All the Cheese in China (2020) | Hacker News Reader

All the Cheese in China (2020)

cheeseprofessor.com

34 pointsThevet9 comments

>> In the past, each family or community in Inner Mongolia (the northeastern Chinese Province populated by the Mongolian people) would make cheeses from their own milk as part of their every day food preparation. Today, however, China has pushed to modernize much of region, encouraging people to abandon nomadic life and move to cities. As a result, an increasing portion of the cheese in Inner Mongolia is made in small factories. Some of these cheeses are based on the area’s traditional foods, but producers also use a base called nai doufu (“milk tofu”)—curds cooked in a wok until they form a pliant, sticky mass—to make a variety of shapes and snacks, including some flavored with dried fruits, such as jujubes.

Here's a video that shows home production of "milk tofu" (from what I can tell):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEuzI7-3riE

Too bad I don't know Chinese, and the article makes a very poor job of explaining how the various cheeses it lists are actually made. Harrumph.

a brief translation:

it looks like she starts by curdling milk. The solids from the curdled milk are then scooped into the pot and cooked down until the solids and liquids have fully separated. The solids are then separated from the liquids and packed into the wooden boxes, where they will be left to sit for some time.

“China” is a bit of a misnomer for the article. It seems to be mostly “Chinese” politically, but pretty detached from the Han typically thought of when using the word “China” in the general sense. Interesting stuff nonetheless.

Said people still live in China though, what else would you call these provinces. China != "Han", although majority of China is Han. It's interesting how our language sort of ties, ethnicity and nationality together when the two are very separate things.

Maybe this occurred because rulers wanted people to identify with their nation (and pay tax and die defending it) instead of their tribe. Or maybe it is just because nations used to all be ethnically homogeneous. It certainly doesnt serve us well these days though! Very confusing

it's worth pointing out the hong kong/china divide, where both are predominantly han but it seems that national identities have diverged.

Weird to have to explain this here, but: China is a country with a border. Chinese is the nationality of this border. There are over a billion people there, the only people who think China is full of Han alone are ignorant Westerners because we get this extremely reductive view of Chinese culture. You should go visit and you'll see for yourself :)

China has always been ethnically diverse, and twice has had dynasties not led by ethnic Han. It's okay to call them Chinese.

Cheese is becoming very popular with young people in China. Cheese tea was a big fad a few years ago(milk tea with a cheese lid)

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