Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories (12 page)

More common, however, is
mi zhou
or rice porridge. The short, slightly sticky Beijing rice lends itself well to boiling for several hours in about ten times its volume of water, until it forms a sloppy porridge. Whenever Xiao Ding made
baozi
(steamed dumplings) for lunch, she would make herself a bowl of
zhou
to eat alongside it. I am a great fan of the light bready buns stuffed with pork and cabbage seasoned with ginger and spring onion and I was always happy to share them with her. But when she offered me
zhou
as well, I never accepted, as it seemed like extra carbohydrate for no reason. Of course, I should have realized that there
was
a reason, obvious to anyone who understands the duality of
yin
and
yang
. ‘The two foods,’ she explained, ‘go together because dumplings are dry and porridge is wet. ’ From that day as I strolled the streets, I noticed how all Chinese people slurp
zhou
alongside their dumplings. The substance that is slopped out of steaming vats into cracked porcelain, or more recently, polystyrene bowls is more like porridge than gruel and it is consumed in volumes.

White radish soup

Luo bo tang

Although it can be eaten raw, this vegetable (also known as daikon or mooli) is most commonly used in stews, with lamb or pork, and soups. This simple recipe is for a light, cleansing soup, which goes well with richer dishes. You can add pork balls for a more substantial dish.

litre/2 pints/5 cups water
a few slices of ginger
a few slices of spring onion
1 medium white daikon radish (mooli ),
shredded or grated
100 g/3½ oz/1 cup cellophane (mung-bean) noodles
2 tsp oil
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
½ tsp salt or to taste
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp white pepper or to taste
1 bunch of coriander, roughly chopped

Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan. Add ginger, spring onion and radish and simmer for three minutes without covering the pan. Add the cellophane noodles, and continue simmering for a further three minutes or until they are soft.

Heat the oil in the wok until very hot. Add the Sichuan peppercorns and allow them to sizzle until all the fragrance has been extracted (they should be nearly black). Tip the oil with peppercorns over the soup (sieving out the peppercorns if you do not want little black bits in your soup). Finally add the salt, a teaspoon or two of sesame oil and some white pepper and chopped coriander to garnish.

Once I had taken on board the whole concept of liquid food, I saw
zhou
everywhere. Not only is it served in all roadside stalls but it’s also on every Chinese restaurant menu. In fact, there are whole restaurants devoted just to serving
zhou
. I found sweet
zhou
and savoury
zhou
;
zhou
with nuts,
zhou
with fruits,
zhou
with pulses,
zhou
with a range of meats and fish and
zhou
with every Chinese vegetable I knew and some that I didn’t.

Rice
zhou
is the most common, but it can be made with millet, sorghum, buckwheat, corn and even a treasured grain called ‘Job’s tears’ (coix seed) which looks a bit like pearl barley. Then there is the famous
ba bao zhou
(‘eight treasure porridge’) that is traditionally eaten on
La Ba
, the eighth day of the twelfth month, which heralds the onset of winter. The ‘eight treasures’ comprise a mixture of pulses, fruits and seeds that can vary from recipe to recipe. The concept is not so different from muesli, only whereas muesli can be heavy and difficult to digest, and both oats and wheat can cause problems in our allergy-prone modern society,
zhou
is lighter and based on rice, which is non-allergenic.

Getting rid of toxins

In China, nobody questions the many benefits of
zhou
. As well as being the perfect food for invalids – even those with a fever who in the West might not be given solid food – it is believed to have a cleansing effect, getting rid of toxins while preventing the body from dehydration. Anyone who has eaten at a real Chinese banquet or a celebratory meal in a good restaurant will know that the Chinese enjoy rich food from time to time and never talk about cutting back the next day. But they do eat
zhou
, to remedy the effect of serious overindulgence.

You may be wondering why a bowl of mushy rice should be better than, say, a blueberry smoothie or a glass of freshly pressed vegetable juice, both bursting with vitamins to revitalize your system. Sometimes our digestive systems need a rest. One solution would be just to go hungry, but that in itself brings stresses and strains. Just as the best way into an exercise regime is through a gentle warm up, the digestive system needs to be started slowly after a night’s rest or a period of sickness. The Chinese expression
kai wei’r
means literally ‘to open the stomach’, and this is exactly what
zhou
can do. My grandfather, though not familiar with
zhou
as such, would have agreed with the Chinese that a weak or tired body is best nourished by a steaming hot bowl of restorative broth.

