It’s Dragon Boat Festival yesterday. I hope everyone of you had a happy Dragon Boat Festival! Local people do many things for the festival. For example, we hold dragon boat race. We eat rice dumplings, salted duck eggs, spring rolls (picture one), steamed garlic, waxberries, loquats and so on. We drink waxberry wine which was usually made last year. The waxberries in the pictures below were picked from our own waxberry trees(picture two). We have several waxberry trees near our old house which is located in the suburbs. A neighbour of ours planted those trees on our fields. Later on, when we got back the fields, our neighbour gave the waxberry trees to us. Waxberrry trees porduce fruit every June and July.Waxberries taste sweet , sour and can help digest food.They also can be used to make waxberry wine,waxberry conserves,jams or dried waxberries. My family almost makes waxberry wine every year which is helpful to prevent sunstroke in summer.I haven’t made the wine so I asked my mother about the steps.They are as follows. First of all,prepare a glass jar.Buy some fresh waxberries.Choose firm and red ones.Purplish red waxberries are ok too and they usually taste sweeter.If there are small worms on the surface of waxberries,remove the worms and clean the waxberries. Wash the waxberries with white spirits a bit . Secondly,place the waxberries lightly into the glass jar.Add some white sugar or rock candy to them. If you want waxberry wine to be sweeter,you can add more sugar. The amount of sugar depends on your personal preference. Then prepare a bottle of high-quality white spirits.Pour the white spirits into the jar until the waxberries are covered or till the jar is full to the brim.The point is to cover waxberries with white spirits.Finally,put on a lid and seal the jar.Leave it in a cool and dry place.Avoid direct sunlight.Normally,it takes about three months to make the wine. The longer,the better. I like waxberry wine very much although I drink alcohol very little.I usually eat a waxberry and take a sip of the wine before I go outside in scorching hot weather in summer.It protects me from heatstroke.I love the sweet flavour of waxberry wine as well. Though waxberry wine not only has a great taste but also is beneficial to health, we are not supposed to drink too much at a time! It is strong!

Bai Xiang(白鲞)is a kind of preserved fish. I consulted a dictionary for Bai Xiang. It can be translated as dried salted yellow croakers. Local people call yellow croakers “Huang Yu” which is a type of marine fish and is expensive, nutritious and delicious. Usually fishermen gut fresh yellow croakers and add salt to them to preserve. Then dry them off in the sun. Stir-fried Bai Xiang is one of my favorite dishes. It always gives you a huge appetite. It is fantastic to eat steamed rice going with stir-fried Bai Xiang. But I haven’t cooked the delicious dish. So I decide to learn from my mum. The other day my mum bought Bai Xiang from a food market. I watched when she cooked Bai Xiang that day. Now I’d like to share my family’s recipe for Bai Xiang with you!Ingredients: ginger , garlic , stalks of green onions , Bai Xiang Step One: Cut Bai Xiang into pieces and then wash them with tap water. Sometimes the Bai Xiang we buy is very salty. Sometimes it is not that salty. If it is very salty and you prefer light flavor, you can soak Bai Xiang in water for about 10 minutes before you continue the following steps. Then pour some water into a pot and add two slices of ginger to the water. Bring the water to a boil then add Bai Xiang to the boiling water. After boiling for about one minute, remove Bai Xiang from the hot water into a colander. Set aside to drain off.Step Two: Preheat the pan. Pour some cooking oil into it. Add 3 slices of ginger , 2 cloves of crushed garlic and green onion stalks to the oil. When they give off a pleasant aroma, place Bai Xiang into the pan. Stir-fry Bai Xiang over high heat for about one minute. Then add a little soybean sauce, rice wine and sugar to Bai Xiang. Give them a good stir to make them mix well. Turn the heat down to medium. Pour a little water into the pan. Stir occasionally until mixture reduces. sprinkle some chopped green onions on the top . Now we can scoop up! My mouth is watering now at the thought of Bai Xiang. I am going to cook stir-fried Bai Xiang myself very soon! :)

