes could fill their stomachs. The long history, simple cooking methods, and affordable costs have made noodles an indispensable staple food in Chinese people’s lives; as a result of which, instant noodles, as alternatives to traditional noodles, could be accepted when first launching Chinese food market. Except for the fact that the long-term dietary habit of eating noodles has laid the foundation for Chinese instant noodles, the diversified variety of Chinese noodles promotes the development of instant noodles as well. In order to promote the sales volume and compete with others, producers have kept creating new flavors which are usually intimations of traditional flavors; therefore, various kinds of Chinese noodles provides abundant resources for producers. Based on the observation in the supermarket, different noodle flavors from different regions can be clearly reflected by instant noodles: the braised beef noodle is based on Taiwan’s noodle dishes; the sauerkraut beef noodle is based on the pickled vegetables from northeast China; the hot and sour rice noodle is based on the famous dish in Sichuan Province… Nowadays, as the continuous consumption upgrading, the sale of instant noodles has been keeping declining for several years[2]; however, the brand Master Kong’s sale keeps growing. The reason behind is that the brand keeps adding new flavors that come from traditional Chinese dishes, such as chicken stewed with mushrooms and spicy oil noodles(油泼辣子面)[3]. 

Furthermore, because of the convenience and traditional tastes, Chinese instant noodles are becoming more and more popular in foreign markets as one of the symbols of Chinese food culture[3]. From these facts, we can find that the wide variety of instant noodle flavors, which are results from the traditional Chinese food culture, have made the market diversified and push the development of instant noodles forward.

Except for traditional Chinese food history and culture, foreign food cultures also impact Chinese instant noodles a lot. The impacts can be divided into two categories: impacts from western fast-food culture and impacts from other Asian food cultures. Firstly, the fast-food culture from western countries makes it easier for Chinese people to alter their dietary concepts. After the economic open-up in 1978, more and more foreign companies, including foreign food franchises, began launching in the Chinese market, one of the biggest markets in the world. With the entering of KFC in 1987[4], the concept of fast food was also brought to Chinese people’s lives. In the past, people had been used to go to traditional “sit down” restaurants and wait for the food to be cooked. However, the appearance of fast food has allowed people to save time for waiting by selling prepared food or cooking semi-prepared food in just a few minutes. The concept of instant noodles is the same as that of burgers and fried chickens. Buying a bag of instant noodle allows people to save the time that is used to waiting for chefs to cook a bowl of noodle. This concept has a large difference with the traditional noodle-eating habits in the past thousands of years; nevertheless, as the fast-food culture brought by foreign fast-food restaurants had already changed young people’s concepts at that time, the appearance of instant noodles in mainland China was not too hard to be accepted. Moreover, instead of buying cooked fast food in restaurants, nowadays, consumers like adding their own preferred ingredients when cooking to make instant noodles more nutritious and delectable. This characteristic actually reflects the traditional Chinese belief of balancing nutrition and flavors in one dish. Mixing fast-food culture with traditional food culture makes instant noodles even more popular among consumers among different ages. 

Secondly, instant noodles in the contemporary Chinese market are influenced by several other Asian food cultures. At present, we can see various imported instant noodles from other Asian countries nearby. According to the observation in the supermarket, imported instant noodles occupy almost half of the shelves; in the instant noodle canteen, approximately 95 percent of instant noodles are imported. These imported noodles are from famous foreign brands like Nissin and Samyoug, including different flavors that intimate noodle dishes in East and Southeast Asian countries: Japanese pork bone soup ramen, Japanese yakisoba, Korean kimchi ramen, Malayan laksa rice vermicelli, Thai tom yum ramen… Buying these imported instant noodles makes people not need to look for authentic foreign noodle dishes in restaurants anymore. Although the prices of these products are higher than those domestic products, the price difference is not so big that it is still affordable to most consumers. Furthermore, importing foreign instant noodle brands has pushed the development of domestic brands. In order to be more competitive in the increasingly fierce competition, domestic producers launch “foreign noodle dishes.” One apparent example is the brand–Uni-President(统一). We can easily find foreign flavors as Japanese pork bone soup ramen, Japanese miso ramen, and coconut chicken soup noodle in the instant noodle series called Tang Da Ren(汤达人). It is interesting to find that Chinese noodles influenced the rise of noodles in neighboring countries by communication and immigration in the past, while neighboring countries have enriched the contemporary Chinese instant noodle market both directly and indirectly, using noodle dishes developed under their own cultures. Behind the interaction of noodles is the interaction of different cultures.

