(scroll down for English)
Nakon dugo vemena evo opet gosta na mom blogu. Ovog puta je to Ivana, moja shvester od tetke, koja je više od 10 godina živjela u Pekingu. Pred par godina se vratila natrag u Srbiju. Gnjavim je već jako dugo (bolje da ne znate koliko dugo) da mi napiše nešto o Kini, iz perskepktive nekog ko je tamo dugo živio. Kina je zemlja koja me oduvijek oduševljavala, a pod uticajem Ivane i njene sestre i ja sam neko vrijeme učila kineski. Nadam se da ću možda jednog dana posjetiti neki dio Kine..
Uživajte u tewkstu i "old school" slikama!
Post edit 5 Feb 2015:
Tu je i youtube video klip kad je Ivana gostovala na Putospektivi!
Kineski obroci ili - kako sam
promenila navike u ishrani
Od kako sam se pre par godina vratila iz Kine za Beograd i
Evropu, moji radoznali sugrađani ne prestaju da me pitaju tri najčešće pitanja:
1.
Kako si uspela da naučiš kineski jezik?
2.
Kako možeš da jedeš štapićima?
3.
Koja je najneobičnija hrana koju si probala u Kini?
Kineski jezik se lako uči, uprkos popularnom verovanju da je
to težak jezik. Gramatika je laka u poređenju sa srpskim, francuskim,
engleskim; potrebno je vreme i praksa da se nauči pisani kineski, ali sve to
može da se izvežba. Što se tiče upotreba štapića za jelo, i to je veština. Prvi
obrok je frustrirajući ali zabavan, možda ostaneš gladan taj prvi obrok, ali
kasnije lakše ide. A što se tiče trećeg pitanja…. to je, po meni, pravo pitanje!
Kineska hrana je tema bez kraja, neiscrpan izvor zabave i informacija….kad se
samo setim svih obroka u Kini, šta sam sve jela i probala, kad se prisetim
najrazličitijih restorana, jela, mirisa, ukusa, boja… ovo je najteže pitanje na koje treba dati odgovor!
Kada su kineska hrana i ishrana u pitanju, postoji nekoliko
principa koji kinesku ishranu i kulturu dosta razlikuju od pristupa ishrani u
evropski zemljama/Srbiji.
1. Ono što je veoma upečatljivo je da su obroci redovni.
Obroci se jedu u isto vreme svaki dan, naime doručak oko 6- 7h, ručak tačno u
podne u 12h i večera u 17h. Meni lično ovakav pristup jako prija. Nemam napade
gladi, organizam ima svoju rutinu i navike, redovno unosim hranu i redovno je
sagorevam. Kada je jedna drugarica koja se bavi jogom to čula, rekla je: tvoje
telo ti sigurno zahvaljuje na tom redovnom režimu.
2. Obroci su uvek topli! Hrana se retko jede hladna, samo
ako je neko hladno predjelo u pitanju. Uglavnom se jede topla hrana, za sva tri
obroka a često i užine. To meni isto jako prija, verujem da mi i tu moj stomak
zahvaljuje.
3. Postoji izreka da Kinezi jedu sve što leti a da nije
avion, i sve što ima četiri noge a da nije sto. Istina! Na primer, zeleni
listovi ili stabljike šargarepe ili rotkvice se koriste u kuvanju, ne jede se samo
plod kao kod nas. Mi zapadnjaci volimo da jedemo čisto meso, filete, stejkove,
međutim, drugari iz Kine često smatraju da je meso bliže kostima ukusnije i
sočnije, tako da se često gosti restorana mogu videti kako grickaju pileće
nožice ili vrat.
Doručak
Na početku boravka u Kini nikako nisam mogla da se naviknem
na kineski doručak. Volim ja moj evropski tost, kajganu, slaninu, kroasan uz
kafu… ali u jednom trenutku sam krenula da se bavim plivanjem, i svakog jutra
nakon plivanja, više zbog potrebe nego zbog ukusa, jela sam u kineskim fast
food restoranima gde se služi doručak. I to je bio početak moje romanse sa
kineskim doručkom...
Doručak obično uključuje:
●
Topla kaša od pirinča (“zhou”) - da, i za doručak se
jede pirinač :) Kaša se sastoji od pirinča kuvanog u vodi, tako da to jelo samo
po sebi nema neki poseban ukus, masa je kremasta, gusta i obična. Zato se uz tu
supu jedu dodaci, kao što su seckani luk, kiselo povrće (isto sitno seckano),
komadići mesa. To se sve ubaci u kašu i time kaša dobija slan, sladak, ljut
ukus.
