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The food culture in Hong Kong and Taiwan

Tsang, Chun-yee, George.; 曾俊儀. Tsang, C. G. [曾俊儀]. (2003). The food culture in Hong Kong and Taiwan. (Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.5353/th_b2951899 2003

http://hdl.handle.net/10722/31186

The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works.

1.

Introduction

Different cities and countries have different ‘food culture’,which can reflect their ethnicity and even nationalism and it is one of the most interesting anthropological topic.

Food and the joy of eating are very significant in Chinese culture. Chinese

always say “To the people foodstuff is all-important” (民以食為先) and one of the most common friendly greeting among Chinese is “Have you eaten yet?” (吃了飯沒 有 ﹖ ).

Taiwan and Hong Kong were chosen because they are both greatly

influenced by Chinese culture and they both had Colonial history, Which shaped their distinctiveness.

In this paper I am going to compare and contrast the food and

culture in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The recent changes in the two cities, compared

with the traditional Chinese culture will also be investigated.

Moreover, some

invented foods, which can represent the ‘new identity’ of the two cities will be mentioned and finally the identity crisis caused by globalization and other factors is being discussed.

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2.

What is food culture?

Food is one of the basic needs of human being and the study of food culture is an interesting topic in anthropology. Culture, as a body of learned behaviors common to a given human society, acts rather like a template, shaping behavior and consciousness within a human society from generation to generation.

It is suggested

that food-related practices, similar to other kinds of social action, are embedded in the biological and ecological context, and are shaped tby economic, political, religious, ideological and emotional relationships between people. (Cwiertka, 2001).

That is

why different countries, cities and even ethnic groups possess different distinct food and culture.

To compare the food culture in Taiwan and Hong Kong, we have to

understand the traditional food and culture in China first.

It is because both cities are

dominated by Chinese and many Chinese customs rituals are still followed in the two cities. On the other hand, having different history and interactions, both cities have created their own distintiveness in food culture.

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3.

The Traditional Chinese food and culture in the two cities

Chinese people always believe that nothing is more important than eating, “food and sex is Man’s basic instinct” and “Be rich for three generation before you know how to eat and wear”, which reflects the important status of food in Chinese mind. In another point of view, we can see people eat more or less the same food within any one society and the great majority most likely agree on what are the most favorable foods.

It is stated, “each culture has its own culinary guidelines of acceptability and

their particular cuisine becomes a statement of their identity, of their distinctiveness as a culture” (MacClancy, 1992:1). Moreover, “culture” can be used as a classificatory sense implying the pattern or style of behavior of a group of people who share the same food habits and peoples of different cultures shares different assemblages of food variables (Chang, 1977). So looking at the foods and the ways people eat in Taiwan and Hong Kong, their identity or culture can then be distinguished.

The

eating habits and customs would even reflect the beliefs and philosophies of the people in the two cities.

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3.1 The Classification of Chinese Cusines:

China, with a long history and large population, is a country where the preparation of food has been developed to the highest level. It is also stated that the most important aspect of the Chinese food culture is the importance of food itself in Chinese cuisine since few other cultures are as food oriented as the Chinese (Chang, 1977).

The cooking of food is considered as an art with many facets of Chinese

cuisine.

Traditionally, Chinese cuisine can be roughly divided into North and South.

The Northern region has a distinct Mongolian influence with a characteristic of nomadic simplicity of the fire pot.

There is an emphasis on breads, noodles and

soybeans in the North because of the absence of rice. On the other hand, the South is a rich agricultural portion of China, Cantonese food as a representative, highlights fresh seafood and fruit.

Rice with the by-products of noodles, cakes and congee,

plays an important role in the diet of Southern region.

It is a staple and its

abundance is a symbol of prosperity and life (Kog-Hwang, I-Ling, 1991:63). There is a big difference about the diets between Northern and Southern China, that is, the dishes made by Northern Chefs are in heavier taste and those are comparably light in Southern recipes.

People say that it is tasty as “sweet” and “fresh” in Southern

Chinese food. The western/southern mountain regions of Hunan and Szechuan are

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famous for their spicy foods.

In a more specify way of classification, Chinese

cuisine could be divided into eight major styles of food preparation.

They are

Shandung, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Guangdung, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan and Anhui. Such differentiation is based on provincial variations in climate, food products and the customs of each place (Kog-Hwang, I-Ling, 1991:7).

Different Chinese cuisine can

easily be tasted in both Taiwan and Hong Kong.

3.2 The traditional food and culture:

3.21 Eating tool and habits: Chinese from different regions including Taiwan and Hong Kong share the same culture of using chopsticks (in Chinese: Kuai zi) as a tool to eat. I t is recorded that chopsticks were developed about 5,000 years ago in China, probably because people cooked their food in large pots, which held heat for a long time with hasty eater breaking twigs off trees to retrieve the food.

Chinese also like to chop the food into

pieces in cooking, which is small enough that they negated the need for knives at the meal table.

Chopsticks then became a staple utensil for Chinese people. Moreover,

the great philosopher, Confucius who is a vegetarian, advised people not to use knives at the table because it would remind people of the slaughterhouse, has a great

11

influence on Chinese eating habits. Moreover, knife and fork are considered bearing sort of violence, like cold weapons while chopsticks reflect gentleness and benevolence (the main moral teaching of Confucianism).

It is also suggested that to

sweep the cooked grains into the mouth, and to serve the cut-up morsel of the meat-and-vegetable dishes chopsticks have proved more service able than hands and other instrument e.g. forks and knives (Chang, 1977).

These specify “culture” with

the symbol of “civilized” actually had spread from China to other Asian countries including Vietnam, Korea and Japan.

It is very common to see people eating with

chopsticks in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

There are superstitions associated with chopsticks in both cites too. Dropping chopsticks in a meal will probably bring you bad luck.