While discussing both domestic changes in food culture and impacts from foreign food cultures, we can never ignore the effects of huge economic changes in decades. An essential changing point is China’s economic reformation and open-up. The open-up of mainland China’s market opened a door for the entering of foreign companies. Also, the booming economy improved people’s living standards largely; therefore, improving living standards provided more channels, such as magazines and televisions, to learn more about other cultures. The changes in media and market subtly made Chinese people more open-minded. As a result, instant noodles, as an invention from Japan and a mixed product of eastern and western culture, could be accepted by the public without many obstacles. In fact, the Chinese instant noodle market was established quickly and kept thriving from the 1990s to recent years. The new eating concept, which focuses on convenience and quickness, and good tastes are still attractive to many consumers nowadays. However, as the Chinese economy keeps growing rapidly, the consumption level and living standards keep being upgraded as well; thus, the sales of instant noodles is gradually declining in recent years. In the 1990s, the price of instant noodles was suitable for the middle class[5], but just about 20 years later, in 2014, the growing middle class began losing interests in instant noodles and consider them cheap and unhealthy[6]. Flourishment in economics has improved all aspects of Chinese people’s lives. When poverty is not a problem for most families, people begin to pay attention to knowledge and health. Due to more advanced access to information, the unhealthiness of instant noodles has been easily exposed to consumers. Because of the improved financial conditions, instant noodles, with an average price lower than 10RMB, are quite cheap in consumers’ eyes, and the public is able to replace them with much healthier and more expensive food easily. Moreover, the arisen online ordering and food delivery services provide consumers with both healthier and convenient eating experiences; as a result of which, the instant noodle market has been impacted a lot. In general, either the prosperity or the downturn of the instant noodle market has a close relation with China’s economic growth.

Even though the whole instant noodle market is turning down at present, there is a new way of eating instant noodles arising owing to the economic growth. Instant noodle canteens, a type of restaurants that sell well-cooked instant noodles to customers, created another new idea of eating–serving instant noodles in the way of serving traditional noodle dishes in restaurants as the scene depicted in the beginning. The idea was quite popular among young people who were born in the 1990s and 2000s. Based on the observation in the instant noodle canteen, it is obvious that almost all customers in the restaurant are young. According to the waiter in the canteen, most of their customers are people born in the 1990s; during the summertime, students born in the 2000s join in to try the “new” instant noodles as well. By interviewing customers sitting in the canteen, we could find two main objectives of eating in such an instant noodle restaurant. The first one, also the most common one, is to try new things and see how they differ from self-cooked instant noodles. Another one is that some consumers consider the canteen as a normal noodle restaurant, but they can have much more choices of flavors. The rise of this kind of instant noodle restaurants all over the country can not be separated from modern Chinese culture, which is a result of economic growth. Because of rapid economic growth, technologies are much more developed than before; then, the Internet became a common and indispensable tool for people’s daily communication and entertainment. The pursuit of delicacy due to material wealth and fast propagation speed of information due to advanced Internet bring out the “web celebrity” culture. Innovation and delicacy are the main cores of this type of culture. As we can see in the instant noodle canteen, the decoration is in a contracted Japanese style, which is considered delicate by many young people, and the instant noodles served are beautifully arranged. Different sets of instant noodles with various toppings are categorized into different levels, named after the levels in a famous mobile game called King of Glory. Not only the concept of eating instant noodles but also detailed ideas about all aspects of the canteen reveal the creativity under modern culture. One problem for both the canteens and the “web celebrity” culture is the ephemerality. Owing to the rapid propagation speed of information in the cyber world, lifestyle trends are changing day by day, and the old trends can be easily and quickly replaced new trends. In instant noodle canteens, except for the delicacy and creativity, there is nothing left to be catchy since the tastes of instant noodles here are almost the same as those cooked at home. Therefore, many customers would go to instant noodle canteens for just once, taking pictures and posting them online to show they keep up with trends. Intriguingly, modern lifestyle and internet culture have changed a type of fast food back to traditional dishes somehow but cannot bring its prosperity back due to the tide of economic growth.

