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Welcome to Takeaway Chinese.
I'm Neil Holley, join by Steve Hatherly.
Hello Steve. Hello, thanks for having me back.
Always a pleasure having you in the studio, especially nowadays because you're from Canada.
I'm not saying Canada is better than other countries in the world, I'm just saying Canada has really cold winter and for this episode, when we talk about the Great Winter Delights, I'm pretty sure you have a lot to share.
Oh food? Yeah winter time food.
I mean, the first thing that comes to mind for me is the meal that we eat at Thanksgiving and Christmas time in Canada.
It's the same thing, it's turkey with a lot of different side dishes, like mashed potatoes and stuffing and carrots and peas and all of those things but that's the first thing that comes to mind but that's a very specific meal for two very specific times right specific that is the word I was thinking about you're like festive food yeah winter yeah it's true and it's the only time of the winter when we eat those and to be fair Thanksgiving is in the fall season but when you said winter foods that was the first one that came to mind yeah for me actually in China Definitely one thing that would pop
up would be qo guo.
Hot pot. So we know qo is fire and guo is pot.
Fire pot. Fire pot.
You know I arrived in Beijing in the summer time and there are lots of hot pot restaurants around and I saw those restaurants are crowded even in the summer time.
Oh yes, that's the thing.
Because in summer days you can have hot pot with iced soda or beer and it's also very nice and also when you're surrounding a hot pot in really hot summer day, you start to sweat and it's just, ahh, in Chinese we say shuong.
So it's the kind of cool that you can enjoy.
No see, I disagree because in the summertime when you sit down at a hot pot table you have to choose your seat strategically.
If there happens to be a breeze somehow in that restaurant you want to sit on the opposite side of the table from the direction that that breeze is coming here's why that breeze will fan the flame underneath the hot pot in your direction and also the steam coming off the hot pot will be coming in your direction you did too much research on this my wife and I we're sitting at this hot pot restaurant in you know like late july When it's 36 degrees outside and she's like this is delightful.
I'm really enjoying this I'm sweating because I feel like I'm at the bottom of a volcano I'm trying to eat the hot pot Yeah, exactly.
But in the wintertime You'd want to be on that side where the flames they're coming Yes, and that would keep you both warm outside and inside There are actually a lot of different types of hot pot here in China as well.
For those that can also allow you to have a hot bowl of soup.
That's the best kind because you're both warm and happy and worms would go right down your stomach and then from your stomach to the entire body.
Do the hot pots change in the wintertime in terms of the soups or perhaps the ingredients that you put into it?
Well, not specifically according to different seasons, but definitely there would be seasonal specialty rolled out by different restaurants, but it's not like a customized choice.
And for those of you who are already a little bit hungry like I am, we're talking about winter day delights today.
Not only hot pot, these real official meals, but also certain small snacks that you would enjoy a bit more in winter days than the rest of those three seasons.
So if you're interested in Chinese culture, and you wanna get a grip on the Chinese language, then this is the show for you.
Stick with us for 30 minutes, and you'll soon see the rewards.
And for more fun Chinese learning, follow our Facebook page, Learn Chinese, to watch many fun videos and livestreams.
But now, let's provide you with some free Chinese for takeaway.
This is the very first time or the first time that I can remember that when I say provide you with some free Chinese for takeaway I'm talking about both language and food.
Yes exactly. This is the perfect title today.
Ok, so there is this one food I want to know if you have and I'm pretty sure you do outside of China because it is really easy and common.
It's the toasted sweet potatoes.
Yeah, roasted sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes in Canada, we don't eat them as much as we do regular potatoes, but I know what you're talking about.
Sometimes you'll wrap them up in tinfoil.
Do you do this here in China?
In really, in restaurants.
But what I am talking about the kind of roasted sweet potatoes or kao hong shu, so Kao is roasted, kao ya, Beijing roasted duck okay, Hong shu is the sweet potatoes, okay, Hong shu.
Some people would also call it dizhua, the melon on the ground, ground melon, but they're the same thing basically and there are really popular snack in China and the sweet potatoes are typically baked over an open flame, or in a hot oven until they're soft and sweet.
And it's just on the side of the street.
Okay. So you see this huge oven kind of like a barrel.
Yeah. And you have the sweet potato in and based on different types of the sweet potato.
Actually, they do not have to be foil covered.
