Why Sauerkraut?
Exploring what makes sauerkraut a key part of the Northeastern Chinese diet.
Introduction
Though I was born and raised in Central China, my mothers and my grandparents were all from Jilin, a province in Northeastern China, therefore I grew up eating a lot of Northeastern dishes made by my grandmother. In winter my uncle in Jilin always made and send a lot of “酸菜(Suan Cai)” to us, the Northeastern Chinese sauerkraut made by fermenting napa. This is so important and common that it almost becomes the representation of the Northeastern diet.
When I first came to New York, I once had a Reuben sandwich, and surprisingly noticed that the sauerkraut inside tastes and looks very similar to the 酸菜 that I used to have a lot in my childhood. Having the German-style sauerkraut satisfied my nostalgic taste buds, and making me realize that I actually know little about the Northeastern Chinese style sauerkraut though I ate them a lot. I naturally want to learn more about it, about my family heritage, and the question that I am interested in the most is why they develop such a strong dietary habit of eating sauerkraut during winter, and how does sauerkraut become an important part of the Northeastern Chinese diet.
Geography of Northeastern China
Nowadays when mentioning Northeastern China, people usually refer to the areas consisted of three provinces: Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning(indicated on the map). These areas are closed to North Korea, Inner Mongolia, and Russia.
These three provinces were surrounded and protected by three natural resorts: Greater Kingan Mountains, Lesser Kingan Mountains, and Changbai Mountains. The surrounded area was rather flat and was suitable for grazing. The landscape resulted in two significant factors that shape the Northeastern diet: the rich resort of animals in forests that could be hunted, but also the freezing weather that prevents vegetable growing.
According to "龙沙纪略", a national record of geography, it writes that "四时皆寒，五月始脱裘，六月昼热十数日，与京师略同。夜仍不能却重衾，七月则衣棉矣。立冬后，朔气砭肌骨，立户外呼吸，顷须眉俱冰。出必勤以掌温耳鼻，少懈，则鼻准死，耳轮作裂竹声，痛如割。土人曰，近颇称暖。十年前，七月江即冰，不复知有暑也。(40)" Which means that this place is cold for four seasons, that people need warm clothing in July. In winter even breathing outside may freeze your brow and mustache, and your face will feel like being cut by knives. As a result, the long winter making it extremely hard for vegetables to grow and for people to farm, making napa, an easy to store and grow vegetable one of the few choices available for Northeastern Chinese, and making preserving it necessary.
Manchu：Hunter-gather lifestyle and Sauerkraut's story
The sauerkraut's dominance can not stand away from the contribution of Manchu, who was the Chinese ethnic minorities that live in Northeastern China and also outer Russia, which together could be called Manchuria(满洲里).
The geography of Manchuria discussed before encouraged their hunter-gather lifestyle and nourishing their lives, so they consume a lot of meat, such as pork and venison. In order to adapt to the weather, they have been developing the way of fermenting napa and take it along with the journey, as it is easier to transport and can provide a lot of energy, and more importantly for the supply of vegetable in freezing winter( Ming Leng, 33). Plus the sauerkraut can balance the fatness and make dishes more delicious. They usually put sauerkraut in a hotpot with meat to keep them warm.
The Qianlong Emperor chasing a deer on a hunting trip by Giuseppe Castiglione , Late 1700s
However, nowadays Northeastern China was usually made up of Han people, but they still have the habit of eating sauerkraut, so how what makes sauerkraut a bigger part of the Northeastern Chinese diet? The explanation would be gained from learning the history of the establishment of the Qing dynasty, and the fusion of Manchu and Han.
The Establishment of Later Jin（后金王国）
Later Jin was a kingdom established in 1969 by Nurhaci, the leader of Manchu people (which was formed by merging two divisions of Jurchen people), including the area of nowadays Northeastern China plus Amur Oblast from nowadays Russia (Xifeng Zhou, 116).
In 1636, Nurhaci's son, Hong Taji, has shown a massive interest in the land owned by Ming Dynasty(which is governed by Han people), and begin to plan for invading it and establish its own dynasty(Immanuel Hsu, 35).
