No one can really understand these Chinese food names and story behind it .Chinese cuisine has been developed so highly that it has reached the status of an art form, have adapted freely and changed fluidly with time. There are many dishes where the name originated from folklore, legend and stories too. There are 3 factors that may play an important role in naming a Chinese dish, which are the appearance of the dish, the person who is supposedly invented the dish (or caused the dish to be invented) and how the dish is made. There are few famous Chinese food names and story behind it with very legendary names :-
BEGGAR’S CHICKEN
The stories was originated in the early Qing Dynasty in Jiangshu province tells on a homeless, starving beggar wandering along the village when he caught sight of a chicken. Desperate for food, he killed the chicken by pulling off the neck. Lacking of stove, cooking utensil or any spicies, he covered the chicken in muds, starts a fire, put to roast and cooked it until the mud dried. When the dried mud was cracked open, the chicken exposing juicy tender meat and creating an incredible aroma. Unknown to him, he had just invented one of the greatest culinary traditions of China. At this point, the Emperor passed by with his followers. Attached by the aroma of the roast chicken, he stopped and dined with the beggar, demanding to know how he created such a delicious meal. From there, the “Beggar’s Chicken” is subsequently added to the list of dishes served in the Imperial Forbidden court (Beggar’s chicken is also called the “Rich and Noble Chicken” in Beijing nowadays).
CROSSING THE BRIDGE NOODLES
There is a beautiful legends regarding the birth of this dish – Crossing the Bridge Noodles. In the South Lake in Mengzi County, south-east of Yunan province boasted an extremely beautiful scenery where many imperial scholars would studied hard to become an official at that place. According to the most popular legend, this dish was discovered by a woman whose husband was one of the imperial scholar back then. He had to study for his exam on the other side of the town from where they lived. Everyday, the wife would walked over the bridge with his lunch but the dish would get cold on the way. One day as she was cooking, she discovered a simple solution to the problem, where she would covered the broth with a layer of hot oil from chicken fat and it will retained the heat. Then, she could add noodles to the hot broth once she served it to her husband. The liquid was once said that it is so hot that when slide think slices of meat, fish, bean curd and vegetables into the bowl, it will instantly cooked. Many people cooked the noodles in the wife’s innovative way and found it really delicious and fresh. Since the wife had to cross a bridge to reach the other side for her husband, the dish was named Crossing the Bridge Noodles in her honour.
HUSBAND AND WIFE’S LUNG SLICE
It was translate words by words from Chinese, which possibly terrify lots of diners and making them think that they are visiting an uncivilized tribe in a jungle. Proper English translation should be “Spicy Ox Lung Slice”. There is a romantic story of the origin for this famous Szechuan dish. During 1920s and 1030s in Chengdu, Szechuan, there used to be a man called Guo Zhaohua (the inventor) and his wife opened a small restaurant serving sliced ox lungs. They took so much care in preparing the dish and used the right degree of heat and spices. Their dish was so delicious that no one could resist them and customers praised their dishes so often, so the locals decided to name it after the couple, “Husband and Wife’s Lung Slice”. It has from then becoming a very famous Szechuan style of appetiser cold dish.
LION’S HEAD MEATBALL
It is a dish originates from Eastern China which the history of it goes back to the Sui Dynasty. It consisting large meat balls (usually mince meat pork). The dish name was inspired from the shape of the meatball which is supposed to resemble the head of a lion, stewed with cabbage. It is usually served in a set of four. It is said this dish was to be an imperial dish, that the emperor used to consume. It was also believed that whoever eat the Lion’s Head meatball would become as strong as the lion. English translation should be, “Freshly Stewed Mince Pork Balls”.
ANTS CLIMBING THE TREE
The “ants” in this dish are mean for the tiny bits of mince pork that cling to pieces of stir-fried glass noodles (the tree). During the Yuan Dynasty, a famous dramatist wrote a play which told how the dish was born – A man needed to pay off debt so he sold his daughter, Dòu É to his creditor as a wife for her son. Dòu É was a good girl taking care for her mother in law and husband but unfortunately her husband fell ill and died very soon after their marriage. Hence, she took up upon herself to support the family. Soon after the family went poor and she was force to buy food to put on tab. Eventually she cant even able to pay for any food, she begged the vendor until getting a very small chunk of pork. From the leftovers she had of only a handful of glass noodles and the meat, she cooked up a dish. Her mother in law found many little black spots in the dish and asked, “Why are there so many ants?”. After Dòu É explained the situation in the family, her mother in law expressed gratitude for her kindness and care. So her mother in law gave the dish the name, Ants Climbing the Tree.
BUDDHA JUMPS OVER THE WALL
There are many stories been told on its origin. One of them, a common story was about a scholar travelling by foot to the Imperial court for the examination during the Qing Dynasty. He preserved all his food for the journey in a clay jar used for holding wine while he travelled with other fellow scholars. Whenever he had a meal, he would warmed up the jar over the fire. The smells spread over to a nearby Buddhist temple where the monks were meditating at that time. Although monks are not allowed to consume meat, but one of the monk who was so tempted by the smell, jumped over the wall to where the scholars gathered for cooking. A poet among the scholars said that even Buddha would jump the wall to have this delicious dish. It is regarded as a Chinese delicacy known for its rich taste, usage of various high quality ingredients and special manner of cooking. The dish is a soup or stew consists of many ingredients of non-vegetarian including quail eggs, bamboo shoots, dried scallops, sea cucumber, abalone, shark fin, chicken, ham, pork, ginseng and chinese mushroom and requires 2 days to prepare.
VIRGIN CHICKEN
It is only refers to young bird being slaughtered for meat before it can lay eggs. French call it “Poussin” and English is refer to “Spring Chicken”.
