Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-27
WHAT THEY EAT IN CHINA.
Wheat n General Article of Food ns
Well ms Rice.

Well as Rice.
Consul General Jernigan, Shanghai.
Although rice is generally regarded by
the Chinese as the staff Of life large
quantity of wheat has been used from the
most ancient times. and in the earliest
classifications wheat is mentioned as one
of the five grains. In the northern prov
inces, where rice is not grown and can
only be purchased by the well to do, wheat
is the most common cereal, but it is of
very poor quality. Blasted heads are seen
in large numbers every year and ergotism
is a too frequent cause of disease among
the poor.
The wheat is ground by very primitive
process. The mill consists of two light
stones, which are turned by aid of a blind
folded mule. The flour is coarse and dark,
chiefly used in the form of vermiceili, and,
when steamed, makes a good substitute for
rice, and when mixed with little broth,
favored with dash of soy, it forms very
Savory dish. To use the Chinese term. they
are the suspended and the dropped"
the former is the true vermicelli, the manu-
/ facture of which is common sight in
many northern villages. where strings of
the paste, fastened at the ends of two light
Sticks are suspended before the doors of
the cottages even in the main streets. The
strings are generally heightened by pulling
down little by little the lower stick, a
dozen or twenty strings being fastened to
each pair of sticks. The chopped vermi
celli is made by rolling out the dough and
cutting it in thin strips with knife fasten-
ed to the board like straw chopper.
Wheat flour is also used for making rolls
which are lightened with leaven, and these
are cooked by Steaming, are the many
varieties of patties containing minced meat,
molasses, or kind of jam. The steamer
consists of sleeves, fitting tightly one upon
another, which are covered and placed over
the kettle in which the meat or other food
is being cooked.
The ordinary Chinese, whether IN city or
village, takes his breakfast at the tea
house or restaurant. 1t consists almost Ell
tirely of these meat rolls or patties; the
latter are dipped in vinegar, soy, or a So
luton of red pepper, when eaten. Some
times the steamed rolls, after they have
grown old, are made palatable by being
toasted on grill over charcoal fire. An
other popular dish is doughnut fried in oil.
Baking is almost entirely unknown, but
there is a cake of the size and shape of an
OK rib which is baked by being stuck on
the inside of a jar-shaped furnace. IN which
there is hot charcoal fire. These cakes
are sometimes circular, but in every case
they are covered with the seeds of the
sesame, which add very much to the flavor.
Another variety is large round cake,
cooked on a griddle, and which is divided
into quarters when offered for sale. The
Mohammedan Chinese make a similar cake,
of which they are also very fond, without
using any pork fat.
For the better quality of native pastry,
and confectionery, rice Hour is used, but
at the treaty ports and the cities to which
foreign influence has extended, many forms
of sweet cake and biscuit are made of
American flour. Even for purely native va
rieties of rolls and cakes the American
flour is now preferred on account of its
wilderness and wholesomeness.
Within few years past the importation
of American -four has rapidly increased.
In the heart of China, ten years ago, 1t was
almost unknown away from the treaty
ports, but now bags of American flour may
be seen in large quantities stacked in the
shops of inland cities. Accurate statistics
can not be had as to the quantity of Ameri-
can -four imported and the customs returns
are silent on the subject, except with ref
erence to two or three of the southern
ports In the last volume OF the returns,
it appears that Canton takes about one
third of the whole importation of American
flour. The figures for Canton in 1896 were
liz. 6S4 piculs Il picul equals 1873 Is pounds),
valued at $439, OSS in gold. This would seem
to give, for the whole of China, 527, 052
piculs, valued at 81, 81. 264.12
1t will doubtless occur that where so
much wheat Is grown ii Is only needed to
import mill machinery to manufacture on
the spot all the -four that can be demanded,
but unless the quality Of the wheat pro-
demand for American flour is likely to go
on increasing. The -four from America is
shipped almost exclusively in bags holding
awenty-dve pounds. q packing much pre-
ferred by the Chinese.