Passport & Plate - Chuin Shuan Chung
Australia | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
(serves 1 person)
Half a bunch of celery.
One medium size leek.
Four stalks of spring onions.
One large slice of Chinese roast pork.
One shallot.
Half a tablespoon of oyster sauce.
Tablespoon of Vegetable oil
How to prepare this recipe1. Slice all the vegetables on an angle and around the same size so the cook evenly. For the leek slice as thin as possible like how you would slice an onion.
2. The roast pork is sometimes quite hard to slice because of the crispy skin. So a tip to slice, is to place the pork skin down on the cutting board and slice it.
3. Put a tablespoon of vegetable oil into a hot pan. When the oil is hot place the pork and stir fry. This is to crisp up the pork and flavour the oil. Put the shallots in at the same time as the pork.
4. When the pork is crisp and the shallots are translucent put the leek into the pan. After the leek is soft place the celery into the pan. The celery is in the dish for some crunch and texture so don't cook it too soft.
5. When the vegetables are cooked put in the spring onions. The spring onions don't take long to cook. When everything is done fold in half a table spoon of oyster sauce to add a little bit of sweetness and saltiness.
6. Serve with some rice.
The story behind this recipeWhen I was thinking of a recipe to submit for this application this dish was the first thing that came into my head. The reason i chose this recipe was because of how deeply embedded it is in the history of my family and my culture. It isn't a dish that is overly complicated in fact it is unbelievably simple.
This dish was passed down from my great grandmother and is prepared by my grandmother every Chinese New Year. Chuin Shuan Chung are the names of the vegetables in the dish, but these words represent more than a name for a vegetable.
Chuin means celery in Chinese but the word also sounds like the word for hardworking. Shuan is the word for Chinese Leek but it also means to count (ie: wealth, counting money). Finally Chung sounds like the phrase "Chung Ming" which means smart. In our family we believe that these values will be bestowed on you, if you eat a lot of this dish.
This dish embodies values that are incredibly important in Chinese culture. Hard work, Wealth and intelligence are core values for a person growing up in a Chinese family. This is why I chose this recipe. Not only is it a family recipe but it cuts deeply into some of the values my culture holds dearly. This recipe isn't just a plate of vegetables it is tradition.
When I was younger my mum always asked me to eat more of this dish because it would make me smarter and successful in the new year. This recipe was passed down to my mother and then down to me. As a student I try and eat a lot of this dish as I believe it will help with my studies and it is a pretty tasty and simple way to eat vegetables. When i have children in the future i plan to prepare this dish for them and to tell them the history behind the recipe. I hope that this tradition will continue for many generations as I think that dishes like this are important to preserve my culture.
