BEIJING, Jan. 16 -- The Spring Festival is the oldest and most important festival in China, celebrating the earth coming back to life. It is a day filled with special events, foods, and festivities. People from north and south have different habits about the food they eat on this special day. Among the food most popular in the south of China is a
rice pudding called Nian Gao; while in the north, the special food for Spring
Festival is Jiao Zi(or dumpling).
Jiao
Zi
Since the Spring Festival marks the first day of a
brand new year, the first meal is rather important. People from north and south
have different habits of the food they eat on this special day. In Northern
China, people usually eat Jiao Zi(or dumpling) which is shaped like a crescent
moon. It is said that dumplings were first known in China some 1,600 years ago.
The Chinese pronunciation of Jiao Zi means midnight or the end and the beginning
of time.
According to historical records, in ancient times
people from both north and south ate dumplings on Chinese New Year's Day.
Perhaps because Southern China produced more rice than any other areas,
gradually, southerners had more other choices on New Year's Day.
The shape of Jiao Zi resembles that of ancient gold
and silver ingots or a crescent moon, and symbolizes the hope for a year of
plenty. In some places, people stuff Jiao Zi with sugar to wish for a sweet
life; others put one or two clean coins in Jiao Zi-- the person who finds the
coin would make a lot of money in the coming year; if you happen to come across
one with a coin inside, it means you will enjoy good luck.
Many families in China usually prepare enough Jiao Zi
to last several days during the Spring Festival. To make Jiao Zi, first of all,
you should chop the meat into tiny pieces and mash them, then add salt, sesame
oil, soy sauce, ginger, scallions, and Chinese cabbage if you like. Mix
thoroughly the ingredients and meat filling, and then add two spoonful of water
if necessary.
In a big bowl, add water to flour gradually. Mix and
knead by hand to soft dough, then cover it with towel and put it aside for about
an hour. Scatter some dry flour on the board, knead and roll it into a
sausage-like dough about 5 centimeters in diameter, then chop it into small
pieces. Press each piece with your hand and get a pancake. Finally, you should
hold the pancake with your palm and put the filling in the center and wrap it
into half-moon shaped and seal the edges.
Put the dumplings into boiling water, when it is well
cooked, it is ready to be served. However, before eating, you need to prepare
some small dishes to contain the mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil
or pepper oil to suit your own taste.
In addition toJiao Zi, the most common foods for
Spring Festival are Nian Gao(or New Year Cakes) and Yuan Xiao, a kind of round
sweet dumplings made partly or wholly of glutinous rice flour served in soup.
Nian
Gao ¡¡
The northerners eat Jiao Zi, but southerners like to
eat Nian Gao, which translates to "New Year Cake". In Chinese, Gao is a homonym
for high. Nian Gao is also called Nian Nian Gao, which is a homonym for "higher
each year", symbolizing progress and promotion at work and in daily life and
improvement in life year by year.
Nian Gao is a sweet, sticky, brown cake
made from rice flour and sugar, a kind of glutinous white cake in the shape of
rectangle. Often given as a gift, it is delicious when steamed, fried, fried
with eggs or even eaten cold.
Yuan Xiao
The Lantern Festival (or Yuan Xiao Festival in
Chinese) is an important traditional Chinese festival, which is on the 15th of
the first lunar month, marking the end of celebrations of the New Year.
Besides entertainment and beautiful lanterns, another important part of the
Lantern Festival or Yuan Xiao Festival is eating small dumpling balls made of
glutinous rice flour. We call these balls Yuan Xiao or Tang Yuan. Obviously,
they get the name from the festival itself. Made of sticky rice flour filled
with sweet stuffing and round in shape, it symbolizes family unity, completeness
and happiness.
The fillings inside the dumplings or Yuan Xiaoare
either sweet or salty. Sweet fillings are made of sugar, Walnuts, sesame,
osmanthus flowers, rose petals, sweetened tangerine peel, bean paste, or jujube
paste. A single ingredient or any combination can be used as the filling. The
salty variety is filled with minced meat, vegetables or a mixture.
The way to make Yuan Xiao also varies between
northern and southern China. The usual method followed in southern provinces is
to shape the dough of rice flour into balls, make a hole, insert the filling,
then close the hole and smooth out the dumpling by rolling it between your
hands. In North China, sweet or non-meat stuffing is the usual ingredient. The
fillings are pressed into hardened cores, dipped lightly in water and rolled in
a flat basket containing dry glutinous rice flour. A layer of the flour sticks
to the filling, which is then again dipped in water and rolled a second time in
the rice flour. And so it goes, like rolling a snowball, until the dumpling is
the desired size.
Oranges
In some places, it is also very popular to give
oranges, because in Chinese, the word orange sounds like Ji, which means good
luck. People present oranges to express their respects and good wishes to their
friends and relatives for the coming year.
New Year food customs vary from place to place in
China because China is a vast country geographically, demographically and
ethnically. But the spirit underlying the diverse celebrations of the New Year
is the same -- a sincere wish of peace and happiness for family members and
friends.
(Source: chinaculture.org)
