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China has a large population
and the richest and most varied natural landscapes
in the world.
Plateaus,
forests,
lakes,
coastlines,
These various geographical features and climate conditions
have helped to form and preserve widely different species.
No other country has so many
potential food sources as China.
By collecting,
fetching,
digging,
hunting and fishing,
people have acquired abundant gifts from nature.
Traveling through the four seasons,
we'll discover a story about nature and the people
behind delicious foods.
A Gift of Nature
Shangri-la, Yunnan
In the ancient forest nestled by snowy mountains
the air is wet and cool in the rainy season.
(Shangri-la, Yunnan)
It's not easy
to catch up with Danzhen Zhuoma
in the forest of pines and oaks.
Zhuoma and her mother are looking
for an elf-like food.
Zhuoma has found matsutake under the pine needles.
It is a precious and edible fungus,
only surviving in certain high-altitude mountain areas
that are free of pollution.
We can usually only find
one matsutake per kilometer.
Danzhen Zhuoma
Its canopy has already opened.
It's not a good one.
Matsutake yields were once high,
but the price was low.
Its production has fallen this year,
while the price has surged.
Matsutake is expensive.
At restaurants in the big cities,
a dish of roast matsutake costs 1,600 yuan.
Matsutake has an intense scent.
After being lightly roasted,
its spicy, mineral-like fragrance floats out.
People who live far from nature
regard the matsutake as some kind of treasure.
Jidi Village sits in the center
of the matsutake production area in Shangri-la.
It's already empty
before 3 a.m.
Villagers who are able to climb mountains
are out searching for the amazing mushroom.
If we are late,
the others won't leave us a chance.
We won't find any matsutake,
because the others will have had picked them all.
Zhuoma and her mother will hike
to the ancient forest 20 kilometers away.
Even to the villagers familiar with the forest,
to find matsutake is completely by luck.
High grade matsutake hides deep in the earth.
The mother is looking for a pit
she concealed two days ago.
Under the earth,
a new matsutake is growing.
But it's small due to a lack of rain.
Mother cares more about looking for matsutake
than her own health.
I'm a little worried that
one day she might faint while in the mountain.
She is getting old.
Yak butter fried matsutake
is common in the matsutake production area.
Melt yak butter in a black clay pan,
then add the slices of matsutake.
The slices are dried rapidly in hot oil,
and the fragrance is released.
Such luxurious food materials
need only to be cooked simply.
Tibetans didn't like matsutake before,
because of its strange taste.
Matsutake used to be very cheap,
but recent years,
its price has shot up.
To earn 10,000 yuan in one summer,
herdsmen have to work hard in the rainy season.
Matsutake prices are strictly based on grades.
The Matsutake products are divided into 48 grades
before being sold.
This one can be rated as Grade 1.
It's quite good and big.
Matsutake can keep fresh for 3 days at most,
so merchants process it as delicately
and as quickly as possible.
A matsutake like this
can be originally purchased for 80 yuan.
And 6 hours later,
it will appear at a super market in Tokyo
priced at 700 yuan.
Zhuoma is waiting with the crowds.
She is anxious
because her matsutake isn't so good.
Others reaped much more matsutake than I did,
so I'm quite uneasy and anxious.
Over the past day, Zhuoma and her mother walked
for 11 hours in the mountain,
but earned very little.
After the rainy season,
all the matsutake will be gone.
The family looks forward to a lucky day tomorrow.
There are only two seasons in Yunnan,
rainy season and dry season.
Every year starting from November,
dry and warm winds rise on the land,
blowing hard for the next six months.
Not until the end of May,
will rain full upon Shangri-la in Diqing Prefecture.
Mushrooms in the ancient forest
begin to shoot up after the heavy rain.
But only matsutake
is of interest to Zhuoma and her mother.
Heavy rain is a gift from nature.
Everyone works hard,
but fortune brings Zhuoma a better harvest.
After digging up the matsutake,
Zhuoma conceals the pit
with pine needles.
Only in this way
can the hypha be preserved.
To ensure sustainable yields,
Tibetans follow the law of the forest.
Matsutake is unique in flavor.
It became a popular delicacy just 30 years ago.
On the menu of traditional Chinese cuisine,
there is another dainty food growing in mountains.
The cubes of fresh winter bamboo shoots,
after being cooked in deep fat
with various spices, will be a widely popular dish
in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces.
