Dear Jay McDaniel,
There is an old saying nearly known to all--- men and women, adults and children---in northeastern China, which goes "hao chi bu ru jiao zi, shu fu bu ru tang zhe (好吃不如饺子,舒服不如躺着)". It means that no other food can be more delicious than jiaozi (dumplings), and nothing can be more comfortable than lying down to sleep. If one could have a meal of tasty jiaozi, and then have a sound sleep in bed, how wonderful that would be! Jiaozi is a kind of traditional food widely loved by Chinese people. Methods of making jiaozi may be as follows: On the one hand, we need to play with flour to prepare jiaozi wrappers; on the other hand, we need to play with fresh meat and vegetables (or for a vegetarian, with eggs and vegetables, or even with vegetables only) to prepare jiaozi fillings; then put the ready-made fillings on each wrapper, fold and stick the sides of the wrapper tight, making it into the shape of a crescent or a gold ingot, then a jiaozi comes into its form at last. We can make jiaozi edible by boiling them in water, steaming them on the tray, or frying them with oil. Because they not only are unique in shape, with thin wrappers and tender fillings, but taste wonderful, rich in nutrients, people love them so much that they never seem to be tired of them. With food made of flour as their staple food, people in northern China (especially the Northeasterners) , old and young, can make jiaozi, and love eating jiaozi. Up till today, the history that Chinese people eat jiaozi has lasted for at least 2,500 years. There are many stories and legends about (making and eating) jiaozi. The following stories make much sense to me and have impressed me deeply: One story goes that jiaozi was formerly called “jiao er (delicate ear)”, originated from “qu han jiao er tang (the soup functioning as medicine with jiao er in it to help keep away cold)” invented by Zhang Zhongjing (张仲景), the so-called Medical Saint of the Eastern Han Dynasty in ancient China. It was said that Zhang Zhongjing cared about poor people’s health very much, often offered them medical treatment and medicine free of charge, and thus saved many people’s lives. One winter, on his way home when he retired from his position, he was heart-broken to see many of his fellow villagers suffering from cold and hunger, even with their ears frostbitten, so he was determined to treat them, and rescue them from such sufferings. As soon as he arrived home, he got his disciples to build a medical shed in the open, set up a big pot, and set to offer medical treatment and medicine to people for free on winter solstice, lasting till the Chinese lunar New Year's Eve. The name of the medicine he offered to people was called “qu han jiao er tang”, which he invented by concluding the over-300-year clinical practice of the Han Dynasty. The medicine was made in the following way: put mutton, pepper and some herbs in the pot with much water and boil the pot for a long time till things in it are well cooked, take out the things from the pot, chop them into shred, wrap the shred with wrappers in ear-like shape, i.e. “jiao er”, put them into the pot and have them boiled, and then deliver the soup to the patients asking for medicine, each patient receiving a boul of soup with 2 “jiao er” in it at one time. After taking this soup, the patient felt their whole body was warmed up, with warming ears and smooth circulation of blood throughout the body. By taking this soup from the winter solstice to the New Year’s Eve, the patients managed to have fight against the pinching frost and recovered from the frostbitten ear trouble. To celebrate the New Year, and to celebrate the recovery of their frostbitten ears, people made food in the shape of “jiao er” to eat on the New Year’s Day. From then on, to commemorate the dates when Zhang Zhongjing began to offer treatment and medicine to people and when people recovered from their ear frostbite, people would make and eat this kind of food on every winter solstice and New Year's Day. To distinguish from the prescription of the “jiao er soup”, people called the food “jiao er”, which later turned into “jiao zi”. Hence we have “jiaozi” today. Nowadays, although it is no longer necessary for people to treat frostbitten ears with the “jiao er soup”, jiaozi as a type of food has become common and widely loved by people. Another story is also broadly spread among Chinese people. We all know, according to Chinese lunar calendar, the most important traditional festival for the Chinese is the Spring Festival. Long ago, Chinese people began to observe the custom of staying up late on the New Year’s Eve to say goodbye to the passing old year and to welcome the coming