THE CLEAVER QUARTERLY

Chinese food. Read all about it.

[thecleaverquarterly]

🇺🇸 customers can get these for the holidays if ordered before 12/7. $25 incl 📬. A great 🎁 for someone you ❤️. Link in bio. #dimsum #dumplings #holidaysarecoming #giftideas

[thecleaverquarterly]

Our world famous dumpling tees are back and we're celebrating that (and the awesome new dumpling story on the website) by giving some away. Like this post for your chance to win. #chinesefood #dumplings #thecleaverquarterly #dimsum #instafood #winstagram

[thecleaverquarterly]

Happy Singles' Day

November 11 is a day of sombre reflection and remembrance in many Western countries, but in China it’s a day for tongue-in-cheek celebration of singledom.

Young Chinese people are fond of contriving “festivals” out of a particular date’s visual connotations, and the numbers “11.11” look enough like “bare sticks” (Chinese slang for being single) to justify the anointment of November 11 as a day of celebration of the solo life.

Those youtiao (cruller, or fried dough sticks) and baozi (stuffed, steamed buns) in the photo above are what your elderly relatives or becoupled peers would try to make you eat for breakfast today, naively believing that this will put you on a dough-fueled fast-track to true romance.

To enhance the karma in your favor, The Cleaver Quarterly team has also put some other iconic Chinese foodstuffs (and drinks) to work to wish you a Happy Singles’ Day from Beijing.

[thecleaverquarterly]

It’s Singles Day here in China and time to repost one of our first ever posts as a reminder to get you to check out our new website at www.thecleaverquarterly.com

[thecleaverquarterly]

The Cleaver Quarterly x Lucky Peach: A Guide To Chinese Sandwiches

Our latest collaboration with Lucky Peach is online now. Check out our Guide To Chinese Sandwiches, which finished off their Burger Month. 

[thecleaverquarterly]

The Cleaver Quarterly x Lucky Peach: A Guide To China’s Barbarian Vegetables

Our latest collaboration with the good folks at Lucky Peach is online now. Check out our Guide to the Barbarian Vegetables of China, which rounded off their Plant Kingdom month. 

[thecleaverquarterly]

The Cleaver Quarterly x Lucky Peach: Dumpling Guide

When it comes to print magazines about food, there is none bigger than Lucky Peach. They were kind enough to let us work with them during their new website's dumpling-themed February and the result is The Guide to Chinese Dumpliings. Much love to Lucky Peach and to Monica Ramos for the amazing illustrations.

[thecleaverquarterly]

Behind The Scenes – The Evolution of Issue Three's Dumpling Decision Tree

Here's a sneak peek at how the dumpling flowchart in Issue Three came to be. If you want to see how it turned out then you can get your copy of Issue Three in our online store or at all the good retailers listed on our Stockists page. 

[thecleaverquarterly]

Dim Sum Dopeness – The Mixtape

The Cleaver Quarterly and Beats From Beijing present Dim Sum Dopeness. This might be the only mixtape inspired by Chinese food references in hip-hop music. It's certainly the best. Best enjoyed while reading "Rap Vs. Chinese Food" in Issue Two of the magazine. 

Dim Sum Dopeness: Hip Hop Eats Chinese Food by Jerry Chan on Mixcloud

[thecleaverquarterly]

At the market stocking up on supplies for an Issue 2 photo shoot. All will be revealed. #print #magazine #food #media #photography #photo #veg #vegetable

[thecleaverquarterly]

These #chilli peppers will be among the stars of Issue 2 of The Cleaver Quarterly. Great shoot with @abcsofbeijing #print #magazine #printmag #indie #food #chinesefood #photography

[thecleaverquarterly]

#Summer is officially here in #Beijing. We're starting to feel like these guys. Shot at #Ningxia night market in #Taipei for our Issue 1 #photo essay. #streetfood #Taiwan #chinesefood #magazine #food (at The Cleaver Quarterly, Issue1)

[thecleaverquarterly]

Mitch Masilun (@1world1eye) shot some amazing #blackandwhite #photos of chefs with their cleavers for Issue 1 of #thecleaverquarterly - the results show why we're making a #printmagazine (at thecleaverquarterly.com)

[thecleaverquarterly]

Just got these hand-knit beauties back from the wool market #kickstarter #thecleaverquarterly #wool #hats