In China,
many people rely on bamboo forests.
They are also bamboo shoot experts.
Mao Bamboo needs to be planted
away from mulberries and pines,
otherwise they won't grow well
or produce bamboo shoots.
Bao is a Zhejiang native.
The biggest-ever bamboo shoot is Suichang
was harvested in his bamboo forest.
The winter bamboo shost hides in the earth,
and is hard to find on the surface.
But Bao can easily locate the bamboo shoot
by only observing the color of bamboo leaves.
Under the lifeless earth,
a bamboo shoot is silently growing.
The winter bamboo shoot is seasonal and hard to preserve.
After being peeled,
it leaves little left to be cooked.
Chinese chefs love it
because it is single-grained,
able to easily absorb the flavor of added garnishes.
In particular, it can help attain a flavor balance
when being cooked with greasy fatty meat.
Ban always looks for 4-year-old bamboo plants
before locating bamboo shoots.
Digging along the subterranean stem
and picking the shoots gently are necessary to prevent the roots from being harmed.
Cncered with earth,
the harvested shoots can be preserved
for over two weeks in a natural way.
1,500 kilometers southwest
of eastern Zhejiang,
a lush summer falls on a bamboo forest in Liuzhou.
(Liuzhou, Guangxi)
Guangxi native Ye Yaliang
manages a bamboo forest that produces large, sweet bamboo shoots.
The most tender bamboo shoots
can be harvested between
mid-June and mid-September.
Bamboo shoots will solidify shortly after breaking through the soil.
They turn old and bitter if not dug up in time.
Ye's forest yields the rhizome shoot that grows in summer.
It's not as tender as the winter bamboo shoot,
bet it is the main ingredient
for making Liuzhou Sour Bamboo Shoot.
Sour Bamboo Shoot in made under the guidance of an ancestral recipe.
I'm the eldest grandson,
so I've inherited the cooking skill.
Braised yellow croaker with soybean and sour bamboo shoot
has an authentic Guangxi flavor.
Deep-fry tiny yellow croakers first,
then cook them with soybeans and the sour bamboo shoots in oil.
The dish is a great appetizer.
The sour bamboo shoot is also an ingredient
for cooking Snail Rice-flour Noodles,
a local snack in Liuzhou.
Ye's sweet bamboo shoots
have reached a respiration peak
two hours after being reaped.
Four hours later,
they will begin to soften and rot.
Ye and his family work faster.
Every day, Ye checks the jars containing sour bamboo shoots
before going to sleep.
(Ye Yaliang)
Under the lamp, he checks the processed shoots.
His son says there will be customers tomorrow.
But the shoots won't be ready for another 3 days.
Ye plans to turn away the customers.
Bao is cooking soup with winter bamboo shoots.
The salted pork and bamboo shoots,
with a half-and-half proportion,
will be fried before being simmered
in soup stock.
The two flavors melt together.
Originally, the soup, Pickled Tuk Fresh,
was cooked with Spring bamboo shoots.
But Bao has instead used Suichang winter bamboo shoot
that is 20 times more expensive.
In his eyes,
the vegetables are common
in his bamboo forest.
Every lunar February,
the spring bamboo shoot succeeds the winter shoot
as the main ingredient for making the soup.
Besides fresh food materials,
some spices used to season delicacies
also come from nature.
In Nuodeng Mountain area in northern Dali,
(Dali, Yunnan)
The eye-catching red sandstones are the home
to many natural salt wells.
The salt is indispensable for making a delicacy in the mountain.
The process to make Blond Sausage won't last long.
One week is always enough.
Yunnan natives Huang and his son, Shujiang
are building a cooking stove by a stream.
They build such a stove every winter
to cook salt.
Brine is needed for the salt cooking process.
The salt well has been here
for over 1,000 years.
The salt will help
make a local specialty.
It's so nice.
Experienced Huang recognizes
it's a mature Nuodeng ham.
It was salted 3 years ago,
and has been air-dried completely.
Over the course of three years,
the fat in the ham oxidized, and created a unique flavor.
The ham will be cut into parts before cooking.
Each part can be cooked differently.
Meat attached to bones is the best.
Hams over 3 years old can be eaten rare.
Stir-fried ham with asparagus lettuce
needs well-marbled ham meat
and fresh asparagus lettuce.
