2020.01.26 01:07
In Korea, 죽 is generally served to the person with stomach trouble and seldom considered as a regular dish/food, as I know of.
Other than the slang ‘식은죽먹기’ to express the easiness, I really didn’t have much idea with such bland food
until I encountered the Kyoto cuisine/경식 for the breakfast in early ‘90. Indeed, by my surprise, traditional Kyoto/Imperial cuisine,
경식, served a 'white porridge'/흰죽 for the breakfast instead of steamed rice on the first day in Kyoto but soon learned
that they eat this 흰죽 with a few simple side dishes, mostly of pickled vegetable.
Indeed, through the first visit to Kyoto Univ team to get the first-hand experiences on the living related split liver transplant
in 1995 – Kyoto team took the idea from the Chicago group and accomplished world-leading clinical implementation
(in Korea, Asan Hospital group led by Lee SeungKyu, started first to have accumulated the second world largest experiences
after the Kyoto group already when I came to Seoul to set up the program for Samsung Hospital in 1994) - for two weeks,
I started to learn how to enjoy the unique role of 'white porridge'/흰죽 to enhance other food/dishes better than heavy sticky rice-
and whenever I went back to Kyoto, I refused to eat Western breakfast but only the 흰죽.
Soon later, by serendipity, I also learned Chongqing/Szechuan cuisine is famous with 'white porridge (白粥) / 'báizhōu for the breakfast
with such famous Zhacai (짲쪼이), pickled mustard plant stem, you all familiar with. Finally, I figured out this 白粥 is a staple dish
throughout China but called with many different names.
Interestingly, down in South China like Guangzhou and HongKong I visited, I learned they call it ‘congee’( 콘지) - someone told me
it is a Hong Kong dialect and correct term on Cantonese is still ‘jook’! – while in the North, they called it zhōu/jūk (쭈 or 죽) like us.
Here in the U.S., Chinese restaurants post 죽 as ‘congee’ as a part of dim sum as I understand correct.
However, I got a further surprise to learn something I never expected! While I was making regular visit to Chennai as well
as Vellore in India, I was so shocked to figure out such plain rice porridge, 죽 is also called to ‘Kanji’ similar sound to ‘Congee’
throughout Tamil Nadu, South India. They said kanji/콘지is a Tamil word for "boilings", which refers to the porridge.
And you still can see the street vendors selling this porridge made from millet in Tamil Nadu.
So, many claim the word ‘congee’ came from the Tamil word, ‘kanji’, which has been known as a prominent food for Tamil people
of Ancient India, and its English form/pronunciation may have arrived to China via Portuguese traders to call 'congee'.
Indeed, Alumni House of CMC (Christian Medical College) of Vellore where I stay while making regular visits to help my protégé,
Edwin Stephen serves millet-based kanji with a variety of curries/spices as a part of breakfast so that I enjoyed them so much,
always taking a double portion. Besides, when I visited Kerala, Southwestern India, I learned they also serve exactly the same 죽
as the main course particularly for dinner by the majority, referring to Tamil food.
So I reckon Chinese ‘congees’ are NOT a genuine Chinese word but originated from India after all!
And I presume Korean죽(Juk) is also NOT a genuine Korean word but originated from Northern China as well. In Japan,
I believe they call 'okayu' if I remember correct although they write it as ‘粥’ as we do.
Anyhow, ‘congee’ is a national dish presented in different conditions in different regions of China and white congee matches
with almost everything like green vegetables, seafood, chicken or mushrooms, etc to enhance the taste so well.
But I love ‘Cantonese congee’ most with a garden variety of Zhacai (짲쪼이: JA Choy, or cha Tsoi), best known
as pickled Szechwan vegetables - I heard almost all the boats on Yangtze River moving downward from Chongqing carry
only these 짲쪼이/JA Choy to deliver to Shanghai-.
Try it, you will like it!
BB Lee
2020.01.26 02:21
2020.01.27 13:31
In olden days, haven't we originated from Central Asia, dragging our feet easterly along the Altai Mountains,
passing through the Mongolian desert, and walked through Manchuria before settling in Han Peninsula?
So, naturally, the "kimchee and 죽" must have come together along with us.
Having gotten stuck in the blind sac of a peninsula, Koreans must have perfected the art of making the kimchee.
We got addicted to it and can not live without it.
Then, in the modern days, we crossed the Pacific and still eagerly eating the kimchee in America.
It's not just a coincidence that we are about to spread kimchee culture in the New World.
Doc, you could lead us in pioneering and passing our tradition into America.
2020.01.28 05:51
Steve, you are right! Koreans share not only the language of Altaic origin but also common food culture with all the central Asian peoples. Indeed, Korean wonton/만두 is another example sharing same commonality like 죽!
