4:00AM Wednesday Dec 31, 2008
By Lincoln Tan
Raymond Njoto says rice rolls are a cross between sushi and a Subway roll. Photo / Martin Sykes
You can do with rice what you do with bread, says Raymond Njoto, who holds the master franchise of Taiwanese rice roll chain QQ Rice for Australia and New Zealand.
"When people think about making a sandwich, they always think of bread, but you can actually make a rice sandwich as well," Mr Njoto says.
He describes the rice rolls as a cross between the Japanese sushi and the Subway sandwich, but says it is a traditional Taiwanese meal.
The rice rolls - which seem to be uniquely Taiwanese - could have been inspired by the sushi during the time when Taiwan was a Japanese colony between 1895 and 1945.
"Just picture Subway, but instead of bread, think of it as having rice as a base," says Mr Njoto.
So instead of different types of bread, you can choose from white, purple, red, brown, wheat-germ or wild rice, and fillings such as smoked salmon, spicy radish, barbecued pork and teriyaki chicken.
These are then rolled into a rice ball and, depending on your choice of grains and filling, it could well be a very healthy meal.
Taiwanese immigrant Jessie Chiang says the rice roll is a popular "picnic food" there, because it can be eaten hassle-free without the need for fork or chopsticks.
"To prepare, all we need is a plastic bag."
Rice is lined at the base of the plastic bag, the filling such as braised minced pork is added, and then it is all squeezed into a compact rice ball.
* Where to try
QQ Rice, 15-31 Wellesley St West. Rice rolls are priced from $5.20.
* Make your own
Ingredients: Steamed or boiled rice, fillings and sauces of your choice.
Method: Spread rice over a plastic wrap, add fillings and cover it with rice. Roll it tightly with the plastic wrap or plastic bag into a ball, and it's ready to be eaten. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10550083
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Weijun Collins.
:00AM Monday Dec 22, 2008
By Alanah May Eriksen
Weijun Collins.
* Our lost children: Child abuse and the charities campaigning to end it
Weijun Collins has experienced abuse first hand - she was a slave for 10 years during China's Cultural Revolution.
So after reading the Herald's Our Lost Children series, the 64-year-old felt compelled to donate $1000 to a charity working to combat child abuse.
Mrs Collins, who studied early childhood education at the Auckland University of Technology in 1997, also wants to donate her time helping new parents in their homes.
Her donation will go to Barnardos, which runs a programme called Footsteps to Feeling Safe teaching children how to escape abusive situations.
Northern region spokeswoman Jenny Corry said of Mrs Collins' donation: "I think that's fantastic. It's so generous.
"We want her to know we will certainly put the money to good use. It will go directly to the children.
"If she's interested in working with us I'm sure we can use her in some capacity."
Mrs Collins was born in China into a prominent and well-educated family. When she was 10, her father, once a high-ranking official, was condemned as an enemy of the Communist Party and banished to a labour camp where he was tortured and starved to death.
Mrs Collins struggled to continue her education but her father's crime eventually rebounded on her and she was sent to the Gobi Desert in north-west China for 10 years farming wheat, maize and opium.
Forced to live in a cave with little food and minimal clothing, she laboured in sub-zero temperatures under heavy guard.
"I was humiliated, outcast," Mrs Collins said.
"No one would talk to me because of my father. I was given the heaviest work to do.
"No one wanted to be my friend. They would hold meetings just to criticise me."
But she managed to find an English textbook which she used to teach herself the language in secret. The only books allowed during that time were books written by Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong.
When she felt she was able to speak English well enough, she biked eight hours into the closest city to look for a job as a teacher, telling soldiers she had back pain and needed to see a doctor.
She was eventually offered a job teaching English as a second language in a small village and, after a battle with her minders, was permitted to work there.
She came to New Zealand in 1986 to study English after a Kiwi tourist, whom she had taken in in China, paid for her tickets.
She returned to China after a year working at a university teaching English before settling back in New Zealand in 1995.
She has since written an autobiography - Desert Rose - and married an English professor working in the engineering school at Auckland University.
She is currently writing a book on parenting skills.
The two daughters she had with her first husband also live in New Zealand and are married.
As a result of Our Lost Children, a research project into minimising brain damage to children on life support has received a $50,000 donation from Mercury Energy.
And an Auckland couple are sponsoring two families associated with Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, which has also had offers of food and clothing.
Presbyterian Support has also received donations.
By Alanah May Eriksen
Weijun Collins.
