The large brush laden with water is drawn from the bucket by the old, steady hand and moved in deliberate strokes across the pavement. One stroke, two, three or more until the complete character develops. Luminous lines, black on grey stone he moves onto the next character. The words from the ancient Tang poem begin to take shape. Even in the afternoon sun its bone … Read more
I love to eat hot soups and stews to chase away the chill of a cold day. Asian soups are wonderful for this purpose. From Korean Doenjang Jjiggae to Central Asian Shurpa, Asian soups are hearty, delicious and offer unusual flavor combinations for warding off winter weather. The Chinese have a dish that is an intermediary between a soup and a stew for warding off … Read more
Crisp, amber skin atop moist, flavorful dusky meat all carved and rolled into parchment-like pancakes and brushed with sweet bean or hoisin sauce: Peking Duck is perhaps the dish we most often think of when imagining Chinese cuisine. It is listed in brochures and books as being the “must-have” dish for travelers to Beijing, where preparing it is still considered an artform. I grew up … Read more
We returned home from China a few days ago, my mind is still awash with all of the fantastic food I encountered on our combination family vacation and food research trip. We sampled a wide variety of food from fine restaurants in big cities serving national and regional specialties to street vendors dolling out snacks for a single yuan or two. We toured outdoor markets … Read more
We have been having some cool and wet weather to usher in Autumn – barely topping 50 degrees Fahrenheit by mid-day. On days such as these, there is nothing that warms body and mind better than a big bowl of homecooked soup. Sometimes it’s a bowl of Central Asian Shurpa, sometimes a hearty Korean soup like Doenjang-jjigae, but the effect is the same – a … Read more
Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river . . . And she feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China . . . I grew up hearing Leonard Cohen croon these words over and over. Telling perhaps about my age and background, but important as an introduction to the history of tea as well. As a global drink, … Read more
The University of Pennsylvania Museum displays artifacts from Caucasian travelers on the Silk Road. In a desolate, eastern world of salt and sand, where blinding windstorms were common and potable water was rare, the mummified remains of people from the west have been found. Why they died, where they came from and where they were traveling to is unclear, but for a short time, they … Read more
Imagine the world around 400 BCE. The Phoenicians in Carthage were the dominant power in North Africa; Socrates had just been condemned to death; in Mesoamerica, the Olmec civilization entered a period of terminal decline; and a Chinese nobleman was laid to rest in his tomb in Xian with soup and wine to see him through to the afterlife. After 2,400 years the cauldron or … Read more
A news item caught my eye recently that blended two of my favorite subjects – cuisine and biology. Long story short is that a species of asexual lizard previously undocumented by scientists has been discovered in Southern Vietnam recently. Neat thing about the story is that the lizard was discovered in a restaurant – grilled and plated and ready to be consumed. A Vietnamese scientist stopped for a … Read more
Muslim Communities in Central China have female religious leaders as well as their own unique food culture. Despite a deep historical tradition of female religious leadership beginning with Ayesha, the wife of the Prophet Mohammed, modern China is one of the only countries in which Muslim women are widely accepted as heads of their religious communities. These female religious leaders also fulfill most of the … Read more
This year, for the first autumn birthday, we took the family and a guest to a nearby Korean barbeque that has gotten some great reviews. Honey Pig really is a small slice of South Korea tucked into the DC suburbs. From its dark and industrial-styled interior to its straightforward, unembellished service and the thumping pop on the sound system it feels like stepping into another … Read more
The wind whistling across the cold, high, plain; sky-high mountains to the south and west and an endless desert to the north. You walk with your pack and your pony across the desolate, dry meadow. In the distance there are horns and bells crashing and booming to banish evil spirits. Silence and then a rhythmic batrachian chorus of monks starts to invoke a powerful Goddess. … Read more
The contents of a sunken Chinese ship estimated to be more than 1000 years old will be coming to auction soon according to a spokesman from the Government of Indonesia. The contents of the ancient ship has been salvaged and curated over the last few years will soon be available for public sale. The bulk of the material salvaged was fine Chinese white or green … Read more
This interesting object recently found its way into our home. It’s a jade vessel dating from China’s Yuan Dynasty. It appeared on the breakfast table one morning at the end of January. To be honest, at first I wasn’t so sure about it, but the more I consider it, the more I’m taking a shine to it. We’ve got to clean it up a bit, … Read more
Skilled dancers from Xiiang, Persian masks and lion masks. The heads are carved of wood, The tails are woven with thread. Pupils are flecked with gold And teeth capped with silver. They wave fur costumes And flap their ears As if from across the drifting sands Ten thousand miles away… – Bo Juyi, 9th Century With Chinese New Year, rapidly approaching, a post about … Read more
Asians love to stuff things. They love to stuff little things into bigger things, or roll leaves, dough or meat with all manner of minced vegetables, cheese and meat. From Georgian hinkali to Philippine lumpia with Indian samosas and Tibetan manti in between, dumplings, rolls, fritters, turnovers and tricorners are ubiquitous throughout the Asian continent. These morsels are eaten largely as appetizers in the west, … Read more