But you can Do you see the black parts on the outside?
Yes, I know and it gets a little crispy on the outside too.
I think the sugar would also come out a little bit in the form of this basically fluid sugar sauce thing.
Yes, I know, and I've had those before.
I've never had them in Canada, but I've had them before and you're right.
The little black parts of the sweet potato, you just kind of pick them off and you peel it and then the steam comes out from the inside.
Yes. Pro tip, put butter on that.
Oh! Salted butter. Not the.
That would be good.
Not the unsalted butter.
It has to be salted butter because then you get the saltiness from the butter.
You get the creaminess from the butter.
You also get the creaminess from the sweet potato, too.
It is absolutely delicious.
I can imagine and my mouth is watering because I'm imagining.
And the thing about that is that in again really cold winter days you are walking on the street There are not many people on the street Everyone's walking very fast in haste because it's really cold and all of a sudden you see this person selling Yeah roasted sweet potato and you've already got your gloves on But you still feel a little bit cold and and then you got one of the sweet potatoes you hold them in your hand and then the worms will already warm you up, and the sweetness, and the heat.
Ah, it's just really nice.
Really, really good.
Hong shu. Hong shu.
Sweet potatoes, and portfolios.
And roasted one more time.
Kao. Kao. Hong shu.
The end sound is ook.
So, Hong shu. Hong shu.
Perfect. Hong shu. Kao.
Hong shu. Kao Hong shu.
So that is very comforting and nutritious and just nice.
And people in all ages would be able to enjoy this.
How do you say chicken?
Kaouji. Kaouji. I like them too.
Oh, that's my favorite.
There are different types of kaoji.
How? Really? There's different types?
You mean different seasonings?
Different seasoning, and depending on whether or not you would put some sauce on it one, you actually roast them.
Mhmm. So yeah, different type.
Kohongshu. But I still feel like, when it comes to kohongshu, the original one is already good enough, but I would definitely try the salted butter one.
Yeah, I mean I'm Canadian.
We put butter on almost everything.
And another one is, we talked about huokuo hot pot already.
Mhmm. But for many Chinese people, I think Yangzhou huokuo, maten hot pot is the winter hot pot.
Oh, okay. I guess that's what I was trying to ask before when I was asking if the hot pots were different in the wintertime.
The mutton hot pot.
I don't think I've seen that before.
So for those not familiar with hot pot, you go into a restaurant and many times you just sit down, you order, and then you stand up immediately, and you go to choose your ingredients.
Sometimes they have an ingredients bar, sometimes you choose from a menu.
The going to the bar is all always fun because you get to pick out the ones that you want.
You get to pick them up yourself.
The high -end ones are usually the one that gives you a menu instead of having you pick the right ingredients.
Oh, so the cheaper ones are the ones that you go and pick them up yourself.
Usually. I see, but the mutton ones...how is this different?
Okay, so when it comes to hot pot, the general idea is that you have a pot full of broth and And you can dip the ingredient in and once they're boiled, take them out.
But depending on different types of broth and different type of main things that you boil, there are different hot pot.
So for lamb hot pot or mutton hot pot, we call it Yang Zhou Huo Guo or Shuan Yang Zhou, because in this Yang Zhou Huo Guo, these thin slices of lamb are dipped into the simmering broth along with vegetables like cabbage, tofu, mushroom, and noodles.
So the broth is also mostly with a qing shui.
Qing shui is like clear water, so qing shui guo, that's just water, but mainly we would already have some broth in it, different nutritious ones.
It's not just water, right?
No, actually for yang zhou hu guo, so in the broth sometimes you would even see goji berries that is supposed to be very good for your health.
And also ginger, really cool for, again, winter days.
And also Chinese dates, they are also considered very nutritious.
So put them in the broth and then lamb.
Because lamb, according to traditional Chinese medicine, is also the kind of food ingredient that would enhance the young energy in your body instead of the in one.
so they're quite nice during winter time.
I see, here's another thing that I learned from my experience eating hotpot, don't drink the broth in the very beginning.
You have to let it boil down a little bit because if you drink it in the very beginning then you're only getting the broth flavor but if you wait because it can do there's a flame underneath it so if you wait then you're getting all the some flavors of the vegetables and the meats that you're putting in there.
So you gotta let it boil down a little bit.
And then that's when you start to drink the soup.
