Final assignment

Chinese Traditional Food - Turnip Cake (draft)

Most of the Chinese traditional food are delicious, but beyond their taste, they usually contain special wishes and meanings.  Turnip cake is one of the popular traditional food that people will eat at Chinese New Year especially in Guangdong province, the southern China.  It's also sometimes referred to as radish cake (菜頭糕) which in Chinese is a homophone for good fortune (好彩頭).  Moreover, the word "糕"(gao) meaning "cake" is identical in sound to "高" meaning "high'" and "tall" and that implying promotion and prosperity.  Prosperity was considered very important in anient Chinese agricultural society since it would affect their harvest and even living. The turnip cake  was mainly made of shredded Chinese radish and plain rice flour with additional ingredients of dried shrimp, dried shilltake and Chinese sausage, all chopped-up in pieces.  Despite I could eat or buy different version of turip cake from various Chinese restaurant, I like the turnip cake made by my mother.  The rich ingredients she used, in quality and quantity, made the cake very tasty and every bit of the ingredients represented her rich giving heart to us.  I learned how to make the turnip cake from my mother and now I will do it with my daughter every Chinese New Year.  I think something can be traditional because it had passed from generation to generation.  It became precious not only because their special taste but also express a strong family bonding in Chinese culture.  Hope we could continue to pass down the good tradition to our next generation.

Final submission

Chinese Traditional Food - Turnip Cake

Most of the Chinese traditional food are delicious, but beyond their taste, they usually contain special wishes and meanings. Turnip cake is one of the popular traditional food that people will eat at Chinese New Year especially in Guangdong province, the southern China. It's also sometimes referred to as radish cake (菜頭糕) which in Chinese is a homophone for good fortune (好彩頭). Moreover, the word "糕"(gao) meaning "cake" is identical in sound to "高" meaning "high'" and "tall" and that implying promotion and prosperity. Prosperity was considered very important in anient Chinese agricultural society since it would affect their harvest and even living. Therefore, this is popular as gifts to one another druing the Chinese New Year. The turnip cake is mainly make of shredded Chinese radish and plain rice flour with additional ingredients of dried shrimp, dried shilltake and Chinese sausage. To make the turnip cake, first chop-up all the ingredients in pieces and stir-fire them. Then, add all the ingredients to the radish and flour mixture. At last, pour the combined mixture in a mold and steam at high heat for 45 minutes until it solidified. In fact, there are various kind of new year rice cakes and the historians discovered that they are one of the oldest food in China. Despite I could eat or buy different version of turip cake from various Chinese restaurant, I like the turnip cake made by my mother. The rich ingredients she used, in quality and quantity, made the cake very tasty and every bit of the ingredients represented her rich giving heart to us. I learned how to make the turnip cake from my mother and now I will do it with my daughter every Chinese New Year. I think something can be traditional because it had passed from generation to generation. It became precious not only because their special taste but also expressed a strong family bonding in Chinese culture. Hope we could continue to pass down the good tradition to our next generation and never lose what is valuable in our life.

Corrections:
1.  Most of the Chinese traditional foods are delicious
2.  The turnip cake is mainly made of
3.  There is a various kind of new year rice cakes