Original subtitles

Home

where life begins

is also one's ultimate safe harbor

Under the same roof

they cook together, eat together

They use food to unite

and consolate family members

Though pots and pans are everydayness

they are symbols of Chinese living style

and more of a reflection of the Chinese ethics

People grow up

in love

be apart

reunite

In some sense, enjoy home cooking

is also an experience of various tastes of life

T'ai-hang Mountains

known as the geographical boundaries of the eastern China

are canyons created by geological movement

Quartzite stones from a billion years ago are exposed here

Valleys are connected and arable lands are scarce

Xiaoyou Zhao and his son must seize the time

to complete the harvest before the white dews

Corn is the only kind of grain they are planting

Summer heat

makes the corn mature too early

The land at the cliff edge

occupies a total of 1000 square meters

The land is used for corn planting

which only can bring 2000 yuan annual income

In the ancestral house 5 kilometers away

Xiaoyou's wife Ronghua Cheng's work is also toilsome

Corn originally comes from the South American

but enjoys a 400 years of cultivation history in China

People use stone mill that weighs about 300 kilograms

to grind corn into powder

in order to make food

The youngest daughter-in-law comes back home with potatoes she digs

The eldest daughter-in-law comes home to help

Under the lead of their mother-in-law

They three together is going to make lunch for the whole family

Flour needs to be added in to corn powder to increase stickiness

In the old China, flour is very precious and expensive

Sometimes people have to use tree bark to replace flour

It is with such kind of method

and thought

that Ronghua Cheng feeds the whole family

Since harvest is a major event for the Zhao family

every family member has to do something to help

The tunnel hanging on the cliff

connects the village to the world

The tunnel takes 30 years

of the whole villagers to build by hand

Corn batter and leek sections

together can make delicious steamed buns

which win favor of all the family members

Based on the lever principle, people squeeze dough into strips

Northerners name those strips---Hele

Hele bad stands by the side of the cooking bench

therefore strips can go directly into the pot

As long as the grain be grounded into powder

Every ShanXi man is gifted with cooked wheaten food making

Huozhou city is in the central of Shanxi Province

People make more

delicate cooked wheaten food there

Thanks to their sophisticated techniques of making cooked wheaten food

days and food seem

no longer tedious

There is a tradition that newlywed daughter has to return to her mother's home on the third day of the wedding

Her mother's side of the family will make steamed jujube buns to welcome their daughter

