1st Story : The favorite stamina food of Mao Zedong(毛泽东), who was the leader of the early Communist Party of China
What about the Chinese leaders' meals?
According to nutritionists who have been responsible for the nutrition of the leaders of China, most leaders say that "the meat of four-legs animals like pigs, cows, sheep. But they are not as good as the meat of animals with two legs, like chicken and goose. Meanwhile the one-footed mushroom is better than two-legs animals, but is not as good as a fish which is no foot."
“四條腿(豬, 牛, 羊)的不如兩條腿的(雞, 鵝), 兩條腿的不如一條腿的(菌類), 一條腿的不如沒有腿的(魚)”
If so, are Chinese leaders not eating meat? Not like that. They mainly eat beef and mutton in autumn and winter, which is suitable for 'supplementing the heat'. They also enjoy chicken and rabbit meat among meats, which is helpful because these meats are the high protein but the low fat. Among the vegetables, root vegetables are used in winter, such as radishes, lilies, and taro. They also eat a lot of black color foods. For example, black sesame, black rice, purple laver, and mushroom are suitable.
On the other hand, Chinese leaders have eaten twenty - five kinds of food every day. This doesn't mean the twenty - five course dishes, but the little eating and the lots side dishes. In other words, they think that the balance of nutrition is the most important key.
So let's see what kind of food Mao Zedong, who was the leader of the early Communist Party of China, enjoyed.
Mao basically liked the vegetarian diet. Of course, Mao also had meat. Mao especially ate the well-known Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉) cooked with pork fat, and he ate Hong Shao Zhouzi (紅燒酎子) cooked with pork thigh meat, and the lightly roasted fish (火焙魚). As you know, these foods are enjoyed by the general public in China in these days.
Mao also liked Sha Guo Yu Tou (砂鍋魚頭) cooked with fish head. It is a dish made by putting tofu and vegetable pith on the head of chubby fish. His favorite vegetables were Chinese cabbage, Kidney beans, Spinach, Water Parsley, and so on. Especially, he enjoyed Balsam Apple mixed with the pork slice, slicing pork meat mixed with cucumber, cooking dishes made with winter bamboo shoots, and lotus root with sugar and vinegar. These foods frequently served on Mao 's table.
Mao's food, Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉)
Mao did not ask for high quality food, and ate a little food because food was not well supplied during the anti-Japanese war. It was also because of his thrifty behavior which got along with with poor workers. One of Mao's most favorite dishes was Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉). He said that Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉) would support the brain, and in his opinion, Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉) would strengthened his body and sexual energy very much if he ate Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉), so he thought that eating Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉) only once or twice a week was enough.
The originator of Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉) is Sudongpo(苏东坡), who was the best poet in the Song Dynasty.
It is a popular Chinese steamed food. It is cooked by the following method.
- Boiling pork belly (Samgyupsal) with peel and pressing strongly.
- Cutting the boiled pork belly (Samgyupsal) into long squares.
- Mixing it in a saucepan with green onion, soy sauce, sugar, and spices
- And then boiling It for a long time with a weak fire until it was so soft that the chopsticks would go through to the center of the meat.
So,the teeth-weak elderly like Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉) very much. - Adding the Shao Xing Jiu (紹興酒 liquor) in order to enhance the flavor.
The meat of Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉), which is likely to be shattered right away, is tied up beautifully with green onion. Its rinds are very gooey, the meat is soft and lustrous.
After the unification of China, the life situation including foods improved, but Mao Ze Dong (毛澤東) continued to eat Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉). He did not try to eat all sorts of delicacies. However, because Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉) is the fat pork belly, it can be harmful to the health of old age, so when doctors encouraged Mao to eat less. At that time, Mao said, "I have to follow the advice of the doctors, but I can't always follow their advice. Please don't compel my lifestyle, especially the eating habit, which I have for decades." Accordingly, he didn't abandon his habit of eating Hong Shao Rou (紅燒肉) until his death. Anyway, it is good to eat it added with garlic and vegetables, also it is good to get rid of fat. In Okinawa, old people eat the boiled pork meat three times a week, but most of them live for a long time.
Foods that were always served on Mao's dining table : Red Pepper and Douchi (豆豉)
However, there are two things that must be included in Mao 's diet. They were Douchi (豆豉) and Red Pepper. Douchi (豆豉) is a type of seasoning made by boiling yellow beans or black beans and fermenting them.
In particular, it is said that the main feature of Mao's diet was that Red Pepper did not fall off the dining table. At the time of the war, he said that he didn't pay attention to any side dish if he had only red pepper, but he used to put red pepper in dumplings if there was no other food. In 1942, the Stalinist sent a generous gift to Mao Ze Dong, who sent his own chili as a complimentary gift. Mao Ze Dong's table was simple after unification, but Red Pepper was always served on his dining table. When he was old and could not eat red pepper due to various illnesses, he had to be satisfied that he could put a little in a small bowl and he coated his mouth with red pepper a little.
The red pepper has a great effect of warming the stomach, removing the cold, and drying the moisture. Therefore, the red pepper is good medicine to cure abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and dysentery. These diseases are caused by the low temperature of the stomach. The red pepper stimulates the gastrointestinal motility and stimulates the secretion of digestive fluid, so it can help people digest well. It also has antibacterial and insecticidal action. Vitamin C of the red pepper is 30 times as many as apples, and contains beta-carotene, which has a large anticancer effect. And it contains 'capsaicin', which not only has a function to sweat and exhale, but also has the effect of burning fat, thereby preventing the accumulation of fat and promoting the decomposition of fat. The red pepper has the big effect of the diet.
However, if you would eat red pepper for a long time, it causes hemorrhoids, it hurts your teeth and your neck is swollen. In addition, people with fever due to lacking a yin[female] energy, or those with inflammatory diseases such as mouth sores, sore throat, conjunctivitis, and those with hypertension, gastric ulcers, constipation, and hemorrhoids should be avoided. Especially, in case of a person with severe constipation due to irritable bowel, spicy foods such as red pepper is very harmful.
Looking at the facts so far, Mao Ze Dong did not waste the foods and he did not preferred to the expensive foods. He only used what he needed. People who did not know the facts talked about Mao Ze Dong, who was the supreme power at the time, as if he had enjoyed the sumptuous feast. Actually he was faithful to the basic principle of "the little eating and the lots side dishes" and enjoyed the food he had at home town when he was very young. Especially after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, everyone was in a difficult time, so he did not specifically covet food in spite of his supreme power.
The favorite foods story of the world's greatest persons will continue.