Oddities of the Dong Culinary Culture
By admin on 2014-12-11

The Dong ethnic group is mainly distributed in Guizhou, Hunan and Guangxi provinces, with a large part of its population engaged in agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing. The Dongs are good at craftwork, especially skilled at weaving brocade.

Dong culinary practices, which have a unique system, are a remarkable part of the culture. With large varieties and many oddities, food is all about three words - mixed, sour, and joy.

  Oddity 1: Mixed Food Sources

Most of the Dong people have four meals a day, including two tea breaks. Cooked rice is their main staple, and people living in mountainous areas usually enjoy "sticky" rice. Their various snacks are also rice-based, such as porridge, zongzi (pyramid-shaped dumplings made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves), are called ciba (glutinous rice cake). The Dongs do not use chopsticks. Instead, they knead the rice into round balls with their hands. This they describe as "eating tuanfan (rice balls)."

Usually, the Dongs prepare a day's food in the morning and then bring it along to where they work, mainly mountainous areas. The tea they drink, named oil tea, is in fact a kind of soup made by boiling a mixture of tea leaves, peanuts, glutinous rice, meat, oil, and so on. To go with rice and tea, there are various kinds of vegetables (usually pickled), fruits and drinks.

It is estimated that the Dongs have at least 500 kinds of culinary materials, a revelation of their intelligence and strong adaptability.

  Oddity 2: Sour Flavor

As an ancient saying goes, "The Dong people cannot live without sour foods." Hence, almost any kind of food can be pickled, and more than half of Dong dishes are sour flavored, with these characteristics.

(1) Wide use of materials. Everything from cabbage, cucumber, bamboo shoots, radishes, to pork, beef, chicken, duck, fish, and so on can be pickled.

(2) Pickling method. First, boil the water with salt in it before adding the materials to be pickled. Then, take them out and put into a jar. As a last step, spread alcohol and sesame over the pickle.

(3) Long preservation period. Pickled vegetables can be preserved for as long as two years, chicken or duck for three to five years, meat for five to 10 years, and fish for 20-30 years. Some picked food will not be used until large celebrations. For large Dong banquets, almost every dish is sour.

  Oddity 3: Jubilant Banquet

Making Oil Tea

For the Dong people, glutinous rice is the most fragrant, rice wine the mellowest and purest, leaf tobacco the most refreshing, and banquets the most jubilant occasions. To entertain the guests, the Dongs often make exquisite "dongba," which includes many types, such as red dongbas with perilla-seed juice and black ones with parasol tree leaves. In addition, specially flavored tea is prepared for banquets. During such events, five-flavor ginger and oil tea, together with preserved fish and other dishes, is served.

Typical characteristics of reception ceremonies when guests' enter a village include a roadblock set up by a gate leading to the village to stop guests. They are supposed to finish a certain task, such as singing a song or answering a few questions. After that, the block is removed and the guests allowed in. The host and guests will toast each other as a way to express their best wishes. During the banquet, neighbors may either come forward to help entertain guests or invite them to their houses.

  Oddity 4: Gratitude for the Chef

The Dong people hold particular respect for chefs, which is also an important part of their culinary culture. On many occasions, the guests will sing at banquets to chefs, expressing their gratitude to them for cooking such delicious dishes.

The main "dos" and "don'ts" of the Dong culinary culture are as follows:

-- Don't eat when sitting on a threshold;
-- Don't look at those who are having something;
-- No cooking on the first day of the lunar year;
-- No outsiders should be allowed into a village during a sacrificial ceremony;
-- Only vegetables, but no meat, are allowed for sons in mourning.