FOOD PLANET: THE DONG FAMILY

Hello, everyone! In this post, I would like to introduce a family from the book Hungry Planet.

Photo: Dong Family

The family is the Dong family from Beijing, China. In the photo, Dong Li is seated next to the table with his mother, Dong Liying. Li's wife, Guo Yongmei, and their only son, Dong Yan, are standing behind.

Just as many urban Chinese do, the Dongs enjoy international cuisine, including western fast food and traditional Chinese food. Dong Li and Guo Yongmei go out to eat once a week. They enjoy traditional Chinese food. On the other hand, their son Yan is apt for Western fast food. He goes to McDonalds near his school with his friends. Other than eating out, the Dongs go shopping at a hypermarket like Ito Yokado.

I found some similarities. For example, my family also enjoys a lot of international food along with traditional food. Both the Dongs and my family go shopping at hypermarkets.

The cultural differences are that in China, street food is available all year. Even in central Beijing, there are stands with extraordinary food selections. In Japan, there are food stands, but they are not open all year. They appear on special occasions like summer festivals along with fun-activity stands.

Photos: Chinese street foods

Dong Family's Pigskin Jelly

Ingredients

・1 lb fresh pigskin, hair scraped off 1 scallion, cut into 6-7 pieces

・1 oz ginger, peeled, cut into 3-4 pieces

・3-4 cloves garlic, whole

・1/2 oz Sichuan peppercorns (Asian prickly ash), whole 1 whole star anise, broken into 4-5 pieces

・2t Chinese cooking wine

・1t vinegar

・salt

・soy sauce

Instructions

1. Put pigskin in water to cover and bring to boil for short time to soften.

2. Remove pigskin and cut into 1-2" strips to facilitate handling. Combine pigskin, scallion, ginger, 2 cloves garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and Chinese cooking wine. Add water to cover and bring to medium boil.

3. When water boils, add salt and soy sauce to taste. Continue to boil until pigskin is extremely tender.

4. Remove all condiments and spices with chopsticks, but leave pigskin in water. Remove from heat; when cool, store in refrigerator.

5. When ready to eat, take cooled pigskin from water and cut into bite-size pieces. Serve mixed with vinegar, a cloves mashed garlic, and salt and soy sauce to taste.

Photo: Pigskin Jelly