new year. The most common activity conducted on the New Year’s Eve was that the whole family gathered together to make a kind of food to bid farewell to the outgoing year: They loudly chopped meat (rou肉) and vegetables (cai菜) (so that neighbors could hear the noise of the chopping) to make fillings, in which “rou” “cai” sounded similar to another Chinese phrase---“you cai(有财)”, meaning “having much wealth”; they wrapped such fillings into the wrappers to make a kind of crescent-shaped food; they got ready a pot of boiling water, put the ready-made crescent-shaped food into the pot to boil at midnight, to be specific, at 12 o’clock pm of the New Year’s Eve, then the whole family sat down around the table to eat the well cooked crescent-shaped food together, symbolizing the auspicious meaning of family reunion and “having much wealth and good fortune” in the new year. In addition, according to ancient Chinese chronometry, 12 o’clock at midnight was called “zi”, so when the bell rang at the “zi” moment on the New Year’s Eve, people believed that they managed to have stepped into the new year from the old year, which was called “geng sui jiao zi (更岁交子)”, meaning to have transformed from the old year to the new year at the zi moment. And the food eaten at the midnight moment (i.e., the zi moment) was called “jiao zi (交子)”, meaning to have passed the old year and stepped into the new year. To make it more like a name of a type of food, a new Chinese character, “饺”, was created by adding the radical “饣” (meaning food) to “交”, thus “交子” became “饺子”. On the other hand, to make the wrappers, people had to “huo mian (和面)” (meaning to mix the flour with water and knead the dough), in which the verb “huo (和)” had similar meaning to “he (合)”. “合” and “交” both could mean “to gather together”. Therefore, jiaozi was used to signify the transformation of 2 years at the zi moment and the happy reunion of the family. My family come from northeastern China, to be more precisely, from Harbin, and my husband is a native of Harbin. When homesick, he often hums the tone of “dong bei er ren zhuan (song-and-dance duet)”, or softly sings “my home is by the Songhuajiang River in the Northeast”. He is capable of making and loves eating different kinds of food made of flour, espacially jiaozi. Early this morning, he bought back some beef, carrots and onions, and is now busy making jiaozi in the kitchen, together with my daughter. They two, father and daughter, make quite a good team, the father playing with flour to prepare the wrappers, while the daughter playing with beef and vegetables to prepare the fillings and wrap jiaozi! And the jiaozi they are making and we can share today is called “steamed beef-carrot jiaozi”: Recipe: flour, beef, carrots, onion, vegetable oil, shallot, ginger, salt, cooking wine, and water; Sauce ingredients: smashed garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, monosodium glutamate (chili oil, salt); Suitable season to eat this kind of jiaozi: winter. Procedures of making this kind of jiaozi: (1) Kneading the dough: mix the flour with warm water, knead it into a dough, and cover the dough and leave it to become proofed. (2) Preparing fillings: chop the beef into meat mud, cut the carrots and onions into tiny pieces, dice the shallot and ginger into fine pieces; put the diced shallot and ginger into the beef mud, together with appropriate amount of cooked vegetable oil, salt, cooking wine, and cold water, stir the mixture along the same direction until the materials in it are well blended; then put the carrot and onion pieces into the mixture and stir again to make them mix well, so the fillings are well prepared. (3) Rolling the wrappers: knead the well-proofed dough, divide it into small balls, press the balls flat with palms, roll them into thin wrappers. (4) Wrapping jiaozi: put appropriate amount of fillings on the wrapper, fold it and stick the sides tight, making it a crescent-shaped or gold-ingot-shaped jiaozi. (5) Steaming jiaozi: put appropriate amount of water in a steaming pot and boil the water in it, put the well wrapped jiaozi on the trays in the pot, cover the pot, boil it again and let it steam for another 20 minutes or so, take away the cover, and take out the well-steamed jiaozi from the pot, and the so-called “steamed beef-carrot jiaozi” are ready. Yes, the “steamed beef-carrot jiaozi” made by my husband and daughter are out of the pot now! How inviting they are! Come and share with us ... |
Dear Xie Bangxiu,