It took me a long time to convert to the
zhou
habit, and I do not expect you to acquire it overnight. But if I can convince you to try it the benefits will probably make your efforts worthwhile. Before I started to eat
zhou
for breakfast I had accepted the fact that I suffered from headaches and a dry feeling in my mouth most mornings, and often felt bloated and uncomfortable. I knew from friends that these symptoms weren’t uncommon and there were plenty of possible causes, ranging from the Beijing pollution to the impossibility of finding Sam’s shoes on a school morning. I had even toyed with the newly fashionable idea that I suffered from wheat intolerance.

Since I have been eating
zhou
regularly these symptoms have practically disappeared, and I have not needed to sacrifice my former favourites. My appetite in the morning has increased and, when I have time, I eat steamed or freshly baked bread with my
zhou
, sometimes an egg as well. My newly balanced body does not react unfavourably if
zhou
is not an option and I eat a more conventional breakfast from time to time.

What is it about
zhou
that makes it so health-giving? The role of
zhou
becomes clearer if you understand that Chinese doctors apply the Taoist principles of
yin
and
yang
to the human body. A fit body has a perfect balance of these opposing forces. If a person is unwell, overtired or has simply overindulged, Chinese people believe that the balance needs to be brought back into line.

Yin
and
yang
in the body

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the inside of the body is
yin
and the surface is
yang
.
Yin
is everything that is passive and associated with storage;
yang
is active and responsible for processing. Our
qi
, or life-force, is created from the perfect balance of
yin
and
yang
.

In Chinese dietary therapy, which is a branch of traditional Chinese medicine, foods are also classified as
yin
and
yang
.
Yin
foods sink down and assist the functioning of the internal organs, while
yang
foods generally rise up and out towards the body surface, and can contribute to indigestion, skin problems and headaches if taken in excess.
Yang
foods usually have hot or warm energies and so create heat in the body, whereas
yin
foods usually have cold or cool properties and so cool the body down. It is possible, though, for foods to be
yang
(and move outwards),yet cooling (China’s favourite fish,carp,is one example; another is peppermint) or even
yin
and warming (such as dried orange peel).

Because a good Chinese diet is one that is balanced, it is important to avoid too much of one food property. Fortunately there are a number of neutral foods (both in terms of
yin
and
yang
and their hot or cold properties) that maintain the equilibrium in the body. Rice is neutral in terms of its heating and cooling properties, but very slightly
yang
. How a dish is cooked can affect its heating or cooling nature quite considerably, as we shall see. Generally though, wet and moist are
yin
characteristics of food, and dry and crisp are
yang
.

By taking rice, a neutral energy food that is slightly
yang
, and simmering it to create a moist end product, Chinese people create a food,
zhou,
that will not push the body in any one direction. Nutrients reach the body much more quickly if ingested in liquid or semi-liquid form. Additional ingredients can change the nature of
zhou
, making it an ideal vehicle to transport energies if the body needs warming, cooling, or toning in any particular area (see Chapter Seven).

Yin
and
yang
foods

Acquiring the
zhou
habit

To make
zhou
simply simmer rice or your chosen grain in about ten times its volume of water for about forty minutes, until the grains have cooked to a pulpy consistency. Whole grains take a little longer. Short grain rice makes a better
zhou
than long; if you have to use the latter, mix in a spoon or two of millet or some Arborio rice, as these will improve the consistency. A mixture of different grains makes for more interesting eating and may be more tempting to ‘first timers’. Easy-cook rice varieties are not suitable as they have been pre-treated so that the grains stay intact. Although my first efforts at home produced lumpy, burnt and copious
zhou
(a small amount of rice goes a very long way), I found that the effect on my wellbeing more than compensated for the time spent scraping out the saucepans and suffering Xiao Ding’s looks of disdain.