Jiaozi

Jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) is a traditional Chinese food that people usually eat during the Spring Festival. The classic fillings usually are ground meat and some vegetables. Finished jiaozi can be boiled, steamed or pan-fried. People often eat jiaozi by dipping them in vinegar and sometimes with garlic. They often drink a bowl of jiaozi soup after the meal for digestion.

Jiaozi has a history of more than 1,800 years. A story about the origin of jiaozi is widely spread among the folks, that is, Zhang Zhongjing's "Dispensing Medicine on the Winter Solstice". During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing, the sage of Chinese medicine, from Nanyang (today's Dengzhou City, Henan Province) devoted himself to studying ancient medical books and collected a lot of effective prescriptions, worte the classic of Treatise on Cold Pathogenic and Miscellaneous Diseases and made great contributions to the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He found many deprived people without warm clothes and sufficient food had frostbitten ears in winter. On the Winter Solstice, he asked his disciples to cook the mutton, black pepper and other cold-dispelling medicinal herbs in one pot. After cooking, they were chopped and wrapped in a thinly rolled piece of dough and given to these poor people. The folks tooke the food, and their frozen ears were cured. Later, people cook jiaozi during the Winter Solstice, believing that eating jiaozi on the Winter Solstice can prevent frostbite.

Niangao

Niangao is a cake steamed with glutinous rice flour. To make niangao, people grind glutinous rice and water together into glutinous rice milk, then add brown sugar or white sugar, sesame, peanuts, etc, oil the mold, pour the mixed milk into the mold, and steam it in the pot. Red dates and the like can also be added to niangao to make a variety of flavors, and it can also be shaped like the carp, pig, sheep or other small animals to extend best wishes of well-being for the coming New Year.

Legend has it that the origin of niaogao is related to Wu Zixu (559BC-484BC). During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Wu Zixu, the minister of the Wu State, used glutinous rice flour to make bricks to build city walls. After the death of Wu Zixu, the Yue State attacked the Wu State and besieged the city of Wu. People of the Wu State lacked food. Fortunately, they relied on the city wall bricks made of glutinous rice to survive the crisis. Since then, the people of the Wu State steamed glutinous rice cakes during the Spring Festival every year, which were used to commemorate the loyalty of Wu Zixu, and also prayed for the New Year, which since then has evolved into a custom and has been inherited now. The customs related to niangao vary in northern and southern China. So do the cocking methods in different places. Therefore, there are a lot of varieties of niangao, but they all have a similar cultural symbolic meaning. During the Spring Festival, people in many area in China follow the custom of eating niaogao. Niangao can be red, yellow or white, symbolizing gold and silver. Niangao is also known as "Nianniaogao (year year cake)", which is homophonic with "year and year higher", meaning that people get promoted at work and lead a better life in each coming year. People use niangao to express the good wishes of the New Year, so not only is niangao a kind of delicacy, but also has profound cultural implications. Niangao has thus become a symbol of folk customs now.

Tangyuan

Tangyuan is a dessert eaten by the Chinese people during the Lantern Festival. It is called Yuanxiao in the Notth of China and Tangyuan in the South. Legend has it that during Yuan Shikai's rule (1912-1916), he disliked the name Yuanxiao that sounded identical to "remove Yuan", and so he had the name changed to Tangyuan.

Tangyuan is a glutinous rice ball, either solid or stuffed, typically filled with bean paste, sesame paste of peanut butter. The raw materials for Tangyuan in the South and Yuanxiao in the North are basically similar, but the making processes are different. The filling of Yuanxiao is usually mixed with ingredients like suger, chopped, crushed, cut into pieces, and placed in a shallow basket containing glutinous rice flour for shaking. The more it is rolled, the bigger and runder it becomes. To make Tangyuan, peopleknead the glutinous rice flour into dough, pick a samll piece of wet dough, press it into a shape of a round piece, and then wrap the glutinous rice into a ball. Tangyuan can be cooked in boiling water or deep-fried. The Chinese people believe that the round shape of the balls and the bowls in which they are served symbolizes family togetherness. Thus, eating Tangyuan may bring the family harmony, happiness and good luck in the coming year. Traditionally, people eat Tangyuann during the Lantern Festival as well as the Winter Solistice Festival, Chinese weddings, family reunions and other solar terms and occasions. Now, they can even consume this delicacy throughout the year.

Spring Rolls

Spring rolls originated in China and are a seasonal food that people consume in spring and the Chinese people usually eat them during the Spring Festival, hence the name. Spring rolls were developed from ancient spring cakes. That is to say, spring rolls are pancakes with fresh spring vegetables. Spring rolls can be baked or steamed. Among Chinese dishes, spring rolls are delicious, long, thin rolls filled with vegetables and meat. The dough, fillings, preparation methods of spring rolls vary greatly depending on the culture of the area. For instance, Hong Kong-style spring rolls served with dipping sauce are a kind of fried dish, usually eaten as a snack. Common fillings include group pork, carrot, bean sprouts and other vegetables. The spring rolls filled with minced meat are also very popular. The usual cooking practice is to fry or deep-fry in oil, making them small and crisp. Spring rolls that not fried are usually larger and more savory. Unlike fried spring rolls, non-fried spring rolls are usually made with pre-cooked ingredients as fillings. Since the fillings are already fully cooked, non-fried spring rolls are very easy to cook and people only need to fry them slightly to cook the wrappers until they become perfectly golden brown.