The Establishment of the Qing Dynasty
In 1640, Hong Taji finally began his conquest. The turning point of the Ming Dynasty's future was the conquer of Shanhaiguan, which separates the domain of Later Jin and Ming. 4 years after frequent battles with Ming's soldiers, Manchu invaded Jinzhou, established a military base in Shanhaiguan, and invade Peking in 1644. Later that year they settled their capital in Peking, indicating the beginning of the Qing Dynasty(Immanuel Hsu, 41).
The Fusion of Manchu and Han
As mentioned before, the Ming dynasty was mostly governed by Han, and the citizens were also mostly Han, therefore the Manchu's establishment of the Qing dynasty really brought innovations to their diets, such as Manchu learning the cooking techniques of deep-frying from Han(Dandan Xing, 42).
As a part of this fusion, the sauerkraut has been promoting in Han as well, and even moving to a bit souther than the Manchuria area, including Peking and Henan, in which the rural families nowadays also keep the habit of making sauerkraut for winter.
Legacy of Manchu-Han Fusion: Habit and Cuisines
Storing Napa for Winter
The photo on the right by Naiqiang Weng showed Peking citizens buying napa during winter. As Manchu had promoted sauerkraut for Han people as well, northeastern Chinese people kept the habit of bulk-buying napa for winter even in the 20th century, using part of napa for sauerkraut and another part for cooking since napa was easy to store and cheaper to buy(the purchasing power of Chinese after WWII was really low due to warfare, famine, and cultural revolution).
As people moving into the apartment now and living a better life, it is less possible and necessary for people to store napa. Click the link to see an NYT's story of peking citizens memorizing their napa-buying story.
酸菜猪肉炖粉条 “Stewed Glass Noodles with Pork and Sauerkraut”
This might be the most famous dish in Northeastern Chinese cuisine. It is very simple to make: fried the pork belly until it turns browns, throw in the sauerkraut and fries until sauerkraut for five minutes, add water and glass noodles, and stewed for 20 minutes. The fatness was absorbed by the sauerkraut, making the dish less oily and making sauerkraut taste better.
The picture on the right was made by me in NYC using sauerkraut from Chinese market.
杀猪菜"Kill Pigs"
As the name indicate, "杀猪菜" actually includes a lot of different dishes with different parts of pigs. People usually stew the ribs and pork blood sausage with sauerkraut. It needs to kill a whole pig and therefore usually eat during Spring festival that signifies the expectations for new year.
The video on the right records a Northeastern Chinese family's making the dishes.
Changes in Ways of Making Sauerkraut in History
An except of "齐民要术"
The earliest documentation of sauerkraut recipes was in "齐民要术", an often called Chinese agricultural encyclopedia. In chapter 9, it documents various ways of making sauerkraut the author observed from different regions, in which the following one is the closest to the common way of making Northeastern style sauerkraut nowadays: "作菘咸菹法：水四斗，盐三升，搅之，令杀菜。(498)", which means you need water and salt at a four to three ratio, mixed them together and pour that into the pot of napa. In rural areas now, people usually do not mix the salt and water together, but rather placing the salt first and then pour hot water(my grandmother's version). They could also make sauerkraut with just hot water and no salt waiting for natural fermentation.
Generally, the producing method did not change much. Nowadays a lot of people are still making homemade sauerkraut whether in rural areas or in cities, they can either have it for their own or sell it online. There is also sauerkraut sold in supermarkets.
Homemade Way
Making sauerkraut is actually quite easy in procedure(though the sauerkraut might be rotten in some cases), click the video to see how to make it:
A Female Making Sauerkraut by 胖嫂SHOW
The procedure could be translated to following recipe:
You Need to Have:
1. A bunch of napa (Not washed, you just need to wipe the dust off).
2. A giant, clean and dried pot
3. Cups of boiling water
4. A heavy Stone
You Need To Do:
1. Put the napa in the pot as tight as possible, having the leaves touching each other facing the center, and the root facing the outside.
2. Place the stone onto the napa.
3. Gently and evenly pour the hot water onto the napa until 1/3 of the pot is fulfilled.
4. After three hours, fill the remaining pot with cold water.
5. Wait for one month and it would be sauerkraut. There will be white stuff appeared and that's okay. Wash it before eating.
People who live in the apartment, can follow the same procedure but using a smaller container, and make sure to store it in a cold place such as on the balcony.
Industrialized Way
Thanks to industrialization, people who do not want to make sauerkraut themselves can also purchase it from the supermarket. The basic logic is still the same, except that sauerkraut are artificially fermented and produced in the streamline, click the following video to see this amazing procedure.