In conclusion, the cultural and social effects behind instant noodles are not as simple as the cooking methods. The current situation of instant noodles in China is the result of influences from multiple aspects. Domestic and foreign cultures, traditional and modern culture, and, most importantly, economic changes have commonly impacted the Chinese instant noodle market. From the prosperity to the downturn of instant noodles’ development, we can see how people’s thoughts and lifestyles, reflected by simply one type of food, under the tides of changing society and culture. In the future, we can expect that these aspects can continuously influence not only instant noodles but also Chinese food culture.

Bibliography:

  1. Zhang, N., & Ma, G. (2016). Noodles, traditionally and today. Journal of Ethnic Foods,3(3), 209-212. doi:10.1016/j.jef.2016.08.003
  2. S. A. (2017, December 20). BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/business-42390058
  3. Chen, G. (2018, March 23). From American Cola to Chinese Instant Noodles. Retrieved from http://www.iheima.com/article-167644.html
  4. J. K. (2013, July 16). The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/04/china-fast-food-pioneer
  5. China Science and Technology Information. (1995). Instant Noodle Market Research.
  6. L.H. (2017, August 21). South China Morning Post. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2107540/chinas-growing-middle-class-lose-appetite-instant-noodles
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Noodle Narrative with Vicky Zhu by Keyi Chen and Haopeng Xue

For this project, we decided to interview Weijing(Vicky) Zhu, a friend of Haopeng from high school. Vicky had just finished her first year at the University of Paris as an exchange student. She is originally from Chong Qing, China and grew up in Beijing. Then she attended High school in Minnesota for four years and continued her study at New York University. During her first year in college, she joined an exchange program in Paris. While we have many friends who are very familiar with Chinese noodles, we still decided to interview her because she is not only familiar with Chinese noodles of the south and the north, but also have experienced American Chinese food in the United States for four years. Besides, she is also a great chef with extensive knowledge about different ingredients that were used to make noodles. When Vicky was in high school, she had described many times about her craving for Chong Qing spicy noodles, and Haopeng was very interested in what made this specific type of noodle so special for her. Since Keyi is currently in Chang Zhou, we decided to use Zoom to record this interview.

 

Vicky started by reflecting on her background, explaining that she was born in Chong Qing and grew up in Beijing. She was a big fan for noodles and she has tasted both northern and southern style noodles from street vendor ‘s. Her life in China, French and United States gave her a lot of experiences with food from different regions and different countries, which made her observations and comments more convincing based on the first-hand information that she gained from her living environment. I started the interview with the question, “what is your favorite type of noodle and why?” Vicky’s answered with the Chong Qing spicy noodle right away, and the reason is connected with her mom. From her answer, we can see how people tend to be attracted to food that they are familiar with at a young age, and family members are usually involved in this special connection that begins from one’s childhood. Because her mother often made spicy noodles for her when she was a kid, that exact taste left a strong impression in her mind. According to Vicky, the idea of spiciness cannot be comprehended easily if you never experienced that with your taste buds. Many residents from Chong Qing like to bring a bottle of chili peppers with them since there are no other places that are selling these types of pepper. The reason why Vicky said the red pepper tasted special is also caused by the various types of red peppers that grew in Sichuan province. There are long stem peppers that were used to make soybean sauce; short and dried red peppers were used to make stir fry dishes; wild green peppers were fermented and added a sour flavor to the dish. Different characteristics contribute greatly to the taste and smell of Sichuan cuisine (Guide to Peppers).

 

Next, we asked about what type of noodles were usually served in Beijing, where she grew up. She briefly talked about Beijing fried bean sauce noodles which are served with 7 kinds of vegetables. By eating all the vegetables with the noodles, people can maintain the balance between Yin and Yang within their body to keep them healthy, which is a reflection of Chinese culture in regards to the importance of food diversity. Later, when Vicky mentioned that she is not able to find similar noodles when she came back to the United States, but she can still go to restaurants that are run by Chinese families. It is fascinating to see how the hand-pulled noodle-making process can be recreated in Atlanta and how American culture can affect the combination of noodles. Vicky told us that there are different combinations of noodles with meat. However, traditional Lan Zhou Ramen is only paired with beef and beef-based soup boiled with a variety of herbs. Based on our personal experiences, many people from different countries have their own preferences or dietary restrictions. Indians do not eat beef, and Muslims do not eat pork. Therefore, with a mixture of different meat with noodles, it best accompanies the local residents’ needs.

