China

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Please respond with your name,date, and source of your information. ( Family members may be used as long as their relationship to you is noted- ex: grandmother )
Shanxi- in north east China. Lisa (Wanzhen Gao- Mom 3/12/09)
 * What is the name of your home town?**

Beijing. Yuan Li (Jing Zhou - Mom 3/28/11)

Guangzhou- in Southern China. ( "Matt Wang", Wang Ye hing, parent, 4/2012)

My grandmother, can't eat Beef because she is Buddhist as for other family members we can eat beef just not in her presence. She's religious very when it comes to eating certain foods in the house. But most of the time my heritage doesn't really affect what I eat, only on certain days on the Lunar Calendar. (Eric Tseng,4/7/08)
 * How does your heritage affect the food that you consume in your home?**

All my ancestors are Chinese so all our food traditions have been passed down from generation to generation. I was raised up eating Chinese food and I have continued this tradition with my own family. This is mostly because we are used to it and I grew up cooking Chinese food. Now and then my family and I will eat some other country’s cuisine but mostly our diet is primarily Chinese food. Rice is consumed almost every single day along with stir-fry vegetables and meat. After dinner we never have dessert, but simply fresh fruit. During the weekends when I have more time to cook I will make something a bit more interesting like dumplings. Lisa Li (Wanzhen Gao- Mom 3/10/09)

My mother-in-law is a vegetarian. She doesn't eat meat. But she eats fish. Even though she doesn't eat meat, other family members in my family eat meats. In my family, we eat a lot of vegetables and fish. Yuan Li (Jing Zhou - Mom 3/29/11)

Heritage doesn't really affect my diet at home, whenever my parents cook dinner we eat Chinese food. However sometimes when they are busy, I usually take their place to cook American food. My mom is a believes in Buddhism, and she doesn't eat meat in certain days every year as a way to honor the god, but she didn't pressure me into believing Buddhism, as a result I'm not very religious. Back in China however, I remember eating street food every night at a busy avenue, so I developed a taste for spicy, grilled exotic food. ( Matt Wang, Wang Ye hing, parent, 4/2012)

We buy lots of greens ( ex: Chinese Broccoli, Baby Bok Choy, Spinach) we have to have some kind of green vegetable for dinner. Also fish is sometimes eaten, so my grandfather sometimes goes out and a fish market and picks out a fresh fish and take it home and steam it. Then we eat it. There are many Asian Supermarkets down near the city, so there isn't much of a hassal of getting the necessary foods. Eric Tseng, 4/7/08
 * What marketing practices does your family use in order to obtain the supplies needed to prepare food from your native country ?**

We have a Genardi’s next door so that is very handy for most of our food supplies. However, sometimes we will need special foods that cannot be obtained from an American food store. Occasionally we will go to Chinatown supermarkets. From there we can get fresh traditional fruits and vegetables such as bok choy and Chinese cabbage. Also we buy things like soy sauce and tofu. Lisa Li (Wanzhen Gao- Mom 3/10/09)

We go to American food store for most of the supplies. But if we need some special foods, we will go to Chinatown. We can get everything we need from Chinatown supermarkets. Sometimes we go to Korean supermarket instead. They also have the special foods that we need, such as tofu. Yuan Li (Jing Zhou - Mom 3/29/11)

The food is very local in China. Despite our growing economy, we have kept a tradition of eating things fresh. Sellers and butcher put their product laid out on the street, and form an out street grocery shop. I remember my Grandmother shops 2 times a week. Once in the morning she shop for breakfast and once in the afternoon to buy lunch and dinner. ( Matt Wang, Wang Ye hing, parent, 4/2012)

On the day of Chinese New Year, its mandatory that we eat __vegetable__ only. But the day after, we have a mixture of meats and vegetables.(Eric Tseng, 4/7/08)
 * Give an example of a holiday tradition in your home that incorporates food into the celebration.**

All Chinese holidays incorporate food into the celebration. An example in on Chinese New Year. In the part of China where I come from, we eat dumplings for breakfast on Chinese New Year. Dumplings are usually not eaten for breakfast. Eating dumplings symbolizes wealth because the dumpling is shaped like an ancient gold coin. Fish is eaten some time during the day on Chinese New Year to symbolize profit and extra (mostly meaning money). This is because the Chinese word for fish is a pun that also means extra or gain. In other parts of China people eat a sweet sticky cake. This cake is meant to symbolize a family 'sticking together'. Lisa Li ( Wanzhen Gao- Mom 3/10/08)

Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in China. On the day of Chinese new year, we will have a big dinner. We will have dumplings, fish and a mixture of meats (chicken, beef or pork) and vegetables (cabbage, green pepper). In other parts of China, they have different traditions. Yuan Li (Jing Zhou - Mom 3/29/11)

During moon festival, we eat moon cake and drink tea. We also have a holiday during the full moon, where we celebrate the togetherness of family, we eat a form of sweet rice pastry filled with black sesame paste that's boiled in water, and it is served as a desert and its sometimes we poke holes into some of the pastry and let its filling seep out into the water, and drink it as soup. ( Matt Wang, Wang Ye hing, parent, 4/2012)


 * Provide a family recipe related to your culture. Click in link to type recipe.**

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 * Podcast - 2008**
 * Podcast - 2009**
 * media type="file" key="Chinese cuisine Lisa-podcast.m4a" width="200" height="165" ]**
 * Podcast - 2011**