Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories (17 page)

The Five Elements correspond to, and are seen as being within, the Five Organs. Thus
wood
has a special relationship with the liver,
fire
with the heart,
earth
with the spleen/stomach,
metal
with the lung and
water
with the kidneys. We may use the Five Elements cycle to get a better understanding of what happens when we eat the wrong foods. If an excess of
sweet
flavour enters the spleen/stomach (
earth
) it may at first make it too strong but ultimately it will damage it. An over-nourished
earth
element may smother
fire
, a weak one may let it get out of control. And when
earth
is weak it cannot promote
metal
nor regulate
water
. Overloading the spleen/stomach will affect the heart, the lungs and kidneys. Practically all the ailments that beset the West, from heart disease to asthma and water retention can all be traced back to maltreatment of the spleen/stomach in the first instance. Just as the elements and the organs create and control each other in the Five Elements cycle, so do the flavours. The right amount of a flavour will keep an organ toned so that it is neither too strong nor too weak. An excess or a shortage will eventually damage it and let it take the rest of the body down with it.

This relationship explains a little more about our dietary preferences and what we need to beware of. The young growth of
wood
is
sweet
,
salt
comes from the
earth
;
fire
is
pungent
;
metal
, like the
sour
flavour, is astringent;
water
has no flavour but can leave a
bitter
taste.

6.
The Five Flavours in the Five Elements Cycle.

The human lifecycle can also be seen in terms of the Five Elements. When we are young we are in the
wood
stage, growing fast. The
fire
stage represents the late teenage years and young adulthood.
Earth
corresponds to the nurturing period, when we settle down. By the
metal
stage we have begun to contract our lives. Finally,
water
represents the stillness of old age and eventual death. When we are young our
wood
element is in ascendancy and we have a natural affinity for
sweet
flavours, but it is the
sour
flavour from
metal
that actually enters and tones the liver. Children, therefore, should not overindulge in sweet things but be tempted with sour fruits instead. In our teenage years the
fire
element and the heart are dominant. Teenagers often develop a taste for hot foods, both spicy and warming in terms of the energies mentioned earlier, but actually they need to go easy on the curry and chocolate and favour the bitter flavours of greens and vinegary dressings, and plenty of water. These will tone their
fire
element and keep it under control; otherwise they will suffer from acne, restlessness and other heat-related conditions.

The body can often accommodate bad eating habits during the wood and fire stages, but it is in the earth phase, at the prime of our life that we are at greatest risk of putting on weight because the spleen/stomach is in ascendancy and
earth
does not grow or move as in the previous phases. Unlike sour and bitter, which are in short supply in many diets,
sweet
flavour needs to be restricted while its organ is in ascendancy.

As we get older and enter the metal stage of our lives we should become more discerning and eat less but better, with plenty of the pungent flavours that enter the lungs: this is the time when we really need foods with active constituents such as garlic, ginger, chillies and other herbs and spices. The
water
element, linked to the kidneys, is in ascendancy as we enter old age. The
salty
flavour enters the kidneys from the
earth
element; but the salty foods that benefit the body are natural ones – kelp, seaweed, and many types of seafood. If we have overindulged in too much unnaturally salty food because we have eaten a diet high in processed foods during our youth, we could suffer as we get older. Remember that in traditional Chinese medicine, the kidneys are the source of the
qi
, our life-force, and
jing
, our essence, which is believed to be the source of all life. In our last years we may need to seek out the bitter flavours of foods with medicinal properties if we want to survive into old age.

The role of rice

How does all this translate into practical terms? As Li Yu remarked all those years ago, the worst thing we can do is pander to the mouth and stomach. A French student once approached me in my cooking school. Her husband, she explained, had struggled with his weight for years. His job was stressful and sedentary, and not only was he overweight but his digestion was bad, and that was affecting his morale. Western dietary regimes only added to his stress since they put so much emphasis on exercise routines that he didn’t feel up to. She was constantly measuring and calorie-counting and preparing special dishes: did I have any suggestions?

When I looked at her husband’s diet sheets I felt sorry for both of them. Their whole regimen consisted of steamed fish, grilled chicken breast, carefully measured scrapings of butter on accurately weighed pieces of bread. There were a few token vegetables, though without any suggestions as to how to make them interesting, and a thimbleful of milk to share between the unlimited rations of tea and coffee.