As a matter of fact, I thought the word/pronunciation of 만두/‘Mandu’ is pure Korean term all along since Chinese calls it wonton and Japanese calls it gyoza, in different names. But, I didn’t know it was wrong till I walked in to one Turkish restaurant located in Northern Virginia soon after I got the job up here in Washington DC back in 1978- it is the same restaurant where I had an eye-opening opportunity to learn about Turkish version 김치/turshu – to taste Turkish food for the first time.
From the owner of the restaurant, Swiss-trained fantastic French cuisine chef, Mr. Nizam Özgür, I learned the term Mandu is being shared throughout Central Asia with minor modification of its pronunciation and they call Turkish 만두 to ‘Manti’. Indeed, this 만두/dumpling is very popular with a variety of the contents and dressing, while keeping very similar name to 만두: ‘manty, mantu or manta’ throughout Central Asia depending upon the geographic location.
And, ‘Manti’ is a type of dumpling popular in most Turkic cuisines, generally serving as an appetizer in the Turkish restaurants here in the U.S., and also ‘mantu’ is outstanding dumpling filled with beef or lamb mixed with minced onions and spices - the best of all different dumplings/mandu in the world!! - , many Afghani restaurants serve.
Indeed, ‘manti’ with yogurt base is one famous Bukharan cuisine of Jewish origin, I learned when I visited to Bukhara/Uzbekistan. I also tasted excellent ‘manty’, Kyrgyz version of 만두, while in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. And I am sure many of you already tasted famous ‘manta’, Uyghur version 만두, almost identical to ‘Kyrgyz manty’ but serving with chili sauce on the side, while venturing famous Qianmen Food Streets at night, located next Tienanman Square, mile-long stalls, booths after booths, offering various Chinese cuisines and street foods, all the tourists stop over once who come to visit to Beijing together with Tienanman.
So, many say Turkish migration from the region between northern China and Manchuria - North Eastern corner of Manchuria next to Mongolia- all the way to Anatolia has brought this 만두 / dumpling culture throughout Central Asia, although the Mongol Empire stretched all the way to Eastern Europe from Manchuria through Central Asia would have helped to spread this dumpling, leaving similar name, I speculate.
However, in China, Korean 만두- equivalent ‘wonton’, stuffed with meat, is called to ‘baozi / bao’ and actually what they call as ‘mantou’ refers to plain steamed buns with no filling as you might know. Indeed, the traditional Chinese mantou served as Chinese cuisine is called as Baozi/bao, which is a type of ‘filled bun’/dumpling with various fillings and preparations.
So, I tell you I certainly was able to enjoy all the ethnic foods more when I happened to know about their historical (?) background and such curiosity opened the door to discover another fantastic foods like Polish sausage-based cuisine I enjoyed enormously.
All the best,
BB Lee
P.S. For the colleagues who are not familiar with the linguistic background of Asian ethnic languages, I would like to point out that Korean and Mongolian languages belong to one side of Uralic-Altaic linguistic family while the Hungarians and Finns belong to other/ Finno-Ugric side, opposite side, although they all belong to SOV (Subject, Object, Verb) languages. And, Turkish language is placed into the middle of this diagram - I confess I got this shaky knowledge through one semester I took as the summer class in early ’80 as free, taking advantage on my tenure at Georgetown U before I joined to Hopkins clan-. But I recall some linguists (one Korean linguist?) claims Turkic and Korean language share same sub-branch based on similar phonology and morphology between Turkic and Old Korean language. Indeed, while I visited to Ankara, Turkey, one old professor of Ankara U, who happened to have come to Korea during Korean War as a Turkish soldier, told me that there are many cognates between two languages especially on the words expressing the nature, earth like sky and stars, etc so that these cognates are very helpful to reconstruct the early Turkic language. Further, I learned the second most popular foreign language after English among their graduate school students is Korean language because of same grammar/syntax to let Turkish learn easily within a few days.
I also learned Kimchi is NOT really a genuine Korean invention/food either, like 죽.
Indeed, I learned this pickled vegetable, 김치 is a common staple of ‘preserved vegetable/food’
for the winter season, throughout entire Central Asia extended all the way to Anatolia- in Turkey,
they call their version as Turshu/Torshi, almost identical to 개성 백김치 and keep them through
the winter season in the earthen jar buried under the ground just like us!-. I still remember the best 백김치
I tasted while I was visiting Osh in the Fergana Valley of Kyrgyzstan in Year 2,000 October,
to watch the celebration of 3,000 year anniversary of the silk road. The taste was just perfect
with the right degree of sourness and also the crispiness better than Jewish pickle, I tell you.
BB Lee