Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories
Lorraine Clissold
Language: English
Pages: 256
ISBN: 184529842X
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
A favourite Chinese greeting is Ni chi fan le ma? - Have you eaten yet? Unlike many in the West, the Chinese see food not as a chore to prepare and source of unwanted calories, but a health-giving pleasure. In 16 short, captivating chapters, Lorraine Clissold explains why the Chinese can eat as much as they want without worrying about their weight. With examples and recipes, Lorraine shows how the Chinese balance their diet by satisfying their taste buds with five flavours, by eating a mixture of staple foods and carefully prepared dishes, and by making sure they eat the right proportions of solids, liquids and hot and cold foods.
to buy is not a fraction as important as what you are able do with it. All the white cabbage varieties are greatly enhanced by a touch of ginger and chilli or sweet and sour seasonings. Dried chilli spices up both the green and the white types and can also be used with Western spring greens or kale. Cabbage needs to be well cooked, until the leaves wilt, but overcooking makes the flavour too strong. Cumin can add a depth of flavour and helps digestion. Stir-fried cabbage in China is often
with lightly scrambled egg and bright green Chinese chives. But they didn’t really pay attention until I demonstrated a lamb stir-fry. Are the English too conservative for soya beans or are the margins much better on lamb, I wondered. Enjoying sumptuous evening meals and lots of wine in Beijing’s top restaurants, my clients outlined the eating habits of the typical British consumer. People who want to ‘be good’, the euphemism for losing weight, or eat what they regard as healthy options, do so
minutes, to thicken, and then add additional liquid until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Add extra salt to taste, mix well, remove from the heat and serve. eight Master your ingredients ‘Every ingredient has its own special qualities just as different persons are differently endowed. ’ YUAN MEI (1716. 1798) A visiting chef once cooked pig’s feet for my children’s tea. I had asked him to teach me authentic Chinese dishes, so when the pink trotters emerged from his backpack there
buy a bunch if I saw it, since during my fourth pregnancy I had learned that watercress is a good source of folic acid. One day I asked the stallholder how Chinese people usually cook it. ‘Only ever in soup, usually with pork,’ she explained firmly. ‘And you must bring the water to the boil first or it will taste bitter. Then simmer on a low heat for up to three hours. ’ She was obviously concerned by my look of amazement: ‘Oh, and add some tangerine peel; it’s a very cold vegetable you know. ’
the balance of yin and yang, is weak which is why you cannot control your temperature or tolerate hot drinks. And you are often cold because your qi is not flowing smoothly. Sam is young so he still has a plentiful supply of qi to keep him warm, but as people get older their supply gets weaker, especially if they don’t work to conserve it,’ he explained. ‘Qi deficiency leads to weak blood, which is why your blood pressure is low rather than high and you also have problems with varicose veins and