●
“You tiao” - pletenica pržena u dubokom ulju, ukus isti
kao naši uštipci! Masno, ali ukusno! Uglavnom se umače u sojino mleko.
●
Palačinke od jaja - ovo je tipična ulična hrana, pravi
se i prodaje na ulici, i najbolje je ne obraćati previše pažnje na higijenu.
Palačinka se razvlači na metalnoj ploči postavljenoj na metalnom buretu. Smesa
za palačinke je mešavina slična omletu. Najjači ukus koji se oseti je mladi
sitno seckan luk. U moje studentsko vreme, toliko sam jela ovo jelo da sam
mislila da ću se pretvoriti u palačinku.
●
Hleb pravljen na pari (“baozi”) - hleb u obliku suze,
punjen svinjskim ili goveđim mesom, ili povrćem. Jede se tako što se umače u soja
sos, sirće ili susamovo ulje. Tu je još i hleb koji se pravi na pari (“mantou”).
Hleb nije kao naš, sa koricom i sredinom, već je čitav od jedne mase, od tog
testa. Nekad taj mantou može da bude i pržen, i onda se umače u kondenzovano
slatko mleko.
●
Mleko od soje (“doujiang”) - može se piti toplo ili
hladno, slatko ili slano.
●
Jaja - kuvana jaja su jedina ista stvar u evropskom i
kineskom doručku. Često se za doručak jedu takozvana “pidan” jaja. Bukvalan
prevod ovog specijaliteta je “jaja sa omotom” (mada je ovde engleski naziv
fascinantniji, takva jaja se slikovito zovu “jaja od hiljadu godina”). To su
jaja koja su zbog načina pripreme i alkala dobila drugu boju, tako da žumance
poprimi tamno zelenu boju, a belance postane braon. Kremaste je teksture i
slanog ukusa. Često se jedu i jaja kuvana u čaju. Takva jaja izgledaju kao da
su napukla, vizuelno su mnogo lepa, i meni ukusnija od prethodnih.
Ručak
Ručak se jede između 11:30 i 12:30. Ako ste zaposleni i
kancelarija se nalazi u oblakoderu ili poslovnoj zgradi, takve zgrade imaju i
menzu, gde se za male pare služi veliki izbor jela od povrća i mesa, uz
obavezan pirinač ili rezance.
Ispovest: nikad nisam naučila da spremam kinesku hranu, čak
ni nakon toliko godina provedenih u Kini. Zašto? Jer je bilo suviše lako jesti
u restoranima, restorana ima svuda, hrana je ukusna, cena je jeftina i
pristupačna… da sam kod kuće pravila, potrošila bih više para i energije, a ne
bih uspela da kopiram autentičan kineski ukus.
Obrok u restoranu obuhvata:
●
Čaj - služi se na početku, tokom, i na kraju obroka
●
Predjelo - izbor hladnih jela, kao što su zeleno
povrće, tanko sečeno meso, uz obavezan preliv (soja sos, sirće, susamovo ulje,
ulje sa ljutom paprikom)
●
Glavno jelo: govedina, teletina, svinjsko, pileće meso,
riba...sve se jede. Neka od mojih omiljenih kuvanih jela su slatko kisela
svinjetina, brokoli u sosu od ostriga, riba u ljuto kiseloj supi, pržene
škampe, tofu u bilo kom obliku (jede se sa sitno seckanim lukom kao hladno
predjelo, pohovan kao toplo jelo, tofu na japanski način - sa slatkastim gustim
sosom, itd), pečurke u suvom tiganju, celer sa belim lukom…Kinezi tradicionalno
jedu dosta povrća što mislim da je odlična navika.
●
Pirinač - pirinač se jede za svaki obrok, i ja ga
obožavam! Umesto pirinča i shodno regionalnim navikama, možete pojesti
nudle/rezance ili bareni ili prženi hleb.
●
Supa - služi se na kraju jela! Ovo meni takođe
odgovara, jer ne stvara osećaj zasićenosti kao kad se supa pojede na početku
obroka.
Dezert
Dezert je najčešće voće, isečeno na kriške i lepo servirano
na velikom ovalu. Tu su jabuke, pomorandže, lubenice. Voće služi da osveži
paletu ukusa i vrati “qi”/energiju organizmu.
