<p>The Chinese are considered to have one of the greatest cuisines in the world. While Western men chewed raw meat that they had clubbed, the Chinese were writing cookbooks that debated the relative values of venison, crab roe, vegetables, and pastries. But the Chinese have also been responsible for such delicacies as egg foo young, moo-goo-gai-pan, and deep fried noodles topped with goop. <span class="caps">MSG</span> graces every Chinese kitchen in a canister the size of an ancestral urn, and the condiment of choice is thousand island dressing.</p>
<p class="chinese">中國処南瞻部州，其烹飪之精，甲于天下，世以爲罕有其匹者。當三王五帝之時，海西各部尚以杵碎肉，茹其毛而飲其血，中國諸賢則已斤斤論較于鹿脯蟹黃、菜蔬粟餅之優劣短長，其語錄心得，傳諸丹青者，在在皆是。世所共知，無須贅論。然亦有世人習焉不察者：芙蓉之彩蛋、蘑菇之雞片, 乃至以五色粘連之醬汁覆于金油深炸之麵條，其妙想覃思，皆肇端於中華故地。延至今日，有泰西舶來之雞精味素者，能於釜中化朽為奇，是故中國萬家庖廚，無不以古色甌瓶慎而盛之，又有巧者制醬，名曰“千島”，偶一試用，天下靡然向風。於是屠剝湯煮之地，至於華彩洋洋矣。</p>
<p>Now a selection of previously unpublished excerpts from Chinese historical classics have come to our attention. Until recently, we did not know that the Analects included a metaphor made by Confucius of the relationship between state order and sweet and sour pork. Nor were we aware that the poet Li Bai wrote an elegy to mai-tais. Now available for the first time in print in the volume Hot and Sour: The Suppressed Legacy of Classical Chinese Kitchen Trash, these gems serve to enhance our culinary comprehension of this vast and complicated land.</p>
<p class="chinese">有數章未刊之中國舊典，歷代無識其詳者，而近日漸為人所知。如《論語》中孔子假鹽梅烹調之肉以喻邦國之政，又如李太白作長歌以挽鳳尾酒。好事者因蒐集之而校勘刻行，題曰“辣與酸——中華庖廚呻吟寶典禁書集”，片言隻字，皆足珍貴，將使讀者漸諳烹調之三昧，而對此遼廓深玄之故土有心知神會焉</p>
<h5>From the Analects of Confucius</h5>
<p>The Duke of Wei, in his travels to the South, came upon the city of Dim Sum. It was decorated with entwined golden dragons; its streets were marble, and all around, floated globes filled with air. The town center was paved with circular tables cloaked in white cloth, around which the women, men, and children were seated. The nobles were dressed in identical costumes of white with a close fitting over robe of black, and a ribbon of black or white tied around their necks. They had silver carriages on wheels and shouted at the cowering populace in a dialect that sounded like birds of prey in the night. The Duke of Wei and his company were gestured to sit. After several hours, one of the noblewomen deigned it appropriate to bring dishes from her carriage onto his table. They were served chicken bathed in oil and dark soy; small pieces of pork attached to the bone and bathed in oil and dark soy; sea-sweet shrimp that had been wrapped in sheets fashioned from rice and bathed in oil and dark soy, and pork that had been dyed vermilion. When the Duke rose to leave, a man chased after him, stomping and howling. Presuming this to be their host, the Duke of Wei bowed and stomped his feet in return. The host clenched his fingers into a fist and waved it in the air. The Duke did the same. To the Duke’s delight, the host escorted him into a large room that had been paneled with silver where the Duke of Wei washed dishes for seventeen and a half days.</p>
<p class="chinese">《論語》選段：
衛靈公去國南游，旅于狄桑（Dim Sum）。其邦小而俗尚侈，以鎦金云龍飾其城，而以玄玉覆于通衢。又製革囊數百，法日月星之形而以氣充之，上下懸浮，遍于都邑。其國中有圓几數張，白布覆之，男女老幼圍坐。貴人盛裝嚴飾，衣白裳黑，而以帛帶繫項。銀車駟馬，卷塵過市，民退避不及，輒斥之，其聲若鴟梟。有侍者導衛公及扈從坐，自午至申，方有貴婦人某氏于其車中取饌食而奉于公。有雉脯而浸之以赤油玄醬者，有附骨之肉而浸之以赤油玄醬者，有稻米之飴裹東海鮮蝦而浸之以赤油玄醬者，又用朱紅漂染于肉上，光鮮可喜。衛公醉飽辭歸，一男子逐于車后，舞蹈呼號。公意其為國主，故揖讓而亦蹈足以還禮。主人攥指成拳，揮舞于空中，衛公效仿之。主人遂護送公至一鏤金鑲銀之巨室，邀公沐洗杯盤十七日有奇，公大悅</p>
<p>Confucius comments, “What a strange land is this – in where those who rule look upon service as a mark of their station. It is not dissimilar in fact to the way we treat our own pigs and dogs! We feed them, expect nothing in return, and yet they are our inferiors. Is it also not the most noble way of government, for is it not the duty of those to serve the people who are beneath?”</p>
<p class="chinese">子曰：“異哉斯國！為政者以能侍養百姓為貴焉。其有似于居豕犬之道乎？侍之不以爲尊，食之不圖其報。不亦君子之政乎？能下小人，不亦君子之任乎？”</p>
<h5>From the Book of Rites</h5>
<p><span class="caps">MSG</span>!