Garlic is added to season the dish.
Local dishes are always cooked with both meat and vegetables.
As the temperature rises at mid-day
more salt exudes
from the earth surrounding the well,
attracting the animals nearby.
Shujiang has been cooking for 4 hours
and the salt has gradually crystallized.
(Huang Shujiang)
The potassium in the salt is good for health.
With a mild taste,
the salt is perfect for making hams.
The mold helps weigh a certain amount of salt.
The precise weighing measure proves that
salt used to be the most important commodity here.
Huang and his son
came to a winter market in Yanlong County
to select pork for ham making.
Pigs growing on the plateau are different.
Top-rated Nuodeng hams contain
a moderate amount of fat.
Fried rice with ham is cooked
by mixing rice evenly with diced ham in a hot pan
which makes the fragrances
of rice and meat melt together.
The dish tastes best when hot.
Every year, hams are made between the winter solstice
and the "Great Cold" of the Chinese lunar calendar.
At an elevation of 1,800 meters,
Nuodeng sits where a river turns in a valley.
The wet and warm climate
helps ferment the hams.
It takes much longer than one or two days
to salt a ham.
After being salted for a month,
it will be hung up and air-dried.
Huang and his son salt hams
in their old yard.
The climate on the mountain keeps changing.
A cold, sunny day
is the best time to make hams.
Shujiang has 10 years of ham-making experence.
But he is still less skilled than his father.
Yes, do it like this.
Salt it evenly.
Press hard. Put more salt on.
Besides his instructions,
comprehension is also important.
The processes of rubbing,
blood discharging, salt spreading,
and the amount of salt needed all depends on my own judgment.
It's simple to salt the hams.
Just spread self-made Nuodeng salt evenly on the ham,
and press it repeatedly.
Huang cherishes every grain of the salt
due to its complex cooking process.
People today no longer take salt seriously.
Advanced transportation and technology
have make salt common and cheap.
But in our eyes,
Nuodeng salt is still a gift bestowed by nature.
The river valley becomes warm and wet.
And over 1,000 hams
begin to mildew.
The mold
pushes hams into a deep fermentation process.
The dainty delicacy in the mountain
is gradually maturing.
In October,
autumn falls on the plain areas in Hubei and Hunan.
In Hubei, the water level of the lakes
close to the Yangtze begin to drop.
The laws of nature provide people
with an opportunity to reach the bottoms of the lakes.
Every year, brothers Shengwu and Maorong
come to Jiayu
for a hard job
when the water level drops.
New opportunities and challenges
are waiting for them.
The brothers
are going to dig up a delicious vegetable.
It grows
deep in the silt
and is difficult to dig out.
Here's another one.
It's more to this side.
This gem Maorong has dug out is a lotus root,
a high-yield vegetable that grows in lakes.
I built my house and provided for my kids to go to school
with the money I earned doing this.
Excellent physical condition
is necessary for the work.
It requires a strong body.
People who are not so strong
are incapable of digging through the silt.
So they have to give up.
It needs patience and skill
to dig up a complete lotus root.
Locate it first and figure out its length,
and then clear away the silt around it, bit by bit.
If it is broken and contaminated with silt,
the value will be ruined.
So workers must be very careful
to dig the root out without breaking it.
Lotus root is rich in starch.
Hubei natives are good at cooking it.
A fried lotus root sandwich is always cooked this way:
peel the skin, cut it into thin slices,
place minced meat stuffing evenly
in between two slices.
Dip the raw sandwich in flour paste
and fry until it turns golden.
Lotus root is a kind of natural food
that demands a lot of human labor.
So it has more added value
than any other vegetable.
The only way to get lotus root
is to harvest it by manpower.
No matter how large a lake is,
lotus root cannot be harvested by machine.
When harvest season comes,
workers leave their hometowns
for the production areas.
Every year, Maorong and Shengwu
work away from home for 7 months.
It's a comfortable salary that attracts them to do the job.
They understand that
the harder the job is, the more money they will earn.
Before last Spring Festival,
the price of lotus root shot up,
attracting more workers to Jiayu.
My waist hurts, one of my arms aches,
and one of my legs is tingling.
My stomach also hurts.
My wife has urged me
to take good care of myself.
We certainly hope the price can be higher
only for the sake of our livelihood
and earnings.