Fish is my favorite food. I also like drinking a little soup during dinner. So fish soup will be the best choice to combine them together. Crucian carp is a common type of fish on our dining table. My family usually braise curcian carp in soy sauce. They don’t seem to cook crucian carp soup. I remember I had crucian carp soup long time ago in a restaurant and its freshness impressed me most. Crucian carp soup is rich in protein and help to build up one’s health. I decided to learn how to cook the delicious fish soup. I found the recipe online a few days ago. Of course, there are several versions. I’d like to share the version I chose with you. Ingredients: ginger, garlic, mushrooms, crucian carp, carrots, green onion stalks Step One: When we buy crucian carp at a food market, the man who sells fish to us will help to gut and scale fish. Wash the crucian carp thoroughly with tap water as soon as we get home. Then make three cuts on each side of the fish. Set aside to dry off. Cut ginger into slices. Cut carrots into strips. Cut some green onion stalks and chop up green onions. Soak small dried mushrooms in lukewarm water for about one hour. Peel two cloves of garlic and crush them with a kitchen knife. Step Two: It is best to use a non-stick pan. It can prevent the fish from sticking to the bottom. Preheat the pan. Pour a little cooking oil into it. Add three slices of ginger , two cloves of garlic and green onion stalks to the pan. Place crucian carp lightly in the pan after the ginger gives off its pleasant smells. Reduce the heat to medium. Fry the fish until a little golden on each side. Then turn the heat down to low. Pick up ginger , garlic and green onion stalks with chopsticks and throw them away. Pour some water into the pan. Cover the fish with water. Add 2 slices of ginger and green onion stalks to the water. Increase the heat to high. After bringing the water to a boil, reduce the heat to medium. Add small mushrooms to the soup. Continue to cook the fish in boiling water until the soup turns milk white. (It took about 8 minutes this time.) Then cover the pan with a lid and turn the heat down to low to maintain a simmer. Step Three: After 15 minutes , put carrots and chopped green onions in the soup. Allow to simmer gently for another 2-3 minutes. Then uncover the pan . Add appropriate amount of salt to the soup. Remove them carefully to a big bowl. Now we can eat succulent fish and drink delicious milk-white soup. The soup I made this time looked a little bit brown. It was not like the legendary milk-white colour. Probably I added too much cooking oil this time. And I won’t add garlic and mushrooms next time. If you like tofu ,it is a good idea to add some tofu to the soup.

Pineapples are in season now. There are many varieties of pineapples in fruit stores. The other day I chose a Taiwan pineapple (called Fengli) and cooked fried rice with pineapples. If you like pineapples, you can not miss the following cooking recipe. Ingredients: pineapples , peas , onions , carrots , eggs , rice The amount of each ingredient is not strictly stated. This time I used half a pineapple , 250 grams of peas , one onion, two eggs to cook three plates of fried rice with pineapples. (By the way, the pineapple I bought was very big.) If you like pineapples and onions , you can add more of them to the rice. You can adjust the amount according to your preference.Step One: Pour some water into a wok and boil the water over high heat. Meanwhile, shell peas. Bring the water to a boil and then add peas to the boiling water. Put on a lid and boil for about 3--4 minutes. After that , remove the peas to a colander to drain off. Peel carrots and dice them. Peel an onion and slice it up. Beat two eggs in a bowl and then add a spoonful of water , a little salt to the eggs. Mix them thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the wok and cook over high heat. Stir the mixture with a wooden spatula. I usually add a spoonful of rice wine to the eggs during cooking. Be careful not to cook for too long and burn eggs. Very soon, we remove scrambled eggs from the wok to a bowl. The pineapple I bought this time was Fengli. This type of pineapples doesn’t need to be soaked in salty water before being eaten according to what the shop assistant said. I think Fengli is sweeter and more juicy than common pineapples. Cut the pineapple in half first. Cut the pulp like the picture below. Then scoop out the pulp with a spoon. We use the bowl-shaped pineapple peel to hold fried rice later. Then cut the pulp into small pieces. Cook rice in an electric cooker first. Use less water than usual in order to make the rice tougher. Remove the rice to a plate to cool down after the rice is done.Step Two: Heat the wok prior to pouring some cooking oil into it. Pour a little more oil but not too much. After heat the oil, add onions to the wok. Stir-fry a little bit. You will smell a pleasant smell given off by onions very soon. Then put diced carrots into the wok. Keep stir-frying for a few seconds. Place a plate of rice, scrambled eggs and boiled peas in the wok. If rice stick together, use a wooden spatula to separate the rice. Meanwhile, reduce the heat to medium. Add a proper amount of salt and gourmet powder to the rice. Mix them thoroughly. Continue to stir-fry for about 2 minutes. After that, add the pineapple pieces to the wok. Increase the heat to high. Stir-fry for about half a minute. Now we can scoop up. There are several possible methods of cooking fried rice with pineapples. You can also add shelled shrimps , cashew nuts and dried meat floss(rousong) to the rice (see the picture below).