The number and pattern of the bun

are said to reflect how much the daughter is loved by the family

Therefore every mom takes it very seriously

Steaming is one of China's most classic form of home cooking

In Tianmen City Hubei Province

Housewives know how to make full use of the heat Tianmen City Hubei Province

Housewives know how to make full use of the heat

to finish cooking vegetables and rice at the same time

These dishes can not only retain their original taste and flavor

but also maintain their original shape

Hele itself is plain

so it must go together with strong sauce to reach its best taste

After this meal

more onerous labor is waiting for the husbands

Long before tables and chairs are invented

Chinese people are serving meals individually

After about 1400 years

Chinese people begin to sit around the table to have meals together

Four generations reunite to celebrate the harvest

Common as the home-cooked meals might be

the order and orientation of the seat arrangement are paid special attention to

Grandpa is 90 years old

and being a farmer in most of his life

The seat facing the courtyard door is always saved for him

This is the respect that traditionally the young shows to the old in China

With the food planted and made by themselves on the table

the whole family enjoys the contentment and joy comes from the tillage

No matter where they are

as long as there is an important occasion

every one will come home and sit around the table

to appreciate the kinship

and mutual support of the family members

That

is why a family can prosperous continuously

under such harsh environment

1000 kilometers away from

the farming land

is China's most prosperous city---Shanghai

Ziyu is 16 years old

Five years ago

she came to Shanghai from Henan to attend school

The mother is preparing dinner

The mother and the daughter rent a 15 square meters apartment

near the school

There is no private bathroom

and four households have to share one kitchen

The good news is the rental fee is cheap

This is the home they have in Shanghai

Most of these teenagers have similar experience

They come from all over China

They have learnt musical instruments for more than 10 years

and all go through a strict selection

Their goal is to become professional performers

Ziyu began to learn viola since she was 4

She had been to Wuhan

and Beijing to attend a better school

After Ziyu had been admitted by a school in Shanghai

her mom quit the job and became a full-time study accompany of her daughter

All their living expenses are

supported by the father

To better support their daughter

to go abroad to compete and perform

The father never visits Shanghai in 5 years

For a better education of their children

parents are willing to leave their hometown and travel all cross the country

It is a common choice of

many one-child families in China

For Ziyu

Viola takes up almost all of her life

Her mother's life is more flexible

in order to buy fresh ingredients

she would go to big supermarket that is more far away

Although she has to live a frugal life

she does everything she can to ensure her daughter's nutrition

Ziyu is now a teenager whoes body is growing

besides that she has to stand to practice viola eight hours a day

The mother needs to provide her daughter energy supply in time

Meat is rich in fat

and the fat can be transformed into calories

which equals to twice the amout of

protein and carbohydrates

The best streaky pork is the kind of meat

that with the pig skin on it and layers of fat and lean in it

Ziyu's mom learn how to make

this dish from their neighbor

after they settle in Shanghai

In the Han recipes

bouilli does not have a long history

but enjoys the most popularity

Pork and soy sauce

are common ingredients

It does not require many advanced skills to make this dish

but only takes time and patience

This makes bouilli

a classic Chinese home-cooking dish

Gastronomers

will use high heat to bake the pork skin

The skin will contract quickly under the heat

so that the meat can still be tough and chewy

even stewed for a long time

The dark red color is the symbol of bouilli

To obtain this color

one can add

soy sauce

red kojie rice

or fermented bean curd to it

Every housewife has her own recipe of bouilli

Broth can not be wasted

No matter what ingredients you put in it

after saturated with soup

will all become bouilli's

best mix

Every household has its own favor of

the duration and degree of heating

and the taste of the dish

Compared to the techniques

it is the intention that matters the most

Set the table for dinner sweetheart

Sure

Remember to select the music you wanna listen at dinner

Mom dinner ready yet

Right away

Dinner's ready

Try this bouilli

Shanghai bouilli

Henan ramen

and Berlioz's music

together makes up mom's reserved recipe

Her body movements

are quite exaggerated

but the atmosphere has been lightened by her

You see

She totally rules the stage

Please have some too mom

Sure

The viola class is one on one

and once per week

Today Ziyu is having an extra class

Try it yourself

OK

Mr.Sheng is a very strict teacher

The international competition and solo concert is imminent

Ziyu must seize every minute to practice

This is the fourth notebook that mom has made for her daughter

ach one of them is 5cm thick

Her mom never misses

any of Ziyu's practice lessons

Good job

Well done

Welcome

Most Chinese believe

family should stay together

at full moon night of August of the lunar calendar

Mr.Sheng knows that Ziyu and her mom

can not go back to their hometown to celebrate the festival

We eat dumplings to celebrate the New Year

When guests visit

the best way to welcome them is to serve dumplings

Likewise

I haven't been home for several years

and I miss dumplings the most

I am sure those dumplings are very delicious

Mr. Sheng is also a northerner

Like Ziyu

Mr.Sheng traveled to many places to study

and finally he settled down in Shanghai

A family dinner cannot go without dumplings

and Shanghai bouilli

Ziyu eat some more

In order to apply visa

The mother learned how to write English letter

by refering to a dictionary

