https://thewoksoflife.com/category/how-to/chinese-culture/ a culinary genealogy Tue, 19 Dec 2023 15:43:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2 https://thewoksoflife.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/cropped-TWOL-favicon-4-32x32.png https://thewoksoflife.com/category/how-to/chinese-culture/ 32 32 https://thewoksoflife.com/dongzhi-festival-winter-solstice/ https://thewoksoflife.com/dongzhi-festival-winter-solstice/#comments Tue, 19 Dec 2023 15:41:00 +0000 https://thewoksoflife.com/?p=69628 The Winter Solstice in Chinese is 冬至 (dōng zhì in Mandarin Chinese), which translates to “winter arrival.” As you may already know, it’s the shortest day of the year and the longest night. The Dongzhi Festival is an important Chinese holiday, but it’s sometimes forgotten—overshadowed by the Lunar New Year (AKA the Spring Festival). In the ... View Post ]]> https://thewoksoflife.com/dongzhi-festival-winter-solstice/feed/ 17 https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-whole-chicken-recipes-guide/ https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-whole-chicken-recipes-guide/#comments Sat, 16 Dec 2023 08:39:00 +0000 https://thewoksoflife.com/?p=76892 With Lunar New Year coming up, many a Chinese table will soon be graced by a whole chicken. Whether it’s poached, braised, or salt-baked, a whole chicken is a deeply symbolic food in Chinese culture. Today, we have a complete guide to preparing a whole chicken in the Chinese style, so you can keep this ... View Post ]]> https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-whole-chicken-recipes-guide/feed/ 12 https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-celebrate-mid-autumn-festival/ https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-celebrate-mid-autumn-festival/#comments Thu, 14 Sep 2023 14:37:00 +0000 https://thewoksoflife.com/?p=59092 The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important Chinese holiday of the year (after Lunar New Year/Spring Festival). It’s a time to get together with family, eat, worship the moon, and celebrate the fall harvest! In this post, we’ll talk about how to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with friends and family! Note: This post was originally published ... View Post ]]> https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-celebrate-mid-autumn-festival/feed/ 18 https://thewoksoflife.com/zongzi-recipes/ https://thewoksoflife.com/zongzi-recipes/#comments Mon, 12 Jun 2023 15:48:00 +0000 https://thewoksoflife.com/?p=57388 The Dragon Boat Festival is coming up (It will be on Thursday, June 22rd this year), and that means it’s time to make Zongzi, or sticky rice dumplings! Luckily, we have a few zongzi recipes you can try, including savory and sweet. We also have a lazy version for those of you who aren’t feeling ... View Post ]]> https://thewoksoflife.com/zongzi-recipes/feed/ 46 https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-birthday-traditions/ https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-birthday-traditions/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2023 06:45:00 +0000 https://thewoksoflife.com/?p=72226 Chinese birthday traditions usually boil down to the most well-known one—eating noodles on your birthday as a symbol of longevity. But there’s so much more to celebrating your birthday in Chinese culture. Let’s explore this topic! There are some worthy old wives’ tales and fun facts, as well as some practical tips for navigating Chinese ... View Post ]]> https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-birthday-traditions/feed/ 40 https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-lantern-festival-yuan-xiao-jie/ https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-lantern-festival-yuan-xiao-jie/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2023 05:25:00 +0000 https://thewoksoflife.com/?p=61256 The Chinese Lantern festival, or yuánxiāo jié (元宵节) falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month. It comes two weeks after Chinese New Year’s Day, which the first day of the 15-day Spring Festival celebration period. Since Chinese New Year is on February 10, 2024, the Lantern Festival is coming up! It’s time ... View Post ]]> https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-lantern-festival-yuan-xiao-jie/feed/ 13 https://thewoksoflife.com/when-is-chinese-new-year-2023/ https://thewoksoflife.com/when-is-chinese-new-year-2023/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2023 05:01:00 +0000 https://thewoksoflife.com/?p=70540 Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year (to be more inclusive of other cultures that celebrate the holiday) or Spring Festival (春节 – chūnjié), is just around the corner. This year, Chinese New Year falls on January 22, 2023, beginning the Year of the Rabbit. To start the year off right, it’s always ... View Post ]]> https://thewoksoflife.com/when-is-chinese-new-year-2023/feed/ 6 https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-postpartum-diet/ https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-postpartum-diet/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2023 05:38:00 +0000 https://thewoksoflife.com/?p=70318 In Chinese tradition, the postpartum diet is made up of foods that new moms can eat to replenish their body, boost circulation, and stimulate milk production.  We’re not talking about “bouncing back” to lose weight after giving birth! This is about making sure that a mom’s body recovers from the very taxing 9+ month journey ... View Post ]]> https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-postpartum-diet/feed/ 24 https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-confinement-childbirth/ https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-confinement-childbirth/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2022 05:30:00 +0000 https://thewoksoflife.com/?p=69744 A 30-day confinement after childbirth is a Chinese tradition that stretches back over two millennia (for C-section birth, it extends to 6 weeks). Known as zuò yuè zi (坐月子) in Mandarin, it’s a time when you’re meant to safeguard your and your baby’s health, while your body is in a fragile state after birth.  Over ... View Post ]]> https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-confinement-childbirth/feed/ 83 https://thewoksoflife.com/when-is-chinese-new-year-2024/ https://thewoksoflife.com/when-is-chinese-new-year-2024/#comments Sat, 15 Oct 2022 07:20:00 +0000 https://thewoksoflife.com/?p=70614 Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival (春节 – chūnjié), falls on a slightly different day in January or February of each year, as it follows the Chinese lunisolar calendar, rather than the regular Gregorian calendar used in most parts of the world. It is also known as Lunar New Year, which is a term that’s ... View Post ]]> https://thewoksoflife.com/when-is-chinese-new-year-2024/feed/ 2