People from north of China eat dumplings during Spring Festival while people from southern part of China eat rice cake. Rice cake is usually the first course of our family reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve. It’s not difficult to cook rice cake. I’ve cooked it about 3 times. Today I cooked rick cake again for lunch,sharing with my family. Of course, there are several possible methods of cooking rice cake. I’d like to share my version with you! Ingredients:rice cake, vegetables, carrots, mushrooms, pork, dried prawns, green onions Step One: Cut vegetables into pieces as well as green onions. Cut carrots and mushrooms into strips. Peel dried prawns and cut them into pieces. You can also use dried baby shrimps instead. As for pork, you can use fresh pork as an ingredient. But I prefer local Jangyourou (sun-dried, soy sauce soaked pork). (I used Jangyourou this time.) Wash Jangyourou with lukewarm water first. Then steam it for 20 minutes in a pot. After that, cut Jiangyourou into strips or slices. Cut rice cake into slices.Wash rice cake with cold water and then remove to a colander to drain off water.Step Two: Preheat the wok. Add a little cooking oil.Then put green onion stalks, mushrooms, carrots and a little vegetables in the wok. Give them a quick stir. Stir-fry for several seconds. Then add rice cake, prawns, Jiangyourou to the wok. Keep stirring for a minute. You can pour a little boiled water in the wok during the process of stirring. Place the rest of the vegetables in the wok. Stir-fry them until the rice cake becomes soft. In the meanwhile, add an appropriate amount of boiled water if necessary. At the end of cooking, add an appropriate amount of salt and a little gourmet powder. Stir them well. Now we can remove them to a plate and serve! Rice cake is called Nian gao by Chinese. And “gao” sounds the same as the word for high or tall. Therefore, eating rice cake during Spring Festival symbolizes achieving new heights in the coming year. I’d also lke to share some other pictures of food local people eat during Chinese New Year. Fish Gelatin; Sun-dried, Soy Sauce Soaked Chicken; Dried Eel; Clams

Today I’d like to introduce a kind of traditional food which is a must for local people here during the Spring Festival. It is called Sun-dried, Soy Sauce Soaked Pork (Jiangyourou). We are usually prepared to make it near the Winter Solstice. I asked my mother and other relatives about how to make Jiangyourou the other day. And now let me share the steps below with you!Ingredients: organic pork, soy sauce, white spirits, sugar, rice wineStep One: Organic fresh pork is our favorite. You can choose the meat from forelegs and hind legs. You can also choose streaky pork. We usually tell a butcher that we want to make Jiangyourou when we buy pork. And the butcher will help to cut the pork into big pieces. Every piece is about 2—3 centimeters thick.Step Two: Soak pieces of pork in soy sauce. Add a little rice wine and sugar to the soy sauce. Mix them together well. Last, pour a little white spirits. Mix them thoroughly. Allow to soak for about 20—30 minutes. The thicker the pork is, the longer the time will be. During that time, rub the pork with your hands often in order to make the flavor and aroma of sauce mixture permeate the pork quickly.Step Three: When time’s up, use cotton thread to thread a piece of pork. Then hang out to dry off in the sun. Sunny and windy weather is required. Jiangyourou will be done in 3 days in that type of weather. Step Four: After three days, take down Jiangyourou. If we don’t eat it at once, we can put it in a plastic bag and store in a freezer. If we want to have a taste at the time, wash it with lukewarm water. Then leave it to steam for about 20 minutes. Cut Jiangyourou into slices prior to serving. Jiangyourou is our local specialty. It is awlays found on the dining tables of local people during the family reunion dinner.

I heard long ago that some people used Coca Cola to cook chicken wings. It is said that the dish looks appealing and it tastes great as well. The other day I searched for its recipe online. We were all satisfied with the Coca Cola chicken wings I cooked for the first time. Today I asked my Mom to buy some chicken wings again. It was the second time for me to cook the new dish. Hope I am improving. I took some photos to share with you! Ingredients: chicken wings:350grams ; coca cola:300milliliters ; ginger; star anise; green onion stalks Step One: Fill the wok with appropriate amount of water. Add chicken wings, a clove of crushed garlic, and a slice of ginger to the water. Boil the chicken wings for about two minutes over high heat. Then remove chicken wings from hot water to a colander to dry off. Prick the chicken wings with toothpicks in order to make the flavour of soup easily permeate the meat during the following step.Step Two: Preheat the wok. Add a little cooking oil to the wok. Then place a slice of ginger , two pieces of star anise, green onion stalks in the wok. When you smell the aroma, add chicken wings to the wok. Turn the heat down to medium low. Fry the chicken wings until a little golden on each side. Reduce the heat to low and add one spoonful of soy sauce to the chicken wings. Give them a quick stir. Then add a little rice wine, a little salt, 300 milliliters cola to the wok. Increase the heat to high. After bringing the soup to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover the wok. Allow to simmer gently for about 30 minutes. During this time, flip over chicken wings occasionally. Step Three: In 30 minutes’ time, turn the heat up to medium and uncover the wok. Keep stirring the chicken wings with a wooden spatula until mixture reduces. Last, sprinkle some chopped green onions on the top. Every time I succeed in cooking a new dish, my heart will be filled with contentment and happiness . I want to try new more delicious food!

