China’s food culture is more than just “delicious”.
Our three usual meals a day, as well as the reunion dinners during New Years and holidays, actually contain the survival wisdom that our ancestors have explored and summarized over thousands of years.
Many people think that staying healthy requires taking supplements and seeing a doctor. However, in traditional thinking, the real secrets to health lie in the kitchen.
Today, we are not going to talk about those mysterious and mysterious principles, but we will talk about it in a down-to-earth manner and explore how to use the corresponding methods from the meals and dishes we like to eat to make the body healthier and better.
The soil and water support the people, the "natural law" in eating habits
Have you ever noticed that we Chinese pay special attention to the word "authentic" when eating?
Eating noodles is a habit of northerners. After eating a steaming bowl of noodles or dumplings, the whole person will become more at ease. However, friends in the south cannot do without rice, and only with a few stir-fry dishes can it be called complete.
This difference is not formed casually.
The climate in the north is cold and dry, and the wheat and sorghum grown there have high calories, which can help the body resist the severe cold. The climate in the south is hot and humid, and rice is planted in large quantities. The nature of rice tends to be cool, which makes people feel more comfortable when eating it.
This is the most simple way of "adapting to local conditions". Instead of fighting nature, you eat whatever nature gives you, and your health will be smoother.
Therefore, when trying to determine where a person is from, you can basically guess a general situation by observing the staple food placed on his or her dinner table. This is the root of food culture.
Taking it according to the season is better than taking any supplements
When the older generation goes shopping for groceries, they always talk about "what to eat in what season."
The hot summer days lead to no desire to eat. What is always prepared at home is mung bean soup, round watermelon, and slightly bitter bitter melon. After eating it, there will be no irritability in the heart; when the cold winter comes, I miss the soup made of mutton and white radish. After drinking a bowl, my hands and feet will become warm.
In fact, there is something hidden here. balance of yin and yang "Wisdom.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, food has four properties: cold, cool, warm, and hot. The purpose of eating cool fruits and melons in summer is to neutralize the heat accumulated in the body. In winter, eating warm meat is to store energy.
We don’t have to recite those complicated theories, just remember to take a look at the vegetable market of the current season. Eat whatever is the most abundant and affordable in the vegetable market, and you will definitely not go wrong.
This habit of eating at the right time is the most effortless way to maintain health.
Medicine and food come from the same source. How many medicinal materials have you used in the kitchen?
Many people think "diet therapy" is mysterious. In fact, it has been used in your stew for a long time.
That old saying " Food and medicine come from the same source "To put it very seriously, many Chinese medicinal materials themselves are food.
When you feel you are lacking strength, eat some astragalus stewed with pork ribs to replenish your breath; when you have trouble sleeping at night, use jujube kernels boiled in water to calm your mind.
But one thing must be remembered, no matter how good the ingredients are, they must be suitable for the disease.
Everyone’s physique is different, and someone else’s good recipe may not be suitable for you.
for example Ginseng It is a great tonic, but people with a strong temper will get angry after taking it.
Knowing a little bit about the basic properties of food ingredients and acting as a little health care provider for yourself is the essence of food culture.
Reunion dinner is not just about eating, it’s about feelings and inheritance
When talking about Chinese food, we cannot fail to mention its social nature.
Our dining table is never just a place to solve the problem of hunger.
On New Year's Eve, the whole family sat together for the New Year's Eve dinner. Dumplings symbolized wealth, fish represented abundance every year, and every dish was full of good luck.
This sense of ritual turns eating into an emotional exchange.
We are usually busy with work, and it is rare for the whole family to sit together, so a home-cooked meal can bring us closer together.
What you can find is that many things that are difficult to discuss are easier to talk about at the dinner table; many words of longing can be expressed by picking up vegetables and clinking glasses.
This method of "stewing" culture and emotions into meals is our unique romance.
Don’t be conservative in tradition, use old wisdom to give it a new flavor
Times are changing, and so are our dining tables.
The eating habits passed down from the older generation are valuable, but they cannot be rigidly applied.
For example, in the past when supplies were scarce, the emphasis at that time was "the more oil, the less likely the dishes will spoil." Now we know that we need to control the oil and salt, but we can retain the essence of the food combination.
Take the braised pork as an example. In the past, the cooking method tended to be greasy. Now you can add more bamboo shoots and louver knots to absorb the oil. The flavor will not be reduced and it will taste healthier.
Younger people don't like to spend hours simmering soup, so they can try using a health pot for regular stewing, or grind medicinal materials into powder and add them to pasta.
The key point is to keep in mind the core points that have the characteristics of "depending on people, time and place", and be able to make flexible changes in specific implementation methods.
As long as we don't discard it, follow the principles of nature and follow the principle of balance, this food culture can always survive in our three meals a day.
After all, the traditional food culture of Yan and Huang is not a theoretical product from a high place. On the contrary, it is actually the details involved in everyone's daily cooking.
Don't go out of your way to learn, listen more to the nagging of the elderly at home, pay more attention to the changes in the seasons, eat the right meals, and your body will naturally respond well.
Before you eat next time, think about it, does this meal comply with the season?
Is the food mix balanced?
Apply this simple health-preserving wisdom to eat happily and live healthily. This is the best inheritance of traditional culture.