 

When talking about her most memorable memory about noodles, Vicky told the story of her grandmother’s Chicken Soup Noodle. As she mentioned, there is an old saying that “When you leave, you eat dumplings; when you come back, you have noodles”(上车饺子下车面); therefore, her grandma always makes a bowl of chicken soup noodle when she returns to home. Stewing the black-bone chicken with some types of medicines, such as ginseng and medlars, makes the dish more nutritious and shows Chinese people’s belief of “food as medicine”. The homemade noodle soup actually shows the caring and love between family members. Additionally, Vicky described the scene she saw in the noodle restaurants filled with people when she was in middle school. She said the noodle itself was cheap and simple, but it provides a chance for people to feel the simple happiness by chatting with their friends or just relaxing after work. Besides, Vicky explained the changing of noodles from her grandparents’ generation to nowadays. Instead of doing each process by hands and mixing seeds or herbs to add fragrances, people tend to produce simple noodles in large quantities by machines in factories nowadays. The technological and economical changes have made the process of making and cooking noodles much more convenient to adapt to the fast pace of contemporary life, but they have made it hard to trace the most authentic Chinese noodles in our generation. However, like the story of Vicky and her grandma, the belief of old sayings, the habit of using food as medicine, and using noodles as an expression of caring and love have never changed. The social changes may change the cooking methods and tastes of noodles; nevertheless, these cultural DNAs embedded in Chinese people’s hearts would be passed on through generations.

 

To wrap up the interview, we asked about Vicky’s thoughts about the meaning of noodles to Chinese people now and throughout history. From her point of view, noodles are always a type of staple food in Chinese people’s daily life and can reflect some cultural differences in different regions. Boiled water, fresh noodles, fresh or preserved vegetables, minced or sliced meat, and seasonings, such as peppers, soy sauce or vinegar, contribute to a bowl of delicious noodle; it is quite easy to make a meal without spending much. Noodles are truly affordable to everyone, so they become one of the most common staple foods from thousands of years ago when living standards of normal civilians were not high enough. Then, Vicky used examples of Beijing fried bean noodles and Chong Qing spicy noodles, which she’s familiar with, to discuss the different dietary habits between northern and southern China. According to Vicky, the main difference is the tastes. Chong Qing spicy noodle is really spicy while Beijing fried bean noodle focuses more on the salty taste. Also, the Chong Qing spicy noodle can be eaten with or without soup, but the Beijing fried bean noodle is always made without a soup base. The different ways of cooking obviously reflect people’s long-formed food preference throughout history. Moreover, as Vicky talked about, noodles in the north are usually made with many ingredients, for example, Beijing fried bean noodle is served with 7 different kinds of vegetables; however, noodles in the south are more simply made as Chong Qing spicy noodle which is served with few vegetables but mainly peppers. Northern people tend to eat noodles with various ingredients and side dishes for lunch and dinner so as to fulfill the needs of energy for a whole day. On the contrary, southern people are more likely to consider noodles as quickly made breakfasts. We believe the reason behind this phenomenon is related to the different staple crops in the north and south. The dry climate and longer sunshine time make wheat the staple crop in the north; as a result of which, northern people obtain their main energy intake from noodles and other flour-made products. In the south, the abundant rain and humidity make rice the staple crop; therefore, southern people tend to eat noodles less and consider them as subsidies for rice. 

 

Our interview with Vicky helped us understand the noodle as an indicator of various aspects. From Vicky’s answers, we can see that noodles have changed under different cultures and social development, but the cultural meanings expressed by who make and eat noodles always remain the same. More importantly, no matter how the tastes and cooking methods change, noodles and food work together as an indispensable connector between family members and friends, different generations, and various cultures.

Interview Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i_hnxZYJHw

*The question below was lost because of the technical problem when we paused the recording during the interview:

Q: What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear noodles?

A: Except for my grandma’s chicken soup noodles, I always think of the scene that the small noodle restaurants near my middle school were filled with customers during mealtimes.  I could saw people either chatting with their family or enjoying a moment of relaxing after work. The prices were not expensive and the noodle itself was quite simple, but everyone seemed fulfilled with this kind of simple happiness.

 

Work Cited:

“An Easy Guide to the Types of Peppers + How to Cook with Each.” Wide Open Eats, 10 Nov. 2017, www.wideopeneats.com/the-different-types-of-pepper-and-how-to-use-them/.

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Keyi Chen Journal#4 — Scallion Oil Noodle

Scallion Oil Noodle

Green are the fresh scallion leaves,

we cut them and put them into the hot oil. 