I am really hungry! Hungry for jiaozi and for more stories from China. Let me quickly offer a short word about the zi moment: that moment at twelve midnight in which we pass from one year into the next, as if leaving one room and entering another. With my Whiteheadian ears, I could not help but think that every moment is a zi moment of a kind. In a certain way every single moment of a day is a passing from one state of affairs into a slightly new one: if not a new year then at least a new moment. Whitehead had a name for these moments. He called them “moments of experience” or “occasions of experience.” In his view they were the building blocks of our lives. Some people think we are made of atoms and molecules; Whitehead thinks we are made of zi moments. Perhaps we should invent a new custom: a constructively postmodern greeting. Every time we see someone on the street we should say “Happy Zi Moment.” Of course not all moments of our lives are really so happy. Not all years are so happy, either. But they are all new and the very fact that they are new means that, in each moment, there is a fresh possibility for building a new life from out of the past and for responding to the situation. This fresh possibility is what Whitehead means by “the initial phase of the subjective aim.” There is no need to worry about the terminology. What is important is that each moment contains its own fresh possibility: its own jiaozi-possibility. This takes me to the story of Zhang Zhongjing. He was indeed open to one such possibility: namely that of making soup with jiao er within it, for the sake of people who were poor and cold, and who needed warmth for their bodies. With my Whiteheadian ears I cannot help but be warmed by this story; and by the very idea that jiaozi bear resemblance to ears. In this story we find two ideas combined that are very important to those who are influenced by Whitehead: listening to the needs of the poor with sensitive and caring ears, and responding in practical and creative ways by being open to fresh possibilities. Listening and Creativity: these are the Yin and Yang of a Whiteheadian approach. Of course we hear a bit of jazz, too, in Zhang Zhongjing. How we hear the improvisational spirit in his building of a medical shed and his blending of different medicinal ingredients into a big pot. There’s something very Whiteheadian about his impulse to heal, and about the big pot, too. Here we do not have isolated pots, each for one individual: but a big pot for all, with no one left behind. The Whiteheadian outlook encourages big pot thinking. If we live in this spirit, we have an ear for the common good of the world: of China and of the United States, and, of course, of people in all nations. And the animals and plants, too. In China big pot thinking gives rise to the idea of building a harmonious society or an ecological civilization: harmony among people and harmony with the earth. As a Christian I think Jesus was a big pot thinker, too; and Gandhi and Martin Luther King as well. They had the Zhang Zhongjing spirit, too. Of course even as we might be concerned with the common good of the world, we are also concerned with the well-being of those close to us, including our families. This is especially important at Spring Festival. As you explain, this is a time when families get together and usher in a new year together, doing their best to affirm forgotten bonds or build new bonds where bonds have been absent. There is no need to romanticize family life as if it is always happy. It is not. We live in a time when people in many different parts of the “modern” world are so trapped in the quest for making money, for achieving recognition, for wielding power, that they too often lose sight of the communal zi moments, when family and friends are gathered around a meal, prepared by loving hands, with ingredients nourished by the sun and soil, and cultivated by farmers, whose work is the very foundation of social life. These moments of sharing together are reminders of the true value of life: not money but mutual care, with laughter added. In these moments we taste what Whiteheadians mean by relationality. The relationality is known through feelings, but also seen in the jiaozi. In every particular reality of our world, says Whitehead, the many of the universe are gathered together into the specificity of the object. The universe is present in each grain of sand, said William Blake, or each jiaozi. You say the steamed beef-carrot jiaozi is out of the pot now? Is it ready to be eaten? I didn’t prepare the flour or the fillings. I am not sure I would be any good at it. Does it require perfection? You must teach me. But I do like to try new things. And I do know how to eat. May I join you? I’m coming over. Jay McDaniel |
中国东北有一句妇孺皆知的俗话,叫做“好吃不如饺子,舒服不如躺着”。意思是说,饺子是天底下最美味的食物,躺下睡觉是令人感觉最舒服惬意的事情:如果能饱饱地吃上一顿鲜美的饺子,再躺在床上美美地睡上一觉,夫复何求?
