Watching the Tree: A Chinese Daughter Reflects on Happiness, Spiritual Beliefs and Universal Wisdom by Adeline Yen Mah

Author:Adeline Yen Mah
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Autobiography, Non-Fiction, Eastern, Philosophy, Cultural, China, Biography
ISBN: 9780007386888
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Published: 2012-10-17T23:00:00+00:00

Soya beans have been grown in China since before the age of written history. Introduced into Britain and cultivated in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in 1790, the soya bean plant was said to have been brought from Europe to the USA by Thomas Jefferson. Fresh soya beans (known as edamame in Japanese) are delicious when boiled and served cold. The shelled green beans have a nutty flavour but the fuzzy pods are inedible. The Chinese stir-fry fresh soya beans with mushrooms, bamboo shoots or other vegetables and serve them with rice.

Soya beans can be processed into bean curd (tofu, which can also be freeze-dried), soya milk, soya milk powder, soya protein concentrates, textured vegetable protein (TVP), soya flour and soya oil. Fermented soya beans can be made into soya sauce, Chinese bean paste or Japanese miso.

The four soya bean products which are used most extensively in China are: bean curd, soya sauce, bean paste and bean curd sheets. Soya sauce and bean paste are both manufactured by fermenting the soya bean. This process was already in use during the Zhou dynasty (1100–255 BC): ancient writings of that period record that an imperial cook was appointed to provide 120 jars of fermented soya bean per year for imperial use. According to Shih Ji (Record of History), written during the Early Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 23), many merchants acquired wealth and titles through the manufacture and sale of soya bean products.

Tofu (bean curd) was first made by Liu An (died 122 BC) during the Han dynasty. The word to (pronounced dough), means ‘bean’; the word fu means ‘fermented’. Tofu means fermented bean or bean curd. To make tofu, dried soya beans are softened by soaking them in water. Then they are ground together with water into a milk-like liquid. This ‘milk’ is then coagulated with gypsum (calcium sulphate) into tofu. Long considered indispensable in Chinese cooking, high in proteins, vitamins and fibre and low in cost, bean curd has the unique ability of absorbing and enhancing the flavours of meat, fish, herbs or any other food cooked with it.

Historically, soya foods were believed by the Chinese to possess beneficial properties. For breakfast every morning, my grandfather used to drink a bowl of hot soya milk to ‘ward off the cold and nourish his qi’.

Nowadays, western scientists are becoming increasingly aware that soya beans do contain various unique substances called phytochemicals and oligosaccharides, which help to prevent certain diseases. Phytochemicals are biochemicals produced by plants that are known to promote health. Among those discovered in the soya bean are the isoflavones Genistein and Daidzein which, together with soya proteins, appear to prevent breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men. In addition, isoflavones lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease; preserve bone density and hinder osteoporosis in post-menopausal women; reduce hot flushes during menopause; and improve kidney function.

Oligosaccharides are sugars that have recently been discovered to play an important health role. They stimulate the growth of ‘good’ intestinal bacteria such as bifidobacteria.

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