Family Visit: Liu Shifu heats up the family courtyard

Píngshān 屏山, CHINA – My journey to learn favorite family recipes began this morning at the Suíjiāng market. Heavy bags of meat and vegetables turning our knuckles white, we board Liu Yeye’s boat. Liu Yeye (Grandfather Liu) motors his river tank up the Jīnshā River just enough to drift us exactly across from the Suíjiāng bank to Píngshān’s shore. His children live on both sides of the river. The town of Píngshān named a bridge in his honor for his multiple deeds, rescuing people with his boat during floods.

We hop off the boat and hike through a lush bamboo forest. At the top of the road, motorbikes are arranged to taxi us to the house of the Liu family. I feel the pang of a dangerous déjà vu ; when in Asia, I seem to find myself on motorbikes without a hospital nearby. A brief yet thrilling ride on a winding gravel road brings me to a house that has been in the Liu family for over a century.

The house sits on a hill overlooking orchards once belonging to the family before re-appropriation during the mid-20th century. The Jīnshā River flows by, silty, swift, and waiting to rise over fields and trees, into a past the family will only hold in memory. Presently the fields provide food and a meager income for farmers in the area. However I am curious, how will the farmers earn a living after the Xiàngjiābà Dam is completed?”

We enter the homestead into courtyard looks like set in a Kungfu movie. Old furniture scattered about reminds me of a Kungfu movie, as though Jackie Chan (陳港生) and Jet Li (李連杰) battled after a breakfast.

Liu Shushu prepares ingredients at the window in the largest home kitchen I’ve seen in China. I have to pause and note a re-occurrence. Ever since my search for home cooked favorites began, I’ve noticed most of my teachers have been fathers of the household. I grew up in a household where my mother cooked and my father popped into the kitchen to warm up a cup of coffee in the microwave. I am told by the couples cooking is a shared responsibility depending on work schedules.

Two large iron woks are cradled in a ceramic tiled counter top, under which wood fuels the fire rivaling any domestic stove top.

Kōngxīn Cài (空心菜, Water Spinach) has hollow stems hence its literal translation from Chinese, “hollow centered vegetable.” My team and I help remove the leaves and the stems are chopped then sautéed with dòuchǐ (豆豉, Fermented Black Bean), huājiāo (花椒, Sichuan Peppercorn), and dried chillies for a spicy melange called Dòuchǐ Kōngxīn Cài (豆豉空心菜, Water Spinach Sautéed in Black Bean Sauce).

Found in the hills and bought for 90 RMB/jin ($13/half a kilo) is the prized mushroom, Jī Zòng Jùn (鸡纵菌, Termite Mushroom or Termitomyces albuminosus).

Jī Zòng Chǎo Qīngjiāo (鸡纵炒青椒, Jī Zòng Mushroom Sautéed with Green Chili Pepper) – Sliced Jī Zòng Jùn dry fried with qīngjiāo (青椒, green chillies) and huājiāo adds spice to a vegetarian meal.

Liu Shushu’s daughter and niece return from the fields bearing Nánguā Jiān (南瓜尖, pumpkin leaf shoots).

Tossed in huājiāo-seasoned peanut oil and dried chillies, the dish Chǎo Nánguā Jiān (炒南瓜尖, Fried Pumpkin Shoots) is velvety in texture with a sweet buttery flavor.

Zhúsǔn Chǎo Ròupiàn (竹笋炒肉片, Bamboo Shoots Sautéed with Sliced Pork) – The cooking lesson almost gets away with being vegetarian before crisp slices of bamboo shoots and tender strips of pork sautéed with chili and huājiāo dance on the pan.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few of the other dishes added to the lunch spread. Waipuo (grandma) stole my heart and my eight spare lives with her specialty dish, pork belly stewed in caramelized brown sugar and a little salt. No veggies, garlic, onion or ginger – just sugar and pork belly. I made a slight mistake of complimenting her; she stood up, walked to my side and filled my rice bowl with more. I wouldn’t recommend consuming more than a couple spoonfuls of this syrupy sin, but I haven’t learned the art of saying no to grandmas at the table. Homemade sausage, làròu (腊肉, smoked and salt-cured pork), a fish broth, and bear meat complete the family feast.

I wonder, when the new city is built and waters flood over the fields, how different the table will look. It is only a matter of time before cost and convenience redesign the Liu family meals and change family traditions. With this in mind I press my appetite to savor as much, while I can.

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