Handmade noodles come from the flour shop in the market,

they are combined with the soy sauce and fried scallion oil.

They are put in small bowls to ensure they are evenly mixed with sauce, 

I eat more, worrying that I won’t have this homemade dish after leaving.

Balmy fragrance wraps around the tip of my tongue,

sweet fried fish along with delicate pork ribs. 

Passing my mouth it is more umami than meat, 

I urge my cousin, offering them like treasures.

I wish to go with a time machine,

returning to my childhood to see my grandpa making the noodle once again.

The journey is hard, I worry about whether it can be realized, 

but the memory is unforgettable and deep in my mind.

A bowl of noodle was a common thing,

grandpa’s care and love make clear its uniqueness to me.

Across the ocean in the public kitchen,

we fry scallion oil in the frying pan.

Late in the day when my friends and I miss our family dishes,

this flavor too is indispensable for the occasion.

 

I chose Cold Noodle Soup with Sophora Leaves by Du Fu to intimate. I always love reading Du Fu’s poems since his realism style depicts everything vividly and reflect many social problems at that time. Although many other students dislike reading and analyzing traditional Chinese poems, Du Fu’s wonderful writing skills and patriotism always make reading his poems an enjoyment to me. As a patriotic poet, Du Fu wrote many poems that reflect social problems when he was in Sichuan after An Lushan Rebellion. Therefore, it’s surprising to see that he also recorded local food and life in his poem. The vivid depiction of the cold noodle soup makes me want to eat it when I was still reading the poem. Also, in my opinion, when Du Fu mentioned the scene that “the ruler is enjoying the cool”, he tried to indicate that the emperor himself wouldn’t avoid the summer heat without eating the same noodle and wouldn’t be able to govern the country well without understanding normal people’s lives. The literariness and profound theme make the poem worth analyzing and intimating.

 

While intimating the poem, I realized how common and important it was using food as medicine in ancient Chinese people’s lives. Because of the hot and humid climate in Sichuan Province, it’s hard to bear the summer heat. Without electric fans and air conditioners in ancient time, people would have got sunstrokes if they had not done anything to avoid the high temperature. The sophora leaves, which can bring the cool feeling to the human body, were used then. By mixing the juice into the noodle, it would not taste wired. Therefore, this common plate of cold noodle soup just shows how wise working people were in ancient time. Moreover, the patriotism reflects another type of culture of the original author. Under the centralization of authority, it’s so hard for the governors to understand normal people’s thoughts and change the situations unless they could experience civilians’ daily life. This piece of work just reflects the philosophy of governing the country by a simple dish of noodle; as a result of which, it is a demonstration of how food is used as an analogy to the politics in traditional Chinese culture. 

 

Compared to the culture reflected in Du Fu’s poem, mine is more specific to my family culture. Like a lot of Chinese men, my grandfather is not good at expressing his love to my cousin and me. Instead, he likes to make delectable meals with the best ingredients for us, and the scallion oil noodle is the most representative one since it is always made in our birthdays. Each time my cousin and I praise the delicacy of the meals, we can see the brightest smile appearing on our grandfather’s face. At that moment, I deeply understand how much grandpa loves us. Because of grandpa’s love and care, when nostalgia comes over me, his scallion oil noodle, which is made on the warmest day every year, always gives me lots of comforts.

 

There is one cultural DNA, which is the simpleness, embedded in both Du Fu’s piece and my piece. The cold noodle soup with sophora leaves and the scallion oil noodle are both simply made with noodles and sauces. However, these simple dishes were passed by generations for thousands or hundreds of years. Today, we can still taste the same flavors as people in the past did. As the Taoism claims, “The greatest truths are the simplest”, the greatest food dishes are also very simple. Even though the noodles themselves are quite simple, they could even taste better than some precious dishes. The scarcity of physical resources limited ancient civilians’ choices of food ingredients but boosted their ideas when making delicious dishes with the simplest methods and ingredients. The indication used by Du Fu also demonstrates that even the principles as big as governing a whole country can be represented by a simple dish. Our food is just a metaphor of the principle, which is pursued by all ages of Chinese people, that the greatest is the simplest.

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Keyi Chen Journal #2 — Noodle as a cultural symbol

Noodle, as ubiquitous staple food worldwide, has been evolving to various shapes and types made from diversified ingredients in history. More than that, noodle has played the role of a country’s cultural symbol, representing people’s dietary habits and the basic philosophy of living. Owing to this week’s reading materials, I have taken a close look at how noodle has worked as a cultural symbol in both China and Italy from the past to the present.

