According to an American anthropologist, wheat was first used as a food crop 17,000 years ago. Wheat was first cultivated by the Chinese about 5,000 years ago during the time of Shen Nung (the legendary father of agriculture). At first, the grains were eaten raw, but soon the art of grinding them to make flour was learned. There is a reference in the Old Testament to bread being leavened as early as the Israelite exodus from Egypt. Later, scientists discovered that bread was leavened by the action of tiny airborne bacteria, known collectively as yeast.
Even though wheat is a staple food grain in the West, Chinese have more ways of preparing it. The Chinese especially appreciate good cooking, and so have raised the preparation of wheat dishes to the height of a culinary art. The many different methods of preparation include frying, deep frying, baking, steaming, and boiling. Dishes can be sweet, salty, soft, hard, crispy, spongy or flaky.
The Chinese divide wheat products into five categories: Cold water, scalded, leavened and crispy skinned. Each type involves the use of a different type of flour, which is divided into three grades: high gluten, medium gluten, and low gluten. High gluten flour is highest in protein, with about 12 percent, and is coarser and more absorbent. It is also the most expensive. Medium gluten flour has more than 10 percent protein, while low gluten flour has more than seven percent. Low gluten flour is ground finest, is least absorbent, and also the cheapest of the three.
High gluten flour is used in cold water wheat products, and high or medium grade in scalded and leavened wheat products. Baking powder is used with low gluten flour in making crispy skinned products.
Cold water wheat products made from dough include dumplings, noodles, spring rolls, and hsiaomai, which are probably the most popular wheat products in China.
Dumplings are made from a thin dough skin wrapped around either a meat or vegetarian filling. Vegetarian fillings are made of tofu, tree fungus, or lilies, among other things. Meat dumplings are usually made with a combination of four meats and six or seven vegetables. In the past, dumplings were usually made by hand at home, but in the industrial age of today, most are machine processed. Frozen dumplings which just require boiling are convenient but not as tasty.
Spring rolls are a symbol of spring and freshness, and those made in Taiwan have a soft, thin skin. They are stuffed with a filling similar to that used with dumplings, and often sprinkled with peanut sugar and flavoring.
Of the many types of noodles, one, the pulled noodle is made entirely by hand. The noodles are pulled, and cut manually to a uniform thickness. The so-called knife-shaved noodles have different shapes and sizes. The chef holds the dough in one hand and a boomerang shaped knife in the other. He twists the dough and as he cuts, the noodles fall into the wok to boil.
Scalded wheat products are made by mixing flour in boiling water. After cooling, the dough is lumped together and can be used for many dishes such as green onion cakes, shaoping, fried dumplings, and steamed dumplings. For fried or steamed dumplings the method of stuffing is similar to that used in regular dumplings. After stuffing they are either cooked in water and oil until the bottom is golden brown, or steamed. Green onion cakes are a favorite breakfast food. They are made by forming round noodles into a cylinder which is rolled out, stretched and then pressed into shape.
Leavened wheat products are made of flour, water, and yeast and then steamed or baked. In this category are steamed buns, taping, stuffed buns, little cage buns, and fried bread.
A good steamed bun is neither dry nor stringy, nor will it stick to the teeth. This is mainly because during preparation it is rolled over and over again in flour. A properly made steamed bun of the proper consistency will hold together, and tastes sweeter the longer it remains in the mouth.
Little cage buns come in both salty and sweet versions, the former with fillings made of shrimp, pork, and mushrooms, and the latter filled with red bean paste. The buns are steamed in round bamboo containers. The chef at one shop even places a pine sprig in each steamer to make the buns especially fragrant.
When baking powder is used, the foods are characteristically soft and tasty. The products include chashao buns, shachima, malakao, kaikouhsiau, and hemp flower. Of these, perhaps chashao buns are the most popular, with their thick pastry filled with meat soaked in a rich sauce. These white buns with a red filling are best eaten when steaming hot.
Kaikouhsiao (literally: openmouthed laugh) are so named because they look like a person laughing. They are made of egg, sugar, pork fat, baking powder, and flour mixed together and then rolled into balls which are deep fried.
Crispy skin wheat products are made with oil and water into multilayered products, including turnip strip cakes, moon cakes, sun cakes, and red bean paste cakes.
Dishes in northern and southern China differ according to the climate and geography. But gradually, as communications improve, the two cuisines are merging into one. Even though machines are being increasingly used in cooking, the traditional flavors, colors and aromas have been preserved to a large extent. It is no wonder that Chinese wheat products are considered among the best of their type in the world.
