Peculiarities of milk consumption in China

For many hundreds of years, milk and dairy products have been considered, if not an exclusive product, then as close to it as possible. Economic growth in the country and access to international markets has contributed to the increasing popularity in the consumption of yogurt, cheese and plain milk. But this has not always been the case. In fact, milk was almost never consumed, not so much because of the Chinese people’s mass rejection of the product, but due to some factors worth paying attention to.

Historical summary – let’s go back a couple of centuries

The geographical features of the country’s location were not able to provide the necessary conditions for grazing several herds of livestock. To survive, the peasants emphasized the cultivation of rice, fruits and vegetables. If access to the sea was provided, the diet was expanded with seafood. The low popularity of dairy products was also due to the following factors:

• lack of necessary conditions for the production of milk and dairy products;
• The diet of even the poorest people was supplemented with vegetables, legumes and fruits;
• The digestive system of the Chinese was unable to accept and digest cow’s or even goat’s milk as adults due to the lack of production of certain enzymes.

It is not surprising that the Chinese easily substitute a portion of sour cream or cottage cheese with sea food, walks in the open sun or a snack of fresh vegetables and beans. It was the abundance of the latter that made it possible to compensate for the possible deficiency of vitamin D, calcium and other microelements that Europeans are used to getting from cheese or milk.

Many modern Chinese are unable to digest not only milk but also dairy products because they lack the special enzyme “lactase”. They will find the taste of even the most delicate cheese pungent, rotten and unpleasant. The mild climate in many Chinese regions has allowed many fruits and vegetables to grow that are not available to the inhabitants of the northern regions of the world.

Modern research demonstrates that about 20% of today’s children in China grow up without milk in their diet without their bodies showing any abnormalities or disorders.

Introducing milk into the country’s diet

Traditional Chinese cuisine contains almost no recipes based on milk. Even desserts that are so popular all over the world (e.g. fried milk) appeared in the Chinese diet a couple of centuries ago or even later. Despite this, current legislation includes many acts that would allow children and socially disadvantaged groups to consume milk on a regular basis.

Thanks to this, over the last 50-30 years there has been a kind of “boom” in the development of a variety of non-standard desserts. The combination of incongruous things was reflected even in the process of making such a standard treat as ice cream. It is produced in flavors of vegetables, meat, spices, etc.

At the same time, you do not have to worry about the quality of the products you use. The use of special components allows you to significantly extend the shelf life of milk, so you only have to enjoy the unique taste of dairy recipes.