If you find an uneven pair at

your table setting, it means you are going to miss a boat, plane or train. crossed chopsticks are permissible in a Chinese teahouse.

However,

The waiter will cross

them to show that your bill has been settled and you can also do the same to show the waiter that you have finished and are ready to pay the bill.

A polite way to ask for

the teapot to be refilled with fresh hot water is lifting the lid off and balance it in the handle or simply letting it hang loose by the cord that binds it to the pot.

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You may be surprised to see people tapping the table with three fingers in a Teahouse. It is another yum cha ritual, which has an historic origin. It is suggested that a Qing Dynasty emperor went out for inspection visit in South China. went into a teahouse with his companions.

He once

For preserving his anonymity, he took a

turn at not to have done so would have revealed his special status.

All his

companions were shocked and want to “kowtow” to him for the great honor. So the king told them to tap three fingers on the table instead of kowtow.

One finger

represented their bowed head while the other two were prostate arms.

So people

follow this action as a silent expression of gratitude to the member of the party who has refilled their cup in South China.

3.22 Festival food and food symbolism: There is some special snack or the festival food will be made during Chinese festivals, such as Sweet-Stick Cake and Turnip Pastry in Lunar New Year, Glutinous Rice Tamale in Dragon Boat Festival, Moon Cake In Middle Autumn Festival and Steamed Buns to the Birthday person etc.

Foods are given different special meanings in China, so that in certain occasion some specific individuals can, only eat a kind of food, and a kind of food must be

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eaten in specific occasion.

Long noodle is the symbol fo longevity, youngsters or

seniors all will have a bowl of long life noodle to expect a long and healthy life. In Central and Southern China, if a baby is born, his father will send Red Boiled Egg to announce the news.

It is usually an even number, like six or eight eggs with a black

point dotted on the one end will be delivered for a boy while an odd number like five or seven without black point for a girl.

Fish is also considered to have a special meaning.

It is always served to

symbolize prosperity and wealth accumulation in the New Year’s Eve.

There are

other foods and snacks symbolizing good wishes under special circumstances like wedding and funeral too.

3.23

Food and medicine: Food Therapy has a long history of more than 3000 years in China. It is the

most basic treatment of Chinese medicine in preventing and curing disease.

It is a

product of accumulated experience from generation to generation by using selected food ingredients and herbs in deriving the necessary nutrients to treat specific health conditions.

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Eating foods with special medicinal effects to meet our health conditions is one of the most effective ways in promoting good health. Many people in Taiwan and Hong Kong eat according to this philosophy. Some even familiar with the principles of traditional Chinese Medicine like “If there is heat, cool it; if there is cold, warm it; if there is dryness, moisten it; if there is dryness, moisten it; if there is dampness, dry it; if there is vacuity, supplement it; if there is excess, drain it.” – Neijing; The Yellow Emperor’s Classics of Internal Medicine (王帝內經)

The Chinese view of our body is similar to that of the universe. When the system of our body is in balance, we have good health. dominates, we become sick. external or internal.

When any one extreme

The conditions that upset our body’s balance can be

The external factors include wind, cold, summer heat, dampness,

dryness and fire, which are all induced by the change of season and climate.

While

the internal factors affecting our imbalance are emotions, the retention of phlegm, stagnant blood flow and bad diet. They would also cause internal excess of wind, cold, dampness, dryness and fire. It was believed that the external factors invade our body through the mouth, nose or skin.

If excesses are not suppressed quickly, they

can become internal excess and are more difficult to cure.

Nevertheless, Yin and

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Yang is the underlying principles of Chinese philosophy and medicine. Good health is believed to come from a balance of Yin (negative, dark, and feminine) and Yang (positive, bright, and masculine). Most of the people in Taiwan and Hong Kong know that Chinese medicine emphasizes treating the root of the problem instead of just curing the symptoms.

The treatment usually takes longer but the healing effects

are more complete and permanent.

3.24 Eating wild animals: Since Chinese blend food and medicine into one thing and food therapy’s goal sometimes is not only to maintain the body’s balance, but also to strengthen weak organs.

So it is quite common to see people eating wild animals in Chinese societies

in order to strengthen their health.

Guangdong is known for its consumption of

snakes, turtles, a range of birds, assorted rodents and wild animals, even dogs and cats. The emphasis is on delicacies and variety.

However, “freshness” is utmost.

As a

result, animals are purchased live and either butchered on the spot or in the buyer’s kitchen.

Endangered animals such as seals and tigers have been hunted for thousands of years for their presumed healing qualities in traditional Chinese medicine.

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Ground-up tiger bone is used as a pain reliever while the velvet of reindeer and the genitals of male seals are used to enhance sexual performance. (Pinch 2002) Chinese herbalists even think that rhino and other horns (e.g. buffalo horn) could indeed lower fever feverish temperatures. Moreover, the gall bladder of the bear, has a wide range of uses including treating convulsion, conjunctivitis, fertile diseases, chronic summer diarrhea, hemorrhoids and pain. (Williams 1998)

Not all the

animals mentioned above can be eaten in Taiwan and Hong Kong but most of the products made of wild animals can be brought in the two cities.

The use of wild

animals especially those threatened and declining species as traditional Chinese medicine, has become a major conservation issue now.

One of the most famous

Taiwan’s tourist attraction is the Snake Alley in Huahsi Street (華西街). Many reports show that tourists have been criticizing for being too cruel and bloodthirsty for the public slaughter of snakes and soft-shelled turtles on the streets. (Kuo 2000)

It

deeply damaged the international image of Taiwan even though the government claimed that eating snakes and turtles is a traditional custom and cannot place a ban on the livelihood of vendors who sell snake ad turtles dishes.