Except practicing viola

the mother takes care

of all the chores for her daughter alone

like collecting materials and tablatures

We haven't been back to our hometown even once

for five years

Grandmother is seriously ill this year

She has been under a dozen of chemotherapies

I am afraid to take her back home

For Ziyu I am a qualified mother

but for the entire family

I am nothing

I haven't done anything for

the family

my husband

and my parents

I feel like I haven't fufill any obligations of the family

In this 5 years

I

Just as passing down the mother tongue language

Mother deeply rooted the taste

into child's memory

This is an unconscious instinct

Once these seeds germinate

No matter how far the child goes

The familiar taste will remind the child

where the home is

Tong Wu's work is an emerging profession

He is the leader of Hiking Club

He never shies away from his personal life

After his parents divorced

when he was 10 years old

Whenever he remembers home

he remembers his aunt's pickle jar

His aunt leaves in Meishan City

Today she is going to welcome Tong Wu home

Pickle

which has a unique crisp and sour taste

makes signature dishes of Sichuan people

Sichuan cuisine is rich in flavor

To create complex flavor

pickle is one essential seasoning

In order to make authentic pickle fish

pickled ginger and chili are important

Hot oil can help extract the spicy flavor

and release acidic substances

which will not only make fish delicate in taste

but also wipe off the raw smell

The large mint leaves

add an exotic aroma

to the hot and sour soup

Sister aunt

I am home

You are home

Tong is back

Where have you been these days

I've been to Kangding

Kangding

Look at your hair

Meal is ready

Time to eat

the most beautiful fish I've cooked

Here comes the fish

Cheers

Come on cheers

Happy holidays

I lived in my aunt's home since I was little

She has the sharpest tongue but the warmest heart

She is so afraid that she can't take good care of me

and she could not explain to my parents

My aunt ask me what I wanna eat every time I come back

I say anything is fine

every time

That kind of feeling is

home cooking dishes are delicious no matter what the dishes are

Try this

Eat some more

If you come to Sichuan you will know what pickle means for Sichuan people

Every household has pickles

and the tastes vary from one to another

Each has its own advantages

Aunt's recipe of making pickle

involves the most tender and fresh seasonal vegetables

Wash them thoroughly before salting

Airing under the eaves

Make the vegetables slightly dehydrated

Salt and cold boiled water

mix together with the ratio of 1:50

Radishes

tender ginger

Cowpeas

add chili to enhance the flavor

garlic to sterilize

and pepper to improve the aroma

Everything is ready

It is time to put “old salt waterâ€

It equals to the yeast

With it

the harmful and bad bacteria can be suppressed

and the number of lactic acid bacteria will prevail

With the help of lactic acid bacteria

The sugar in the vegetables will turn into lactic acid

which creates the sour flavor of the pickle

Pour water into the edge of the jars

to block the air and bacteria

About ten days after microorganisms' hard work

vegetables are given new vigor

The bright color and greenness of the vegetables fade awayv

Clear crisp and sour pickles come into being

There is another kind of pickle

which is Tong's favorite

His aunt gets this recipe from grandmother

Put fresh vegetables and cooked chicken claws

into the pickle water

It takes only one day

to make an irresistible

tasty dish

Come here and taste this

The claw is the perfect picnic food

to bring outdoors to share with friends

I wanna have three

We haven't got any yet

Who

Me

Be careful

and take care of yourself

Got it

Good

Remember to take care

Sure

Be safe

Next time I will make more delicious dishes for you

I don't say much with my family

but when I am with friends

I can feel it

I am a totally different person

If my parents had not divorced

and I've been around them the whole time

I may have another kind of character

Starting again

Tong Wu suddenly decided to go to Leshan

to visit his father who lives alone

Tong

Yes Dad

These are chicken claws with pickle

Nice

Since Tong Wu has to be on his way shortly

he only has one hour to spend with his dad

In the on-call room

Simple dishes

Father and son that haven't meet each other for six months

Fall silent with each other

Thoughts can't help running through their heads

In the central Sichuan the weather is warm and humid

which makes it perfect place for making another traditional pickle

Sprouts

choose from nice dried mustard

That's it

Sprouts that have been marinated for over a year

have the best flavor

Yibin hot and spicy noodle is Yibin's special local product

Although oily and spicy

the sprouts smell can not be concealed

There is a kind of food

can be considered course and seasoning at the same time

Only a little of it

makes the rice taste amazing

This is what Chinese people

called dish goes with the rice

Here you go

On the sultry July

At the alluvial plain of the Yellow River

watermelons are ripe

One can enjoy the sweet taste of watermelons

for more than one season

Watermelon sauce

is a typical course that goes with rice

It can magically preserve

the taste of summer

The dog days of summer brings the best time

to make the sauce

Step one

make beans ready for making sauce

Grandma picks small soybeans

and make them crispy

It's done

Spread the soybeans

and wait for them to cool down

There are ten people in her family

The grandma have raised her children

and now she begins to raise the third generation

There are many things to do in this long summer

but grandma knows that

doing all these things just like making sauce

It can't rush

When soybeans become semi-dry

wrap them with fried flour

The protein and starch in the flour

will provide nourishment to soybeans' fermentation

Make a straw mat for those beans

This is a hotbed

Spread the soybeans

Quilt can control the temperature

and block bacteria all at once

With a 40 years of experience

grandma knows that the growth of the mold