Yes, it's very tasty and nice.
Cause when I first came here and I was just, they put it in front of me and I tried the soup immediately and I thought, oh, it's a bit watery, actually.
But then after I let it boil down, I tried it again.
I felt like, oh, this is completely different from in the beginning, so, yes, you have to wait.
Yeah, but I think it still depends a little bit on the type of huokou we're talking about.
Because, for example, if you're having fenciokou, if you're having tomato broth, then if you want the tomato broth flavor, you gotta drink it in the beginning.
But if you want the tomato plus beef or tomato plus mushroom kind of flavor, you wait for it to boil down.
You can choose even.
Yeah, right. And then you can keep changing the flavor of your soup Oh, but the ingredients that you keep adding, which is why hot pot restaurants are so popular.
Yes, they are. That's yanzhou hu guo, or showing yanzhou lamb hot pot.
Again, if we're talking about snack, another one that I personally really enjoy is chestnuts.
Li z. Chestnut in Chinese is li z.
Candid. chestnuts would be heng chao liiz.
Teng. Ciao. Ciao. Liiz.
Liiz. Okay, so, thyng is candy or sugar.
Chao is fried. Okay.
So it's not like the sugar is frying the chestnuts, which are what the grammar indicates.
It's more like having both thyng and liiz in the pot, or in the pan, and you chao them.
So, Tang chow Li Ju is candied chestnuts?
It's like having candy or having sugar as well as some certain types of sand that would spread the worms more equally inside the pot and then having chestnuts in it and you have this huge chué and do you fry them together until the chestnuts are done.
Oh, so the chestnuts are not covered.
No, they're not. So they're not cold.
They're not sugar -coated.
I understand They're just cooked in it.
Yes I've never had these before you should try them, especially when they're fresh off the pot because in summertime I think it's common for people to buy the frozen.
Oh, yes almost frozen ones Those are those are good.
Those are creamy, too And trust me the tang chowlies can be even better.
Oh really? Yes in winter days.
Tang chowies? You have to peel the chestnuts a little bit, they're still very warm.
But because they're fresh off the wok, they're still a little bit hot, too hot to touch.
But they're really easy to peel since they're fresh, and then you've got this really hot chestnut out.
They're sweet, they're creamy, and it's really nice.
Oh, Bao Bao! Ha ha ha.
Question. I previously learned Bao Bao from you.
Beans baby in English we can say oh baby if something sounds delicious Thank you.
Good learning point.
I thought you missed your wife.
You want to share it with her.
Oh no no no. I'm learning though how diverse the word baby is in English, but we don't use that about food, okay Thank you.
Is this this is street food by the way.
Yes teng chao li chu Tang chow li zi and you know chestnut leads in Chinese Shares exactly the same pronunciation with example Oh, so for example in Chinese is what you're gonna leads let me pick out an example That is why in Chinese social media You would see the memes of someone holding a chestnut in her hand and that means this person is ready to give an example Juga leaves, hold an example.
Okay, got it. Yeah, it's a cute little side knowledge or side point about leaves.
Candied chestnuts, the street food in the winter time here in Beijing, I'll keep my eyes peeled for that, easy to spot.
I mean can we find this kind of everywhere?
Yeah, if you see a huge walk with this equipment because there are some automatic ones because the essence of warming up the leads, the chestnut is that you need to make sure that they're not overheated and the entire wok are in the same temperature.
And that's why sugar, a little bit of sugar and a little bit of sand are involved here.
We want to make sure the temperatures are even, and you will see this automatic equipment stirring the pot all the time, so that yeah, they're on the same temperature.
Got it. Yeah. So if you see that, most occasions in the huge walk, there are some delicious leads or chestnati.
Yeah. Sitting here thinking about Canadian wintertime foods.
I'm not sure that we have anything that's specific, because where I'm from, we don't really have a street food culture per se.
Not as much as maybe cooking at home.
But I remember one of my favorite things that we used to do as a kid in the wintertime, is we would go for family breakfast every Sunday morning and we would walk out into the forest and there's a cabin there and the cabin was own...
it was a restaurant, but it was only open on Saturdays and Sundays, that's it, and the trees all around were maple trees, so they would get and make the maple syrup directly from the trees, and then we would have sausage and pancakes and hash browns and things like that so you we would go there for our Sunday breakfast and the pure maple syrup.