3.25 Eating pets: To many people, dog and cat is their lovely pet.

However, many Chinese like

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eating dog and cat meat in the winter because they believe it keeps them warm and healthy. It is also believed that meat from a black dog was the most valued since it was used to drive away evil spirits.

Most of the dogs and cats are bred in farms

where most never leave their cages. At the markets, they are killed by electrocution. Others are hanged then beaten as they tortured or killed in other ways.

Cats are

usually boiled and some even alive, in large pressure cookers to produce a tonic that supposedly cures ailments. instruments.

Some may be killed with hammers or other killing

It is reported that the dog meat trade is a highly profitable and

expanding business, especially in South China. Raising dogs for food is three times as more profitable than poultry and four times more profitable than pigs. Most of the cities in China, the demand for dog meat outstrips supply. That is why China has plans for expanding the dog meat trade into Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Korea.

Although it is legal in killing and eating dogs in Mainland China, the practice was banned in Hong Kong as early as 1950. (BBC news 4th August 2002) cats and dogs are not allowed in Hong Kong.

Eating

If people want to taste these foods,

they can only go to the nearby Chinese city – Shenzhen! In Taiwan, eating cats and dogs is allowed and the people are always criticized as barbaric and facing international protests and boycotts. In recent years, the Taiwan government wanted

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to enact a similar ban like that in Hong Kong, which is compatible with international trends. (Kuo 2000) 4. The food and culture in Taiwan

Taiwan is a place dominated by immigrants from different Chinese provinces. People brought their typical taste preferences, ways of cooking and traditions to Taiwan, together with the interaction of aboriginal tastes, Japanese influence (colonial control in the past) and its own evolution, established a representative food culture.

4.1 Taiwanese food and ethnicity:

In 1949 KMT government retreated to Taiwan together with the cuisines from different regions of Mainland China, especially the eight main cuisines.

Ethnic

groups usually form their customs and practices from elements of their traditional cultures, including language and speech, religion, home decorations, dress and food. So specific cultural pattern often appear to be the “natural”, inevitable, or only possible products of the traditional culture.

Over time, it becomes difficult to

distinguish or recognize the created character of ethnicity (Tuchman and Levine, 93). The import of mainland food interacted with Taiwan local cuisines and the later

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invented cuisines, contributed to the new Taiwan’s ethnic foods.

Taiwan’s

population can now be divided into four ethnic groups with the two major groups, Hakka and Fujianese as early immigrants.

The Fujianese came from China’s

Fujian Province while the Hakka came mainly from south China near Hong Kong. Hakka and Fujianese together composed 85% of the population and called “Taiwanese”.

The Chinese immigrants came from other provinces after World War

II is the third group of “mainlanders”.

The fourth group is the aborigines or

earliest inhabitants, who consist less than 2% of the populations. These aborigines face the same problem that many indigenous peoples face today in preserving their culture and heritage in a minority status.

The traditional eating habits of these

aborigines are greatly different from that of Chinese, their cuisines involve a fairly large number of edible wild plants and animals including field rats and deer, etc., which are most probably caught in the mountains.

They cook in a much simple way

with fewer seasonings in comparison to Chinese.

However, some of them already

assimilated by Chinese culture and live in a similar ways as the Chinese. Nowadays, you can hardly distinguish the Chinese and aborigines in the street of Taiwan. However, there are some groups still remain to live in mountain regions, following their traditional way of living and refuse to use “chopsticks” as a way to preserve their ethnicity.

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Nowadays, if you go to the streets of Taipei, a tremendous variety of food can be found – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, and Indonesia, western and even Indian food.

Taipei, without doubt, is an eater’s paradise and it is said to be the

one place in the world where you can find the genuine version of any kind of Chinese food imaginable.

The blooming of numerous restaurants reflects that families in

Taiwan are largely nuclear and small in comparison to that in the past. So, large families gatherings are most likely to be held in restaurants instead of the cooperation among family members.

There is an easy way to know what kind of food you can

taste by simply looking at the signboard outside the restaurants.

The specific cuisine

and famous dishes are usually written clearly on the signboard, which is quite different from that in Hong Kong.

If you visit the Suh-ling (士林) night market, you

can see different Chinese cuisines are represented as “ethnic snack” (民族小食) in the snack bars and “food courts” areas.

It is the food eaten between regular meals,

suitable for light eating and is a taste of “masses” or “popular”. Different local culinary favors representing different Chinese provinces can be tasted by going along the night market.

I think it is a way to preserve “ethnicity” for a particular group of

people in Taiwan.

Since these snacks are the reflections of attitudes and tastes of

different group of people and this particular “culture” means all that is learned, shared

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and transmitted among them from generation to generation (Mennell, 1992). As Taiwan is an island, there is plenty of fresh seafood supply.

People use shrimps,

oysters and fishes etc. as the main ingredients of the snacks. With its own evolution, Taiwan offers an array of unique tastes and the common characteristics of Taiwanese dishes are “soupy”, lighten flavor, natural sweetness of foods and “small dishes” (Hsiao Zhi).

The snacks or foods in the night markets are usually served as dishes,

which are small in proportion.

They provide different choices in which customers

would go from one stand to other and could taste a few dishes for a meal, satisfying any cravings most definitely.

I found some typical Taiwanese cuisines, which are self-invented or modified including the so called “big bun covered small bun” (大餅包小餅), “jin-ju-nai-tsa (珍 珠奶茶 milk tea), twa-bing (沙冰 ice-dessert) and Taiwanese rice.

The “big bun

covered small bun” is a created snack in Taipei. A decade ago, two different snack shop owners selling big steamed bun and small fried bun respectively combined their products experimentally into a new snack.

This new taste with a special name got a

very good response from the customers immediately and the two shops were thus combined together.

The milk tea and twa-bing are not only popular in Taiwan but

also in Hong Kong.

