Dear Reader,
红枣
Welcome to the first issue of Hong Zao Zine! “Hong Zao”is a red date, otherwise known as a jujube, that is commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Cooking practices. I’ ve chosen this as Hong Zao is a symbol of vitality, tradition and nurturing care.
In the first issue of Hong Zao Zine we explore how ingredients associated with Chinese cuisine and Chinese culture have developed racialized meanings in the Western world, and what that means for the identities of those of the Chinese diaspora living in the Western World. I hope you have as much fun reading this edition as I did making it. 加油!
WHAT’S THE DE
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SPILL YOU OR
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THE UNIMPERIAL GAZE EDITION!
New Edition of “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts” as featured on the hit show “The Late Late Show with James Corden”!
New Edition of “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts” as featured on the hit show “The Late Late Show with James Corden”! I know it’s hard to differentiate WHICH white, male, cisgendered, heterosexual talk show host it is because if you squint your eyes, they almost all look the same…BUT this is the one with the British accent. In any case, it’s a segment from that show with that guy James Corden called “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts!” According to James (yes we’re on a first name basis), the instructions are to “answer a question truthfully or eat something disgusting.” I can assure you that the questions asked are those of the highest order. For example, “How much money have you spent on drugs?” to Steven Tyler or “Was Kylie really sick the day she was supposed to come on the show?” to Kendall Jenner! Anyway, the main twist of this edition has to do with the food involved. Typically, foods laid out on the original segment include bird’s saliva, thousand-year-old egg, jellyfish, cow tongue, and fish eyes. If you’ve eaten Chinese cuisine, of the foods I listed above chances are you have probably at least seen thousand year old egg on the menu. And if you’re Chinese, chances are you have probably seen your family eat thousand-year-old egg with her congee, maybe even seen your uncle pick the fish eye out of the steamed fish to suck on, or even had your mum make you birds nest when you were sick. So I wonder, do the writers are “The Late Late Show” get off on thinking that it’s so entertaining to exoticize and label foods as “disgusting” despite the fact that those foods are regularly eaten by billions of people? So in this edition of “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts” we play but with foods in Western culture that could equally be seen as “disguting” but are for some reason instead considered “normal” foods or are delicacies!!
MOTIVE: The motive of “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts” is simple! If you succeed your opponent is faced with two incredibly debilitating options: answer an incredibly revealing question OR eat something incredibly revolting. Essentially, put your social capital at risk, or risk regurgitating your breakfast!
Materials: A Lazy Susan (As seen in Chinese dim sum restaurants!) 2 Chairs Plain Cards Pen Separate Plates for Each Dish Spit Bucket to spill your guts into (if you’re weak I guess) Coin (if 2 players), Dice (if 3+ players)
1.Set up the Lazy Susan, and put two chairs directly across from each other so that you and your partner are sitting directly opposite from each other with the rotating table in between. Sitting opposite will add dramatic effect! And if there are more than two players, sit at equal distance from each other. Serve the dishes on separate plates, and place them in a circular layout on the rotating table! 2. On the plain cards, write 5-8 questions to ask your opposing player. If there are 3 or more players, write questions for the person sitting to your right-hand side. (The objective is to coerce them into consuming one of the foods that may induce the “Spilling of their guts” so write questions with that in mind!) 3. Once you have your questions written out, shuffle them and hand the stack of cards to your partner face down and vice versa. 4. If there are two players, flip a coin to decide who goes first. If there are three or more players, roll the dice and whoever gets the lowest number must go first. 5. Once you have decided who will get the first shot at potentially spilling their guts, the person who wrote their cards will choose which grotesque dish they want to place in front of the contestant! 6. The contestant will have to decide whether they want to consume the gut wrenching dishes in front of them, or if they would rather answer the question on the card! 7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 as you take turns spilling or filling your guts! Ideas for Foods: Snails Duck Liver (aka foie gras) A Glass of Squid Ink Frog Legs Boiled Pink Mystery Meat (aka streetside hotdog) A Cup of Spray Cheese
Cold, Thin Meats Preserved in Salt
Answer truthfully or eat something disgusting!