Oh my goodness, unbelievable flavour.
I've never tried it I should have.
You've never tried maple syrup before.
I've never tried the authentic and made from maple tree kind of syrup.
Oh really? I would love to.
I'll bring you some from Canada.
Well thank you, it sounds very wintery.
And addictive. But I think in General candy is for winter days.
It tastes better somehow, doesn't it?
And it makes you happier.
And you need that in the dark winter days.
Yes, you do, which is why sometimes when we're at home, I think, well, one thing about, at least here in the northern part of the country, is the fact that we have central heating system, meaning that in winter days, when you're inside at home or something, you do not feel so, so, so cold.
and to the extent that you want to have something that's even a little bit cold like a ice cream or popsicle or Dong Lee for especially Dong Bei people people in northeast part of the country they enjoyed Dong Lee so much.
I didn't use to enjoy the specialty during winter days but now I started to understand the beauty of it.
So to start with Dong means frozen Lee is pear." Frozen pear?
Frozen pear. Yes, it is a traditional winter treat popular in the Northeast.
It's frozen pear made by taking firm, fresh pears, usually the Northeast China's variety, letting them freeze naturally outdoors or in the freezer, depending on which style you prefer, and then buying them slightly before eating.
and the freezing process give the pear a very unique, almost sorbet like texture.
Almost like an ice cream type texture.
Yeah and it's very refreshing more likely.
I would have never thought about that.
I've been eating pears when the weather got cold but I never thought to put them in the freezer.
So what do you do? So if you want to eat it, you take it out of the freezer and then let it sit - For a little while.
For maybe 25, 30 minutes.
I guess until you can comfortably bite it.
And the only thing is that you do not want to warm them up too much if you, for example, boil them.
Because sometimes in winter days, we would boil fruit a little bit.
We will boil fruit directly and have the soap, or we will boil fruit with wine and have warm wine, for example.
but do not boil dongli if you boil it it'll lose the sweetness of the fruit and it'll feel like you're chewing wood yes it's weird but again think about it it's really really cold outside and when you get inside it's instantly warm and you take off your clothes and you feel a little bit you know hot and dry, and you have this dongli to cool down a little bit cool down a little bit because the apartment is filled with nuan qi.
Warm air. So, that's Dong Li.
I think those special cheats or snacks in winter days are the kind of, you know, winter delights that we all can enjoy.
Now we're starving.
Yes. You're listening to Take Away Chinese with myself, Neil Hon -Lin and Steve.
We would love to hear from you.
Send us your thoughts via email to LearnChineseatcri .com .cn.
Coming up next. Let's talk about some other Winter delights that are more popular in outside of China and see how to say them in Chinese.
Don't go away so you will take some Chinese away!
Welcome back to Takeaway Chinese, I am Yone Lin joined by Steve.
So one thing that I can think of that are quite popular outside of China, especially during winter days.
Yeah, I don't know.
It may have never found its huge popularity here.
It would be cheese fondue.
Oh, cheese fondues.
It's a winter thing, right?
Yeah, Switzerland's food.
Do you like it, by the way?
I like it. Yeah, it's delicious.
And there's different types of fondue.
There can be oil fondue, as well, which, in my opinion, is not great.
I've never tried oil fondue.
I mean, oil fondue is basically the same as hot pot.
Yeah, you just heat the oil and then you have your sticks of your meats and vegetables.
You just put it in and when it's cooked, you just take it out.
That's not my favorite.
Cheese fondue. That's a different story.
That is amazing! And same thing, you can put different types of vegetables or meats or breads, even, like baguette if you want.
And then you dip it in the cheese it's like cheese hotpot it's exactly cheese hotpot in chinese oh really yes we call it is it common it's well i'm pretty sure most people know what it is but i have to say i tried them several times but not like tons of time tens of hundreds of times because for me it's a bit too heavy oh yeah exactly you just said the best part of it It's a good thing, huh?
Yeah, because you dip the for example Like you said baguette or the Spanish ham in it and get the cheese and after I don't know ten bites of it.
I feel like it's already too heavy for me.
I need variety I know what you mean.
Yeah, because every bite is just doused in cheese Yes So if you're if it's the bread that's doused in cheese you kind of only taste the cheese, and if it's vegetables doused in cheese, you kind of only taste the cheese.
I am a cheese monster.
