“Trick a treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. . .”

My kids have been chanting these words for almost a month now, and I’m happy to say, Halloween is finally here and hopefully that means the end of these words. . .or at least until next Halloween! Halloween is definitely not a Chinese holiday, in fact, most Chinese people are extremely superstitious, therefore, any mention of the ghost is a sign of bad luck.

Here in the US, however, is a different story. Our neighborhood is bustling with Halloween decorations for the past month, and we’ve been to 2 different Halloween parties already this year! The picture to the right are the 2 jack-o-lanterns my kids did with some help from my husband. I know I’m biased here, but I must say, they look pretty darn good!

It’s also exciting to see the cute costumes on the little ones, usually lots of princesses and super heros. This year is no exception. In fact, parents and kids are getting more creative every year. Some of the best costumes I’ve seen so far this year for the kids are GI Joe’s, personal chef, and a doctor and 2 reckless driver patients.

What’s your favorite Halloween costumes this year? We would love to hear from you!

Pumpkin – 南瓜 – nán guā

Has anyone ever wondered why pumpkin is called 南瓜, or south melon in Chinese if translated literally? Well, it turns out, pumpkin is native to South America, and is later grown in Southeast Asia. Along with 南瓜, there are 西瓜 (west melon) or more accurately, watermelon, and 冬瓜, winter melon. 冬 (dōng) has the same pronunciation as 東 (dōng), so as a child, I always wondered why there isn’t a melon called 北瓜, (north melon).

In China, pumpkin is most frequently used in soup, not the puree or bisque type we are used to here in the US, but rather the chunky and broth type typical of a Chinese dish. Chinese people also love to eat roasted pumpkin seeds, often in tea houses over a cup of tea and some good conversation with friends and family members.

Bilingual books with audio CD continue to be a big hit among our customers. During our recent book fairs at different schools, we just can’t keep them on display long enough before it’s picked up by another parent!

One reason is because these books are beautifully illustrated, in a vivid and humorous fashion. It immediately draws your eyes to those books. The other reason is there are a lot of non Chinese speaking families, including those of us with Chinese school drop out husbands! A bilingual book, offers both parents the flexibility to read to their child, in Chinese, in English, or in both. In addition, if neither parents are fluent in Chinese, then the CD, played in Chinese, is a convenient way to continue the language taught in school.

Some of the favorites are The Day I Got Up Early, mentioned in one of our previous blog post; The Featherless Chicken, my son’s favorite as he’s my little chicken (born in the year of the rooster); The Fire Breathing Dragon. For a complete list of Bilingual Books with CD, check out our website. Happy reading!

There are many Chinese Schools in NJ, but only one offers immersion program. This week, My Panda Paws were invited to the school for it’s Back to School Night event.

According to Sharon Huang, founder of Bilingual Buds, Bilingual Buds is a unique Mandarin Chinese immersion program for children ages 1-10. It provides children with an opportunity to develop proficiency in Chinese language and literacy, while developing the “whole child” in a child-centered environment. It’s mission is to” prepare children to be global citizens who are intellectually curious, culturally aware, and linguistically capable.”

Infants and preschoolers between the ages of 1 and 3 can pick one of the 3 mommy and me classes offered. This class teaches food and other everyday words in Chinese along with fun games and music.

Preschoolers, ages 2 1/2 to 5 years old have two options. One program meets 5 days a week. In addition to Chinese language skills, children are also taught fine motor and gross motor skills in English. The other preschool program meets 2 days a week, and is taught in Chinese only. This program is designed as a supplement to other type of education, whether in another school or a home school environment.

Kindergarten through grade 3 follows 60/40 Chinese/English ratio. This program is designed to provide a solid foundation for fluency in Mandarin, and includes subjects in both Chinese and English Language Arts, Math, Science, Music, Art, and PE. This curriculum meets the NJ core content and the Summit Board of Education curriculum standards.

After school and summer camp programs are also available. Clcik here for more in depth information about Bilingual Buds.