determines the flavor of the sauce

I am 70 years old now

I have two sons

two daughters

and three grandkids

The young go to school

The elder busy for work

They all come back for

Spring Festival every year

As soon as one Spring Festival is over

she begins to look forward to the next one

Grandma seldom calls her children

She always tells them not to worry about her

Step two

Cut the watermelon

This is the favorite part for grandkids

The sweetest part of the melon left for the kids

The part that connects to the melon skin is not high in sugar

which is more suitable for making watermelon sauce

During the hottest 10 days in a year

Mycelium grows fast

shows the color of yellowish-green

Step three

Sprinkle with salt ginger pepper

Star anise bay leaves and other spices

Watermelon is fresh

and juicy

Constantly stir and mix them

All the ingredients

can absorb the sweet watermelon juice

I like Peking Opera

So my grandson bought me a radio

with a memory card in it

The card has many plays

He always go to school far away

He comes back once a year

What been sealed into the urn is not just delicious food

but also expectations

40 days later

When the urn reopens

a overwhelming sweet soy sauce aroma sweeps the room

and only a small portion can make people open the appetite

For grandmother

The real taste of watermelon sauce

is when the children come back home

and that is her happiest time of year

In the productive region

it is easy for housewives

to make a meal

for the whole family

But nature will not forget

some other places

China's cleverest housewives

are good at using local materials

Yuezhen Wu is looking for a wild cane shoot

locals call it pusun which is the stem of cattail

I began to pull the pusun since I was a child

Since I grew up along the Liaohe River

that riverside has never been out of pusun

It is something that grows naturally

it does not need special attention and fertilization

You just pick it up

and eat it

Before the next harvest season of pusun

and the last pick

Yuezhen Wu has her own plans

The upright young stems are edible parts

of pusun

The cane shoots that people are familiar with

are a variation of pusun

It has a large spindly and fleshy stem

only China and Vietnam

cultivate this vegetable

Shrimp roe stewed with cane shoots

Though ingredients are simple

after coloring

saturated with clear soup

simmered on low flame

becomes the most common dish in summer

Use fresh picked pusun

to make a braised pork with pusun

By Northeast words

Fresh and alive

Dry up the rest of the pusun

Air dry them so that they can be preserved for a long time

Smart housewives would make early preparations

In the reservoirs of Huaiyang region

People chase

another hard-core edible wild herbs

Although it has

the same growing environment

and similar name with pusun

they are two

completely different plants

It has its position in many cuisines

Chop cattail

and put it into the egg

Make it into a pie shape

This cooking method in Yangzhou

highlights crisp cattail

with egg’s soft

And make it into fillings

Make Dumplings

This is the famous snack in Huaian

Just one bite

and you will notice the exotic smell

Let the oral and nasal

together form a three-dimensional feel

Choose the most tender part of the cattail

to make a featured dish of Jinan-stewed cattail in milky soup

Ordinary people do not always prepare soup-stock

But using flour paste

it can also produce

a thick creamy white sauce

Add ham mushrooms and bamboo shoots into it

The amazing taste can be doubled

In the fall

Suaeda grass in Liaodong Bay

forms a red ocean

On the Yuezhen’s windowsill

Cattail has been dried up

Hot water

makes the cattail stretch up

Soup needs to be added

to the meat

so that the dried cattail can be fully flavored

Add a handful of reed

and simmer for a hour and wait for food to ready

During the ripen season of rice

Cattail is off the market in the South

But for Yuezhen Wu

it still has its value

Dried stems of cattail

can weave into various daily articles

Eight years ago

her husband suffered a heart attack

and almost died

She shouldered all housework and farm work

and took good care of her husband for five years

She is as tough as cattail

to sustain the whole family

When families come back home

Yuezhen Wu feels the most content moment of her day

I just want to take care of my old man

and let him have a happy life

As an old proverb goes you might not be the best but you are better than the worst

Look at my five family members

we are always united and happy

never argue or fight

The money is not important

family matters the most

My biggest hope is

everyone in my family can stay happy

For Chinese females

Thrifty

Has always been one of the traditional virtues

There is only one exception

Menglu Twenty nine years old

has been pregnant for seven month

and preparing for the baby’s birth everyday

My first reaction

is in fact an amazing feeling

Since I have my first fetal movement

I feels like there is a new member in the family

Zhuhai is a place where 90 percent population

comes from other cities

Her husband Hansheng is a native Cantonese

Menglu comes from Sichuan

In this particular phase of life

mother-to-be can legitimately

enjoy the meticulous care

The north port of Gongbei

connects Zhuhai and Macao

There is a stream of people in rush hour

at 9 o’clock at night

Mr.Pan

lives in Macao

In every two or three days

he will cross the border to Zhuhai to buy food

which has become

the habit of many Macao people

His 20-year-old daughter Peiqi

lives an independent life

but her father still worries about her

Are you ready to cook dad

yes

He stewed a pot of orange flavored red bean paste as dessert

Mr.pan originaly from Zhongshan City Guangdong Province

This is a hometown habit

and his daughter has been affected deeply

It is sweet and delicious

Sweetened water

has been regarded as a typical Chinese dessert

The dessert always comes in soup or rice paste form

Guangdong and Guangxi people’s evaluation to the sweetened water

can be concluded with two words and one of them is sweet which refers to the flavor