The workers like cold weather-
Not because the cold can make the work easier,
but because on cold days,
more people cook lotus root soups,
which can create a price hike.
Hubei people usually use lotus root to cook soup.
In Wuhan and other parts in central Hubei,
Stewed ribs with lotus root is a common dish.
Nearly all local households
cook this soup once or twice every month.
Put pork rib cubes in an earthenware pot,
then simmer them on slow heat
for an hour in the boiled soup.
After adding in peeled lotus root cubes,
use high heat until the soup boils.
It will be finished after being stewed for another half an hour.
It's us that have dug them out.
When we see lotus roots at markets,
we get a special feeling.
It's us that dug them out,
right?
We certainly feel that way.
We feel close to them.
5 more months are still needed
to finish the harvest in the lake.
At the Zhen Lake,
300 professional workers
work from sunrise to sunset every day.
In Hubei, abundant in freshwater lakes,
the same scene takes place every year.
(Chagan Lake, Jilin Province)
Several months later,
thousands of miles away,
on Chagan Lade of Jilin Province,
a group of professional fishermen start their work season.
Dry air
and extreme cold
have frozen the lakes
on the Gorlos Grassland.
But a bountiful harvest
is approaching.
At a restaurant in Beijing,
chefs are making
the most popular dish,
Bread Soaked in Fish Head Soup.
The big fish head comes from the Northeast,
hundreds of kilometers away.
Without being fried,
the fish head will be stewed
for 25 minutes
in a big pot with soup stock.
Chefs make the freshly-cooked pancake side dish.
The dish will be ready after the broth is well absorbed.
The fish head dish is a favorite speciality of Chinese people?
High quality fish heads
are more expensive than fresh fish.
At 4:00 a.m.,
fishermen set out early for Chagan Lake.
Armed with cotton socks, boots
and hats made of dog skin,
They are heading
to the previously chosen fishing spot.
It's not land underneath them,
but a frozen lake.
The grooms are very afraid
of unfrozen cracks.
If stepping on, the men and their horses
will fall in the water and probably loss their lives.
Which is the right direction?
Nobody dares to say.
The gamble will last for hours
and is only to be won by those with rich experience.
It's a sunny day.
Oxygen in the water increases
and the fish crowd together.
A 2,000-meter fish net quickly sinks to the bottom.
At such a low temperature,
fish keep still.
But, a failure in locating the fish
may bring a bad luck streak
that lasts for days.
Fishermen are working
in silence.
Anxiety and nervousness shroud the lake.
The thick clothes make people move slowly
even when doing simple work.
The chief fisherman cares most about
his accuracy of judgment.
Because it concerns
his reputation and pride.
(*** Baozhu)
Fish is an everyday dish here.
77-year-old *** Baozhu
is experienced
and famous here.
I have been engaged in this
since I was 15 years old.
I'm 77 years old.
How many years do you think I've been doing this?
I have never stopped this work,
or left the water or the fish.
That's enough for today.
I have work to do
at the frozen lake.
Fishermen are setting up a capstan on the ice.
A rope has been wound around the capstan.
Horses are driven
to pull the 2,000 meter-long net under the ice.
The breathtaking moment arrives.
Under the icy surface,
the fish net moves slowly.
The scene indicates that
the sunshine is moderate
and the thickness of ice is proper.
But can it promise that fish are nearby?
Spring Festival is approaching.
In tradition,
there would be a sacrifice for the lake and fish.
Tourism and commercial operations
make the ceremony more grand.
*** will play a leading role
in the performance.
Though the ritual
has been changed a lot
*** still prays piously to the lake god
for a good harvest next year.
Eight hours later,
It's the time to pull out the net.
Come out, fish!
The entire load of fish has been extracted.
The lucky locals
have received generous gifts from nature once again.
The moment arouses people's thoughts and feelings.
The fishermen are excited
at the big, fat fishes.
But no one notices that
there are no tiny fish
weighing less than 2 kilos in the net.
Only *** knows
it's a strict rule among the fishermen
that has been passed on for generations.
Each mesh of the fish net is 20cm in diameter.
The specific design enables the net
to only trap fish over 5 years old.
The young fish
are able to escape.
As the Gorlos Mongol saying goes,
"Always leave something for the next hunt."
It's a sound principle.
