[soothing instrumental music playing]-[bell ringing]
[narrator] A single ingredient provides mouth feel and texture.
The right proportion results in entirely different flavors.
Simplicity and complexity are separated only by a flash of thought.

CHAOSHAN
At three o’clock in the afternoon, the Zhang siblings (formal a brother or sister) start preparing for their business, that will open in two hours.
After 30 years of experience, the small shop has gained many loyal (/’lɒɪəl/) customers.
They all come here just for the Zhangs’ specialty.
Seventy-year-old Zhang Jingzheng is the inventor of this flavorful cuisine.
Lard ( /lɑːd/ white fat from pigs that is used in cooking) is the top cooking choice of Teochew people.
Rich aroma of an animal fat is released under high temperature, waiting for the leading role.
Guo strips is a very popular main staple of Teochow.
Zhang Jingzheng, having 30 years of experience, knows the ingredients and the right amount of heat very well.
A few simple stirrings are good enough.
Each strip is evenly coated with a thick layer of lard.
Fried skin-on pork adds a rich, fatty flavor.
And when combined with crispy beansprouts (豆芽), brings a doughy yet crispy taste.

FRIED GUO STRIPS
A bowl of fried guo strips is a constant attraction to diners.
Every old customer knows that the Zhangs’ fried guo strips taste the best when served hot, before the lard congeals ( /kənˈdʒiːl/ to freeze).
In many areas, people used to process rice into strip food.
Slightly varied processes and ingredients result in many different forms and flavors.
Teochew people call such food products “guo strips,” which is one of their most important staples.
In this small room, seventy-year-old Yang Hezhou has made almost a million kilos of guo strips, with the skills he learned from his parents.
The rice grains stored for a year will reduce acidity and increase amylopectin (/ˌæmɪləʊ’pektɪn/支链淀粉) content.

This will make the slurry (/‘slʌrɪ/浆) easier to solidify. Softened rice grains are ground into a thick slurry.
Adding a bucket of spring water constitutes all the ingredients that Yang needs.
The proportion of water and slurry determines the final mouthfeel of guo strips.
By merely observing the consistency and how it clings to the pot, Yang is able to judge its final quality.
Teochew people have over 500 years of experience in making guo.
Throngs (/θrɒŋ/crowd) of migrants from the Central Plains settled down in the Teochew area.
Noodle offerings for the ancestral rituals were replaced by native-grown rice, because wheat didn’t grow in the south.
That’s how guo came to the scene.

[sizzling]
Today, guo is popular in various snacks of the Teochew people and rice is not the only ingredient.
A mixture of various ingredients gives birth to abundant guo products.
The Teochew area is comprised mainly of Teochew people and Hakkanese.
Most of the residents in Nanshan Township where Yang lives are Hakkanese.
Variance in dialect (/‘daɪəlekt/方言) pronunciation transformed “guo” into “ban.”
Yang’s guo strips have followed the most ancient handmade method.
A layer of prepared rice slurry covers the steaming tray.
Water heated up to 100 degrees Celsius makes the rice liquid quickly congeal.
Spreading a layer of rice slurry takes the same time for the steaming to complete.
The freshly steamed guo sheets are too sticky.

YANG HEZHOU
To process them into guo strips, a few minutes of cooling is needed.
The Hakkanese used to make a snack with fresh guo sheets.
The guo sheet is divided into four parts.
Depending on individual preferences, Tofu cubes, radish floss and other ingredients are wrapped in.
Hakkanese call it “bn bun.”
The translucent (/træns’luːs(ə)nt/半透明的) guo sheet gives a chewy biting fix, with succulent (/ˈsʌkjələnt/ juicy and good to eat 多汁而美味的 also noun 多肉植物 Succulent plant) and brackish recipes.
Although it is simple to make, it still brings a rich mouthfeel.
It’s one of the Hakkanese most favorite dishes.

BN BUN
In less than ten minutes of cooling, the temperature drops and the sheet shrinks.
With less stickiness (/‘stɪkɪnɪs/), it’s the best time for processing the sheets.
A pair of skillful hands keep the strips within two centimeters width.
Tender texture makes it difficult to preserve.
All the strips are sliced on demand.
Today, with more than 30 million Teochewese, over one-third are distributed around the world.
Guo strips are spreading to Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, and other places.
Where there are Teochew people, there are guo strips.
Average daily consumption of guo strips, amounts to about one million kilos.

TONGKENG VILLAGE, JIEYANG CITY
Tongkeng village of Baita township, Jiedong county in Jieyang city, situated at the junction point of three counties, was once a trading hub.
With the advent (/‘ædvənt/) of modern transportation, it began to decline.
Today, most people come to Tongkeng just for a bowl of ordinary guo strips.
Guo Xianli, a native of Tongkeng, runs a guo strip shop.

GUO XIANLI
At six a.m. sharp in the morning, she makes her appearance in the backyard to prepare the broth for her business that will open in five hours.
Around 11 a.m., the guo strips shop will begin to open for guests.
Here, the processing of guo strips has its own style.
Unlike other Teochew areas, Tongkeng folks prefer finer guo strips.
After freezing it for a short while, the moisture reduces and its hardness increases.
It doesn’t only make it easier to preserve, it also makes it easier to cut.
With years of experience, Guo was able to cut guo strips into a width less than two millimeters, less than one-tenth of regular guo strips.
After stewing (/‘stju:iŋ/) for five hours, the protein contained in the goose meat, along with amino acids and other nutrients are extracted thoroughly.
Removing fats and residuals, a superb broth is now ready.
Although as thin as floss, guo strips remain unbroken and with a slippery and crispy mouthfeel.
This is a delicacy unique only to Tongkeng.

TONGKENG GUO STRIPS
Many Teochew emigrants often drive hundreds of kilometers back to Tongkeng just for the taste of home.
Guo strips witnessed the Teochew people’s history of migrating, propagating and settling down.
A bowl of guo strips symbolizes a long strip of bond.
The memory of a certain taste connects the Teochew people intimately with their hometown.
CHAOSHAN