8th December 2022
They said that "we are what we eat and the secret to a longer life comes from the food we eat." Well, this is true. If we eat healthy food, we develop healthy minds and bodies. Glowing and beautiful skin, healthy hair and eyes, and a strong physique, the real secret comes from the food we eat, not from any topical chemicals we apply to our bodies.
Among all races, the Chinese are undeniably the group of people that has beautiful skin and longer lives. If there's one thing I noticed in living for long years in this Chinese country, that's the plethora of herbal ingredients they added to their food, typically to their soup.
This one, for instance, is the black chicken soup with herbs which they usually cook during the cold season. Below are the ingredients to this soup and I wasn't even familiar with them until I searched them on Google.
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When visiting Chinese countries, it is typical to see a wide variety of dried products hanging in several market stalls, and you would probably ask yourself what are those for. I did when I was just new here. The pungent, salty, and distinct smell wafts in this area but is somehow bearable.
I visited the market with Chinese herbs the other day and I questioned myself if these are the secret to a Chinese longer life. Yet, at the same time, I questioned what are those, where they came from, and their names because the majority are unfamiliar to me.
The only part that I am familiar with are the dried mushrooms, dates, beans, nuts, goji berries, dried yam, and other dried seeds for soup. I wonder how many varieties of dried products are here and how long it takes to produce these dried products. I can't even identify most of them, not even the ginseng root.
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These are not just Chinese herbal ingredients, many are dried seafood. Well, Hong Kong people are drawn to their roots and their fondness for dried seafood. Even in most restaurants, Chinese traditional seafood dishes are the most popular.
If I'm not mistaken, these are dried abalone, squid, and clamps.
But since the process of making dried products requires more labor, from harvesting them to the drying process, prices are expectedly high. Would you dare to buy a single fish maw worth a few thousand Hong Kong dollars? I wonder if it's beneficial and worth the cost. The shark's fin for soup, of course, is the most expensive one here in HK.
I was intrigued by these dried sea creatures and I even thought they were worms. Aren't they look exotic? Upon finding out the name, they are actually sea cucumbers. I never tried eating one in my life as I am not a fan of exotic food.
But do you know that this is healthy too?
According to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, sea cucumber is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat fatigue, impotence, constipation, frequent urination, and joint pain. It is also a rich source of chondroitin sulfate, commonly used for arthritis.
Not just sea cucumbers, but all dried products have amazing health benefits, and there are a plethora of dried ingredients in any Chinese place that are typically used in making traditional delicacies, Chinese dishes, and soup.
Aside from Chinese herbal ingredients, dried seafood and preserved products are popular too in Hong Kong.
I do eat dried seafood like dried shrimp, squid, and fish as we have them in our country too. The dried shrimp is good to cook with vegetable recipes like pinakbet. You can click the link to check that Filipino recipe.
The dried squid and fish are some of my bets. We like pairing them with porridge or fried rice for breakfast. I suddenly missed Filipino food from dried seafood.
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Have you tried eating Chinese sausages?
They originated from China and these taste so different from the western sausages we usually buy in the supermarket. We call it Lap Cheong in Cantonese and these come in different varieties. The lighter ones are made from fresh pork, while the darker ones are made from pig liver, and some are duck and turkey liver. I like eating lighter-colored sausage as the darker one has a distinct heavy flavor. Chinese sausages are just one of the special food here in Hong Kong and in other Chinese countries.
What about preserved duck and pork belly?
The preserved duck is called Nanjing salted duck which originated in Nanjing China and came in the 14th century. Meanwhile, the preserved pork belly is called lap yuk or cured pork belly. This is traditionally made in the cold season by hanging and wind-drying pork belly outside. But nowadays, there are ways to make preserved pork belly even at home.
Not just pork belly and duck are being preserved by Chinese people, but also other kinds of meat and even tofu.
Meanwhile, the last part is for fresh and dried tofu, preserved octopus, and beef stripes, and those hung in plastics are dried fish skin and different types of dried products made from tofu.
Drying and preserving food is definitely the best method to prolong the shelf life of food without adding any unhealthy preservatives. We got this from the era when there aren't refrigerators and machines that can preserve food yet. Besides, drying and fermenting food ate undeniably have health benefits as well.
