1.
Taiwan
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Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a state in East Asia. Neighbours include China to the west, Japan to the northeast, Taiwan is the most populous state that is not a member of the United Nations, and the one with the largest economy. The island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, was inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before the 17th century. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty, following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the ROCs loss of the mainland to the Communists, and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to represent China at the United Nations until 1971, in the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage, Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care, public education, economic freedom, the PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC, the PRC has threatened the use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible. There are various names for the island of Taiwan in use today, the former name Formosa dates from 1542, when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means beautiful island. The name Formosa eventually replaced all others in European literature and was in use in English in the early 20th century. This name was adopted into the Chinese vernacular as the name of the sandbar. The modern word Taiwan is derived from this usage, which is seen in forms in Chinese historical records. Use of the current Chinese name was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture, through its rapid development, the entire Formosan mainland eventually became known as Taiwan. The official name of the state is the Republic of China and it was a member of the United Nations representing China until 1971, when it lost its seat to the Peoples Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become known as Taiwan. In some contexts, especially ones from the ROC government
2.
Shandong
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Shandong is a coastal province of the Peoples Republic of China, and is part of the East China region. Shandongs Mount Tai is the most revered mountain of Taoism and one of the sites with the longest history of continuous religious worship. The Buddhist temples in the mountains to the south of the capital of Jinan were once among the foremost Buddhist sites in China. The city of Qufu is the birthplace of Confucius, and was established as the center of Confucianism. Individually, the two Chinese characters in the name Shandong mean mountain and east, Shandong could hence be translated literally as east of the mountains and refers to the provinces location to the east of the Taihang Mountains. A common nickname for Shandong is Qílǔ, after the States of Qi and Lu that existed in the area during the Spring and Autumn period. Whereas the State of Qi was a power of its era. Lu, however, became renowned for being the home of Confucius, the cultural dominance of the State of Lu heritage is reflected in the official abbreviation for Shandong which is 鲁. English speakers in the 19th century called the province Shan-tung, the province is on the eastern edge of the North China Plain and in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and extends out to sea as the Shandong Peninsula. The earliest dynasties exerted varying degrees of control over western Shandong, over subsequent centuries, the Dongyi were eventually sinicized. During the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, at this time, Shandong was home to two major states, the state of Qi at Linzi and the state of Lu at Qufu. Lu is noted for being the home of Confucius, the state was, however, comparatively small, and eventually succumbed to the larger state of Chu from the south. The state of Qi was, on the hand, was a major power throughout the period. Cities it ruled included Linzi, Jimo and Ju, the Qin dynasty conquered Qi and founded the first centralized Chinese state in 221 BCE. The Han dynasty that followed created a number of commanderies supervised by two regions in what is now modern Shandong, Qingzhou in the north and Yanzhou in the south, during the division of the Three Kingdoms, Shandong belonged to the Cao Wei, which ruled over northern China. After the Three Kingdoms period, a period of unity under the Western Jin dynasty gave way to invasions by nomadic peoples from the north. Northern China, including Shandong, was overrun, Shandong stayed with the Northern Dynasties for the rest of this period. The Sui dynasty reestablished unity in 589, and the Tang dynasty presided over the golden age of China
3.