I love it. It's probably my favorite thing in the world.
So for me, that's a perfect dish, but yeah, if you're not a massive, massive cheese lover, it could be a little bit much after a few bites, for sure.
Yes, and you know the thing about hou guo in China?
That is, yes, we have different types of hou guo already, but even if you choose this one type of hougou and you enter the store you can still have different xiao liao xiao liao we call them xiao liao or zhan liao so xiao means small and liao is kind of like tiao liao seasoning okay or zhan liao means dipping sauce so xuan is to dip in so the kind of xiao liao you can customize your own xiao liao there are more sometimes even more than 10 types ingredient, you have the sesame sauce, you have soy bean sauce, you have vinegar, you have sesame.
There are a lot of different types, and you can adjust the flavor of the ingredient based on, or according to different types of xiao liao.
Based on your flavor and you can do the xiao liao.
The peanut sauce. So the thing is with cheese fondue, you kind of don't have that choice.
Cause you don't need it.
Because it's just good enough on its own.
Yeah, and it is more popular in the wintertime, I think, but there's something romantic about it.
I mean romantic in a poetic way because usually the places, I don't mean in China, but the places outside of China that would sell a cheese fondue in the wintertime, it has a very rustic, homey feel to it.
And if you can find a restaurant that has a rustic homie feel to it not some sort of like modern designed restaurant Then it just adds to that kind of cabin wintertime snow falling outside if you each use fondue when the snow is falling outside If you enjoy wine then wine goes well with it or some sort of hot beverage it's more of an atmosphere food for me.
An entire package. Well, I understand that, and besides that, one thing that I learned about a little bit is 부디에 화고 in South Korea.
부디에 화고. It's the kind of hot pot, but it's not a hot pot.
It's more like an entire wok full of ramen as well as cheese and also some kind of sausage.
부디지게. Yes! Yeah, I was thinking about that Buddha chigae.
Yeah. So basically it's a winter thing, isn't it?
It's more of a winter thing.
It doesn't have to be but yeah, it's it's a winter thing.
So here's how you make it You go to the fridge and you take everything you have You put it in a pot and you boil it It doesn't sound appetizing but if you can find a good one, it's actually really really good and yeah you can add cheese to it if you want to.
You've had ramen with cheap like hot spicy ramen with a slice of cheese in it before, yeah, so you can do that if you want to.
You don't have to, you can add on the ramen one pack or two packs you can kind of order that separately if you want and you can order extra sausage or order extra whatever you want and it's very very very filling.
So, another winter delight.
Oh, yeah, exactly. And one thing I want to ask is, how about barbecue?
Is barbecue a winter thing in your opinion, especially in, for example, from a western perspective?
Well, not really. Neither here in China.
Which you would think it would be.
Right? It's more of a summertime thing.
It's definitely a summertime thing.
I think one of the reasons is that when you're doing the kind of barbecue that are with a stick with all of your meat on it it's better done in open air area so in summer days it's just out there with a little breeze especially during nighttime but in winter days like it got a little bit too cold if you think about it.
Yeah to do it outside although serious barbecues will still barbecue that's true in the winter time but yeah American barbecue so that's one of the maybe food culture differences between Canada and the United States.
We enjoy barbecue, of course, but it seems to be taken more seriously in America.
And it goes state by state.
And they're very, very, very proud of their barbecue.
Um, one of my bucket list things, they have the national barbecue competition in America where they have the best of the best.
And this is no joke.
I mean, these people are professional chefs.
How do you judge whose barbecue is the best?
Well, they have, yeah exactly, who cares?
It's all good right?
But they have different judges, a panel of judges, I guess, but they make chili, and then different sausages, and chicken and ribs and steak, and it's just all good.
But yeah, no, you're right.
Back to your question.
Yeah, it's more, it's considered more of a summertime thing than a wintertime thing.
Yeah. And at the end of the day, when it comes to food, you would always be the best judge of what is the best food for you, so it's your flavor, so it's your, even your mood at that exact moment, and maybe one great meal in the winter day would make you remember that day for a really long time and try to find a memory and at that moment or just from that time on maybe that food would be your winter comfort food and wish you can find that happiness for not only your winter days but all four seasons.
Now I want mom's cooking.
And that brings us to the end of today's Take Away Chinese.
I'm Yol Hong -lin with Steve in the studio.
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