饺子是中国人喜爱的传统食品。它的制作方法包括:一方面是用面粉准备饺子皮,另一方面是用鲜肉、蔬菜(或如果吃素的话用鸡蛋、蔬菜)等准备饺子馅,然后将备好的馅料放到饺子皮上,包成月牙儿或金元宝形状的饺子,包成后或用水煮熟,或上屉蒸熟,或用油煎熟,之后即可食用。其特点是形状独特、皮薄馅嫩、味道鲜美、营养丰富,令人百食不厌。由于中国北方人(尤其是东北人)的主食以面食为主,因此中国北方家家户户、男女老少几乎都会包饺子、都爱吃饺子。 追溯起来,饺子在中国的食用历史至少有2500年了。有许多关于饺子的故事和传说。我自己深深感动于下面的故事: 据传饺子原名“娇耳”,源自东汉末年医圣张仲景发明的“祛寒娇耳汤”。据说张仲景常为百姓除疾医病,舍药救人。他告老还乡时,正好是浓冬时节,看见家乡的很多穷苦百姓忍饥受寒,耳朵都冻烂了,他心里非常难受,决心救治他们。他一回到家,便叫弟子在一块空地上搭起医棚,架起大锅,在冬至那天开张,向穷人舍药治伤,一直持续到大年三十。 张仲景所舍的药名就是“祛寒娇耳汤”,是他总结汉代300多年临床实践而成的。其做法如下:用羊肉、辣椒和一些祛寒药材在锅里煮熬,煮好后再把这些东西捞出来切碎,用面皮包成耳朵状的“娇耳”,下锅煮熟后,分给乞药的病人服用。每人两只娇耳、一碗汤。人们吃下祛寒汤后浑身发热,血液通畅,两耳变暖。病人从冬至吃到除夕,抵御了严寒,治好了冻耳。 大年初一,为了庆祝新年,也为了庆祝烂耳康复,人们就仿照“娇耳”的样子做过年的食物,并在初一早上吃。从此以后,为了纪念张仲景开棚舍药和治愈病人的日子,每逢冬至和大年初一,人们就做这种食物吃。为了区别“娇耳汤”的药方,就改称其为“饺耳”,后来演变为“饺子”。今天,人们用不着用“娇耳汤”来治冻烂的耳朵了,但饺子却已成了一种常见的、人们爱吃的食品。 还有一种传说也为许多中国人喜闻乐传。众所周知,中国传统节日春节是农历中最隆重的节日。中国人很久以前开始就有在大年三十晚上守夜辞岁的习俗。最普遍的守夜辞岁的活动就是一家人围在一起包辞岁吃。它是指在大年三十夜把备好的肉、菜剁成馅,其中的肉和菜谐音为“有财”,因此在剁时往往要弄出大的声响,让左右邻居听见,馅调好后和面擀皮将它包成月牙形的食品,到午夜十二点时下锅煮熟全家共食,带有合家团聚、“招财进宝”的吉祥含义。按中国旧时的计时法,午夜十二点为“子”时,子时钟声一响人们便由旧的一年迈进了新的一年,称为“更岁交子”。在子时吃这种带馅食品就是为了辞旧岁迎新年,因此人们便把它称为“交子”。因为“交子”为食品的一种,便在“交”字前边加上“饣”,于是成为“饺子”。又因和面的“和”同“合”字之意,“合”和“交”都有相聚之意,所以用饺子来象征更岁交子、团聚合欢。 我们一家三口来自中国东北,确切地说是来自哈尔滨,我丈夫是土生土长的哈尔滨人。思乡之时,他常哼的曲儿是“东北二人转”,常唱的词是“我的家在东北松花江上”,会做、爱吃的食物是各种面食,特别是饺子。这不,他又买回了牛肉、胡萝卜和洋葱等食材,正和女儿在厨房里忙乎着,要包“牛肉胡萝卜蒸饺”吃: 食谱:面粉、牛肉、胡萝卜、洋葱、植物油、葱、姜、盐、料酒、水等。调味汁配料:蒜泥、醋、酱油、芝麻油、味精(、辣椒油、食盐)。适食季节:冬天。 制作方法:(1)和面:用热水和面、醒面,备用。(2)制馅:将牛肉剁碎成肉泥状,将胡萝卜和洋葱切成碎块,将葱、姜切成碎末;在牛肉泥中放入适量葱末、姜末、熟植物油、食盐、料酒、凉水等,沿同一方向将各种材料搅拌均匀;最后将胡萝卜和洋葱碎块放入牛肉料中,再搅拌均匀,备用。(3)擀饺子皮:将醒好的面揉软,切分成小团,用手掌压扁,擀成饺子皮。(4)包饺子:将适量馅料放到每一个饺子皮上,将其合拢、捏紧,成为呈月牙儿或金元宝状的饺子。(5)蒸饺子:将蒸锅中放适量水烧开,将包好的饺子放在蒸屉上,加盖,再烧开锅后,蒸20分钟即熟,之后揭开锅盖,拣出蒸好的饺子入盘,即可(蘸调味汁)食用。 好了,我们家的“牛肉胡萝卜蒸饺”出锅了!真诱人啊!快来一起享用吧…… |
