Favorite Asian Cuisines | Asian American Poll

FAVORITE ASIAN CUISINES
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 04:20:05 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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ABC,

The Toisan people are probably the earliest group of Chinese to immigrate to the Americas. Most Chinese of 3rd or older generations in the USA for sure have Toisan heritage. Washington Governor Locke is of Toisan heritage. He is a 3rd or 4th generation Chinese American with an obviously Anglicized surname.

Toisan is a remote and resource deficient area of western Guangdong province. It is a mountainous region. Meager farming and goat herding are main occupations along with trading and labor. People there totally rely on overseas remittances, and aid. But, still, many of its people are able to build more modern hospitals and schools with such aid. And, they are one of the more educated Cantonese.

Toisan is also famous for providing many of China's national volleyball players.

It's dialect is close enough to standard Cantonese to be mutually intelligible with each other, but there are slight variances. More likely, the Toisan ancestors arrived in Guangdong during the late Tang/early Song period after a much later date than the other Cantonese. There are certain features in its dialect that can only be found among the Gan dialect speakers in Jiangxi province. It is said that many Toisan people can also haltingly understand Hakka dialect if they listen to it intuitively.

Balding is quite common among the elder Toisan men (unlike other Cantonese and Chinese) as far as I know and seen. Very few of them get fat. But, they are not skinny either. There are lots of facial features and height differences among them. You can see this by visiting any Chinatown in the San Francisco or L.A. area.

They are hard and industrious workers. The railways you see in the western parts of the U.S. are for the most part built by Toisan men. If their ancestors can build the Great Wall of China, why would they not a railway? Toisan people are survivors. They have a survivalist mentality. They have less resources, arable land compared to other Guangdong people near the Pearl River delta. But, their ancestors were also survivalists who fled the war ravished north to settle in the south. Among them, only the fittest survives. It is in the genes and mentality.

Also, during World War II, it was only the hot headed soldiers of Toisan and Guangxi cliques who successively drove back Japanese advances into China's west while other Chinese did not fight them with the same intensity.

Toisan people are generally looked down upon by other Cantonese. Their dialect is increasingly giving way to the standard Cantonese spoken in Guangzhou and Hong Kong as the youth watch too much TV.
Jeremy Sunday, February 17, 2002 at 17:49:38 (PST)

Hey i was wondering, who/what are the Toisan? I've been hearing about them for a while now but know anything about them except for the fact that they are Chinese. Are they Cantonese, another kind of Cantonese or something different? And where in South China do they live?
ABC Thursday, February 07, 2002 at 21:19:13 (PST)

Hey, Chinese New Year coming up! Gonna be lotsa goodies to eat pretty soon. Can't wait for the red watermelon seeds.

Chinkee Thursday, February 07, 2002 at 15:40:04 (PST)

For those of you who know:

I have a question pertaining to Toisan-Cantonese goat dishes? During this time of the year, my mom likes to make these goat dishes braised in soy sauce over a hot clay pot. I love the soft and chewy texture of the meat. It is also not so salty and fat compared to beef or pork, but I find this goat meat hard to eat. It is much too gamy for my taste. In southern China, goat meat is eaten in the winter while in northern China it is lamb or mutton. When I visited a village in Toisan last winter, a feast was given in our honor. And, you might have guessed that it was this same type of goat meat served. Luckily there was no dogs, cats, rats, and other non-edible animals that my dad told me about. I have not tried lamb, but some tell me that its taste is even more pungent and gamy than goat? Goat is already bad as it is.

Is there any spice or ingredient that can block off this gamy taste? Garlic and ginger couldn't do the job. I want to teach my mom and she would welcome the added extra ingredient.

yang yuk Saturday, February 02, 2002 at 21:11:15 (PST)

anyone ever tried smelling rotten fish used for many soups and dishes in thailand? They call it Bar-Daik, and boy it stinks. The way they make it up is by shoving lots of salt and water and many seasonings into a jar along with a fish. they close it tight and leave it in a cuboard for about a year or so until the fish has almost turned into a liquid.
smelly Tuesday, January 29, 2002 at 05:07:01 (PST)

Love sushi and seaweed salad. Looking for a recipe on how seaweed salad is made. Any thoughts out there?
Cori C. Wednesday, January 23, 2002 at 21:40:52 (PST)

I need a recipe for "Shrimp in Lobster sauce" and "Hunan beef" please! Thanks
Hungry Tuesday, January 22, 2002 at 17:13:50 (PST)

"Anybody ever try the fermented goose egg dish? How is the egg fermented like that? Can one do it at home?"

1000 year old eggs. Taste like cheese. You have to bury the cook eggs in a mixture of duck shit, dirt and tea leaves for about 3 months.

Just buy it from the store or online and make sure it doesn't contain lead. They use to use lead to speed up the fermentation process.

AC dropout Tuesday, January 22, 2002 at 12:58:50 (PST)

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