China wins

The Good Life with Eli F.J. Tajanlangit

“In the end, China will win.”

This used to be considered a “purple phrase,” aged and overused, something that wasn’t to be taken seriously; in fact, it was something people smirked, smiled, or even laughed at.

But no one is laughing these days. The country where once came products that did not last a day has now become the world’s biggest factory, producing everything imaginable at unimaginably low costs. Pancit is being served everywhere. Sichuan peppers have gone haute from hot. Europe is eating shark’s fin soup.

Even our tables now have preserved lettuce and preserved plums. We serve century eggs and seaweeds along with the jamon Serrano and proscuitto and there, in most pantries one can find sesame oil, anise seeds, oyster sauce and XO sauce, seasonings and condiments for Chinese food that have become everyday ingredients in most kitchens hereabouts.

China, in case you haven’t realized it yet, has won. And it has won in a battle far bigger and more important than over territory: the battle for our hearts, minds, and souls. It has insinuated itself into the fabric of our lifestyles, merging and melding with ours so seamlessly oftentimes we no longer know which is truly ours.

It has won the world without firing a shot although it had discovered gunpowder. [Instead of bullets, however, the gunpowder is now used in pyrotechnics and fireworks, which the world cannot seem to do without.]. It has won us by sheer seduction of its culture.

Indeed, who wouldn’t be seduced by a culture that has found edible use for dorsal fins? Who would not be fascinated by a culture that can cook vegetables while trapping its freshness, as happens in the wok? Who wouldn’t be fascinated by its deep culinary knowledge that teaches them to fry fish in peanut oil because its temperatures do not destroy the original taste of the seafood?

Who wouldn’t be seduced by kiamoy, that irresistible little dried orange seed that packs a thousand flavors from salty to sweet and everything in between? Good Friend Y says, come to think of it, the kiamoy is more interesting than olives! That may sound like an unfair comparison yes, but if you think of both as simple palate teasers, Y does have a point there.

And look, the world is now celebrating the Chinese New Year! Time was when we did not even know there was another new year. I remember how , when I was small, I was intrigued when the town’s Chinaman and his family had sent a basket of food because it was “their” new year; I can still recall the only food I recognized there was the lechon, the rest was exotic, including the sweet bun, whose flavors were decidedly and distinctly from another land.

Now, we are as familiar with animal signs as we are with horoscope symbols; we now know our water dragons and metal tigers as much as we know of aquarius and scorpio.

We have welcomed the China invasion only to our kitchens, but in fact to our living rooms and bedrooms and the entire house which are, increasingly, being subjected to feng shui, the proper positioning of objects and places to allow the best flow of lucky and good vibes into our lives.

Many of us even know not just what fruits to eat – the golden rounds like oranges and kiat-kiat are starting to sell hot -- but also what objects to hang and display when the new year kicks in, led this time, so we are told, by the powerful and elegant water dragon.*

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