Teahouses or snack shops selling Taiwanese drinks and desserts

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are not difficult to locate in Hong Kong in recent years. These foods will always remind people the “Taiwanese” favor/taste that reflects the “identity” sense of food. I tried the Taiwanese rice in Taipei and found that it tastes like the Japanese rice. Actually it is the deep-fried smoking rice crusted with delicious black pepper gravy or tomato sauce cooked with venison, onions and cuttlefish are pored over.

Moreover,

the chopsticks used in most of the food shops are cylinder shape in contrast to the rectangular in the style of Chinese chopsticks.

It is suggested the Japanese

chopsticks differ in design from Chinese one in that they are rounded and came to a point; they are usually shorter (about 7 to 8 inches long) than Chinese chopsticks in comparison.

We can see that Japanese has a great influence in cooking and the ways

of serving rice in Taiwan owing to the past history between the two countries/regions.

4.2 Café and Teahouse in Taiwan:

One of the fascination in Taipei is its plenty of cafés and teahouses.

They are

usually well decorated and located in the city’s back lanes since the environment/atmosphere is very important in drinking tea and coffee.

They offer

quiet pedestrian havens for a break, afternoon tea or even mid-night snack.

Most of

the cafés and teahouses also serve arranged set lunches or dinners with a lovely choice

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of Chinese tea, western tea or coffee, iced or heated.

People can spend a couple of

hours immersed in the relaxing mood drinking, enjoying Jazz and reading “Harry Potter” or chatting with a few good friends in these cafés and teahouses.

Walking in

the street of Taipei, you would discover that there are many big bookstores (e.g. 誠品 書店) with café and teahouse inside and seems to be crowded with customers all the days.

Most of the bookstores are located in a chic shopping and dining district with

the impression that people can wander around an evening by dropping into the store to look for a new book, find a seat in the café and go through a few chapters before you make a decision to buy that book. People in Taiwan like to spend their leisure time on reading and these cafés are excellent place to provide drinks and snacks for them. Some bookstores even open twenty-four hours, which I think can hardly be seen in other cities.

The custom of tea/coffee drinking can be a part of sophisticated

spiritual life and it reflects the culture of “middle class” in Taiwan.

They tend to

aspire after a lifestyle that is more fascinating and be more refined.

Middle class, by a simple definition, is the social class between the lower and upper classes.

However, there is no clear definition of who belongs in this group.

In United States, middle class is grouped around the national average, social criteria such as educational level and occupation and certain income indices (Youmans, 1997).

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Some even argue that they are members who are constantly trying to rise above middle class standards, financially and educationally (Watkins, 2001). It is reported that around 60% of Taipei’s population and over 40% of Taiwan population can be classified as “middle class”.

With certain economic status, leisure time and habit of

reading, it is logical to think that the customers of the café and teahouse are mostly from “middle class” and they form a particular Taiwan consuming “culture”.

American franchised café also takes part in the competition on the market in Taiwan.

The largest American franchised coffee shop, “Starbucks” was first opened

in Taipei in 1998.

A year later, over a dozen of the shops can be found in Taipei.

It

has been compared that the decorations, settings, atmosphere, music, souvenirs and service were about the same as that in America.

It can be said that “Starbucks” was

migrated and localized in the street of Taipei. Basically, “Starbucks” focus on the middle-class as their main customers.

It is reported that the people who established

“Starbucks” in America include an English literature teacher, a writer and a historian. The name “Starbucks” was actually taken from a famous novel “The Whale” (白鯨記). Reading and drinking coffee seems to be inseparable and we can see a little bit of philosophy behind the shop.

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5.

The food culture in Hong Kong

5.1 The growth and decline of Hakka Restauarant:

The growth and decline of Hakka Restaurant in the past decades can reflect the change of eating habits and food culture in Hong Kong. The Hakka cuisine, by its straightforward and reasonable price, flourished during 60s to 70s, mainly contributed by the migrants from Mainland China. undergoing rapid economic change.

It was the time that Hong Kong was

Since the beginning of 80s, Hakka cuisine was

gradually replaced by Cantonese, Beijing, Shanghai, Southeast Asian and Western cuisine in Hong Kong.

As Hong Kong people became wealthier, these cuisines that

are considered to be “high class” went into incline. People always have a perception that Hakka cuisine is “low class” and it can reflect in the restaurants of Hong Kong’s Hotels.

If we consider restaurants as a component within the hotel business, then it

is interesting that so far there is not even one Hakka restaurant inside a hotel, and there never has been (Cheung, 2000).

In another point of view, Hakka food, which emphasizes the original flavors and nutritional value rather than a pleasant and brilliant appearance.

It perfectly suited

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the tastes of the people, especially the working class in 60s and 70s.

Hakka food

lured these customers with its solid material and reasonable price. “Reasonable price for a large quantity – that was the basic reason Hakka cuisine became popular in 60s & 70s” (Cheung, 2000). As the economy bloomed since the late 70s, people can afford to spend more money on eating luxurious foods. It was one of the ways to improve their standard of living, so they need a more “high class” cuisines in the market.

That is the reason for Hakka cuisine being gradually replaced by others.

Nowadays, only a few famous Hakka restaurant can survive in Hong Kong, the representatives are “醉瓊樓” and “全章居”.

You can easily find that their customers

are not mainly from “working class” anymore but people from different classes.

5.2 Yumcha in Chinese tea house: Yumcha is in an extremely position in Hong Kong food culture. The term yumcha can be understood literally as “drink tea”, is a Cantonese-style breakfast meal taken outside the home with dim sum i.e. various kinds of snacks, as its principle feature.

Guldin (1979) pointed out that Yumcha came to Hong Kong duing the

pre-war era and eas not widely eaten.