Shallot
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The shallot is a type of onion, specifically a botanical variety of the species Allium cepa. The shallot was formerly classified as a species, A. ascalonicum. Shallots probably originated in Central or Southwest Asia, travelling there to India. The name shallot comes from Ashkelon, an ancient Canaanite city, Indian names for shallots include kaanda or gandana or pyaaz, gundhun, cheriya ulli or chuvanna ulli, ଉଲ୍ଲି ପିଆଜ, chinna ullipayi and chinna vengayam. In the Kashmiri language, shallots are called praan, in Nepal, shallots are called chyapi. In Southeastern Asia, shallots are called bawang merah kecil in Malay, brambang in Java, sibuyas bombay in the Philippines, and hom in Thai. In Cambodian, shallots are called katem kror hom, where katem or ktem is a species of onion, the name shallot is also used for the Persian shallot, from the Zagros Mountains in Iran and Iraq. The term shallot is used for the French red shallot and the French gray shallot or griselle. The name shallot is used for a scallion in New Orleans while the term French shallot refers to the plant referred to on this page. The term eschalot, derived from the French word échalote, can also be used to refer to the shallot, the usage of green onion for shallot is found among English-speaking people in Quebec, but when shallot is used, stress is on the second syllable. Like garlic, shallots are formed in clusters of offsets with a composed of multiple cloves. The skin colour of shallots can vary from brown to gray to rose red. Shallots are extensively cultivated for culinary uses, propagated by offsets, in some regions, the offsets are usually planted in autumn. In some other regions, the suggested planting time for the crop is early spring. In planting, the tops of the bulbs should be kept a little ground. They come to maturity in summer, although fresh shallots can now be found year-round in supermarkets, shallots should not be planted on ground recently manured. In Africa, shallots are grown in the area around Anloga in southeastern Ghana, shallots are used in fresh cooking in addition to being pickled. Finely sliced, deep-fried shallots are used as a condiment in Asian cuisine, as a species of Allium, shallots taste somewhat like a common onion, but have a milder flavor
4.
Sugar
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Sugar is the generic name for sweet, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. There are various types of derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose, fructose, the table sugar or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide of glucose and fructose. Sugar is used in prepared foods and it is added to some foods, in the body, sucrose is hydrolysed into the simple sugars fructose and glucose. Other disaccharides include maltose from malted grain, and lactose from milk, longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides or polysaccharides. Some other chemical substances, such as glycerol may also have a sweet taste, low-calorie food substitutes for sugar, described as artificial sweeteners, include aspartame and sucralose, a chlorinated derivative of sucrose. Sugars are found in the tissues of most plants and are present in sufficient concentrations for efficient commercial extraction in sugarcane, the world production of sugar in 2011 was about 168 million tonnes. The average person consumes about 24 kilograms of sugar each year, equivalent to over 260 food calories per person, since the latter part of the twentieth century, it has been questioned whether a diet high in sugars, especially refined sugars, is good for human health. Sugar has been linked to obesity, and suspected of, or fully implicated as a cause in the occurrence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, macular degeneration, the etymology reflects the spread of the commodity. The English word sugar ultimately originates from the Sanskrit शर्करा, via Arabic سكر as granular or candied sugar, the contemporary Italian word is zucchero, whereas the Spanish and Portuguese words, azúcar and açúcar, respectively, have kept a trace of the Arabic definite article. The Old French word is zuchre and the contemporary French, sucre, the earliest Greek word attested is σάκχαρις. The English word jaggery, a brown sugar made from date palm sap or sugarcane juice, has a similar etymological origin – Portuguese jagara from the Sanskrit शर्करा. Sugar has been produced in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times and it was not plentiful or cheap in early times and honey was more often used for sweetening in most parts of the world. Originally, people chewed raw sugarcane to extract its sweetness, sugarcane was a native of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. Different species seem to have originated from different locations with Saccharum barberi originating in India and S. edule, one of the earliest historical references to sugarcane is in Chinese manuscripts dating back to 8th century BC that state that the use of sugarcane originated in India. Sugar was found in Europe by the 1st century AD, but only as an imported medicine and it is a kind of honey found in cane, white as gum, and it crunches between the teeth. It comes in lumps the size of a hazelnut, sugar is used only for medical purposes. Sugar remained relatively unimportant until the Indians discovered methods of turning sugarcane juice into granulated crystals that were easier to store, crystallized sugar was discovered by the time of the Imperial Guptas, around the 5th century AD
5.
