Food & Health in Northern China

Traditional food cultures and why we need to preserve them

In our globalized world, it’s hard to believe that food traditions could be so different from one end of the world to the other, let alone from one end of a country to the other. Doesn’t everyone eat the same burgers from McDonald’s and drink drink the same Coca-Cola from the local grocery store?

There’s some truth to that, to be sure. But as fast-food chains and aggressive American food conglomerates make their way to the proverbial backyards of the world, it’s more important than ever to recognize food traditions, preserving them where possible and teaching them to our children and grandchildren. 

Food

China is a great example of a country with widely varying food traditions from north to south. Thanks to the long winters and relatively short growing season, northern Chinese cuisine relies more on preserved food and hearty fare than neighbouring provinces to the south. Pickling is an important tradition, and pickled vegetables are an important part of the daily fare.

The most marked difference between eating habits in the north and south, however, is thanks to the crops. The staple crop in northern China is wheat, from which residents get their principle starch. It’s used in noodles and steamed buns, which both form an important part of the Chinese diet. 

Though widely available, rice isn’t nearly as common in northern China as it is in southern China. Wheat is the preferred grain, along with millet (used to make a fluffy kind of porridge), barley, sorghum, corn, buckwheat, rye and oats. Though not consumed in large proportions, when considered together these secondary grains make up a significant portion of total carbohydrates consumed in northern China .

Meat

Scavenger animals like pigs, chickens and ducks have a great importance in China, but beef and lamb are far more common in northern China, where more meat is consumed in general.  Another important tradition is the use of the entire animal, including organs, feet, tail and tongue, something very foreign to Westerners. 

Popular dishes in northern China include cornmeal congee (more commonly prepared with rice in the south), hot pot, pork dumplings, and sticky rice buns with sweet bean filling. A popular breakfast is a flat, wheat pancake topped with raw egg and hot soy milk. Yum!

Health

China’s health traditions are undoubtedly beautiful: the delicate balance of flavours, the magic created with a bit of ginger and garlic. The Western world is quick to praise the wisdom of the East in the realm of healthy food.  And yet the obesity epidemic happening in the rest of the developed world is doing just as much damage in China, at an even greater pace in some cases.

Weight gain has grown in China in direct proportion to the country’s economic growth. There are now five times as many obese people in China than there were 10 years ago. Diabetes as a percentage of population is almost as high in China as it is in the U.S. - arguably the most unhealthy country in the world!

Health Problems

Why? China is experiencing the same obesity crisis the U.S. did, and faster, thanks to the dizzying growth of the fast food market. What’s more, roads that were once crowded with bicycles are now crowded with traffic, leading to fewer opportunities for exercise and amplifying an already problematic pollution problem.   

What makes the obesity crisis in China so interesting is that it’s a privilege reserved for the rich, whereas in the West, fast-food induced obesity is more often seen in those who can’t afford fresh food or haven’t been educated about good eating choices. Economic growth in one country and economic devastation in another are causing the same debilitating effect: obesity.

Education

While the cause of this epidemic may vary, the solution is the same: education. Preserving food traditions is more important today than it’s ever been before. The best information comes from a readily available source: our mothers and grandmothers. Dig into those old recipe books. Ask questions. Prepare a dish you’ve never attempted before.

Don’t have any living parents or grandparents? Ask someone else’s. Find someone willing to share the information and run with it. There’s only one rule: use real ingredients. No store-bought black bean sauce. No ready-made oyster sauce. 

For some trickier techniques - like pickling, for example - why not take a class? The internet offers a wealth of information about health, nutrition and cooking. Take advantage of it! It’s not necessary to learn a whole new craft of cooking. Learning a dish or two every month is more than enough. Most of us stick to our favourites in the end, anyway. 

Next Generation

As important as it is to learn these techniques, someone’s got to do the work of passing them on to the next generation. The internet is doing a fine job of exchanging information but it won’t put the spatula in anyone’s hand. If food cultures are to survive, they must be passed down from parent to child.

It’s extremely cheap to eat out in both southern and northern China. Working parents can feed their families three meals a day every day without lifting a finger - and without busting the bank either. It takes strong dedication and determination to keep up the old traditions.

Start with one home-cooked meal a day or two meals a week if that’s too much. Cooking is incredibly therapeutic and rewarding in so many ways. Moreover, it’s the only way that China - or any other country for that matter - is going to keep its food traditions alive and well.

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