Teacher – 老师 – lǎo shī

My 4 year old loves his new Chinese 老师 because she rewards him with stickers. I love his 老师 because she keeps him interested in Chinese and is able to motivate him to use the language.

A good teacher, in my opinion, can be extremely influential in a child’s development. I hope my son will learn to love Chinese.

Craving fastfood but do not want the calories?  Maybe give this origami hamburgur a try.  These are so cute.  Each kit comes complete with enough paper to make your own cheeseburger (with all the fixings), fish burger, fries, a cold drink, and a tray to carry it all on.  They can be found at the Japanese American National Museum Store.

For other origami options, I love these animal ones available at our website.  I especially love the fact that it comes with a pop up play scene for the pretend play.  Can’t beat the $6.95 price for sure.

My friend and I have decided we will make scallion pancake next weekend and probably some potstickers just because…..I remember scallion pancake as streetfood growing up in Hong Kong, and it’s similar to flatbread and made from dough instead of batter. It’s not the most healthy food of choice, but it is very delicious.

Anyway, in search of a recipe, I found a really nice one from Big, Bold, Beautiful Food and thought I’d share with you.

When you slide the pancake into the hot oil, it bubbles happily and browns to perfection. Served with a simple sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar, it’s the perfect snack.

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4-1 cup hot water
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Sesame oil
• Scallions, finely chopped
• Vegetable oil for pan-frying

Place flour in bowl. Add water and stir with fork until the dough starts to stick together. On a lightly floured board, knead the dough for five minutes or until satiny smooth. If the dough won’t stay together, add water in small increments. If dough is too wet, slowly add flour. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes. If you’re not ready to make the pancakes yet, you can put the dough in the fridge for up to a day or so.

Take rested dough and form it out into a cylinder on a floured cutting board. Cut into 6 portions.

Take one piece and keep the rest of the dough covered with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel so it doesn’t dry out.

Flatten out into a disk with the palm of your hand and roll out dough until it’s about 1/8 inch thick and 8 inches in diameter (if it’s smaller, don’t worry about it; if it’s bigger, consider if it will fit into your skillet). Brush top of pancake with sesame oil and distribute green onions. Roll dough into a cylinder and roll again into a coil (kind of like a cinnamon bun). Tuck end of dough underneath. Flatten out into a disk with the palm of your hand and roll out again to make an 8 inch circle, 1/8 inches thick.

Heat 10-inch skillet over medium/medium-high heat. Add 2 tbs. oil minimum and swirl it around; you can put a little more oil too if you’re not oil-adverse, enough so that the pancake will float a little and the oil will go slightly over the sides of the pancake, like pictured below. Add a pancake and cook until golden brown and dry on the edges, about 2-3 minutes, and flip over to cook the other side. When done, drain pancake on paper towels and repeat process with remaining dough.

Cut pancakes into wedges and serve with dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil:

Double Ten Day – 雙十節 - shuāng shí jié

Happy National Day Taiwan!

Double Ten Day refers to the tenth day of the tenth month of the year, hence double ten. It is the National Day of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and celebrates the Wu-chuang Uprising of October 10, 1911, which led to the collapse of the last dynasty (Qing) in China. Most historians believe this to be a significant chapter in China’s political change, moving from an imperial system to a democratic one.

Today, because of the Chinese Civil War, which ended in 1949, this holiday is only celebrated in Taiwan and some oversea communities, but not in Mainland China.

In our home, comfort food means noodles and dumplings.  On any given day, I have a freezer full of the premade dumplings and dried noodles from the Asian market.  The other day, I decided to make my own dumplings.  No more frozen pot stickers  for my babies!   

Before my daughter came home from school, I made the filling and set it in the refrigerator for an hour so the flavors could meld together. 