 

In China, different types of noodles are eaten by people due to various regional characteristics, and cultural traditions. To begin with, noodles can reflect climates in different parts of China. For example, the birthplace of Dan Dan Noodle, Sichuan Province, has an extremely hot and humid climate; therefore, people there tend to eat spicy food in order to sweat out the dampness inside the body and cool down the body temperature; as a result of which, most Sichuan cuisines, including Dan Dan Noodle, are made of chilis, chili oil, and spicy preserved vegetables. Another province where people love eating spicy food is Shaanxi Province. As a province covered by the Huangtu Plateau in northwestern China, it has such cold weather that people need to keep body temperature by eating spicy food, especially during wintertime. Thus, we can observe that the Saozi Noodle shown in the video “The Story of Staple Food” included a red soup base, tasting sour and spicy. Also, the ingredients of noodles also indicate the local climate. In northern China, noodles are made from wheat flour since the dry climate and longer sun time are suitable for growing wheat. On the contrary, in southern China where rice is the staple crop due to the moist climate, rice noodles, such as the Crossing-the-Bridge Noodle, appear on people’s dining-tables. Besides, as Chinese culture is relatively conservative and Chinese people seldom express their love and care directly by language; as a result of which, noodle, as the main staple food, is used to express their love and care. The beautiful story of Crossing the Bridge in Noodle just reflects the use of the noodle in expressing people’s love and wish. Furthermore, Chinese noodles usually reflect the pursuit of harmony in Chinese culture. We can see the examples, Beijing fried bean sauce noodles and Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles, in the article Noodles: Traditionally and Today. These two types of noodles are both made of vegetables, meat, and seasonings that balance the flavors. The combination ensures that necessary nutrition can be taken by our body, and the balance between different flavors is always used as an analogy of our life. Different feelings and emotions experienced by us in our daily life are similar the five tastes; just like balancing different flavors can make the food delicious when cooking, adjusting to balancing all those emotions can help us to live a better life. The way of cooking noodles and all the other Chinese cuisines just represents people’s wisdom and philosophy of living of all ages.

 

Similarly, Italian pasta also works as a cultural indicator which reflects the country’s history and culture. The untold kinds of pasta give us a glimpse of the continuous foreign invasions suffered by this peninsula in history. Immigrants from various foreign countries brought their own food culture to Italy continuously until the country was finally united in the 19th century. The complex history has contributed to the dazzling pasta we see today. Although Italian pasta seems quite simple to cook, the important rules of using traditional tools and fresh ingredients make pasta delicate with the simple cooking methods. This just indicates the important principles in Italian food culture—simple and freshness. Unless people follow these principles from the production to the cooking process, they would not be able to taste the authentic and qualified pasta otherwise. Moreover, since there are so many kinds of pasta and countless methods to cook them, each Italian family has their own preferred way of cooking pasta. Because of this, as we learned in class, eating homemade pasta is a linkage to the family ancestors and history, not only yourselves’ but also other families’ history. In other words, pasta is a linkage to people’s spiritual world in Italy.

 

The reason that the noodle plays such an integral in food culture in both Italy and China can be explained from nutritional and economical aspects. In the article Noodles: Traditionally and Today, the author mentioned that noodles can “avoid the disadvantages of a high energy, high fat, and low carbohydrate diet”. Also, the book Truth About Pasta tells us that pasta is a “slowly digesting carbohydrate food” which “offers a steady source of energy”. Noodles and pasta, together with other ingredients, sauces, gravies, and soup bases, offers essential nutrition and energy to the human body. From an economical point of view, noodles are mainly made from ground wheat and eggs, which are common in people’s life. The sauces, gravies, and soup bases can be made from simple ingredients like tomatoes or beans. Other ingredients like vegetables and meat are usually minced, pickled, or sliced. In general, the cost of a bowl of noodle is relatively low compared to many other dishes, and people can choose their own way to make it, depending on their financial situation; therefore, noodles are affordable to most families. Therefore, the characteristic of providing necessary energy with the lowest cost makes noodles such a common food in people’s lives in the history in both countries, and then make noodles so important in both food cultures.