But after the war, especially 50s and 60s when

Hong Kong experienced an influx of refugees from mainland China, yumcha was

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largely an activity of single males, who met over their breakfast tea to socialize or exchange tips about job-seeking and bird rearing.

Nowsaday yumcha has already

grown to represent Hong Kong’s style of food consumption and the city’s syncretic culture.

The Chinese restaurant now are comparatively bigger in size and are located

in corowded or busy areas.

Some of them are even chain stores such as Treasure

Seafood Restaurant, Hon Po Restaurant and Maxims etc.

Yumcha seems to become a weekly family event now since these restaurants are flexible enough to accommodate different numbers of participants. It is not difficult to find that most of the teahouse are crowded with people from different ages at weekend and Sunday morning.

It is even said that “going to yumcha Hong Kong

style is like going to a church meeting”

In fact it is a gathering place for the entire

family, which serves to draw together family members who may now live and work in different parts of Hong Kong. (Cheung 2001) So it is very significant in maintaining family networks and solidarity in Hong Kong.

Moreover, families in Hong Kong are

becoming more nucleated, a few family members crowded in a small apartment with limited space.

Teahouse is an excellent place for people to meet their friends or

relatives on holidays. That is another reason why Chinese restaurants/teahouses are so popular in recent decades.

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Tam (2000) suggested that the two most important concepts in yumcha in Old Guangzhou are yat jung leuhng gihn (一盎兩件) and dim sum (點心).

Yat jung

leuhng gihn means one cup (of tea) and tow pieces (of dim sum) while dim sum is a generic term for a variety of appetizer-size food iterms.

They are usually sweet or

sayor, and are consumed together with Chinese tea. It is commonly known that eating dim sum is not to fill the stomach and drinking tea together is to allow a balance of taste and substance.

Dim sum has another meaning of “touch on the

heart”, that is instead of filling the stomach, they are commoditing of leisure and sometimes of luxury.

The most commonly eaten dim sum include shrimp dumpling

(蝦餃), pork dumpling (燒賣) meat and vegetable dumpling (粉果) and rice rolls (煎 腸粉)

Nowadays, teahouses began to expand on the types of dim sum served by the

firece competition.

They changed their menu oftenly to offer the best seasonal items.

The quality and variety of dim sum became increasing important since they play a central role in yuncha. A variety of food like bean curd flower (豆腐花), sweet sesame or red bean soup (豆沙糖水), curried squid (咖哩魷魚), fish balls and pig skin (魚蛋豬皮), fried peppers with fish meat (釀青椒) and even fried bread in rice rolls (炸兩) can now be found in teahouses.

Actually most of the food was

originally street food, which was made and eaten in the street rather than in teahouse. They seems to be “upgraded” to popular dishes served in restaurants, which reflects

29

an interesting underlying structural change in Hong Kong society in the past decades. Cheung (2000) suggested that the large upward mobility of the lower working class to so-called “middle class” status within a few decades. “teahouse” culture in Taiwan.

It could be comparable to the

Moreover, the food that people choose reveals the fact

that even though people’s taste’ moves tfrom street to restaurant, the content/varieties of the food may not differ at tall.

5.3 Drinking Yin-Yeung in tea café: Another unique eating establishment in Hong Kong is the café, which can be considered as a typical example of Hong Kong’s east-meets-west character. Tea cafes (茶餐廳/冰室) can easily be found in every corner of Hong Kong’s streets. They are small restaurants selling both western and Chinese food and provide a menu of food choices that are cheap and fast.

A common scene in these café is that people

are reading newspapers and at the same time enjoying loaves of bread, trays of cupcakes and cups of milk tea or yin yeung.

Most of the tea cafes are not too big in

size and run independently, and located near the business centres like Central and Wanchai in Hong Kong. Lang Heung Yuen (蘭香園) in Central has a long history and good reputation in making good milk tea.

Soon Fat restaurant (順發) in Lockhard

road of Wanchai even claimed they are the king of milk tea (奶茶王).

However,

30

more and more tea café chain store has appeared recently to share the market like Sun Chiu Kei (新釗記). Cheung (2001) pointed out that Tea cafes actually produce typically Hong Kong foodstuffs which reinforces a unique Hong Kong identity that neither to the Chinese nor the English cultures.

Drink such as yin yeung (鴛鴦),

which is a mixture of coffee and tea with milk and ‘boiled coke with ginger juice (薑 汁煲可樂) is a special combination with a reputation for curing cold and influenza. Moreover, there are some interesting food like Chinese bread with butter (菠蘿油) and fried instand noodles (炒即食麵), which can not be imagined by the foreigners. These examples can show the complicated mixture of western and Chinese characteristics in Hong Kong.

6.

A new identity in Taiwan and Hong Kong

6.1 Taiwan 6.11 Chewing betel nuts is a symbol of “uncivilized”?

As a tourist, you may be shocked by the dried red splashes on the roadsides and pavements.

People, especially the drivers will open their car windows lean out and

gob on the road. Actually, it is a side effect of chewing betel nut (檳榔).

What is

Betel nut? The scientific name of betel nut is Areca catechu and it is the “astringent

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seed of an East Indian palm, the betel palm, used for chewing with betel leaves and lime” (Garside, 2000). In Taiwan, people call it “small green” or even “Taiwan chewing gum”.

In official record, Areca catechu was imported and grown by the

Dutch in 17 century. Betel nut is sold nearly everywhere in Taiwan. Small family convenience stores may sell them as a sideline. However, most of them are sold at small stalls, kiosks or booths.

There are two ways for preparation by spitting the nut

and pastes in mash of the betel nut with a small slice of lime or wrapping two nuts together with betel nut leave. It is reported that chewing Betel nut would have a slight feeling of warmth over the body and a warm tight feeling across the forehead (I felt warm on the cheek too), and it is mildly addictive. The increase of salivation, which is dyed red with betel juice, is a side effect in chewing the nut (Garside, 2000). To some people in Taiwan, chewing betel nut is a part of their lives.