Black pepper
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Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. When dried, the fruit is known as a peppercorn, when fresh and fully mature, it is approximately 5 millimetres in diameter, dark red, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed. Peppercorns, and the ground pepper derived from them, may be described simply as pepper, or more precisely as black pepper, green pepper, black pepper is native to south India and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions. Currently, Vietnam is the worlds largest producer and exporter of pepper, dried ground pepper has been used since antiquity for both its flavour and as a traditional medicine. Black pepper is the worlds most traded spice and it is one of the most common spices added to cuisines around the world. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine, black pepper is ubiquitous in the modern world as a seasoning and is often paired with salt. The word pepper has its roots in the Tamil word for long pepper, todays pepper derives from the Old English pipor. and from Latin which was the source of Romanian piper, Italian pepe, Dutch peper, German Pfeffer, French poivre, and other similar forms. In the 16th century, pepper started referring to the unrelated New World chili pepper as well, Pepper was used in a figurative sense to mean spirit or energy at least as far back as the 1840s, in the early 20th century, this was shortened to pep. Black pepper is produced from the still-green, unripe drupes of the pepper plant. The drupes are cooked briefly in hot water, both to them and to prepare them for drying, the heat ruptures cell walls in the pepper. The drupes are dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the pepper around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, once dried, the spice is called black peppercorn. On some estates, the berries are separated from the stem by hand, once the peppercorns are dried, pepper spirit and oil can be extracted from the berries by crushing them. Pepper spirit is used in medicinal and beauty products. Pepper oil is used as an ayurvedic massage oil and used in certain beauty. White pepper consists solely of the seed of the pepper plant and this is usually accomplished by a process known as retting, where fully ripe red pepper berries are soaked in water for about a week, during which the flesh of the pepper softens and decomposes. Rubbing then removes what remains of the fruit, and the seed is dried. Sometimes alternative processes are used for removing the outer pepper from the seed, ground white pepper is used in Chinese and Thai cuisine, but also in salads, cream sauces, light-coloured sauces, and mashed potatoes. White pepper has a different flavour from black pepper, it lacks certain compounds present in the layer of the drupe
6.
Folklore
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Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. These include oral traditions such as tales, proverbs and jokes and they include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles to handmade toys common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, the forms and rituals of celebrations like Christmas and weddings, folk dances, each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next, for folklore is not taught in a formal school curriculum or studied in the fine arts. Instead these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstration, the academic study of folklore is called folkloristics. To fully understand folklore, it is helpful to clarify its component parts and it is well-documented that the term was coined in 1846 by the Englishman William Thoms. He fabricated it to replace the contemporary terminology of popular antiquities or popular literature, the second half of the compound word, lore, proves easier to define as its meaning has stayed relatively stable over the last two centuries. Coming from Old English lār instruction, and with German and Dutch cognates, it is the knowledge and traditions of a particular group, the concept of folk proves somewhat more elusive. When Thoms first created this term, folk applied only to rural, frequently poor, a more modern definition of folk is a social group which includes two or more persons with common traits, who express their shared identity through distinctive traditions. Folk is a concept which can refer to a nation as in American folklore or to a single family. This expanded social definition of folk supports a view of the material, i. e. the lore. These now include all things people make with words, things they make with their hands, Folklore is no longer circumscribed as being chronologically old or obsolete. The folklorist studies the traditional artifacts of a group and how they are transmitted. Transmission is a part of the folklore process. Without communicating these beliefs and customs within the group over space and time, for folklore is also a verb. These folk artifacts continue to be passed along informally, as a rule anonymously, the folk group is not individualistic, it is community-based and nurtures its lore in community. As new groups emerge, new folklore is created… surfers, motorcyclists, in direct contrast to high culture, where any single work of a named artist is protected by copyright law, folklore is a function of shared identity within the social group. Having identified folk artifacts, the professional folklorist strives to understand the significance of these beliefs, customs, for these cultural units would not be passed along unless they had some continued relevance within the group
7.