My uncle is good at cooking. He can cook delicious dishes, noodles and snacks. He can even make rice wine by himself. Among those snacks he cooks, a kind of snacks called Maibing is my favorite. I have eaten his Maibing since I was a little girl. Last time I paid a visit to him and asked him to teach me how to make Maibing. I wrote down the cooking procedures to share with you!Ingredients:wheat flour:700grams; one egg; garlic: 4 cloves of garlic fatty pork, lean pork, dried preserved vegetables: appropriate amountStep One: Soak dried preserved vegetables in water for about 40 minutes. In the meantime, cut fatty pork and lean pork into thin slices. Prepare more fatty pork than lean pork. Some people even just prepare fatty pork because they think fatty pork in Maibing tastes much better than lean pork in Maibing. Of course, you can only use lean meat if you’ve got a plan to lose some weight. Anyway, there is always fatty pork in traditional and authentic Maibing. In general, I don’t eat fatty meat and I don’t like it very much. But I do care for the fatty meat in Maibing. The crust of Maibing is dry and the oil from the fatty pork is just a perfect complement to it. The combination of the crust made of wheat flour and the fatty pork makes Maibing smell and taste great! Then season fatty/lean pork slices with a little salt, rice wine and gourmet powder for 30 minutes.Step Two: In 40 minutes’ time, remove dried preserved vegetables into a colander and take out water. Then cut dried preserved vegetables into small pieces. Chop up 4 cloves of garlic. After heating some cooking oil in a wok, put dried preserved vegetables in the wok. Stir-fry a bit. Then add chopped garlic, a little sugar and gourmet powder. Stir-fry them together for a while and then scoop up.Step Three: Add an egg, a little salt, appropriate amount of water to the wheat flour and mix them thoroughly with chopsticks. Make sure you add the water slowly and moderately. Then knead the dough until the surface of the dough becomes smooth. Put aside to rest for about 15 minutes. Step Four:When time’s up, knead the dough a bit again. Roll the dough into a loaf on a floured surface and then cut it into 4 pieces as even as possible.(How many pieces you can cut into depends on how much wheat flour you use.) Hold a piece of dough in your hand and try to shape it into something that looks like a bowl. Put a layer of cooked dried preserved vegetables on the bottom first, and then add a layer of seasoned pork slices on it. At last, add a layer of cooked dried preserved vegetables on the top and press the dried preserved vegetables down with a spoon. Slightly and carefully press the outside dough with your fingers to try to seal the filling inside. I don't think it’s easy, especially for a beginner. After you’ve done with it, it looks like a big ball. Then put it on a floured surface. Use a rolling pin to slowly roll out into a flat circle. Roll it out as thin as possible. But make sure not to reveal the filling and seal all of the filling with dough. Step Five: The following step is to bake Maibing. There are several different cookers which can be used for baking Maibing. If you buy Maibing on the street or from a small shop, they usually use a huge cylinder-shaped iron cooker to bake Maibing. As for home-made Maibing, you can buy a small electric baking pan. It is said that it’s very convenient to use the electric baking pan. But on that day we didn’t have it. So we we used a common wok. Heat the wok over medium-low heat and then place Maibing into the wok. Heat the Maibing until a little brown on each side. Then hold Maibing with one hand (You can wear a kitchen mitt because the Maibing is very hot then.) and roll it in the wok just like rolling a hoop in order to make the edges baked. After that, turn the heat down to low. Put a piece of tile in the wok. Place Maibing on the tile. Cover the wok with a lid and let it bake for about 30 minutes. Maibing is a very popular local snack. I want to make it by myself sometime, following the above steps. Uncle’s Maibing is always more delicious than the one bought from small shops because he makes Maibing specially for us.I think if you cook food for someone you love or care about with all your heart, the food will definitely taste great!

