The Northern and Southern Chinese regions could not be any more different in regards to their cultural signifiers such as dialects, traditions, general etiquette and more. However, the difference in food culture is one of the most interesting aspects between the two regions. The Chinese expression “Rice is for the South and Wheat is for the North “(南米北面) makes the point that people from the South lean towards rice-based products in their cuisine, whereas people from the North tend to use wheat-based products in their food traditions. Ultimately, farmers of both regions have had to adapt to the local conditions such as unique climates and other geographical differences in order to produce a bountiful harvest. Through the careful work of the farmers to cultivate thriving crops, the cuisines have been shaped around a collection of these regional staples.

The Lunar New Year’s Eve Dinner, one of the most important parts of the Chinese New Year celebration, is the perfect moment to experience the regional food difference in its entirety. It was often fun for people to share and show off their LNYE dinner traditions to their friends. Nowadays, given rapidly evolving technology and transportation, the movement of people has decreased the cultural gaps - even integrating each other sometimes.

At Chinese Street Market we place a strong emphasis on upholding and uplifting traditions - we feel it is great fun to relive these traditions together in community! We are happy to provide an opportunity to come and enjoy making the traditional staple foods from scratch with us. We will be hosting a two-part series of cooking workshops; the initial class will teach you how to make wheat hand-pulled noodles from scratch, the subsequent class will teach you how to make rice noodles from scratch. We will then be cooking the noodles you made in the workshop to enjoy the fruit of our labor together! We will bring homemade beef soup goes with the noodles as well as fun but optional traditional LNY snacks including dumplings, Tangyuan in Mahjong shapes, 麻将汤圆 (sticky rice balls), and Tanghulu, 糖葫芦 (Candied hawberries ) These will all be offered at the workshops as well.

Organizing a private event? Find out more at

https://www.chinesestreetmarket.com/bookprivateevent

Code of Conduct:

As a participant of this course you agree to follow the Chinese Street Market participant Code of Conduct.