I suggested that she should base their meals on vegetables, provide unlimited rice, use a range of cooking methods and, most importantly,balance the flavours in everymeal. And because we were in China where culinary skills are practically universal, I found a friend of Xiao Ding’s, Xiao Li, who was willing to help her cook in this new style. At first everything went as well as could be expected. My friend’s husband, Antoine, had a few problems adjusting to the more fibrous nature of his new diet, but he generally felt better in himself and was thrilled to be freed from the burden of calorie-counting. My friend was ecstatic, though she was slightly overwhelmed by the quantity of food that her helper produced. After a few weeks, however, her husband’s progress ground to a halt. ‘He misses his French diet too much,’ she explained. I sympathized. ‘Especially the desserts,’ she continued. This was surprising, since I had envisaged that, with a diet offering a full spectrum of flavours, Antoine would lose interest in very sweet foods. When I probed I discovered that, although he was eating the Chinese dishes in the evenings and usually taking leftovers with him for lunch, he was not eating the rice. Warning bells clanged in my head. While I saw that a variety of vegetables and a balance of flavours to be the key to nourishing the whole body through the Chinese diet, without a staple I couldn’t see how it would be sustaining. From observing how Chinese people ate I knew that
fan
was the food that filled the stomach and stopped it craving sweet flavours. The seventh secret of the Chinese diet is supported by the third secret:
fan
is the foundation on which the Five-Flavour balance rests. This is why the Five Element chart is sometimes drawn with earth at its centre. Unless Antoine could escape his Western prejudices and fill up on a staple food, I knew he would not benefit in the long term from his change to a more Chinese-style diet.

In our calorie-conscious modern society, where foods are primarily judged in terms of their energy value, little account is taken of the flavours of foods and how they work together within the body. Yet our Western tastebuds are not beyond rescue – curry, after all, is the UK’s favourite dish. The sweet, sour and spicy flavours of
gong bao ji ding
, a chicken and peanut dish, never failed to impress my cooking school students. The same flavours are found in the Sichuan
yu xiang qie zi
aubergine recipe. Now,
yu xiang
translates as ‘fish fragrant’, which sounds a bit off-putting, but the story goes that the recipe, which is sweet, sour and spicy with a slight fermented flavour from
dou
ban jiang
(chilli bean paste), was developed in landlocked Sichuan to compensate for the absence of fish on the menu. There are
yu xiang
dishes featuring pork and eggs, but the aubergine with strips of pork and cloud-ear mushrooms takes some beating. If you serve a
gong bao ji ding
and a
yu xiang qie zi
plus a stir-fried green vegetable topped with plenty of freshly chopped garlic and a bowl of rice to anyone brought up on a Western diet, they’ll think they have been invited to a feast.

Simple touches can transformmore conventionalWestern dishes. The Mexicans add grated bitter chocolate to their stews; pork is served with pungent mustard sauce; mint is added to pea soup, fresh lemon juice is squeezed on to fish. You do not need to deny yourself any favourites in order to improve your diet according to the principles of balancing flavours. Try instead to start by adding a depth of flavour to your traditional meals. Serve sweet and sour red cabbage with raisins,apple and Balsamic vinegar with your roast; grate the cheese for your sandwiches and mix it with minced celery. Once you start to add variety to your diet, and let Chinese cuisine influence your cooking, traditionalWestern foodmay seembland and indigestible. During my time in China I saw my own diet change from one consisting primarily of bland or sweet food to one with the full range of flavours. So, if you are struggling with a chocolate craving or a passion for Häagen-Dazs, don’t fight it. Adopt the Chinese style of eating and it will eventually go away of its own accord as the new range of flavours in your diet helps the body discover its own natural balance.

Spicy chicken with peanuts

Gong bao ji ding

This Sichuan dish is an all time classic and is often known overseas by its Cantonese name, Kung Pao chicken. Sadly, the recipe has been abused as much as used, and there are some extraordinary variations about. The true Sichuan version has crisp (
cui
) peanuts contrasting with tiny cubes of succulent chicken. It uses dried chillies, Sichuan peppercorns and pieces of hearty garlic, ginger and spring onion. These robust flavours are backed up by a delicate sauce with a touch of sweet and sour.

For the chicken
300 g/10 oz/2 cups chicken breast meat
75 g/3 oz/¾ cup roasted peanuts
2 tsp beaten egg or egg white
3 tsp cornflour
pinch of salt
1 tsp cooking wine
Supporting vegetables
1 tbsp spring onion, chopped vertically then cut into
1 cm/½ in pieces
3–4 cloves garlic, sliced
4–6 fine slices ginger, each cut into quarters
3–6 dried red chillies, roughly chopped
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
For the sauce mix
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar 3 tsp red rice vinegar
1 tsp cooking wine
1–2 tbsp of a 1–2 cornflour and water mix
1–2 tbsp additional water
salt to taste
1½ tbsp oil

Cube the chicken breast, aiming for pieces which are not much bigger than the nuts. Sprinkle them with salt and cooking wine and mix well with the egg or egg white and cornflour, making sure that the pieces are coated but not sloppy.

Mix together the sauce ingredients.

To cook, heat the wok to a high heat, add the oil, swirl around, and fry the chillies and Sichuan peppercorns for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the chicken, garlic, ginger and spring onion. Stir-fry these to allow the flavour out, then add the peanuts.

Add the liquid ingredients (stirring first to dissolve the cornflour) and allow it to come to the boil stirring gently. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes, to thicken, and then add additional liquid until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Add extra salt to taste, mix well, remove from the heat and serve.