In many places, people still follow the ancient custom of eating spring rolls to celebrate the start of spring. Some people in Fujian and Guangdong also eat them before and after the Tomb-Sweeping Festival to commemorate and respect their ancestors, Hakkas sometimes eat spring rolls on the third day of the thrid month of the lunar calendar. There are currently popular throughout China, particularly in South China and other places.

Chinese Noodles

Noodles originated in China and have a long history as a kind of food. The cultural relics unearthed in Qinghai, China prove that noodles first appeared more than 4,000 years ago, and the earliest written records as a staple food can be traced back to the Eastern Han Dynasty in China, more than 1900 years ago. In ancient society, the sanitary conditions of food processing were relatively poor. Noodles cooked in boiling water are more hygienic than other foods, which can avoid a variety of gastrointestinal diseases and thus become one of the most common foods in China.

To make noodles, the cereals or beans are ground into flour, which is mixed with water to make dough. After being kneaded or pressed, the dough is made into strips or flakes by pulling, twisting, kneading, cutting, peeling, etc. Generally, the cut or extruded noodles can be stored for a few months after drying, and the pulled, cut and kneaded noodles are eaten immediately. Noodles can be boiled, fried, stewed or stir-fried. Eggs, vegetable juices, etc. It can be added when necessary to change the color and taste of the noodles. The cooked noodles can also be fried again, or served with dipping sauce, broth or noodle soup. In many places, people eat a bowl of longevity noodles on their birthdays, which is meant to represent longevity. Noodles are easy to digest and absorb in the intestines and stomach, and noodle soup also has the effect of warming the stomach. The raw materials, shape, width and cooking practices of the noodles vary widely.

Noodles are simple to make, easy to eat, and nutritious. They are a staple food in China, especially in the north, and have spread to other countries and regions in the world today.

Tanghulu

Tanghulu (called hawthorns) is a traditional Chinese snack, which is rather common in North China in winter. It is also known as bingtanghulu or tangqiu. "Tang" or "bingtang" refers to a layer of sugar wrapped outside, and "hulu" means that it resembles the shape of the gourd.

Tanghulu is generally about 20 centimeters long. To make tanghulu, first of all, mix sugar and water in a ratio of 1:1 and put them in a pot to melt over a big fire so that sugar syrup can be made. Then put clean seedless hawthorns on bamboo skewers in the syrup. Later on, wrap the hawthorns with sugar syrup and keep them cool enough for eating. It tastes sour and sweet. Some high-grade tanghulu is stuffed with filling after removing the pits and seeds. In addition to traditional hawthorns as the raw material, apples, strawberries, grapes, oranges and other fruits can also be used as substitute.

According to legend, tanghulu first appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Imperial Noble Consort Huang, a favorite imperial concubine of the emperor of Southern Song was sick, emaciated with sallow complexion and not willing to eat anything. The royal doctors were desperately helpness. Emperor Guangzong had to issue a statement to seek the prescription from all doctors in the country. Finally, a civil doctor came and after a diagnosis, he gave a prescription of decocting rock sugar and hawthorns. Imperial Noble Consort Huang took it and recovered quickly. Later, this practice spread to the folks and it was developed into a traditional snack.

According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, the hawthorn is a natural therapeutic fruit that helps digestion effectively. Therefore, in addition to its unique taste, tanghulu is an appetizing snack that helps digestion.

Hot pot

Hot pot is a kind of cooking method invented in China. To eat hot pot, boil water or broth in a pot on the table, keep it boiling, put the ingredients and vegetables into the pot, and cook them while eating. Typical hot pot ingredients include sliced meat, vegetables, egg products, tofu and seafood.

The origin of hot pot is probably related to the tripod used for cooking during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. When people performed sacrifices or celebrations, the ingredients such as beef and mutton were cooked together in a tripod. This is the prototype of hot pot. Archaeological findings reveal that the earliest hot pot appeared in the Han Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, hot pot became popular among the emperors , especially Emperor Qianlong, Emperor Jiaqing and Empresses Dowager Cixi, who liked to eat hot pot in the winter. There are currently more than 600,000 hot pot restaurants in China. Hot pot has become a major pillar of the Chinese food industry due to its popularity. However, it is not advisable to drink too much hot pot soup because the soup in the hot pot contains a lot of purine that can even cause gout when getting serious and is harmful to health. Also, when eating hot pot, it's better to drink more water instead of more soup. Besides, hot pot that is too spicy and greasy should be avoided. In addition, it is good to wait until the ingredients are fully cooked before eating. Last but not least, don't mix tableware containing raw materials and cooked foods in case of parasites.

Hot pot is very popular in China because people can enjoy the intimacy and closeness sitting and chatting around the hot pot. For another, everyone picks up food from a pot, and the hot gas from the pot creates a narural and intimate atmosphere.