Tastes so sweet!
A pinch will make you parched.
Once, I ate too much.
I drank wine
Then looked in the lake and saw a tiger and a tonsured man.</p>
<p class="chinese">《禮記》選段：
味精！其味甚甘！
一擰一掐，令汝如遭炎灼。
某日，吾飽食過甚，又飲酒爲歡。
忽于水邊顧影，而見一虎一僧</p>
<h5>From Mencius</h5>
<p>The city of La Choy is tall and thin and austere. It is a city of towers, and within each tower, every story contains one room for one function and one person. Hence, the maid may cook in the kitchen, where above, her master works in his study, and above that, her mistress dwells in her bath. A man dresses in one room and undresses in another room on top; his wife does the same, and when they retire for the night, their sleep is separated by a staircase. A mother ascends to serve her child’s meal in the child’s place of dining, descends to the nursery to let her child suckle at her breast, then climbs to her child’s bedroom to kiss the child goodnight.</p>
<p class="chinese">樂居（La Choy）城孤高峻朴，塔閣林立。其塔每層惟有一室，居一人而專一用。故侍女烹飪于庖廚，其上層為書房，主人治學其中，再上層則浴室，妃子沐浴焉。頂層便辟，為更衣之所，男子于左室寬衣，而著衣裳于右室；婦人亦然。入夜就寢，則雖夫婦亦以樓梯限隔。養兒之事尤繁複焉，爲人母者，須炊而食其子于大兒進食之室，再乳其幼子于育嬰堂，然後登樓至小兒臥室，歌謠以送其入眠</p>
<p>The inhabitants’ food is organized in towers as well, separate cylinders containing noodles, sauce, meat, and vegetables that are stacked high. On his visit to La Choy, Mencius ate his noodles, sauce, meat and vegetables separately, in the order in which they were positioned. But after two days his host gestured that it was appropriate to combine the ingredients, and demonstrated by tipping the containers into one another in a haphazard order. For on rare nights in La Choy, a woman may be in her bath and her husband will ascend from his study to watch her bathe. The maid may serve them the meal in the bath, or they may eschew dinner altogether, and the child will enter to be kissed goodnight before man and wife drowse the night away on the warm bath tiles. When one comes to La Choy, you must eat the food separately at first, for one will find it difficult. To know that one can combine the components is a step into understanding the city. Though the vegetables be parched, the meat full of gristle, and the sauce dark and curious, anyone who has known the taste of them apart will appreciate that the combined flavor is sweeter. For without boundaries, what beauty would there be?</p>
<p class="chinese">其燕居饗食皆在塔中，亦井然有秩，麥、醬、糜、蔬，五色斑斕而以籩豆分盛之。孟子游其國，乃依其所處之序分別食之。後兩日，主人告曰：宜將眾物混于一甌之中。因擧諸器皿，摻合佐料以示孟子，此先彼後，雜然無章。蓋序與不序，貴乎妙用也。每月亦有數夜，婦人入浴而其夫棄書往觀，爲一夕歡樂。或招侍兒進酒食于浴室，或且廢而不食焉。其子亦入浴室道晚安，然後夫婦擁眠池中，至日曉雞鳴。故訪其國者，必先分食麥、醬、糜、蔬，而知其澀難下嚥。然後合諸物而饗之，則不獨識其味美，亦將有以識其國之禮俗矣。故其蔬雖湯灼失脆，其肉雖酥骨格樍，其醬雖烏光詭色，而知者將因其分之惡而盛稱其和之美也。蓋治味如治人，倘無界别，則亦何美之有？</p>
<h5>From Zhuang Zi</h5>
<p>Sometimes, one comes across the Egg foo young, a dish as bright as a canary, covered in mushroom soup, and containing enough medicine* to keep all Seven Sages elated for a week.</p>
<p class="chinese">《莊子》選段：
“芙蓉蛋”亦名“如餘蛋”，以制作繁奧，人不時見之。其色明燦如金絲雲雀，覆以鮮菌湯汁，又富含藥材，能使七賢人興舞快意，三日不止</p>
<p>A friend told Zhuang-zi that the full name of the dish was “Eggs? We fooled you!” For, as he explained, there are no eggs in egg foo young, goose, duck, chicken, turtle, or otherwise.