This habit may

be developed by the belief in rising body temperature that is useful in winter, by peer pressure or as a substitute of tobacco. The “mountain peoples” eat betel nut too and they believe the red saliva produced can protect them from evil sprits and be longevity. It is believed that evil sprits cause illness; many rituals were carried out in order to exorcize the evil spirits and replace them with protective ones.

There is a long

history in South-east Asia of offerings of betel in satisfying, winning over, or thanking good spirits and to exorcize evil ones (Rooney, 1993).

We can see that the

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aborigines in Taiwan and the people in South-east Asia share the same belief concerning betel nuts.

Within a community, the manners and habits of eating are

crucial to the very definition of the community, the relationships between people, interactions between humans and their gods, and communication between the living and the dead (Counihan, 1999).

Actually, it is suggested that the people who left

their footprints on Taiwan 5,000 years ago were Proto-Malays, who belong to the Southern Paleo-Mongoloid racial group.

Their culture was characteristically

Indonesian and belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian group if classified by linguistic. So it is not surprising that the aborigines share a similar culture with the people in South-east Asia.

In Taiwan, chewing betel nut seems to be a habit of the lower classes and tradesmen. It is very common for the working classes such as the professional drivers who work outdoors, keep themselves awaken by chewing betel nuts. Moreover, it can replace smoking as a habit for people who cannot smoke during working time (Garside, 2000).

However, the intellectuals think that chewing betel

nuts would result in oral cancer although there is no strong support by research till now.

The reddish lips, discolored gums and stained teeth give an unpleasant

appearance of the eater, together with spitting in red saliva everywhere, the habit of

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betel chewing seems to be “uncivilized” and it is a way for “class” differentiation in Taiwan.

There is a big contrast for the symbol in betel chewing when compared with South-east Asia.

In 13 century, Marco Polo recorded that betel chewing “prevailed

especially among the nobles and the magnates and kings”. Betel was also used as a social denominator and a symbolical element for solidifying relationships amongst royalty in the region (Rooney, 1993).

A more interesting thing is that the betel sets

which are made up of silver or gold even became part of the regalia for royalty and exchanged as gift in South-east Asia, and remained so into the 20 century (Rooney, 1993).

An absolutely different “class” for betel chewing could then be seen with the

above comparison.

People in different regions seem to have different perception on

the “image” or “value” of that particular food.

In many cases, food reflects the

essence of a people and it might have a complex story behind the food.

6.12 Betel nut and Sex:

If you take a vehicle out of Taipei or to the airport, the famous Taipei’s “betel nut beauties” (檳榔西施) can easily be noticed. It is interesting to see the betel nut stalls,

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which are actually small roadside rooms.

These “beauties” usually dress in a sexy

way (extremely short shirts, hot paints, high heel shoes…), sitting inside the room with attractive colorful flashing light above them.

The appearance of “betel nut

girls” with the inclusion of sexual aspect is a typical Taiwanese culture.

What is the relationship between the nuts and the beauties? First of all, selling betel nuts is a very profitable business in Taiwan; the owners are definitely willing to pay attractive salary to these girls for promoting their business.

Moreover, the

targets of the business are mainly the working class or specifically the drivers.

Most

of them are definitely male and would certainly be attracted by these “beauties” while driving.

More importantly, Chinese people always believe “food and sex is the basic

instinct of human beings” (食色性也) and it is supported by the western view that “food and sex are analogous instinctive needs” (Freud 1962, 1), and there is “a lifelong connection between oral pleasure and sexual pleasure” (Freud 1962, 43).

So

it is understandable that people would employ “sex” on the sale of betel nuts and actually some “betel nut beauties” are reported to offer other “service” to comfort the customers as an extra.

Betel, originated from South-east Asia, is considered as a significant element in

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fostering both social and sexual relationships between a male and a female (Rooney, 1993).

Many words derived from “betel” are related to the union between male and

female.

The compounds of pinang (areca-nut), in Malay, mean “to court” or “to

propose”, while Meminang is “to ask in marriage”.

Sireh, the Malay word for betel

leaf, means “a young girl who is eligible for marriage”.

Betel, love and sex seem to

be inseparable in people mind in South-east Asia and are also reflected symbolically in many tales and beliefs involving relationships between male and female.

In

Taiwan, the components of betel nut including lime, flora and betel nut are “three in one”, which is a symbol of two brothers loving the same woman and they are entangling together forever after committed suicide.

All these beliefs and the

pleasant feelings after chewing betel nuts may contribute to the close relationship of areca nut and sex.

MacClancy in 1992 also suggested that among some groups, a meal together is seen as a form of sex, and it is intended that eating should lead to intercourse.

Some

kind of foods can symbolize parts of male and female genitalia while food terms may act as euphemisms for various kinds of copulation. Food can even be a sexual aid to stimulate one’s desire for another. I cannot conclude betel nut is that particular of food with a symbolic meaning on “sex”.

At least the relationship between betel nuts

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and sexy girls reflects the belief for some of the Taiwanese.

6.2 Hong Kong 6.21 milk tea (East meets West): The most popular drink in Hong Kong’s tea café is the locally brewed “milk tea”. It needs a unique blending of tealeaves and superb tea making skills in making a perfect cup of smooth Hong Kong style tea.

Various tea blends are boiled and then

kept brewing in a big metal container for hours to ensure its smoothness and strength. A silk-like cotton (some even making joke of using grandmother’s silk socks) filters the tea before milk is added.

It sounds quite simple but it is not definitely.

Different tea café have worked out their unique way of making milk tea. It was suggested that this kind of milk tea is a fascinating fusion of cultures.

