My Early Start: Learning Chinese

Who to Cheer For, China or USA?

The other night, my husband and I were watching the men's gymnastics competition.  There were tense moments as members of both teams made mistakes.  My husband asked me who I was cheering for, China or USA.  It took me a few seconds before I could even start to answer, and all I could say was "it depends."  I think it's complicated. 

What I mean by that is I feel loyalty and patriotism to both countries.  Even though I've only visited China once, I guess roots run deep.  I was of course excited by the USA's performance, and it was like cheering for the underdog.  Then again, I really wanted Yang Wei, China's team captain to do well.  It was as if I can feel the pressure and burden he must be carrying from the people of China.  Then there's the pressure from his coach.  Imagine having your coach say that he was going to jump from the tallest building in Beijing if the performances were not satisfactory. Yikes! Also, I wanted them to win because the Olympics are on their home turf.

The young American team with every member experiencing their first Olympics must of had the time of their lives!  I was thrilled for them, especially Jonathan Horton.  I felt very proud of this amazing team, especially for them overcoming all the injuries, and proud that they represent the USA.  I think they definitely overcame much criticism and doubt to show what they are capable of.  So you see, it's a bit complicated.  I guess this is what it means to be a Chinese American.

Cooking with Kids: Learning about the future of Chinese cuisine

Last night, I went to an event at the Chinese Cultural Center in San Francisco. There was a great panel discussion about the future of Chinese cuisine. One of my favorite chefs, Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook, was there! He and the other panelists discussed their favorite Chinese dishes, things they don't like about Chinese-American food, and dishes they would love to see in Chinese restaurants in America.

I feel really inspired now to learn more and more about cooking Chinese food. Most of what we get today in Chinese restaurants in the United States is nothing like what you would find in China. I'm trying to figure out a way to attend Chef Martin Yan's Culinary Art Center in Shenzhen, China.

Please let me know where you have found the best Chinese food in North America, especially Hainan chicken.

Langostino Tacos with Avocado Salsa Verde

I tried a new recipe this week, which I had to somewhat alter due to ingredient availability and the rain. I was supposed to use fresh prawns, which were to be grilled, but instead I found "langostino meat" at the store. I think this was a pretty good substitute. I sauteed the langostini instead of grilling them.

I made a nice salsa verde with cilantro, lime juice, chipotle, avocado and jalapeno.

I sauteed the langostino, placed them on warmed, corn tortillas and added a tablespoon of sauce. Sounds great, right? Wrong! Somehow, the recipes had called for way too much salt! My dish looked beautiful, but was inedible. I saved the day by ditching my sauce, placing langostino, avocado, cilantro and a bit of lime on the tortillas.

I have a question -- is kosher salt less salty than regular salt? My recipe called for kosher salt, which I substituted with regular salt. Big mistake.

One lesson I learned in preparing this dish is to try the recipe ahead of time! Do not make something for the first time when you are having guests. Figure out what can go wrong, fix the problems, and THEN make it for friends and family.

Learning Chinese - Ordering in Chinese Restaurants

My Chinese is not great.  Far from it.  I have the proper pronunciation of the tones because I was born in Taiwan and lived there until I was ten years old.  But after my family immigrated to the US, English quickly became my primary language.  My vocabulary is pretty basic, and I can only read the very basic of Chinese characters.  I know, I know, it's such a shame.  This is what all my uncles and aunties would say about the state of my Chinese.  I would like to speak it more, but sometimes it's just easier to speak English.  One example is when I'm in a Chinese restaurant, if I order something in Chinese, the waiter/waitress assumes I can read the Chinese menu.  So when I switch to English, they can sometimes be quite rude.  To avoid the whole uncomfortable situation, I mostly speak English.  Not a great example for my kids.

I definitely want to improve my Chinese.  I want to be able to go into a Chinese restaurant, read the menu, and order in Chinese.  Maybe I'll eventually take a class because I would love to be able to read a Chinese newspaper someday.  One step at a time. I think I'll pick up some take out menus tomorrow and start studying.  I'll keep you updated.  One benefit of this effort is I'll be eating more Chinese food.  Yum!

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

I just finished watching the entire Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony.  Yup, the entire 4 hours of it.  I'm glad I did too.  It was truly impressive.  From the fireworks, to the Birds Nest stadium, the 2008 drummers with their precision performance, the kung fu masters, the painting dancers, the torch lighting, etc., etc.  The ceremony kept me glued to the tv set.  I really enjoyed all the symbolism about harmony and references to the ancient Chinese culture.  I did not expect to have such strong feelings of pride for my ancestral.  I was on the urge of tears many times during the ceremony.  I definitely think the Chinese did a wonderful job.  The country as a whole has a lot to proud of.  It's going to be tough to top this!

We made an great evening of it and the kids really enjoyed it.  It started off with a delicious dinner of ma la hou guo, or spicy hot pot (the kids had a non-spicy version).  We finished off the meal with lychee.  I think it's important to immerse my kids in Chinese culture.