Another word is smooth which refers to the taste

There is a kind of sweet moment in one's life

Taipa

which is the favorite place in Macao to take wedding photos

Three years ago

Peiqi and Zhiming felt in love at first sight

Dad how long should I soak the dried beancurd-stick

A little longer

This is the first time that daughter help her dad in kitchen

Guests will come to visit today

When will he come

He is almost there

He just finished from work

He needs to hurry up

Nice to meet you Mr.Pan

There is a gift for you

Thank you

Make yourself at home

Try it

a bowl of sweetened water

melted father’s deep and silence love

At the first time to meet the future son-in-law

Every father’s feeling

may be more complicated than

a bowl of sweetened water

On the other side of the port of Zhuhai

the atmosphere is a little tense

Menglu is experiencing

the first throe before childbirth

We are waiting for you

You will see your mom and dad soon

It is very painful

Menglu and Hanseng’s parents all come to the hospital

You sweats a lot

Do not be afraid

Mom do not be afraid

Baby do not worry

Mom is not afraid

The pain lasted nine hours

so her strength declines quickly

But Menglu must stay strong

and the baby needs her help

Hansheng and Menglu’s child

is the second generation of China's one child family

Four parents

One pair of husband and wife

One child

This "421" family structure

has already become a mainstream phenomenon of Chinese urban society

This chuld affects three families

Congratulations sir

Here is your baby

Congratulations and it is a girl

She is seven pounds in weight

and fifty centimeters in length

Hansheng and Menglu had already agreed

on the daughter's nickname

Xiao Fuxing

which means happy little star

Fuxing's first meal does not go well

She still needs more practice

For Menglu

giving birth to a child

is just the beginning of her life experience

To be a good mother

perhaps is the bigger proposition

Hi baby

I am your mom

she is hungry

Kitchen quickly becomes a matching field

The competitors are their parents

Sishuan cuisine, Guangdong cuisine

Every dish comes to the spotlight

Everyone is determined to win

Instead of saying

it shows the cooking skills of elder people

Rather say that it expresses

the joy of welcoming a new life

Baby‘s home

Thank God Hope you can grow up quickly

Here you go

Come to take some water too？

The grandparents who came from Guangdong

are confident that they have

secrets recipes to take care of lying-in women

They believe that the soup made with spring water

is the best

The grandmother who came from Sichuan

brought the dried houttuynia cordata

Stewed chicken with it

is considered to be beneficial for healing wounds

and recovery

Papaya, sweet and rich in juice

cam stew together with carp

The Chinese traditional medicine believes

that those two food materials contribute to galactosis

This is the Guangdong way of cooking

Cantonese love to drink soup and they are skillful in making soup

The modern science considers that

any kind of processing of the food

will cause nutrition lost in some degrees

but this cannot persuade Cantonese

Double-stewed soup

is the pride of Cantonese

All kinds of food materials marked with health care function

are added in the clay pot

Simmered through several hours

the fragrance of the food material releases repeatedly

The stewing soup is strong and sweet

and been endowed with various tonic hints

Another kind of stewing soup

also emphasizes on slow

With help of the steam

The airtight stew pot locks the moisture

so that the cooking time is longer

Though the soup stews for a long time it doesn’t boil

The umami and flavor substances

can generate multiplied

The best stewing soup

has the color of tea

Grandpa is the soup ready yet

Almost

I stewed the soup for you

I stewed it today

Here is the soup of red dates with carp and papaya

Drinking soup is Meng Lu’s assignment every day

Her diet

not only concerns postpartum recovery

ut also concerns about providing enough nutrition for the little baby

Is mom ready?

Eat it quickly

Our baby has been ready

to feed

Guangdong is

1500 miles away from Sichuan

They are totally different in

language and traditional diet

But both sides of the parents are confident that

food can preserve people’s health

Facing the double care

Menglu feels like there is too much to take in

I’ve had enough

Are you sure

Fine I help you to eat it all

Don’t let our parents see it

I ate it up for you

OK

So as to not to hurt their feelings

Menglu and Hansheng are both born as the new generations

with higher education

Even though they understand the parents’ love

they have their own propositions

for raising their kid

Two months later

the happy story

has a dramatic ending

Hansheng is overweight

During spring

Yuezhen Wu sows new seeds in the soil

Zi Yu wins the champion in the international competition

and heads towards a higher level

Ronghua Cheng and Xiaoyou Zhao

expect good weather for the crops next year

and can have good harvest

One reason that

the human organize family

is to produce and allocate food

more reasonably

It is the home cooking and food sharing

that tie the family more closely

Although the home cooking dishes

vary from family to family

A writer says

that happy families are similar

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