That's all for today's #MarketFriday initiated by @dswigle. If you have stories about markets in your place, don't hesitate to drop them in this Market Friday community.
Happy end of weekdays everyone!
(All photos are mine)
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I am not familiar with most herbal ingredients displayed there but I know Tofu because I have seen Chinese eating it in movies. Of a truth, to live a longer life, it is found in the kind of food we eat especially when we add the herbal mixture of ingredients to it. This is why it is good to eat healthily.
True.. The natural nutrients are what we need to be healthy
Great post! Especially in the past 5 years, I have been digging into the secrets of Chinese secrets to long life. I drink on average 5 cups of Jasmine and Oolong tea daily and buy the leaves from an authentic Chinese shop in Vancouver. Living amongst so many of these shops, I have been itching to know what everything is, how to cook them, and what to cook them with. This post has brought to light many of these items with a crash course on what to do with them. It is a great start - thanks!
It's costly to maintain their diet full of herbs. The ingredients are freaking expensive haha.
@jane1289 I can imagine! The bags of tea are $100 plus lol
I saw those ingredients in Chinese market but never really know how to use them. I always order them from take out. Also, lap cheong is in my list, I hope to try them one day.
You should try you can simply put them on top when cooking rice. It will also give flavor to the rice 😁.. That's what we do here at home.
Wow! This is so so informative and enjoyable to read. I've always knew that the food we consume play a vital role in our overall well-being and reading this just made me more convinced.
The Chinese people are always very conscious of what they consume except few and that is what we don't take seriously here in Africa but then, there is always room for improvements.
The Chinese market is really filled with so many dried things, I've actually wondered why they hang out so many things but now I have a little insight why and it's all thanks to this brilliant #marketfriday post you made.
Thanks for stopping by.. It's fascinating watching them. But mostly looked peculiar and exotic haha
I totally agree with you on that, they do look really exotic and overwhelming too,
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You're welcome Jane! 😉
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It's true sis, eating healthy food is very good. People in the olden days were said to feed purely on natural things, no fast food and they make sure they eat balance diet even though they didn't have much of an education.
Chinese likes fast food too 😂 but more on healthy dishes at home
Ang daming items pero mukhang organized pa rin naman un iba.
Akala ko nung una ahas un sa first pic :D
Haha. May ibang mukhang uud
It makes me dizzy looking at the various dried food ingredients @jane1289 hahaha grabe ang dami naman nyan! Have you learned how and where to use most of those ingredients?
Yung iba oo. Nilalagay namin sa soup. Mostly hndi ko alam 😂. Ang mamahal pa. Haha. Pang soup usually sila..minssn ginagamit sa ibang dish
This is incredible @jane1289! I've always wondered why there are so many "ingredients" in Chinese shops and even in their food. Want to try the different sausages!
Try mo..yung light color lang..yung dark iba lasa haha..bka d mo magustuhan. Masarap ipatong lang sa rice kpg magluto..pati rice lasang sausage haha.
uWu gusto ko sya ma try! ma try nga hanapin dito sa mga chinese resto 😅
here. Thank you so much!Please drop the link to your post in the #MarketFriday comment section
Thank you
Sometimes I wonder how they cook their food. One of the things I observed is that they seem to love long-time cooking and steaming and yes, they add so many herbs and preserved or dried things on their soups!
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Yup.. Slow cooking for soup, then steaming... mas healthy daw kc steaming
Oo daw sis, ma preserve yung nutrients ng pagkain :)
Awww, amazing Jane. Everything was not familiar to me but I wanted to try the dried products. Here in Ph we have a joke every celebration like Pancit for longer life, hehe. I hope all the ingredients are old here. What a great display and I so love it.
Unfortunately, khg pansit limited na lng dn kain ko dhil sa gluten content. so magsoshort tlga life ko 😂..
Wow, such incredibly shops you have there! I can almost smell the aroma of the herbs and dried mushrooms and seaweed. I would love to visit a shop like that some day!
Amazing post! I'm not familiar with most of the food, but it looks very interesting and I'm sure it's healthy. I had no idea that sea cucumbers were in use. The Chinese are an amazing people, I admire them. 😊
For sure they are healthy.. Secret to Chinese people's healthy life haha