We must do it every year.
We must abide by the long-lasting tradition.
It represents a wish for an annual surplus.
Let's take all the fish home today.
Let's do nothing but enjoy fish and alcohol tonight.
The big fish just caught
is to be cooked at ***'s family
for the dinner on the lunar New Year's Eve.
Traditionally,
it's a rich feast of fish.
Fish is the main ingredient
of all the dishes.
***'s son-in-law cooks well
and will serve the whole family.
He exhausts his ability to complete all 14 dishes
on the feast menu.
The main dish is Stewed Fishes
seasoned with a special sauce in the Northeast.
First, stew the bighead carp thoroughly,
then add in several other fishes one by one.
The combination represents
the straightforward character of the locale.
Children accompany the elders for a drink
after a tough and busy year.
This is sashimi.
This is whitebait,
Wuchang fish,
and fish meat cubes.
The scent of various fish
fills the night of the little fishing village.
Gifts from the lakes
have nourished the residents nearby;
While the ocean
is an even more important source of food the Chinese rely on.
On the three islands of Guangxi
inhabited by Jing ethnic groups
the fishermen used to fish on stilts.
Fish usually swarm in the morning and evening
when the southwest monsoon dominates.
By casting the fish net
while standing on stilts,
the fishermen can efficiently catch fish
in the shallow sea.
Facing the sea,
people couldn't help
but sigh over the shrinking availability of natural resources.
Today, the once prosperous fishing method can be only seen in folklore performances.
These are the last five men capable of the stunt
in Wanwei Jing ethnic village.
To the seaside residents,
the deep ocean is more attractive.
China has a coastline of 18,000 kilometers.
The further the fishermen are away from land,
the more dangerous the task.
After praying at the Mazu Temple,
the fishermen will set out.
Hainan native Lin Hongqi is to captain the boat.
It's winter.
Diesel, fresh water and food
have been loaded on Lin's boat.
It's reedy to sail.
Of the 20 crew members aboard,
all are young or middle-aged.
The decreasing numbers of fish
make fishing much more difficult.
But Lin knows that
nature won't satisfy man all the time.
Sometimes man has to take his chance.
Lin catches a wolffish at evening.
We can see its emerald green bones
after it's been cut open.
The fish is tasty enough
after simply being boiled.
Instant noodles
and the fish make for a pleasant supper.
But Lin isn't having a relaxed supper.
Fishes are attracted to light.
After toiling for two hours,
they've gotten nothing
but some jellyfish.
It comes as no surprise.
But the captain is under greater pressure.
If they're still fruitless half a month later,
Lin must take the responsibility.
Mackerel is the main food
for the sailors out at sea.
The salted fish can be preserved
for a long time.
Fish heads and tails can be cooked with pickled cabbage
into a tasty soup.
There are 22 islands and 7 shoals
Fishermen fishing around the Xisha Islands
have to go ashore in bad weather.
Deep-sea fishing costs a lot.
Lin has gone out to sea
twice this year,
ultimately losing tens of thousands of yuan.
They have gotten nothing
since departure.
Lin is under great pressure.
The crew places their hopes on him.
He is the captain,
responsible for locating fish shoals.
Traveling long distances within one day,
the people who depend on the sea finally
received generous gifts from nature once again.
But
pelagic fishing only runs 6 months a year.
There's no time to be lost.
The fishermen have a unique way
to celebrate the harvest:
a rich feast of fish.
The decocted mackerel can retain its origina1 flavor
after being cooked alone.
Chizi fish tastes good after being braised with garlic.
Shell fish has the fine quality of making soup
with sour bamboo shoot.
The dishes retain the original flavor of seafood.
Lin returns with an entire bost of fish.
But he knows it will be a short stay.
Only time can see how human beings
will adapt to the changing ocean.
Zhuoma and her monther have earned 5,000 yuan
in the matsutake harvest season.
Their hard work has paid off.
In the evening,
Shengwu pulls the boat ashore.
He is going to cover today's harvest
with a tarp.
*** comes to the ice-covered lake
on the lunar New Year's Day.
250,000 kilos of baby fish will be put
into the lake at Spring.
He is looking forward to another harvest.
When we enjoy delicacies,
we should appreciate the people
who make this happen through their hard work and wisdom.
Nature tends to be generous
and forthcoming with her rewards for man.
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