尊敬的谢邦秀,
我真的饿了!我要吃饺子,要听更多来自中国的故事。 让我简要评说一下“子”时:午夜十二点的那一时刻,我们从一年步入新的一年,仿佛离开一个房间进入另一个房间。从怀特海哲学角度来看,我不禁觉得每一刻都是某种类型的“子”时。以某种方式,一天中的每一个时刻都是事件在从一种状态进入另一种稍微更新的状况:如果不是(进入)新的一年,那么至少是(进入)新的一刻。怀特海有一个名称来称呼这些时刻。他称它们为“经验的时刻”或“经验的场合”。在他看来,它们是构建我们生活的基本材料。有些人认为我们是由原子和分子组成的;怀特海认为我们是由“子时”组成的。 也许我们应该发明一种新的习俗:一种建设性后现代的问候方式。每当我们在街上遇到某人时,我们应该说“子时快乐”。当然在生活中我们并非在所有的时刻都真的那么快乐。也并非在所有的年代都那么愉快。但他们都是新的,而“他们都是新的”这一事实本身就意味着在每一时刻都有一种新的可能性,使他们可以走出过去建构新的生活,使他们可以对情景作出反应。这种新的可能性就是怀特海所说的“主观目的原初阶段”。不必太在意术语。重要的是,每一时刻都包含有它自己的新的可能性:它自己的交子的可能性。 这把我引向了张仲景的故事。他确实曾对这样一种可能性开放:即给饥寒交迫的穷人,给需要暖身的人做内含娇耳的汤。从怀特海哲学的角度来倾听,我不禁因这一故事、因饺子形同耳朵这一想法本身而感到温暖。在这个故事中,我们发现两种思想结合起来了,这对那些受怀特海思想影响的人来说非常重要:用敏感和关怀的耳朵倾听穷人的需要,通过向新的可能性开放而以务实的、富有创造性的方式作出回应。倾听和创造性:它们是怀特海哲学方法中的阴和阳。 当然,我们在张仲景的故事中还听到了一点爵士乐。我们听出他出于即兴精神如何搭建医疗棚,如何将不同药材融合进一口大锅中。在他想要治愈病患的冲动中,在那口大锅中,有某种非常怀特海的哲学精神。这里我们有的不是装有某一种药材的单独的锅:而是一口装有所有的药材的大锅,不落下任何一种。怀特海哲学观鼓励大锅思维。如果我们生活在这种精神中,我们就会有心倾听为了世界共同利益的声音:为了中国的、美国的、当然也包括各国人民的利益。还为了动物和植物的利益。在中国,大锅思维催生了建设和谐社会或生态文明的理念:人与人之间的和谐以及(人)与地球的和谐。作为一个基督教徒,我认为耶稣是也一位大锅思维者;甘地和马丁·路德·金也是。他们也具有张仲景精神。 诚然,即使我们可能关心世界的共同利益,我们也关心与我们亲近的人,包括我们的家人,的幸福。这一点在春节时显得尤为重要。如你所释,这时,全家人团聚在一起共同迎接新的一年,尽力维护被忘却的亲近关系或在缺乏亲近关系的地方建立新的亲近关系。没有必要浪漫地美化家庭生活,仿佛它总是幸福的。事实并非如此。在我们生活的时期,“现代”世界各地的很多人都过度陷于追求金钱、寻求认可、追逐权势,以至于他们往往忽略“共同的子时”,即家人和朋友团聚一堂共餐的时刻,这一餐是由充满爱的手烹制的,使用的是由农民耕种,受阳光照耀、土壤滋养的食材,他们的工作正是社会生活的基础。这些共同分享的时刻提醒(我们认识)生活真正的价值:不是金钱,而是互相关爱,再加上欢笑声。在这些时刻,我们体验到怀特海思想家们所指的关系性。关系性是通过感受感知的,但也能见于“饺子”。怀特海说,在我们这个世界的每一种具体的实在中,宇宙的多凝聚到一起形成这一物体的独一性。如威廉·布莱克所说,宇宙呈现于每一颗沙粒之中,或呈现于每一个饺子之中。 你说牛肉胡萝卜蒸饺出锅了,对吧?可以吃了吗?我既没有和面也没有备馅儿。我不确定我是否会做这些事。它必须完美无缺吗?你得教我。但我的确喜欢尝试新事物。我也确实会吃。我可以和你们一起吃饺子吗?我来了。 杰伊·麦克丹尼尔(谢邦秀译) 怀特海与“子”时 谢邦秀解释 |