Author Archives: Jay Chen

Dongpo Rou (东坡肉), Braised Pork Belly

Text:
Dongpo Rou is a Hangzhou-style braised pork belly named after the Song dynasty poet, official, and gastronome Su Dongpo (苏东坡). It is a classic dish in Zhejiang cuisine, especially Hangzhou.

Context:
It is informant’s favorite dish as a child until they were tricked into believing it is called Dongpo Rou (Rou, meaning meat in Chinese) because it is actually Su Dongpo’s flesh and meat.
According the informant’s later research, Su Dongpo created or inspired this dish during his political exile in Huangzhou. He gifted pork to laborers who helped build a dam. Instead of boiling it, he braised it slowly, that is why it has a succulent and layered texture.

Analysis:
This origin story behind the fish mythologizes Dongpo Rou as a culinary monument to resilience, giving it folkloric and moral weight. Su Dongpo was a Confucian scholar and Daoist poet, his identity elevates the dish from rural fare to intellectual heritage.

Wu Shi (舞狮) & Nian (年), Chinese Lion Dance

Text:
Wu Shi is a traditional performance where dancers mimic a lion’s movements in a stylized costume, usually accompanied by loud drums, cymbals, and gongs. Commonly performed during Lunar New Year, store openings, weddings, and festivals.

Context:
The informant saw the Northern Lion Dance style when they are a child during New Year Festival on the streets. They remember being afraid of the lion dancer as a child because the colorfully painted mask and seemingly unpredictable movement look like monster. However, the lion is believed to scare away evil spirits, bad luck, and misfortune. Drums, firecrackers, and loud sounds are used in tandem to “cleanse” the space spiritually.
The origin of Wu Shi tracks back to a legend about a beast called Nian (年) who terrorized villages annually. People discovered it feared loud noises and red color, leading to the development of lion dances and firecrackers.

Analysis:
Wu Shi is a ritual drama performed at a liminal moment requiring protection and good luck, in this case, new year. The movements mentioned by the informant, like sniffing, blinking, jumping, are symbolic, mimicking the lion’s investigation of its surroundings; it is a metaphor for purification and control over chaos. Wu Shi is a performative folklore in which a ritual sends blessing with visual language.
The lion is actually not native to China, it was introduced through contact with Buddhism and Silk Road culture, yet it was mythologized into Chinese cosmology as a protector figure. It is a form of cultural syncretism where foreign symbols are absorbed and repurposed within local beliefs.

Miyeok-guk (미역국), Seaweed Soup

Text:
Miyeok-guk is a seaweed soup often with beef or mussels, simmered in sesame oil and broth. It is commonly eaten as postpartum recovery food for mothers or birthday soup.

Context:
The informant states that they ate this soup every year on their birthday back in Korea. The first time they ate it as a child, their parents did not explain anything but instead just told them it is a birthday thing. Despite seaweed being a very common food in Korean dishes, they know it is unique because their family usually don’t eat seaweed soup for breakfast.

Analysis:
For mothers, eating miyeok-guk is both a health practice and a rite of passage into motherhood. It is used at the threshold of life stages, particularly childbirth, which is a highly vulnerable and transformative period in many cultures.
As a commemorative food, it is not as a celebration of self, but as a gesture of gratitude to one’s mother. Miyeok-guk is a symbolic reenactment of birth—a sensory and emotional link to one’s origin.

Chapssaltteok (찹쌀떡), Glutinous rice cake

Text:
The name of the rice cake is a pun to pass a test.
합격하다(hapgyeokhada) – to pass (a test)
붙다(butda) -to stick (to)
합격(hapgyeo) -Wish someone could stick right to

Context:
The informant actually never had this rice cake because they went to an international school, but they originally heard about it from their mother.
This rice cake is usually eaten before Suneung (수능), College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). The informant described it as the most important event, arguably in a Korean student’s life; it is a test that determines one’s entire future- career prospects, income, and personal relationships. It is eight hours long and spans over an entire day, the student must take every subject exam within that window of time. Traffic is discourage on that day to make the country as quiet as possible.
The informant explains there are a lot of ritual around CSAT to gather luck, and Chapssaltteok is one of this to help the student stick to the highest possible score. Oppose to the rice cake, the students are not allowed to eat seaweed because it is slippery.

Analysis:
Chapssaltteok appears during liminal moments and transitional phases in a person’s life, in this case, passing exams. It functions as a rite of passage to bind good outcomes to the person or event. It is a ritual food for protection and luck and a symbol of cohesion.

Chuseok (추석) & Songpyeon (송편), Korean Harvest Festival

Text:

(The following is a cleaned-up transcript from a recorded interview.)

“Chuseok is pretty similar to Chinese and Japanese Harvest Festival, I think. It takes place around late September or early October. And I think historically, it was to celebrate the harvest of rice and other crops. Usually, you have a week off from school and work. During this time, my family visits the cemetery to pay respects to our ancestors. We set out food for them and eat it.
It is also a time when we have a big traditional family gathering. We have meat pancakes, vegetable pancakes, or seafood pancakes. And we also have a special kind of rice cake you only eat on that day called Songpyeon. It is a thick rice cake full of honey and nuts, and super sweet. When you bite into it, it fills your mouth-”

Context:
The informant grew up in Korea and their family has celebrated Chuseok as early as they can remember. They see the festival as a last gathering before winter sets in and “everything gets dark and sad.” The maternal side of the informant’s family is also very Christian, so aside from offering the food and eating it there, they also do prayers. They think people don’t celebrate the festival in a traditional way anymore because a lot of people have moved to the city and are no longer involved with agriculture, so Chuseok has transformed into a great time to gather with family members and enjoy good food. The informant has criticized Koran’s bad work-life balance and overworking culture, pointing out that there is not a lot of time for one to gather with loved ones anymore. To the informant, Chuseok is an opportunity to take a break from life and see family members. It is a time to step back from modern necessities and go back to a much simpler time.

Analysis:
Rituals from Chuseok reflect a continuity of lineage and honoring ancestors is a key way of affirming kinship networks and identity over time. It highlights Koreans’ household-centered cosmology. The informant’s religious background did not take away this traditional cultural value, but instead added to it and continued it.
Songpyeon, the half-moon-shaped rice cake, carries the symbolic meaning of fertility and prosperity to express how harvest is a gift of abundance from nature or spirits. The recipes and techniques are usually passed down through generations orally. Food is narrative in this sense, it tells a story about ancestry and collective memory.
The informant states their deep personal connection with Chuseok and reflects on the change in society. Chuseok is not just a holiday—it’s a ritualized enactment of cultural memory, social values, and spiritual belief.