Glutinous rice
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Glutinous rice is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia and parts of South Asia, which has opaque grains, very low amylose content, and is especially sticky when cooked. It is called glutinous in the sense of being glue-like or sticky, while often called sticky rice, it differs from non-glutinous strains of japonica rice which also become sticky to some degree when cooked. There are numerous cultivars of rice, which include japonica, indica. In China, glutinous rice has been grown for at least 2,000 years. Glutinous rice is grown in Laos, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Northeast India, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, an estimated 85% of Lao rice production is of this type. The rice has been recorded in the region for at least 1,100 years, the improved rice varieties adopted throughout Asia during the Green Revolution were non-glutinous, and Lao farmers rejected them in favor of their traditional sticky varieties. Over time, higher-yield strains of rice have become available from the Lao National Rice Research Programme. By 1999, more than 70% of the area along the Mekong River Valley were of these newer strains, Glutinous rice is distinguished from other types of rice by having no amylose, and high amounts of amylopectin. Amylopectin is responsible for the quality of glutinous rice. The difference has been traced to a mutation that was selected for by farmers. Like all types of rice, glutinous rice does not contain dietary gluten, Glutinous rice can be used either milled or unmilled. Milled glutinous rice is white in color and fully opaque, whereas the bran can give unmilled glutinous rice a purple or black color, black and purple glutinous rice are distinct strains from white glutinous rice. In developing Asia, there is little regulation, and some governments have issued advisories about toxic dyes being added to colour adulterated rice, both black and white glutinous rice can be cooked as discrete grains, or ground into flour and cooked as a paste or gel. Sticky rice is used in many recipes throughout Southeast and East Asia, sticky rice, called bora saul is the core component of Assamese sweets, snacks and breakfast. They are widely used in every kind of sweets of Assam which are very different from traditional sweets of India of which basic component is milk. Such traditional sweets in Assam are Pitha, also, its powder form is used as breakfast or other light meal directly with milk. They are called Pitha guri or Handoh guri, the soaked rice is also cooked with no added water inside a special kind of bamboo. This meal is called sunga saul, during religious ceremonies, Assamese people make Mithoi using Gnud with it
8.
Taiwanese cuisine
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In addition to the following representative dishes from the people of Hoklo ethnicity, there are also Aboriginal, Hakka, and local derivatives of Chinese cuisines such as beef noodle soup. A notable Japanese influence also exists due to the period when Taiwan was under Japanese rule, pork, seafood, chicken, rice, and soy are very common ingredients. Beef is far less common, and some Taiwanese still refrain from eating it, however, due to influences from the influx of out of province Chinese in the early 1900s, the Taiwanese version of beef noodle soup is now one of the most popular dishes in Taiwan. Taiwans cuisine has also influenced by its geographic location. Living on an island, the Taiwanese had to look aside from the farmlands for sources of protein. As a result, seafood figures prominently in their cuisine and this seafood encompasses many different things, from large fish such as tuna and grouper, to sardines and even smaller fish such as anchovies. Crustaceans, squid, and cuttlefish are also eaten, because of the islands sub-tropical location, Taiwan has an abundant supply of various fruit, such as papayas, starfruit, melons, and citrus fruit. A wide variety of fruits, imported and native, are also enjoyed in Taiwan. Other agricultural products in general are rice, corn, tea, pork, poultry, beef, fish, fresh ingredients in Taiwan are readily available from markets. In many of their dishes, the Taiwanese have shown their creativity in their selection of spices, an important part of Taiwanese cuisine are xiaochi, substantial snacks along the lines of Spanish tapas or Levantine meze. The Taiwanese xiaochi has gained much reputation internationally, many travelers go to Taiwan just for xiǎochī. The most common place to enjoy xiǎochī in Taiwan is in a night market, each night market also has its own famous xiǎochī. Moreover, the Taiwanese xiǎochī has been improving to a higher level, nowadays, Taiwanese xiǎochī not only served in night markets but some luxury and high-end restaurants. The prices usually jump 100% or even higher in the restaurants, also, the Taiwanese government supports the Taiwanese xiǎochī and has held national xiǎochī events in Taiwan regularly. Vegetarian restaurants are commonplace with a variety of dishes, mainly due to the influence of Buddhism. These vegetarian restaurants vary in style from all-you-can-eat to pay-by-the-weight and of course the regular order-from-a-menu, there is a type of outdoor barbecue called khòng-iô. To barbecue in this manner, one first builds a hollow pyramid up with dirt clods, next, charcoal or wood is burnt inside until the temperature inside the pyramid is very high. The ingredients to be cooked, such as taro, yam, or chicken, are placed in cans, finally, the pyramid is toppled over the food until cooked
9.