Još jedna kineska poslovica kaže da posle obroka treba
prošetati sto koraka. Međutim, moderan način života to često ne dozvoljava, i
retko je videti ljude kako šetaju posle obroka.
Večera
Večera je slična ručku. Jedu se topli obroci, hrana je
raznovrsna. Meso, povrće, riba, pirinač...često se jede pirinač pržen sa
jajima, nešto kao kajgana sa jajima, jer se na taj način upotrebi pirinač koji
je ostao od prethodnog obroka.
Evo i par zapažanja kako su se moja ishrana i navike
promenile (na bolje), nakon života u Kini:
1.
Pijem više čajeva i tečnosti
2.
Uglavnom ne jedem hleb i umesto hleba jedem pirinač.
Hleb jedem samo za doručak. Ne jedem ni puno testenina niti krompira,
jednostavno, lepše se osećam kad pojedem pirinač.
3.
Jedem više povrća
4.
Jedem manje kolača
5.
Imam redovne obroke. Poslednji obrok jedem pre 19h.
6.
Jedem više začinjene hrane...nisam sigurna da je ovo
dobra navika, ali volim ljutu hranu. Do koje mere Kinezi vole ljuto, pokazuje
termin “ma la”, koji opisuje ukus koji je toliko ljut da stvara osećaj kao
“anestezija”. U Kini ljutina dolazi od začina, paprike, bilja...nije kao kod
nas, gde su samo paprika i biber ljuti, i gde se služe sa strane. Ovde je svako
jelo začinjeno.
A, da…..i da odgovorim na pitanje sa početka: najčudnija
stvar koju sam jela u Kini je pačija krv, meso zmije, pohovani škorpioni i piće
od voćnog sirćeta!
~~~~~~~~~~~ English ~~~~~~~~~~~~
After quite some time I have a guest on my blog again. This time it's Ivana, my sister cousin, who lived in Bejing, China for more than 10 years. A few years ago she moved back to Serbia, her native country. I bugged her for a long time to write me something about a China perspective from someone who actually lived there. For me, China was always attractive country to visit. Due to Ivana and her sister's influence, I even started to study Chinese language.. Unfortunately, due to other things I drifted away from it.. I hope some day I will visit certain parts of China!
I hope you'll enjoy reading it as I did!
Chinese
meals and how they changed me
When I came back from China to Europe a few years ago, top
three questions I got asked were:
- how did you
manage to learn Chinese?
- how can you
eat with chopsticks?! And,
- what was the
weirdest food you ate in China?!
So….Chinese language is easy to learn, in spite of popular
belief that it is difficult: grammar is easy compared to Serbian, French or
German; writing takes time and practice, but it CAN be done. Using chopsticks is
a practiced skill too. First meal you will remain hungry, but later it is easy.
But being asked a question on food... that’s the big cat... Chinese food is
such a huge topic, like an inexhaustible spring of tastes… and this topic takes
me down a memory lane, thinking about the flavors I tasted, the strange, the
yummy, fragrant, spicy, tasty Chinese food!
In my opinion, there are a few basic principles for eating
Chinese food and meals, that are very different from typical Western:
a) One thing that is very striking is the regular hours when
meals are taken. Meals are taken at regular hours, usually at the same time,
namely 7h, 12pm, 5pm. I liked that, it gives rhythm to your day. When my
yoga-practicing friend heard this, she said, your body thanks you.
b) Another thing that is very important, is that meals are
always warm! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, often snacks are eaten warm. For me,
that works well! Stomach’s happy.
c) There is a saying that Chinese people eat anything that
flies except airplanes, and anything with four legs except tables. True! For
example, when I was buying carrots or radishes at the market, I would ask them to
remove the green leaves, but Chinese use even that in cooking. Or, Westerners
like to eat chicken meat, but Chinese believe that meat closer to bones is
nicer, so often there are dishes like chicken legs or neck.
Breakfast
At the beginning, I could not get used to Chinese breakfast.
I liked my European toast, scrambled eggs, Serbian bacon…but at one point in my
life, that changed: one year in Beijing, I used to swim every morning before
work, and then, hungry and rushed, had to hop over to local Chinese fast food
chain for breakfast. This accidental change brought on a pleasant discovery
regarding Chinese breakfasts.
Breakfast usually includes:
❏
Warm rice congee – yes, there is rice even for
breakfast :) It’s rice boiled in water, so this soup does not have any specific
taste in itself and is plain, thick and creamy. Therefore, you can add some
toppings for flavor – chopped onions, pickled veggies, meat.
