Food History « Chinese Southern Belle

Asian and Southern traditions: Black-eyed Pea & Ramen Noodle Ham Soup

Black-eyed Pea and Ramen Noodle Ham Soup

Bone soup is very traditional and many Asian households keep a regular pot of bone soup simmering on the stove. At Thanksgiving, we look forward the most to getting not the breast or the leg or thigh, but the turkey bone to make soup! This soup can be made with any meat bone but ham hocks are best with the black-eyed peas! I have adapted a veggie-version of this by using miso or a vegetable bouillon base. It turns into a different dish but still tasty.

Put enough water to cover ham hocks in a soup pot
Boil and simmer over low heat for 1-2 hrs
Put in fridge and skim off fat
Bring to a boil and taste for saltiness. Add ½ tsp black pepper and salt (if needed)
Heat oil in soup pot and stir-fry chopped collard greens, 2/3 of the green onions, garlic for 2 min (don’t over cook, still green)
Pour hot ham broth (about 6 cups) over collards, add ramen noodles and beans, bring to a boil, cook until noodles are soft (only a minute since these are instant noodles). Garnish with green onion, fresh cilantro and serve.

1 tbs vegetable oil

2-3 ham hocks

2 cups of chopped fresh (or frozen) collard greens (“collies”) or chard

1-2 cups cooked black-eyed peas

1-2 packages instant ramen noodles

2 chopped green onions

1 clove chopped garlic

Salt and pepper

Cilantro for garnish

Asian Hot Pot Party – Handout/Shopping List

We had a very fun Asian Hot Pot Party & Chinese New Year class with 20+ attendees, 6 simmering hot pots (1 vegetarian) and tables full of fresh vegetables, meats, fish balls, tofu, noodles and sauces to warm our tummies and spirits on a chilly evening. In celebration of Chinese New Year, we also enjoyed hot tea, candied fruit, longlife snacks, got good luck “red envelopes” and played Chinese Bingo and Chopsticks Races!

Thanks to Buford Highway Farmers Market (and Bill) for being a great host for the class.

Asian Hot Pot Party Handout/Shopping List

Food question from friend visiting Shanghai

Excerpt from an email and a question from a friend traveling to Asia for the first time, on business:

” In Shanghai, I have had tea eggs from our breakfast buffet almost every morning. In addition, I have tasted Fish Lip soup, Shanghai style dumplings, bamboo, and lots of other stuff I am not real sure what it was. I liked a lot of it, but not all of it. Also surprised we have not seen more rice and noodle dishes?”

My response was:

So fun to hear about your travels and food adventures. Yum!

I have spent limited time in Shanghai, but my experience as a traveler and guest is that rice and noodles are considered a “base,” peasant food or cheap fillers, so if you’re a visiting foreigner or dinner guest, you will be treated to mostly meat and seafood in larger, reputable restaurants. If you want white rice as an accompaniment, you often have to ask for it. As a main dish, you’ll have to specially order fried rice or a stir-fried noodle dish. It’s a demonstration of wealth, respect and generosity to provide meat dishes (more expensive) than fill you up on rice (cheap) or like giving you a big basket of white rolls here.

Chinese fried rice is typically different than what you get in the U.S., so order “chao fan” if you want to try it. It should be white, not brown-colored, and tasty with Chinese sausage and egg. Normally, fried rice is the “last dish” that comes out, almost like a formality, in banquets or pre-set meals. By this course, everyone is usually (and expected to be) stuffed! I’m a peasant food and street food lover, especially noodles, so try to seek out a noodle house for inexpensive stir-fried or noodle soups! (mi fen–rice noodles, tang mian – soup & noodles). Noodles also represent longevity so definitely have some on your birthday!

Shanghai is famous for it’s “xiao long bao” –little steamer buns (bao), so be sure to order that and variations of “buns” (tang bao – soupy buns), they are delicious! A few other regional specialties include West Lake Fish, Sweet & Sour Spareribs, Stewed Whole Duck

Enjoy and eat for me!

Eggrolls & Springrolls Handout/Shopping List/Recipe

We had a great turnout for this show on Homestyle Eggrolls & Springrolls with lots of families representing different cultures. Everyone loved Mom’s recipe for homestyle, pan-fried springrolls and excited to distinguish the different wrappers, how they could be cooked and that low-oil pan-frying was a healthy option!

The handout included:

History of eggrolls
Shopping List (Basic & Optional Variations)
Where to find products in the store
Helpful Tips
Mom’s recipe for homestyle springrolls

Here’s a complete list of dates and topics in the Eat, Learn and Shop series

4,000 year-old Bowl of Noodles found in China!