“How wonderful!” Zhuang-zi responded. “For there are no eggs in egg foo young, just as there is no duck in duck sauce.”
(*Zhuang Zi was referring to <span class="caps">MSG</span>)</p>
<p class="chinese">人告莊子曰：“如餘蛋”乃“汝愚蛋”之訛，意為“汝何其愚也，是安有蛋！”蓋“如餘蛋”中絕無絲毫雞卵清黃，亦絕無鵝鴨雉龜之卵也。
莊子曰：“善！汝愚蛋中無蛋，誠如鴨醬中無鴨。”
（莊子乃論及雞精味素</p>
<h5>From the Book of Songs</h5>
<p>Sauce of thousand isles,
The venomous treat.
From the crimson fruit of nightshade,
And eggs that have never encountered heat.
Do I taste it?
Sitting in the wine shop with my hair in disarray.
The flavor of dying is discreet.</p>
<p class="chinese">《樂府》選段：
雞卵流青黃，
漿果若丹朱。
罎醃或窖釀，
製醬而待沽。
醬成曰“千岛”，
盛名天下布。
散髮坐酒肆，
問君敢嘗否。
色香能斷魂，
使我意踟躕</p>
<h5>From The Travels of Marco Polo</h5>
<p>And on that last day, I was asked to the banquet hall of the Great Khan, where was spread all the culinary emblems of the empire – towers of La Choy, egg-foo-young, <span class="caps">MSG</span> gathered like snow, and sweet and sour pork studded with pineapple. There were cocktails made from liquors culled from all over the kingdom. There was one that was red and flamed and was called Molten Kiss, to represent one of the Khan’s favorite cities that had burned. There were mai-tais and grasshoppers that glowed like jade and drinks with parasols to represent the women of one city that never went without them – even indoors – to keep their complexions white.
‘On the day when I have consumed all the emblems,’ the Khan asked me, ‘shall I be able to possess my empire, at last?’
And I answered: ‘Sire, do not believe it. On that day you will have a hell of headache.’</p>
<p class="chinese">《馬可波羅遊記》選段
旅程的最後一天，我應邀去參加大可汗的宴會，在那裡陳列着帝國中所有烹飪精華的象徵：La Choy塔，芙蓉蛋，雪花般的味精，還有鑲嵌着菠蘿的酸甜豬肉。有從全國各地精選出來的酒水調製的各種雞尾酒，其中一種酒色鮮紅而火焰升騰，他們稱之爲“熔岩之吻”，代表可汗陛下燒毀的那些他十分喜愛的城市中的一座。此外還有mai-tais、如翡翠般閃閃發亮的蚱蜢酒和漂浮着小陽傘的飲料，陽傘代表了某座城市中的婦女們，她們無時無刻不帶着傘，即便在室内也是如此，以保持膚色的絕對潔白。
“如果有一天我把這些美食的象徵嘗個遍”，可汗問我，“我是不是就能最終完全佔有我的帝國呢？”
我回答說：“陛下，請別相信這種鬼話，真要有那麽一天，您大概會頭疼得要命。”</p>
2007-09-01T02:01:32-07:00
Mei Chin<br />
Translation by Lei Bo
6
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The Chinese are considered to have one of the greatest cuisines in the world. While Western men chewed raw meat that they had clubbed, the Chinese were writing cookbooks that debated the relative values of venison, crab roe, vegetables, and pastries.
/images/food/chin_thumb.jpg
Chinese American
2007-09-10T22:14:33-07:00
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