By Samantha Bakall, The Oregonian
The Grub Glossary is a weekly collection of foods, their definitions and where to find them.
Chinese people are hugely symbolic, particularly with holidays and the foods that accompany them. Next Friday, Jan. 31, is Chinese New Year. The upcoming year will be the year of the horse, one of the 12 rotating animals in the Chinese zodiac.
Much like in Gregorian calendar festivities, the new year is one of the largest celebrations in Chinese culture. Eating some of these foods represent and symbolize the wealth, prosperity, luck and good health that is hoped to accompany them into the new year.
Some of the foods will have numerous pronunciations: Mandarin (M), Cantonese (C) and/or Toisan (T). My family speaks Toisan, a relative to Cantonese, from the Southern parts of the Guangdong Province which is where my grandparents are from.
These are only some of the foods eaten during the New Year's celebration. Continue reading on Jan. 30 for other New Year celebration foods.
Dumplings [jyao-tzeh (M)/gaow-tzeh (C)]
Dumplings, or when fried, pot stickers, are one of the major foods eaten during Chinese New Year. Sometimes, families will make them together and then eat them at midnight. They're shaped like ingots, which symbolize wealth or prosperity.
Usually they are filled with meat or vegetables.
A legend exists that the more dumplings you eat during the New Year celebration, the more money you will make in the new year.
Dumplings can be found at almost every Chinese restaurant and at all Asian grocery stores.
Rice cake [nin-go (C)/neean-gow (M)]
Rice cake, year cake or Chinese New Year cake, is a sweet "cake" made from glutinous rice, brown sugar and occasionally coconut milk. Similar to turnip cake, the batter for rice cake is mixed together and then steamed until it solidifies.
Considered one of the oldest dishes in Chinese history (dating back potentially 3,000 years), rice cake is eaten all year round, but is most popular around Chinese New Year because of its name. "Nian gao" literally translates to sticky cake, but nian (a different character) also means year. Similarly, gao, which translates to cake, has the same pronunciation as the word meaning high or tall. Together, they become the dish that symbolizes raising oneself higher or taller, or continual growth, with every passing year.
Rice cake can be found at restaurants that serve dim sum, such as HK Cafe, Ocean City Seafood Restaurant and Wong's King Seafood Restaurant, as well as at Chinese bakeries or grocery stores.
Sweet glutinous rice balls [taahng-you-ahn (M)/taahng-you-in (C)]
Sweet rice balls are eaten on the 15th day of the New Year celebration, during the Lantern Festival. Made with glutinous rice and water, the little spheres are cooked and served in boiling water. They can also be large, small, filled or unfilled.
In Northern China, they are more often called "yuan xiao" [yoo-ahn shh-yao (M)] and are filled with savory fillings such as minced meat and vegetables. In Southern China, they are more often filled with sweet fillings, sometimes red bean curd, sugar, osmanthus flowers or sesame.
The circularity of the balls themselves and the bowl they're served in symbolizes family harmony, as they are often eaten with family.
Sweet glutinous rice balls can be found at Asian grocery stores.
Turnip cake - [low-baak-gooi (C)/low-baak-gook (T)/loo-aw-bo-gaow (M)]
Turnip cake, also called daikon cake, radish cake or carrot cake (in Singapore), is a Chinese dim sum dish made with shredded radish (Chinese or daikon) and rice flour. Once made, the radish/rice flour/water mixture can be mixed with dried shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp or Chinese sausage [laap-chang (C)/la-chahng (M)] for added flavor.
The batter is then poured into a steamer lined with foil or cellophane and steamed for 40-60 minutes, until it solidifies. The cake can be served right after steaming, or can be further cooked, usually pan-fried either whole or in pieces.
Turnip cakes are served at Chinese New Year (definitely for Cantonese celebrators) because they are associated with a phrase meaning "good luck."
-- Samantha Bakall