Siu ngo's memory

Siu ngo’s memory

Food is a one of the most important necessities of human life but not just for people to fill themselves up with food. In fact, some particular kinds of food can bring a lot of complicated moods and memory to people. Many people will try to find something which can make them feel like still live in their hometown. For Chinese, people traditional food is that special "container" for them to bear the weight of their emotion. However, for me, Siu ngo is that "container" of my complex memory.

Siu ngo is one of most important dishes when Chinese people celebrate the Spring Festival. Spring Festival is a day when the whole family stay together, so it has an important meaning for Chinese people. When Spring Festival is approaching, Chinese people will prepare chicken, goose and other delicious food to welcome the holiday. Siu ngo is a dish like roasted goose. As the ancient Chinese say, people can't form a banquet without Siu ngo. When people celebrate Spring holiday, they will choose Siu ngo as their main dish. Each Spring Festival is permeated with laughter when the banquet begins. As the first dish of Spring Festival banquet, the feast will begin with Siu ngo. I know my family will have a happy time when Siu ngo is served up. With the smell of Siu ngo, my family and I sit around together and talk about what has happened in the past year. Regardless of any problems and difficulties we had, it seems like everything is gone when we begin to taste Siu ngo. In Chicago, people just eat some normal food to celebrate the Spring Festival. Although family will stay together, they less eat Siu ngo.

In fact, what makes Siu ngo so different is the cooking method. In China, Siu ngo will be roasted with burning lychee wood. Before roasting, prepared geese have to be pickled. After pickling, the chef will blow air into the goose and use hot water to scald the skin of goose. The most important part is that the chef will brush the sauce which is made from honey and plain vinegar onto the Siu ngo. Finally, the chef will air dry the geese and start roasting. Because of the special cooking method, Siu ngo will not smell like smoke and will have a juicy, crispy taste. In Chicago, the way people make roasted meat is just by pickling the meat and than they roast it. Even though there is a ‘substitute’ of Siu ngo, roasted duck, which is sold by American Chinese Restaurants, the preparation of roasted duck is closer to American roasted method. I have tasted so many different sorts of roasted meat in different American restaurants, but I still can’t find the Siu ngo’s taste like in my hometown.

In addition, there are only a few restaurants that offer Siu ngo in Chicago. When I try to find some substitutes of Siu ngo to eat in Chicago and wonder if these 'substitutes' can let me feel like I am still in my hometown, I will always feel disappointed because the dish taste so different. Those 'substitutes' taste like firewood. Sometimes I go out with my friends who I have met in Chicago, I will recall those days that I spend with my friends in China. My friends and I will sit in the restaurant and wait for the Siu ngo to come out from those burning lychee firewood. In Chicago, I can just sit and wait for the food in most Chinese restaurants just like any other days. Without friends and the smell of lychee firewood, everything taste insipid.

         Siu ngo includes my spirit of homesickness. For me, Siu ngo and the holiday are bound deeply toghether. Even though it has been a long time for me to eat Siu ngo last time, Siu ngo’s taste and smell are still in my memory. I will miss many meaningful memories in China whenever I think of Siu ngo. Moreover, Siu ngo’s taste and smell are in my family’s memory. Siu ngo contains me and my family’s memories, allowing us to have a deeper connection.