 

To define the noodle, from my point of view, it’s better to begin with the clinical definition— a food that is made from ground wheat, rice, or cereals, boiled in water, and served with soup bases, gravies, or sauces. As noodles are made into countless shapes, including shapes in the definition would make it not broad enough. Besides the clinical definition based on ingredients and the way of cooking, the cultural definition of noodle cannot be ignored. Noodle, as one of the most common staple food worldwide, is a symbol that reflects traditions and history in many food cultures.

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Keyi Chen Journal #2– Changes of a kitchen table

For the last several decades, economies of many developing countries have been continuously booming. China, as a representative example, has experienced lots of changes due to the increasing GDP for so many years; as a result of which, people’s daily life has also changed a lot. As an economics student, I conducted a study about the kitchen table in order to see how economic changes have altered people’s life and reflect some cultural changes.

 

To begin with, one of my grandmother’s old friends, Mrs. Lu, agreed to let me observe her family’s kitchen table and ask her about her kitchen table in past when she was living in the countryside. One thing that particularly interested me was that Mrs. Lu has experienced the economic changes as well as the movement from the countryside to the city; therefore, the changes of her kitchen table would reflect not only the changes of daily life but also some cultural differences between rural areas and urban areas. To conduct this study, I chose ethnographic fieldwork and interview as my methods(Eating Culture: An Anthropological Guide to Food, Gillian Crowther). Using ethnographic fieldwork could enable me to observe Mrs. Lu’s kitchen table directly, and the interview could allow me to learn about her kitchen table and experience several decades ago. The combination of these two methods would ensure that I could study the changes of Mrs. Lu’s kitchen table.

 

When I arrived at Mrs. Lu’s home, her family were sitting around the table and preparing wonton together. While Mrs. Lu was making chicken soup with a pressure cooker for the soup base, her husband was mincing pork, cabbages, and mushrooms for wonton’s fillings. At the same time, her son, daughter-in-law, and her litter granddaughter were making wonton, chatting with smiles on their faces. Every member seemed excited and happy because of the joyful family time at weekends. During the time of waiting for the soup, I interviewed Mrs. Lu about her past kitchen table. “There was not a literal kitchen table when I was young. The kitchen space was too narrow and all we had were a simple hearth made of bricks, soil, and a big iron pan with a wooden lid, so we just used the hearth as a kitchen table, covering the pan with the flat lid. When I was about twelve or thirteen years old, my parents began not to take care of our family’s meals in order to earn more money to support the family; therefore, I had to cook meals for my three younger brothers and myself. I seldom enjoyed family time like this moment but cooked meals and did housework for most of the time,” said Mrs. Lu. Then I asked her why they were making wonton, and she answered, “making wonton was one of the few chances by which I could feel the happiness of the family reunion, so I want younger members of my family to enjoy the process that everyone involves to make a dish. Also, wonton is an indispensable dish when we have a family party; thus, I want them to learn how to make it. Of course, in the past, we didn’t use pork as one of the ingredients, and all we eat were just some random green vegetables.” As soon as the dish was finally finished, the older couple let their young granddaughter taste it first. “In the past, no one could start eating until ‘the head of the family’ started, right?” Mrs. Lu said with a smile, “but the era has changed, and we have already abandoned those feudal cultures.” She also invited me to eat wonton together with them because she always believes the old saying – “one who comes to my home is always my guest”.

 

The kitchen table of Mrs. Lu makes me consider it as a symbol that represents the economic and cultural changes of Chinese people’s lives in the last several decades. Since people always prepare and eat food by tables, they are able to clearly deliver messages about people’s dietary behaviors and habits, which reflect their financial situation and culture. By comparing what Mrs. Lu said about her past kitchen table and what I observed by her recent kitchen table, it’s obvious to see the change of economic situation in her family. In the past, the tools and kitchen environment were so simple and crude; by contrast, she can use more developed tools to make things more delectable and have more space for her whole family to gather together. Moreover, because of economic development, people’s understandings about family culture have been altered as well. In the past, especially in rural places, the father in a family was usually the one who dedicated the most to earn money and support the family; therefore, the rest members showed their respects to the father by honoring him as the head of the family and always let him start a meal first. But due to economic changes, the population have gradually moved from the countryside to cities, and their economic activities have changed from agriculture to other activities in the second and third industry. In other words, simple manual labor has contributed less to a family’s earnings, and more members can devote to the family more equally; as a result of which, the focus has been gradually transferred to young children. Mrs. Lu’s family just shows these changes in both aspects and reflects the influence of economic changes to cultural changes. Nevertheless, there are still some traditions being inherited. For example, just as Mrs. Lu invited me to their family lunch, the hospitability of rural people has never changed wherever they are. Furthermore, the reunion of a family is always an essential part of Chinese culture. No matter how the era and people’s thoughts have changed, people still consider it indispensable to their families. Also, dishes like wonton, dumplings, spring rolls, etc. are the carriers of families’ good wishes all the time.