[Picture Caption]
1. Sweet and fragrant sesame-red bean buns. 2. Little cage buns (front) and hsiaomai (rear) are very popular. 3. Little cage buns are delicious in soup with shredded ginger, and rice vinegar. 4. A little patron enjoys her steamed dumplings. 5. Steamed buns fresh out of the oven are a real temptation, hot and fragrant. 6. Street vendors who make steamed dumplings right before your eyes are a common sight. 7. Fresh meat buns. 8. Chashao buns are a treat from Canton.
1. Tasty sesame buns. 2. Longevity peaches are a wheat product to be found at every major birthday. 3. Wheat turtles are used in many rituals. Their red color adds a spirit of festivity. 4. Spring roll skins must be thin and round, it takes much skill to make good ones. 5. Golden brown spring rolls look, taste, and smell good. 6. Red bean paste and meat filled cakes. 7. Sesame cakes. 8. Although the ingredients used to make green onion cakes are simple, the flavor is not. 9. Luohetse. 10. Deep fried wheat products.
1. There are fillings to match every person's taste. These can be filled with everything from meat to vegetables, from peanuts to red bean paste. 2. Malakao. 3. Hsienping are fried to a crisp golden brown. 4. A popular breakfast "sandwich", the hsiaoping youtiao. 5. When deep frying youtiao it is important to continually turn them ensuring an even color and crispness. 6. Care must be taken when pulling dumplings out of boiling water so that the thin skin does not break and the filling spill out. 7. Under the baker's skillful hands these lumps of dough can be transformed into many shapes. 8. Fried dumplings are a crispy skinned wheat product.
1. The taping (big cake), a specialty from Shantung. 2. Pulling the dough requires strong arms and wrists. Watching the baker perform is a real thrill. 3. A skilled baker can control the dough's thickness and hardness when he pulls it. 4. The more delicate the strings of dough, the better they taste. 5. With experience, each knife shaved noodle can be cut to the same thickness. 6. Machine processed noodles are made quickly and inexpensively ensuring themselves a place on the market. 7. Real Chinese home cooking. 8. Stuffing wontons. 9. Long, thin noodles are a symbol of long life and prosperity. They are a common birthday food.
1. "Twins", also known as "horse hooves." 2. Red bean paste cakes are often sold on street corners. 3. Hemp flowers. 4. Egg cakes, baked in little shops, smell and taste delicious.
2. Little cage buns （front） and hsiaomai （rear） are very popular.
3. Little cage buns are delicious in soup with shredded ginger, and rice vinegar.
4. A little patron enjoys her steamed dumplings.
5. Steamed buns fresh out of the oven are a real temptation, hot and fragrant.
6. Street vendors who make steamed dumplings right before your eyes are a common sight.
8. Chashao buns are a treat from Canton.
2. Longevity peaches are a wheat product to be found at every major birthday.
3. Wheat turtles are used in many rituals. Their red color adds a spirit of festivity.
4. Spring roll skins must be thin and round, it takes much skill to make good ones.
5. Golden brown spring rolls look, taste, and smell good.
6. Red bean paste and meat filled cakes.
8. Although the ingredients used to make green onion cakes are simple, the flavor is not.
10. Deep fried wheat products.
1. There are fillings to match every person's taste. These can be filled with everything from meat to vegetables, from peanuts to red bean paste.
3. Hsienping are fried to a crisp golden brown.
4. A popular breakfast "sandwich", the hsiaoping youtiao.
5. When deep frying youtiao it is important to continually turn them ensuring an even color and crispness.
6. Care must be taken when pulling dumplings out of boiling water so that the thin skin does not break and the filling spill out.
7. Under the baker's skillful hands these lumps of dough can be transformed into many shapes.
8. Fried dumplings are a crispy skinned wheat product.
1. The taping （big cake）, a specialty from Shantung.
2. Pulling the dough requires strong arms and wrists. Watching the baker perform is a real thrill.
3. A skilled baker can control the dough's thickness and hardness when he pulls it.
4. The more delicate the strings of dough, the better they taste.
5. With experience, each knife shaved noodle can be cut to the same thickness.
6. Machine processed noodles are made quickly and inexpensively ensuring themselves a place on the market.
7. Real Chinese home cooking.
9. Long, thin noodles are a symbol of long life and prosperity. They are a common birthday food.
1. "Twins", also known as "horse hooves.
2. Red bean paste cakes are often sold on street corners.
4. Egg cakes, baked in little shops, smell and taste delicious.
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