That afternoon, we had a terrific mother daughter experience.  My beauty and I sat at the kitchen table and made dumpling together just as I did with my mother 35 years ago.  She lined up the dumpling wrappers and painted the water on the skins with her tiny fingers carefully wetting the entire perimeter.  I filled and folded the pot stickers.  She dipped the finished product into the cornstarch and laid them out onto a cookie sheet in straight rows.  We were a well-oiled machine. 

As we were doing this, a Chinese culture and language lesson popped in.  She started asking questions like how do you say dumpling in Chinese?  What are the words for table and chair?  We counted the dumplings, all 42 of them, first in English then Chinese (actually we counted them twice in Chinese because she had so much fun learning.) 

That night our family enjoyed the dumplings along with some baby bak choy for dinner.  The discussion turned to another Chinese topic, an article in the New York Times from the day before on paper sons from China.

Here is a recipe for some good mother/child Chinese bonding.

Pot Stickers

• 1 package of round flour dumpling skins
• Water
• Cornstarch in shallow bowl or plate

For filling:

• 1 lb ground pork or dark meat chicken
• ½ pound shrimp cut into ¼ inch pieces (about 10 large shrimp)
• 3 leaves of Napa cabbage finely dices (1/4 inch pieces)
• 6 rehydrated diced shitake mushrooms
• 10-15 chopped cilantro leaves  (I used a handful)
• 3 scallion stalks finely chopped
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon shingtao wine
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions:

1.  Mix all filling ingredients together.
2. Fill a small cup with water
3. Fill a small bowl with a little corn starch
4. Take a dumpling wrapper and wet the perimeter with water
5. Fill with a teaspoon of filling
6. Fold dumpling in half at center
7. Make 2 pleats on either sides of the center and seal
8. Dab the bottom of dumpling in the cornstarch and set aside for cooking.
9. Repeat until done.
10. Heat a frying pan on high heat
11. Once hot, add some cooking oil to coat the bottom of the pan
12. Place pot stickers inside and let the bottoms brown, about 2-3 minutes but keep checking as they may burn.
13. Once the bottoms have browned, cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and turn heat down to low. 
14. Pour a ¼ cup of water into the pan and let the dumplings simmer.
15. Once the water has evaporated serve and enjoy.

 *Filling can be made a few hours ahead

** A good butcher will gladly ground dark meat chicken for you.

My husband and I are both Chinese (I am first generation and he is second) but we have an English-speaking household. It was a deliberate decision on our part because we want our children (all 3 of them – 6, 4, and 2 year old) to have their first language be English, as this is the language they will be using here in the US. However, once they have some grounding in English, we really want to give them the gift of a second language, Mandarin Chinese.

But, as a busy mom of three young children, I rarely have the time to sit-down one-on-one with each child to foster the love of a new language. However, to be fluent in a language, children need roughly 2 hours of exposure to the language a day. You ask… ‘How is a busy mom to accomplish this?’ I say, ‘By getting a little help from many of the materials and resources available out there.’

What has worked well for me is using whatever Chinese language TV programs designed for children I could find. (Though, some work better than others. The ones with a storyline are the favorites.) Using videos work for me because I don’t get grumbling about having to “learn Chinese”. My kids get exposure to the language, they think they are getting a treat (because they only get between 20-40 minutes of TV a day), and I can get dinner on the table! It’s a win/win solution!

My husband also gave me a suggestion. Have a lot of Chinese material around. His logic is that if the materials are around, the kids will stumble upon them. I have to say that he is correct! Shocking! I have added quite a number of Chinese language DVDs, CDs, and books to my collection and the kids do find them and learn from them! Chinese songs on CDs have worked great in the car. We don’t listen to them all the time, but the kids do ask for them! Amazing!

I am of the philosophy that some Chinese is better than no Chinese. Do your best and that is all you or your children can ask for.

Min Tung

Min Tung is the founder of Mandarin Advantage (www.MandarinAdvantage.com). They develop educational materials to teach children Mandarin Chinese. The first DVD is Journeys to the East – The River Dragon King available at My Panda Paws!