Learning Chinese - Popular in Cambodia

I'm watching the Bob Woodruff special on TV now titled China, Inside-Out.  Of course it's clear to me the importance of learning Chinese with the business we have (Early Start Mandarin DVDs) .  But somehow I thought it was a "western" phenomenon.  In addition to selling our dvds across the United States, we've received interest in our products from Australia, England, and Canada.  I don't know why, but it was somewhat surprising to learn about the largest Chinese language school outside of China was in Cambodia.  I guess we're not the only ones realizing the global impact of China.  The Cambodians also realize that learning Chinese was their "ticket to success."  I'll have to impress this on my kids!

Hungry for Delicious Chinese Food

There have been several shows and news articles about strange foods in Beijing because of the upcoming Olympics.  I have to admit, even though I grew up with Chinese food that's not considered standard fare in Chinese restaurants, some of the stuff I've read about even disgusts me.  I think it's important to keep an open mind and try new things, but skewered scorpions and sea horses?  I just don't know...

I guess it's all relative though.  Some of the other "delicacies" mentioned bring fond memories and a drooling mouth.  Stinky tofu, or chou doufu, for instance, is just something you have to grow up with.  If you walked into a room and didn't know stinky tofu was being served, you'd gross out and run out the room for sure.  But I swear I've had plenty of stinky tofu that I thought was just not stinky enough.  Apparently, malahuoguo, or numbing and spicy hot pot, is a favorite of Beijing locals.  This Sichuan specialty is a favorite of mine.  My Caucasian husband and his family have grown to like it, even if they have to pay for it the next day.

Other more common dishes I read about that are making me hungry are dumplings, or jiaozhi, and xiaolongbao, or steamed port buns.  Thankfully, these dishes are easily obtainable in many restaurants in San Francisco.  You tiao, which is basically a Chinese doughnut sandwiched in shao bing, a sesame bread, along with savory soy milk, are also favorites breakfast foods of mine since childhood.  However,I haven't found a good source of this in San Francisco yet, but I keep searching.  I'd love to hear about your favorite hole-in-the-walls where you get delicious Chinese food.

Learning Chinese: Kung-Fu Panda

Hey, it’s Wesley. I just saw the movie “Kung-Fu Panda”. I really liked this movie because it used some facts that are common in Asia. They also used some Chinese phrases and names such as shi fu (master) and wu gui (turtle). But was strange was that they pronounced shi fu as xi fu instead. I think they should have used the proper pronunciation.  They should have also explained it a bit more so that people who don't understand Chinese can learn the proper terms. 

There were also five other main characters by the name of the furious five. They were made up of a tiger, a crane, a monkey, a viper, and a mantis. These are known as five different types of Chinese fighting styles and each one is based on a different type of strength. This movie received great reviews and I thought it was good too. It was nice to see that people made a movie involving Chinese culture.

Learning Chinese - Early Start Mandarin work

It’s Wesley again, and I played in the fifth DVD of Early Start Mandarin Chinese with Bao Bei the Panda. A while ago I filmed the close up mouth part for the DVD to help people learn how to pronounce Chinese words.  But when we were watching the rough cut, we noticed some spots that we think were crumbs that we didn’t notice during the shoot. My job was just to stand and say chinese phrases while looking at a camera as they did a close up on my mouth. My mom would say a chinese phrase and I would have to repeat it three times with a pause in between each one. It makes me feel good say these chinese phrases because it helps me keep in practice and it also helps other kids learn chinese.  Volume 5 of the series is titled Sports and Games, and should be available beginning August 11, 2008.  We teach some simple words and phrases related to several sports.  Just in time for the Beijing Olympics!  Can't wait to watch!

Learning Chinese: Checking Out the Pandas

On my last day in Washington D.C for the week, we decided to go see their famous zoo.   It was very crowded because lots of other tourists were visiting as well.  Unlike all the other zoos that I have been to, it was free.  What my family and I mostly wanted to see though was their famous Giant Panda.   For us, the panda has special meaning because of my mom's dvd business that teaches Chinese to kids.  The main character that's in the dvds is a panda puppet named Bao Bei. Early Start Mandarin DVDs

We first went onto the Asia trail because that is where we thought it would be.  Before we got to the panda exhibit, we saw some other animals like the Sloth Bear.  It was named after the sloth because it had long claws and a long nose like the sloth does and it eats bugs instead of fish.  But the zookeeper said that if there are no bugs for it to eat that it will also sometimes eat some fruit or meat.

We finally got to the Panda exhibit,  it was hard to see the panda because it was hiding behind a log in the back of his cage.  We were able to go to a lower level where there was a glass wall and you could see a close-up of the panda.  We waited a long time for the panda to come close and when it did we took several photos. There were also some tour guides there that told us about the panda and how it was a endangered animal.  We went inside a building that had another small pen with glass walls and the mother panda was inside.  It was hard to get good pictures because many other people were also crowding around trying to get to the front.  After we were done taking photos of the panda, we were hungry, so we grabbed lunch.  We started to feel a bit tired after lunch so we went back to the hotel to rest.  Our whole time at the zoo was spent looking at the Giant Panda, but it was worth it.  I thought it was interesting especially because pandas are well known in the Chinese culture.