If we look at the term “milk tea”, it seems that it is not quite grammatically correct but it is used in everyday life in Hong Kong.

Tea is originally a Chinese

traditional drink but it went to the west some time ago.

It was then further

developed and come back to the east, especially Hong Kong.

The definition of

“milk tea” is a drink made of black tea (leaves come from Ceylon), milk and tea.

It

is actually refers to the English style but a new style evolved after it arrived Hong

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Kong.

The traditional English style milk tea uses natural strength tea with fresh milk

while Hong Kong style uses extra strong tea with condensed or evaporated milk.

So

it makes the milk tea in Hong Kong distinctive strong and thick flavors. Nowadays, milk tea and yin-yeung are local culture, a special Hong Kong culture.

6.22 Puhn Choi (盆菜): There is a traditional meal in Hong Kong called “puhn choi”, which is a collection of meat, vegetables, and other dishes all thrown into one large pot on the table for everyone to eat. In fact it can be considered as an invented or reinvented cuisine in Hong Kong.

It used to be a festive food commonly seen in ancestor

worship rites and wedding banquets among the indigenous inhabitants living in Hong Kong’s New Territories.

There is only one dish being served in this meal and all

ingredients are contained in one basin (puhn) that everyone at the table eats from together. Among the various stories of its origin, one common one is that originally it was food for army feast in the southern move during the Song dynasty.

Since

there were not enough food containers to hold food at that time, so washing basins were used instead by the villagers.

This basin food is now served as a banquet food in the single-surname villages

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marking corresponding ethnic boundaries. (Cheung 2000)

It was toward the end of

British rule in Hong Kong in the 1990s, puhn choi suddenly became very popular, not only in the rural New Territories but also in the urban part of Hong Kong including some Chinese teahouse and hotels. Cheung suggested that this nostalgia for puhn choi is pregnant with political meaning and can be regarded as a metaphor for Hong Kong people’s search for a sense of cultural belonging during a period of great political change.

Nowadays, eating puhn choi is still very common in New

Territories and even in some tea café in the urban part of Hong Kong.

7. Globalization and identity crisis 7.1 Fast Food in Taiwan and Hong Kong: There is no worry for the westerners or teenagers who like eating fast food, since restaurants serving foods from all over the world have been springing up everywhere in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

American hamburgers, French fries, Italian pizza,

Japanese sushi and Chinese fast foods can easily be found in Taipei. The eating habits and lifestyles of Taiwanese and Hong Kong people have been changed by the booming fast-food industry in the last decades. If you visit any convenient Shop likes Seven-eleven in the two cities, you can buy traditional Chinese foods (Dim Sum, herbal tea eggs), western foods (hot dogs, pizza) and even “sushi” at the same time.

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This mixed culture is actually similar to that in Hong Kong. Customers, especially those living in urban areas, have already accepted mixed-style fast food as part of their life.

It suits the working class in the city by providing a convenient, low price,

and small quality foods.

It is suggested the eating habit of people in city has

changed into small quality with many meals.

Fast-food restaurants with strong brand name images, such as McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken, are even more popular than Chinese-style fast foods because of their good quality control and store management (Cee, 2001).

The English

alphabet that children mostly recognize is probably “M”, M for McDonald.

Started

from the first McDonald opened in Taipei in 1970s, it has changed the food culture in Taiwan, with its leading role in fast-food industry.

The ideology of Taiwanese,

especially the new generation were deeply influenced by this American culture. Some Scholars even stated “McDonald” is the combination of capitalism and imperialism.

People should still remember “gold rush” created by McDonald in the

collection of “snoopy” and “Hello Kitty” in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

It is definitely

a business strategy in promoting their foods but we can see it as a “culture” at least in the cities. A small “Hello Kitty” for example was given by buying a set meal in McDonald. However, it is reported that huge amount of uneaten hamburgers and

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French fries were found inside the rubbish bins near the restaurants.

It is a

phenomenon that cannot be imagined but does exist!

Another example is Xi-Men-Ding (西門町), which seems to be a battle field for Chinese and Western foods.

Most of the customers are youngsters and they are

usually adapted to the western lifestyle.

Businessmen tend to use new and

“ever-changing” approach in order to attract customers.

An example is that the

“Portugal tart” introduced from Macao/Hong Kong, became very popular a few years ago.

Many shops were opened to provide this new and delicious snack.

However,

it is difficult to find the traces of these shops now since they are progressively replaced by other popular foods.

For those traditional ethnic snacks, if not adaptable

to change, are difficult to survive in Xi-Men-Ding in the competition.

An even more

interesting place to investigate is the college or University campus.

A great

competition of fast food shop exists near the campus area since “time” tends to be very important for the students. Meals seems not to be a time of relaxation and smiles for them, but a time of studying or doing homework.

So “quick snack” are

very popular in these area, as they can complete their food mission quickly or simply eating and working at the same time.

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An unforgettable experience in Taipei is the visit of “Ting Tai Fung” (鼎泰豐), which is a Chinese restaurant famous for its Shanghai Soup Dumplings (上海小籠包). The taste is so delicious and difficult to describe.

The dumplings are relatively small

made up of tasty soup and battered pork covered with an extremely thin wrapper. These dumplings are often dipped in some vinegar contains shredded ginger.

The

entrance of the restaurant is always crowded with people waiting for seats, especially in dinnertime.

However, I don’t think it is a traditional Chinese restaurant.

all, the decorations and settings inside are quite westernized.

First of

They employ

rectangular instead of round tables. Moreover, disposable dishes and chopsticks were used.

Most importantly, you would not feel easy to stay longer in the

restaurant by the “pressure” given by the staff and the crowds outside.

It can be

concluded that it is a typical Chinese restaurant with a managing style of “fast food shop”.