I used to be a meat lover. I almost ate meat with every meal. Later on, in order to have a health diet, I gradually changed my eating habits. I prefer vegetables and fruit now. Although I normally eat more vegetables now, I still eat all kinds of meat as well. And I eat less meat than I used to. There is no doubt that meat is very important for our health, such as beef. Beef has a high iron content and is helpful to enrich the blood, which is particularly very good for women. I learned the following dish-----“fried beef slices with onions” from my aunt one year and a half ago. I don’t remember very well. But it seems to be the first or second dish that I have ever learned. Now let me share the cooking procedures with you!Ingredients:Beef:160grams onions, dried black edible fungus, dried mushrooms, carrots, green onions, starch: appropriate amountStep One: Cut the beef into slices after washing it.(Mom told me that the butcher had advised her not to wash the beef before cooking. The reason for that was to maintain the flavor of the beef! I didn’t know whether it was right. Anyway, I insisted on washing for the sake of hygiene.) Then season the beef slices with a little rice wine ,soy sauce, salt and sugar for 20 minutes. After that, add appropriate amount of starch to the beef slices and mix them thoroughly with chopsticks. Leave them to rest for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, cut carrots into strips. Slice up an onion. Cut up green onions. Soak dried mushrooms and dried black edible fungus in warm water for 2 hours in advance. Then remove to a colander to drain off water. Set aside to dry.Step Two: Heat the pan prior to pouring some cooking oil. Then add prepared onions, carrots, mushrooms, black edible fungus to the pan. Stir-fry the vegetables over high heat until the onions become a little soft. Add a little salt to them and mix them together. Turn off the heat and remove all of the vegetables onto a plate.Step Three: Clean the pan with water before cook the following beef. Preheat the pan. Pour some cooking oil into the pan. After heat the oil, place a clove of crushed garlic and a piece of ginger in the pan. When you smell the pleasant smell which garlic and ginger give off, add seasoned beef slices into the pan. Give them a quick stir until the beef slices change colour. Then put carrots, onions, mushrooms and black edible fungus cooked during Step Two in the pan.Continue to stir-fry them together for a few seconds. At last, sprinkle some chopped green onions on the top. Now we can scoop up. Eat the dish while it’s hot. I remember after I learned how to cook the dish at that time and practised several times by myself, I went to cook for one of my good friends. He had cooked a lot for me before. In return for this, I cooked a meal for him. After he tasted a piece of beef, he gave praise to me and then ate the dish up. I felt so happy and satisfied. He was better at cooking than me at that time. There was a time when I thought cooking was annoying and difficult to learn. So I admired those people who can cook. Later on, after I learned how to cook, it’s completely not as difficult as I imagined.You can make it if you put in your effort. The thing to remember is that practice makes perfect. And I also find that cooking can be a kind of pleasure.

Every place has its local specialties. Today I’d like to introduce a popular local snack from my hometown to all of you. It is called Fried Glutinous Cake in Lard(猪油糕).The snack dates back to Qing dynasty. It is said that the snack was well-known even in Qing dynasty. It is mainly made from glutinous rice flour, sweetened red bean paste and lard. Whether young or old, most of the people who have tried the snack like its taste. I remember I used to buy it at snack bars with my classmates after school. And then we enjoyed the delicious food together. What a carefree time it was! It seemed that Fried Glutinous Cake in Lard was sold only at snack bars in the past. We never made it ourselves at home. Not long ago, my mother told me that she saw some semi-finished glutinous cakes at food market and they were vacuum-packed. So we came up with the idea that we would buy the semi-finished products and fry them at home by ourselves. Now let me show you how I make Fried Glutinous Cake in Lard! It’ll become much easier and more convenient to cook the snack with that semi-finished glutinous cake! Ingredients: lard; sugar; semi-finished glutinous cakes; Step One: It’s better to use a non-stick frying pan. Preheat the pan over high heat and then pour some lard into it. You are supposed to use much more lard than usual. Reduce the heat to medium-low after heating the lard. Lightly place the glutinous cakes in the pan.Step Two: Half a minute later, turn the heat down to low. Cook glutinous cakes over low heat for 3 minutes on each side. You’ll see golden colour on the surfaces at the end of cooking. Remove them from the pan and leave them to rest on a plate for a while because they are very hot at that time. But remember it’s best to serve hot. And sprinkle some sugar on top of the glutinous cakes before serving.