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Keyi Chen Journal #1 Wang You Juan

One of the important dishes to me is Wang You Juan, a traditional sweet roll made from mashed red beans, lard oil, and egg white. The specialness of Wang You Juan is that it is the most unique desert in my hometown, Changzhou, and I have never found it in any other cities nearby. Even in Changzhou, nowadays, it’s a great pity that finding a restaurant that can make Wang You Juan is becoming harder and harder; however, it is still an unforgettable memory of many natives of Changzhou. I can never forget that when I was a child, my grandmother made it for my family at weekends.

 

The process of making Wang You Juan is a bit time-consuming compared to other dishes, so my grandmother always began preparing all the ingredients quite early. One important step is whisking egg white. Since we didn’t buy an electric mixer, my grandmother chose to make it by hand; therefore, it always took her a lot of time and energy to make it. Although the ingredient was not as perfect as those made by an electric mixer, it still looked so perfect to me. When all the ingredients were almost prepared, she liked calling my young cousin and me to see how she made and fried the rolls, and that was always our favorite part. The net lard oil seemed like a spider web, and the egg white was like sweet cream, luring us into tasting it immediately. When the rolls were finally dropped in the gold oil, the smell of lard oil disseminated from the pot in a second! The freshly fried Wang You Juan had the best taste, so my cousin and I could not wait to taste the hot rolls. The sweetness of red beans, the great smell of lard oil, the fluffiness of egg white, the crispy sound of cracked pastry, and the crunchy taste of white sugar wrapping the rolls; all these feelings gathered together to create my treacly childhood memory. Like me, many natives of Changzhou regard Wang You Juan’s unforgettable taste and warm family time as the most important parts of their memories. Also, we view Wang You Juan as a symbol of Changzhou’s history and are proud of it all the time.

 

The origin of Wang You Juan can be traced back to Song Dynasty, when the great poet, Sushi, was spending his remaining days in Changzhou. One day, when Sushi was eating a rice ball, he suddenly had a whim:” If I put mashed red beans inside and wrap it with egg white outside, then make it as a rice ball but fry it instead of steaming it, I can definitely make a delectable dish.” However, he did not get the method of whisking egg white and failed to make it. Nevertheless, his idea was spread to other famous chefs later, and they tried it over and over. Finally, they learned the whisking egg white could make the desert have a perfect taste.

 

The origin of Wang You Juan and the taste of it can also reflect some culture of Changzhou as a city in the southern part of China. Cities in the at the south of Yangtze River abounds with sugarcanes; therefore, people here are described as “surrounded by sugar” and are used to eat sugar in their daily life. As time goes by, this becomes a dietary habit of Jiangnan people. Therefore, the sweet mashed red beans and white sugar reflects this dietary habit of people here. Also, the rice ball inspired Sushi is a traditional dessert in Jiangsu. People like to make rice balls and rice cakes at festivals and new year, not only because of their sweet and delicious tastes but also due to their appearances and names. The round shape of rice balls represents unity, which is an essential idea of traditional Chinese culture. The name of rice cakes, Gao(糕), has the same pronunciation as the word “high” in Chinese; thus it is entrusted with the wish of getting success. Therefore, the sweet round Wang You Juan represents happiness and unity of family as well.

Wang You Juan Recipe:

Ingredients: net lard oil 200g, mashed red beans 200g, 3 eggs, starch 10g.

Steps:

  1. Soak lard oil in clean water for about 30 minutes and clean it.
  2. Shape mashed red beans into small balls
  3. Wrap the red beans with net lard oil.
  4. Take egg white only and whisk it.
  5. Add some starch to the egg white and stir them into a mash.
  6. Roll the red bean balls in the rest of starch.
  7. Wrap the balls with the mash made in step 5.
  8. Fry the balls in hot oil until the color turns to gold.
  9. Sprinkle some white sugar particles on the top of Wang You Juan.

This is a photo of me with my family.