Since it is a tremendous market for the “snack” business in Taiwan and Hong Kong, a great competition always exists among the franchised fast food shops, cafés and traditional snack shops.

It is reported that McDonald’s Taiwan recently opened

a new snack outlet called “McSnack” in Taipei and plans to break ground, which is unique to Taiwan (Lue, 2001).

The menu of McSnack includes chicken and beef

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curry rice, bagels, English muffin sandwiches, waffles and totally nine different hot and cold coffee drinks. It is expected that the store be designed to compete with “Starbucks” since drinking coffee is very popular in Taiwan.

A Store, which can

provide more snack options for the coffee lovers, would take a share in this market. It is announced that McSnack is a first for the global chain and it can explain that the company is looking to diversify beyond the saturated burger market in Taiwan. Actually, a similar situation occurs in Hong Kong with the appearance of “McCafe”, providing snacks and coffee for the city dwellers. It is also logical to think that the main opponents of McCafe are “Starbucks” and “Pacific Café”.

8. Conclusion

In concluding the food and culture in Taiwan and Hong Kong, there are some obvious similarities and differences. traces of Colonial history.

For the similar things, they both possess the

The rice eaten and the shape of the chopsticks used in

Taiwan show the influence of Japanese culture in the city. The popularity of Tea café and the invented Hong Kong styled milk tea, reflect the mixed culture of Chinese and British in Hong Kong.

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Both cities are greatly influenced by the “brought in” culture by the immigrants from the Mainland China.

These immigrants brought in the various Chinese

cuisines and ethnic snacks in Taiwan since 1949 while Hong Kong assimilated the Hakka cuisine and the culture of “Yum Cha” since the early 60s. In the past decades, both cities have changed their taste and cuisines from the targets of “working class” to “middle class”.

Evident showed that there was a rise and decline of Hakka cuisine

since 70s in Hong Kong while the Tea House and franchised café are becoming more and more popular in recent year in both cities.

The cuisines and invented food in

both cities show that they are struggling for an “identity” but facing the same problem of “identity crisis” recently during the process of globalization. However,

in

the

search of identity, the indigenous inhabitants (Hong Kong) and the aborigines (Taiwan) play an important role in shaping their distinctiveness. The Puhn Choi in Hong Kong and the Betel nuts in Taiwan are both typical symbolic foods in the cities. Eventually, the people in both cities are deeply influenced by the Chinese Medical philosophy and the concepts of eating wild animals.

However, eating the disguising food like dogs

and cats are not so welcomed in both cities. Hong Kong has already banned eating these foods while Taiwan will have this ban very soon.

For the differences of food and culture in the two cities, First of all, Taiwan

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seems to have more distinctive ethnic snacks and cuisine when compared with Hong Kong.

One of the reasons is that the People in Hong Kong will finally localize

most of the ethnic food coming from China in order to suit the taste of the customers. The restaurants or the snack shops in Hong Kong have a very high “turnover rate” comparatively.

It is because most of the shops/restaurants are limited by the

extremely high rent or cost in Hong Kong.

It is reported that the rent of a 90 square

feet shop-selling snack in Mong Kok, Hong Kong (Sai Yeung Choi Street / Dundas Street) was $140,000 in 2000 and the same shop worth 180,000 in 1997.

So

this

Hugh rent would limit the quality and creativity of the food made in Hong Kong in comparable to that in Taiwan. Finally, the ways of people eating has a great difference. The café and teahouse in Taiwan tend to be quieter and the customers usually enjoy reading or listening to music there while that in Hong Kong is noisier and love chatting or exchanging information with each other’s.

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9. Discussion Foods often have a great extent of history related to them and have a close association with the culture as the people do.

Chinese cooking requires the

manipulation of multiple ingredients and the mixing of flavors in an appropriate way. However, the distinctive combination of ingredients would change through time and place. It is interesting that Chinese are not nationalistic to the point of resisting imports with foreign foodstuffs being adopted in Chinese food since the dawn of history (Chang, 1977). We can examine the “food culture” in both Taiwan and Hong Kong in a point of view that it is influenced over time by Chinese cuisines, local favors and foreign tastes.

Although people from different dialect groups and

provinces in China eat different sorts of food, it is the capacity of the Chinese food culture for change.

It is a culture, which is still very traditional but is also highly

receptive to modern and foreign influences and it may be the reason behind its continued popularity today (Hwang, 1991). For most of the immigrants in Taiwan and Hong Kong, they have to use new resources but still striving to preserve food traditions. It is stated that most Chinese learn to cook new dishes and adapting food of other ethnic groups into their diets meant more than a lifestyle trends, food fad or cultivating a cosmopolitan outlook on food (Hwang, 1991).

It means that Chinese

people are adapted to increasing food variety and interest while keeping food

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traditions alive.

Some examples can be found in Hong Kong too.

A typical drink

“yin yeung”, that is a mixture of coffee and tea with milk, is unique in the tea café of Hong Kong.

It is actually a localization of both Chinese and Western cuisines

produce typically Hong Kong foodstuff, which can reinforce a Hong Kong Identity. Another interesting example is the instant noodle, which was created by the Japanese. However, it is evolved into “deed fried instant noodle” in the tea café.

These

examples can show the flexibilities and adaptability of Chinese food culture.

Taiwan as a place dominated by Chinese, People tend to share the same culture with Mainland China.

However, within the same culture, the food habits are not at

all necessarily homogenous.

It is suggested that within the same food style, there are

different manifestations of food variables of a smaller range, for different social situations (Chang, 1977).

Taiwan and Mainland China obviously have different

economic and political progress, its reasonable to conclude that they have different food culture.

There is a complicated process of adopting foreign cuisines/ideas,

interacting with local foods, assimilating and developing into a new food culture. A newly evolved cuisines and eating habits and even a Taiwanese identity appears by the perception of this culture.

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