Did you know–a 4,000 year-old bowl of noodles (millet) was unearthed in NW China in 2005!

See article in National Geographic…

Ramen, beanthread, soba, udon, egg noodle, lo mein, mi fen, buckwheat, rice vermicelli…

Come out to my Asian Noodle Crazy show at Buford Hwy Farmers Market this Saturday, December 5 (drop-in 1:00pm – 4:30 pm) for free samples, shopping list, product and cooking tips…

Save the date for the last Eat, Learn & Shop show of the year: Fusion Fun, Saturday, Dec. 12!

Sushi Express Handout/Shopping List

Here’s the handout from the Eat, Learn & Shop Series: Sushi Express (November 14, 2009, Buford Highway Farmers Market).

Sushi history
Shopping List (Basic and Variations)
Where to find in the store
Product and Cooking Tips

For a complete list of dates and topics in the Eat, Learn and Shop series

Bones, Heads, Pits and Skin

Remains of whole pike fish

In my family, we love bones, heads, pits and skin—in our food, that is. We grew up and as kids, were officially and non-voluntarily trained to eat “whole foods” early on – whole fish, whole shrimp with head and skin, whole watermelon seeds.

Don’t get me wrong—I don’t eat all animal parts or all animals and still get queasy seeing some “parts.” I don’t consider myself very tongue-skilled compared to my Chinese elders who are especially adept at quickly and cleanly extracting the meat from the encasing without a mess. And I enjoy plenty of dishes where my taste buds, rather than my tongue, are getting a workout.

I concede that it’s much easier to hold a conversation or pay attention when you’re not spitting out bits and pieces of indigestible food particles out of your mouth or having to keep your oratory sensors on alert to catch potentially deadly, but usually, simply uncomfortable fish bones before swallowing. What appears normal at the dinner table with Chinese folks can be an unpalatable (or even an impolite) scene with unaccustomed guests!

There were other peculiar food preferences. We always had dark meat, preferred the smaller female crabs at the market and fought over who got to suck the mango pit. I don’t remember ever eating boneless chicken. I remember other fishermen giving us their less desirable fish (“too bony”) and my parents being excited about the bonus. Cultural, health and economic factors seemed to explain some of the differences.

Historically in China, eating meat was a luxury and being selective or wasteful about certain animal parts was unthinkable. Bone soups and stews were considered healthier and more nutritious, not to mention richer in flavor. Enjoying whole cooked fish was a gourmet dish, a symbol of good luck and prosperity and the fish head was reserved for the guest of honor!

Urban Tofu Legend: Tofu Does Not Mean Vegetarian

There appears to be a misperception that tofu implies vegetarianism. An example of this surfaced in a negative form, unfortunately, during a cooking class that my mother and I were teaching. One participant assumed that a class on tofu would be vegetarian and complained because our last two dishes (out of eight offerings) had meat.

Tofu (or beancurd) in its myriad forms has been a significant staple in Asian diets, from China to Indonesia, since the 10th century. It wasn’t until World War II that the West expressed interest in the soy bean. Ironically, it was meat producers who first started using it as a “meat extender” in sausages. For most Westerners, soy sauce was the earliest introduction to a soy product. To suit Western tastes, processed forms of soy products and bean curd that tempered the “beany” flavor or altered the texture have become popular. Personally, although I eat an occasional veggie burger, I much prefer the original Asian-style products, like fresh soy milk, tempeh and naturally-fermented tofu.

Historically, except in Buddhist circles, the limited consumption of meat and the dominant role of tofu as a high-protein staple among Asian common people were due more to geography and poverty. It was not a dietary choice couched in a social, political or environmental activist context, as “vegetarianism” is often expressed here.

We could have had a fascinating discussion about tofu (and vegetarianism) across different cultures but unfortunately, she was agitated and it became clear that the issue was more about her agenda, than grief about the beef! Fortunately, several other students, including other vegetarians, loved our delicious, diverse menu.

My "Weeknight Veggie Sushi" with fried tofu

NEW Asian Food/Market Course, Atlanta – March 26, 28

Registration has started for my new Asian Market/Food course in Atlanta, “Eggrolls n’ Sweet Tea” (March 26,28) at Evening at Emory, visit www.EveningAtEmory.org or http://cll.emory.edu/eate/classes.cfm?cla=-137736890&pt=3

Atlanta locals: Please pass the word around for our debut event! Happy Chinese New Year (Ox)!