[thecleaverquarterly]

We're no brewers ourselves, but we do encourage the craft, so you'll see us with a tent today and tomorrow at the third annual Beijing Craft Beer Festival. Excited to see what China's best craft brewers will be serving up. If you happen to be in #Beijing come along and say hi! #beer #craftbeer #china (at Beijing Galaxy SOHO)

[thecleaverquarterly]

Zongzi: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations

In Issue 1 of The Cleaver Quarterly, we featured a piece about the playful battle that Chinese netizens are waging over zongzi, the food that is part of the founding legend of Dragon Boat Festival. That war of words focuses on whether the rice dumplings should be sweet or savory.

If they ever manage to resolve that quarrel, the sheer number of regional variations might start them squabbling all over again. Sharp words could be exchanged regarding what constitutes the “proper” shape of a zongzi (e.g. equilateral pyramids, cones, elongated logs, squat torqued squares).

They could just as easily come to fisticuffs over what type of leaves to wrap them in (e.g. bamboo, reed, lotus, oak, banana, coconut, pandan, corn husks). 

Take a look at a lot more versions here.

(Yes, #6 looks like a tamale. You’re absolutely right -- this requires further investigation. We’re on it.)

Photo: chungzuo.ccoo.cn, zwbk.org, tieba.baidu.com, gd.qq.com

[thecleaverquarterly]

Valantern's Day – St. Valentine meets Lantern Festival

The Gregorian calendar has been such a flirt recently.

Not content to cozy up with the Hebrew calendar for Thanksgivukkah a few months ago, it's now meeting-cute with the Chinese lunar year.

February 14, 2014 marks both Valentine's Day and the Lantern Festival. The latter, which traditionally marks the end of the lunar New Year festivities, is celebrated with riddles and sweet soup dumplings known as yuanxiao (元宵).

How are folks in China celebrating the festive mashup?

By eating yuanxiao made with rose-flavored filling.

Ooh la la!

One branch of Huguosi Snack Shop in Beijing estimates that they're selling 25-30kg (~55-66 pounds) of the rose-flavored dumplings a day. And sales are only expected to increase as the portmanteau holiday approaches.

Photo: Courtesy of sxnj.taobao.com

[thecleaverquarterly]

Spring Festival Rhymin' – Chinese Food Poetry

In the West, the new year is welcomed with "Auld Lang Syne," an ode to friendship. In China, you'll find rhymes that tell you what to eat – and we don't mean the lemon tea-peddling MC Jin.

Here are two versions of the traditional sing-song chants that provide dietary guidelines for the 15 days of the Spring Festival period. In 2014, Lunar New Year starts on January 31, so get munching in the early Friday A.M. with some dumplings (and laba garlic). Enjoy! 

VERSION #1

初一饺子初二面， 初三合子往家转，初四烙饼炒鸡蛋。初五、初六捏面团，初七、初八炸年糕，初九、初十白米饭，十一、十二八宝粥，十三、十四窜汤丸，正月十五元霄圆。

Day 1: jiaozi Day 2: noodles Day 3: hezi (turnovers) Day 4: pancakes with scrambled eggs Days 5-6: "pinch dough balls" [We're guessing this means: "Eat anything made out of dough."] Days 7-8: stir-fried rice cakes Days 9-10: plain rice Days 11-12 eight-treasure porridge Days 13-14: meatballs in soup Day 15: sweet soup dumplings

VERSION #2

初一饺子初二面，初三合子团团转；初四吃米饭，破五的饺子要素馅儿；初六初七需吃鸡，初八初九牛羊肉；初十吃顿棒子粥；十一吃鱼，十二吃鸭；十三围坐吃对虾，十四大碗打卤面；十五家家闹元宵，打春要吃春卷炒鸡蛋。

Day 1: jiaozi Day 2: noodles Day 3: hezi (turnovers) Day 4: rice Day 5: vegetarian jiaozi Days 6-7: chicken Days 8-9: beef and mutton Day 10: cornmeal porridge Day 11: fish Day 12: duck Day 13: shrimp Day 14: noodles in thick soup Day 15: sweet soup dumplings Spring Begins: spring pancakes with scrambled eggs

[In 2014, the solar term known as Spring Begins falls on Day 5 of the lunar new year. Aka February 4.]

Photo from OneInchPunch