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The modernization of traditional Chinese foods
Jiang
The Chinese like novel things, and this includes foods and drinks. Most snacks, beverages, fast food, candy you expect to find in a metropolis anywhere in the world are also sold and consumed in major Chinese cities. However, Chinese are still as patriotic as ever and at the end of the day. What they really appreciate are the traditional foods. The variety of traditional Chinese foods is enormous, as each region has its own range of typical traditions. They used to be prepared at home and although this was a time consuming task, the Chinese found it a meaningful investment of time. However, with the modernization came the acceleration of the pace of life. Time became money in China as well. It was no longer regarded as feasible to spend several hours each day in the kitchen preparing dishes and a supply of snack foods. A market formed itself for the large-scale commercial production of traditional Chinese foods. This development stimulated another market: ingredients for traditional Chinese foods. Apart from being curious and patriotic, the Chinese are also finicky eaters. Commercial products still need to look, smell, feel and taste like the real thing that your mother used to prepare when you were young. This development thus created new application areas for existing ingredients and opportunities for new types of ingredients, like compound ingredients specially formulated for a particular traditional food. Our showcase of documents includes a number of traditional Chinese products and the ways they are being adapted to modern industrial production. The production introduced in this document is fermented flour paste, or in Chinese: jiang. Jiang is one of the most basic types of traditional Chinese condiments; yet it is not very well known outside East Asia. Jiang was probably the predecessor of soy sauce, which is called jiangyou (jiang oil) in Chinese. While soy sauce is liquid, jiang is a paste. The production process of jiang also resembles that of soy sauce. The main ingredients are soybeans and a starch source: rice, wheat, etc. The starch source is hydrolyzed with a mould, resulting in a very basic type of koji (qu) that is also used for the production of traditional
Chinese liquors or the Japanese sake. Soybeans are soaked and boiled, after which the koji and the boiled soybeans are mixed with salt and water added. That mixture is fermented until a black salty paste is formed.
Traditional fermentation in pots There are many types of jiang. Some are sweet, while others are fragrant because of the formation of alcohols (produced by added yeast). Various spices can be added as well. A very famous type is the spicy doubanjiang of Pixian in Sichuan. The sweet jiang used with Peking Duck is made of wheat flour, without using soybeans.
Sweet jiang for Peking Duck Jiang is presently undergoing the same process of modernization in other publications by Eurasia Consult. Each type of jiang has its typical flavor, smell, consistency, color, etc. Additives are needed to guarantee a mass produced product of consistent quality. Moreover, the time and distance between production and consumption of jiang is also longer and farther than before. This calls for sufficient preservation methods. A major trend is the development of special jiangs for specific dishes. Now you can buy ready to use Peking Duck jiang, dandan noodles jiang (a typical Sichuan type of spicy noodles), huiguo pork jiang ( ‘double cooked pork’, a spicy dish, again from Sichuan), jiang for cooking fish, etc. You can stir fry some pickled vegetables, add a spoon of dandan noodles jiang, poor it
over a bowl of cooked noodles and eat your dandan noodles. With the proper packaging and marketing campaign introducing these modern jiangs to the Western consumer, these products could mean lucrative business for an astute entrepreneur.
Doubanjiang and seafood jiang in modern packaging
Eurasia Consult has been active in the Chinese food industry since 1985. We are in
particular specialists in the transformation of traditional Chinese foods into modern nutritional products. We are your best option to formulate a suitable strategy for your products in China, or perhaps selecting appropriate Chinese products to develop into Europe, North America, or wherever you may be located.