❏
“You tiao” - deep fried bread sticks, very similar in
taste and look to Serbian “donuts”. They are very greasy, and can be dipped
into soymilk
❏
“Jianbing” egg pancakes - made and sold in the street.
Made on a flat metal plate, from mixture similar to omelette. Still, the
strongest flavor you taste after taking over the fragrant pancake from the
vendor is that of chopped green onions! I used to eat so much of these pancakes
during student times, I thought I’d turn into one. The stall are of
questionable hygiene, but best not to think of that when waiting in line for
street food.
❏
Steamed bread (“baozi”) - these are dough pouches
stuffed with a pork, beef, vegetables. They are eaten by dipping into soy
sauce, vinegar or sesame oil. There is also steamed bread (“mantou”), but not
like Western bread made of crust and middle, rather dough balls that are
steamed or fried.
❏
Soymilk - made from soy beans, can be drank hot or
cold, sweet or salty
❏
Eggs - boiled eggs are common for breakfast, but there
is also the Century Egg (chicken eggs that have been preserved in alkaline, so
that yellow yolk has turned dark green, and whites are actually brown, very
creamy texture). You can also eat eggs that were boiled in tea. I prefer
the tea eggs to century ones, but again, tastes are different, you should try
both if you go to China.
Lunch
Lunch is usually eaten around 12 noon, usually from 11:30 to
12:30. At office buildings, there is usually a staff canteen for office workers
or food court. There is a selection of dishes, they are not that tasty, but I
could always find two or three that are tasty. Of course, there are rice and
noodles.
It is very common to eat at restaurants and they are crowded
during lunch and dinner times. Confession: I have never learned to cook Chinese
food, even after so many years in China. Why? Because it was so easy,
convenient, tasty and cheap to eat in restaurants. The chefs would make the
food way better than I could, and I did not even want to try.
Restaurant meals include:
-
Tea – served at start of meal and throughout
-
Appetizer – a selection of cold dishes, cold green
veggies, meat slices, paired up with sauces (soy sauce, vinegar, hot pepper
oil)
-
Main dishes: anything from beef strips to chicken
sliced to fish chunks. Some of my favorite Chinese dishes are Broccoli with
oyster sauce, hot and sour fish, fried shrimp, bean curd “toufu” (any shape and
form - I like bean curd skin, and spicy doufu, and cold toufu as appetizer with
spring onions), mushrooms served with spices, sweet and sour pork, celery,
string beans...anything goes. Chinese traditionally eat a lot of vegetables
which I think is a good habit.
-
Rice - for me, rice naturally goes with Chinese dishes,
since it soaks up all the sauces from the dishes. But, you can also eat a bowl
or noodles or dumplings.
-
veggies complemented with meat, and accompanied with
rice, if there are lots of dishes, you may not want to eat so much rice, small
bowl of rice or noodles
-
Soup – served after the main dish! This is also good I
think, it gives you a feeling of just filling in the gaps rather than getting
filled first and then stuffing food on top of the soup.
-
Dessert – fruits are eaten as dessert, served on a big
platter and always beautifully arranged! Apples, oranges, watermelon are most
common, and purpose is to clear the
plate after meal.
Another Chinese saying says that after a meal, hundred steps
should be taken. So, it is recommended to go for a walk, but often modern
Chinese lifestyle does not allow time for that, so people just go back to
office.
Dinner
Dinner time is similar to lunch time. Meals are warm, food
is diverse. They include soup, meats, vegetables.. fried rice is eaten. Fried
rice is a good way to use leftover rice from prior meals.
Here are some observations how my dining habits have changed
(for the better) since living in China and adapting the dining practices:
❏
I drink more tea
❏
I have (mostly) replaced bread with rice - I don’t eat
bread (much), only for breakfast. Even pasta and potatoes, I opt for rice. I
feel more full and it goes nicer with sauces.
❏
I eat more veggies
❏
I eat less cakes
❏
I have regular meals and do not eat later than 19h
❏
I eat more spicy food… well, not sure this is a good
thing, but I like spicy food. To give you an idea of how spicy Chinese food can
be, let me just share that there is a word in Chinese to describe a flavor that
is “numb spicy”, after you eat it, you feel like you were under anesthetics. In
Serbia, the spicy flavor is only due to pepper, and it is placed on the side,
not in the dish.
Oh, and to answer the question from the beginning, the
weirdest thing I ate was duck blood, snake meat, fried scorpions and drank
fruit vinegar drinks.
--
ae! 