Bento
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Bento is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento holds rice, fish or meat, with pickled or cooked vegetables, containers range from disposable mass-produced to hand-crafted lacquerware. Bentos are readily available in places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops, railway stations. However, Japanese homemakers often spend time and energy on a carefully prepared lunch box for their spouse, child, bentos can be elaborately arranged in a style called kyaraben. Kyaraben are typically decorated to look like characters from Japanese animation, comic books. Another popular bento style is oekakiben or picture bento and this is decorated to look like people, animals, buildings and monuments, or items such as flowers and plants. Contests are often held where bento arrangers compete for the most aesthetically pleasing arrangements, there are similar forms of boxed lunches in Asian countries including the Philippines, Korea, Taiwan, and India. Also, Hawaiian culture has adopted localized versions of bento featuring local tastes after over a century of Japanese influence in the islands, bento originates from the Southern Song Dynasty slang term 便當, meaning convenient or convenience. When imported to Japan, it was written with the ateji 便道, 辨道, in shinjitai, 辨當 is written as 弁当. The origin of bento can be traced back to the late Kamakura Period, hoshi-ii can be eaten as is or boiled with water to make cooked rice, and is stored in a small bag. In the Azuchi-Momoyama Period, wooden lacquered boxes like todays were produced, in the Edo period, bento culture spread and became more refined. Travelers and sightseers would carry a simple koshibentō, consisting of several onigiri wrapped with leaves or in a woven bamboo box. One of the most popular styles of bento, called makuno-uchi bentō, was first made during this period, people who came to see Noh and Kabuki ate specially prepared bentos between maku. Numerous cookbooks were published detailing how to cook, how to pack, in the Meiji Period, the first ekibentō or ekiben was sold. As early schools did not provide lunch, students and teachers carried bentos, european style bentos with sandwiches also went on sale during this period. In the Taishō period, the aluminum bento box became an item because of its ease of cleaning. Also, a move to abolish the practice of bento in school became a social issue, disparities in wealth spread during this period, following an export boom during World War I and subsequent crop failures in the Tohoku region. After World War II, the practice of bringing bentos to school declined and was replaced by uniform food provided for all students
10.
Congee
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Congee is a type of rice porridge or gruel popular in many Asian countries. When eaten as plain rice congee, it is most often served with side dishes. When additional ingredients, such as meat, fish, and flavorings, are added while preparing the congee, it is most often served as a meal on its own, names for congee are as varied as the style of its preparation. Despite its many variations, it is usually a thick porridge of rice largely disintegrated after prolonged cooking in water, in ancient times, people named the thick congee chan, the watery one chi or mi. The characteristics of congee are that it is easy to digest, Congee is one of the traditional Chinese foods and has thousands of years of history in China. The Zhou Book says Emperor Huang Di was first to cook congee with millet, the word congee comes from Tamil கஞ்சி, a prominent food of ancient Tamil people. The English form may have arrived in the language via Portuguese and it is also called 稀飯 in some Chinese provinces. To prepare the dish, rice is boiled in an amount of water until it softens significantly. Congee can be made in a pot or in a rice cooker, some rice cookers have a congee setting, allowing it to be cooked overnight. The type of rice used can be either short- or long-grain, depending on what is available, culture also often dictates the way congee is cooked and eaten. In some cultures, congee is eaten primarily as a breakfast food or late supper, in others and it is often considered particularly suitable for the sick as a mild, easily digestible food. In Burma, rice congee is called ဆန်ပြုတ် hsan byok, literally boiled rice and it is very thin and plain, often made with just rice and water, but sometimes with chicken or pork stock and served with a simple garnish of chopped spring onions and crispy fried onions. As in other Asian countries, rice congee is considered food for the unwell, Chinese congees vary considerably by region. For example, to make Cantonese congee, white rice is boiled in many times its weight of water for a time until the rice breaks down and becomes a fairly thick. Congees made in other regions may use different types of rice with different quantities of water, producing congees of different consistencies. Congee is often eaten with zhacai, salted duck eggs, lettuce and dace paste, bamboo shoots, youtiao, rousong, pickled tofu, wheat gluten, with other condiments, other seasonings, such as white pepper and soy sauce, may be added. Grilled fish may be mixed in to provide a different texture, Congee is often eaten with fried bread sticks known as youtiao. Congee with youtiao is commonly eaten as breakfast in areas in China
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