High Tech Sauerkraut by CCTV
A Bonus Story: Northeastern Sauerkraut in Taiwan
The Northeastern sauerkraut hotpot has also become a part of the Taiwanese diet after WWII, which was not the result of Manchu and Han's fusion. After Kuomingtang Party was defeated by the Chinese Communist Party in the 1940s, they escape to Taiwan and forming up a community named "眷村(Juan village)" and raised their next generations there. As a result, a lot of nowadays Taiwanese have the heritage of inland Chinese and have the childhood related to inland Cuisine. Since a lot of Kuomingtang was from Northeastern China, eating sauerkraut hotpot has become a part of their daily life too. (If you are interested in the story of 眷村 and exchange of cuisine, you may check the novel written of “ 台北人 ” written by Hsien-yung Pai)
The following link is a Taiwanese program documenting their memory in 眷村 and how it encouraged them to open up a Northeastern Chinese style restaurant making sauerkraut hotpot.
東北酸菜白肉鍋 酸中回甘人生味 第301集《進擊的台灣》part4｜巫嘉芬
Conclusion
The reason why sauerkraut becomes so important in Northeastern Chinese Cuisine is geographical, historical, and cultural. Firstly due to its cold weather, it has no source of vegetables during winter, making sauerkraut the only choice. Second due to its rich forests and animal resources, the hunter-gathering Manchu there were able to hunt and consumed a lot of meat, and sauerkraut has become a perfect companion to reduce fatness. Then due to the cultural fusion of Manchu and Han after the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, sauerkraut has been promoting to Han people and even areas other than Northeastern China. This legacy continued to recent history in daily life and various Northeastern dishes. People nowadays still made homemade sauerkraut, and they can also purchase those produced by factories. An interesting extension of Sauerkraut's history and the journey was how it developed and fused into Taiwanese's memory along with the migration of inland Kuomingtang Party to Taiwan.
After exploring sauerkraut in detail, I deeply felt how an establishment of dietary habit was influenced by different forces, and even the same dish would be given different meanings as history changes. Sauerkraut at first was the only choice to gain vegetables in freezing winter, becomes a Legacy of Manchu, a symbol of the fusion of ethnicities, a representation of Northeastern Cuisines, and when it landed in Taiwan, it becomes an extension of another community's family heritage. Maybe it will have a more dynamic journey in the future.
Works Cited
- Jacobs, Andrew. “As Winter Nears, China Is Blanketed in Greens.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Dec. 2013, cn.nytimes.com/china/20131230/c30cabbage/dual/.
Ji, Qiufeng, and Qingbao Zhu, translators. “2.1 清朝的建立.” 中国近代史（The Rise of Modern China）, by Hsü Immanuel Chung-yueh, CUHK Press, 2006, pp. 35–37.
Jia, Sixie. Qi Min Yao Shu. Guang Wen.
- Leng, Ming. “满族入关后饮食文化的演变.” Journal of Chifeng University, vol. 37, no. 1, Jan. 2016, pp. 32–34.
Xing, Dandan. “清代东北满洲饮食文化研究.” 2018.
Zhou, Xifeng. “黑龙江流域各族对满族形成的影响.” Manchu Studies, no. 1, ser. 48, 2009, pp. 116–121. 48.
Images
Cover Image: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/51139833
中国历史地图集，明时期全图（一）http://www.ccamc.co/chinese_historical_map/index.php#atlas/17/%E6%98%8E%E6%97%B6%E6%9C%9F%E5%85%A8%E5%9B%BE%EF%BC%88%E4%B8%80%EF%BC%89.jpg
The Qianlong Emperor chasing a deer on a hunting trip by Giuseppe Castiglione , Late 1700s
冬储大白菜, Weng Naiqiang, 1983
Videos
胖嫂show . “农村妈妈展示中国东北腌酸菜，这样腌不臭还不烂，味道纯正||胖嫂show.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Oct. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfjAkbWYh4k.
Documentarycntv. “[舌尖上的中国3]高科技酸菜 | CCTV纪录.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Mar. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T8gYNgM0Eo.
進擊的台灣 . “東北酸菜白肉鍋 酸中回甘人生味 第301集《進擊的台灣》part4｜巫嘉芬.” YouTube, YouTube, 29 Dec. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=97V0mAFK1Vs.
