Chinese cuisine scales new highs as Olympic athletes savor dishes

CFP

Yuanxiao, or glutinous rice balls, made headlines after China's Gu Ailing told the press that it was the food or snack she craved for after winning silver in women's freeski slopestyle final yesterday.

"The ones with black sesame filling are my favorites," said the American-born skier who represents China at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Glutinous rice balls are a must-have dish for Lantern Festival, which was yesterday.

A dozen Chinese dishes have gained fame during the Games, after athletes shared an inside look at food being served in the athletes village on TikTok and in media interviews. Some were even captured live taking a bite of the delicacies during competitions. Here are some of the favored dishes:

Yuanxiao (元宵)

The holiday staple is made and named differently across China. It is known as tangyuan in southern China, and yuanxiao in the north, where the craftsmanship of making the balls is more complicated. The fillings commonly used include ground black sesame (Gu's personal favorite), peanuts, red bean paste and jujube paste. When making yuanxiao, the fillings are rolled around in glutinous rice flour in a big bamboo basket until coated evenly. The coated fillings are then dipped in water and rolled in the flour repeatedly five to six times before the rice balls are ready to be boiled and served.

In the south, tangyuan are made in a similar way as dumplings. Fillings, sweet or savory, are wrapped up in glutinous rice balls. Sweet balls are usually made of black sesame, red bean paste, osmanthus flowers or peanuts, while the savory ones are made with pork and vegetables.

Jiaozi (饺子)

American snowboarder Julia Marino's fondness for dumplings cement the dish's leading popularity in and outside the country, overshadowing numerous Chinese delicacies.

Actually, the English word dumpling is used for a large category of dishes, not just the traditional triangle-shaped jiaozi but also wonton, small buns and rice balls. It's the concept of stuffing savory or sweet filling in a flour wrapper, which can be made with wheat flour, rice flour or glutinous rice flour.

The ones that have enamored Marino are the traditional jiaozi, a common staple in north China. It can be either boiled in hot water, or pan-fried for a much richer flavor of crispy wrappers and soft fillings. The fillings are normally vegetables, meat or a mix of both, ingredients varied based on regions and personal flavors.

Doubao (豆包)

Steamed buns came into spotlight thanks to snowboarder Jenise Spiteri of Malta. Soft and fluffy, steamed buns have been a major Chinese staple for thousands of years. Known as mantou or mo in Chinese mandarin, the plain buns made with flour can be paired with numerous dishes. When making steamed buns, the dough can be twisted or shaped to one's liking, or seasoned to add flavor. It can also be cut into slices, deep-fried in oil, seasoned with salt and served as snacks.

Steamed buns with fillings are known as baozi in Chinese. Doubao that Spiteri likes refers to buns filled with red bean paste. Other sweet fillings include black sesame and creamy custard. Savory ones are made with vegetables or meat fillings.

Malatang (麻辣烫)

Malatang, or the spicy hotchpotch, grabbed attention when Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands posted a video of her order of the dish on TikTok. A street delicacy in southwest China's Sichuan and Chongqing, malatang actually prevails across the country. Literally meaning "numbing, spicy and boiling hot" in English, malatang shares a similarity with a lot of dishes in Sichuan and Chongqing of cooking all kinds of ingredients in a spicy broth.

Diners can select the ingredients they want, have them cooked in a communal pot of broth and later have their orders served in a bowl with spicy soup. It can be seasoned additionally with peppercorns and chilies to one's preference.

Jiucai Hezi (韭菜盒子)

The Chinese pastry jiucai hezi was trending on Chinese social media on Monday when China's Gu was spotted on camera gulping it down while waiting for her score in slopestyle qualifications. A video clip of her struggling to explain what the snack is in English has been retweeted some 7,700 times on Weibo.

"You know something like the glass noodle thing?" Gu asked the reported in the video. "Yeah, it's the glass noodle thing, that, and Chinese chives in a wrapped bun," she tried to explain, but quickly gave up when finding herself ineloquent or not clear enough.

"My English is failing me today," she added.

Literally meaning chive pockets, they are pan-fried pies mainly made with chives. In either a pocket-like crescent shape or a round shape, they feature fillings of chopped chives, fried eggs and dried small shrimps, with a bit of chopped glass noodles or deep-fried dough sticks. Since tender chives, a seasonal ingredient in spring, are optimal for making the chive pockets, the pastry is normally considered a taste of spring popular in north China.