* Our lost children: Child abuse and the charities campaigning to end it
Weijun Collins has experienced abuse first hand - she was a slave for 10 years during China's Cultural Revolution.
So after reading the Herald's Our Lost Children series, the 64-year-old felt compelled to donate $1000 to a charity working to combat child abuse.
Mrs Collins, who studied early childhood education at the Auckland University of Technology in 1997, also wants to donate her time helping new parents in their homes.
Her donation will go to Barnardos, which runs a programme called Footsteps to Feeling Safe teaching children how to escape abusive situations.
Northern region spokeswoman Jenny Corry said of Mrs Collins' donation: "I think that's fantastic. It's so generous.
"We want her to know we will certainly put the money to good use. It will go directly to the children.
"If she's interested in working with us I'm sure we can use her in some capacity."
Mrs Collins was born in China into a prominent and well-educated family. When she was 10, her father, once a high-ranking official, was condemned as an enemy of the Communist Party and banished to a labour camp where he was tortured and starved to death.
Mrs Collins struggled to continue her education but her father's crime eventually rebounded on her and she was sent to the Gobi Desert in north-west China for 10 years farming wheat, maize and opium.
Forced to live in a cave with little food and minimal clothing, she laboured in sub-zero temperatures under heavy guard.
"I was humiliated, outcast," Mrs Collins said.
"No one would talk to me because of my father. I was given the heaviest work to do.
"No one wanted to be my friend. They would hold meetings just to criticise me."
But she managed to find an English textbook which she used to teach herself the language in secret. The only books allowed during that time were books written by Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong.
When she felt she was able to speak English well enough, she biked eight hours into the closest city to look for a job as a teacher, telling soldiers she had back pain and needed to see a doctor.
She was eventually offered a job teaching English as a second language in a small village and, after a battle with her minders, was permitted to work there.
She came to New Zealand in 1986 to study English after a Kiwi tourist, whom she had taken in in China, paid for her tickets.
She returned to China after a year working at a university teaching English before settling back in New Zealand in 1995.
She has since written an autobiography - Desert Rose - and married an English professor working in the engineering school at Auckland University.
She is currently writing a book on parenting skills.
The two daughters she had with her first husband also live in New Zealand and are married.
As a result of Our Lost Children, a research project into minimising brain damage to children on life support has received a $50,000 donation from Mercury Energy.
And an Auckland couple are sponsoring two families associated with Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, which has also had offers of food and clothing.
Presbyterian Support has also received donations.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
New Zealand Chinese Association (Akld Br.) Inc.
2008 Winter Newsletter
P.O.BOX 4 8 4
Gwa Leng (Gualing) Family Publication
.
Following the successful launch in 2006 of the Tung Jung Association of NZ publication, Zengcheng NZ’s, which profiled
the various Jungseng villages and families that originated from there, a number of Gwa Leng family profiles were not
able to be included due to the limitations on content on the book.
Consequently the Gwa Leng New Zealand Family History Group was established with the following aims:
to produce a contemporary historical record of Chinese New Zealanders tracing their roots back to Gwa Leng
to promote and encourage families to develop their own family histories and family trees as a record for future
generations.
A number of family profiles and family trees have already been submitted and this is a request to target those families
from Gwa Leng that we are not aware of and have not been contacted.
If you have family roots from Gwa Leng, have an interest in your genealogy, have a story to tell and are comfortable to
have it published along with other Gwa Leng families, please urgently contact Mike Wong 06 8775085.
This project is supported by the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage
2008 Winter Newsletter
P.O.BOX 4 8 4
Gwa Leng (Gualing) Family Publication
.
Following the successful launch in 2006 of the Tung Jung Association of NZ publication, Zengcheng NZ’s, which profiled
the various Jungseng villages and families that originated from there, a number of Gwa Leng family profiles were not
able to be included due to the limitations on content on the book.
Consequently the Gwa Leng New Zealand Family History Group was established with the following aims:
to produce a contemporary historical record of Chinese New Zealanders tracing their roots back to Gwa Leng
to promote and encourage families to develop their own family histories and family trees as a record for future
generations.
A number of family profiles and family trees have already been submitted and this is a request to target those families
from Gwa Leng that we are not aware of and have not been contacted.
If you have family roots from Gwa Leng, have an interest in your genealogy, have a story to tell and are comfortable to
have it published along with other Gwa Leng families, please urgently contact Mike Wong 06 8775085.
This project is supported by the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage
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