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The Story of Noodles

April 22, 2010 Ticia 13 Comments

Chinese Grocery Store field trip

We read this series of books last week, and it’s a fun set of stories.  It’s about 3 brothers who are trying to solve different problems way back ages ago in China.  They were popular enough I think we’ve read them a couple of times.  Well, this inspired us to try and make noodles for our geography lesson this week, because according to this book, noodles were invented in China. However, the real lesson didn’t start until we went on a field trip to the Chinese Grocery store

Field Trip Chinese Grocery Store

(this post contains affiliate links)

The book that inspired our eventual Chinese Grocery Store Field Trip

In The Story of Noodles, the Kang boys have been left alone again. They’ve been told to prepare the dumplings for the upcoming festival, but the boys accidentally invent a new dish: noodles! It’s a hit.

 

What went wrong: making our own noodles

trying to make noodles when learning about China

We used the recipe found here.  And as happens all too often when I try a new recipe I discovered a few details I had neglected to notice when deciding we were going to do this, mainly that after you mix you’re supposed to let it sit for two hours.  Well, that was so not going to happen.

As you can see, it’s really a rather messy process.  I was very glad for the pasta maker Jeff’s parents had given him at some point because rolling that out?  No thank you, the only problem was the part that should have cut them into noodles wasn’t working right, so we had to hand slice them, and I figured out afterward I needed to cut thinner noodles.

I left some out overnight and the next morning Batman had quite a lot of fun shredding them into little bitty pieces.

 

end result of our noodle making attempt

But really, for something I had no idea what we were doing they turned out pretty yummy.  I also promised Jeff no more deciding to try projects like this on weeknights, especially not if we have plans for other things that night.

My husband is a wise man, I really should not have tried it then, or at least not without learning more beforehand.  Oh well, they were really yummy, and the other part of our excursion was a definite success.

Chinese Grocery Store Field Trip

 

free field trip chinese grocery store

Future Ticia here, this idea is obviously not limited to a Chinese Grocery store field trip. We happened to be studying China at the time, but have since then gone to an Indian grocery store, and there’s a new Korean market I’d love to try going to sometime.

We went to our local Chinese grocery store, now if we were in a bigger town I would say to learn about Asia (and more specifically China) head over to Chinatown, but we don’t have that, we have a shopping mall.  So we head to our local Hong Kong Market and wandered through the stores.

exploring the vegetables at the Chinese grocery store field trip

 

 

They were absolutely intrigued by the different vegetables they had, and how we have some of the same vegetables at HEB.

But, the big hit of the trip?

fun sights on a chinese grocery store field trip

The catfish tank.  At HEB my kids always want to sit and gawk at the lobster tank.  Now imagine this tank going from their eye level up to the ceiling and you’ve got the effect.  They loved it.

Princess is also happy because I got her a new bigger teapot, I’m happy because I’m not having to refill it as often (so big secret here, if your little girl is a tea party maniac and you’re willing to let her have a ceramic pot, head over to your local Chinese grocery store, and they have great prices on teapots galore).

Oh, and here’s my favorite photo of the whole trip:

amusing sight at chinese grocery store field trip

Isn’t that awesome?

 

Extending the learning beyond a Chinese Grocery Store Field Trip

Here are some questions to ask and things to talk about.

  1. What foods did both grocery stores have?
  2. What made this grocery store different?
  3. What smells did you notice? (Both of the ethnic grocery stores I’ve been to had different smells from the spices)
  4. Did this store have anything besides food at it?
  5. What foods might you buy here to try?

The big thing as you walk through the store, talk about what you see, and how it’s different and how it’s the same. You can learn a lot about a culture by where they shop.

 

More Learning fun

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Comments

  1. Wonder Mom says

    April 22, 2010 at 1:20 pm

    Such a FUN field trip…I NEED to remember to do this with my kiddos when we read about China…

    (Oh, and the fungus- DEFINITELY my favorite picture!)

    Reply
  2. Raising a Happy Child says

    April 22, 2010 at 1:28 pm

    I love the idea of the field trip to the Chinese store. Obviously we have lots of them. The books sound very intriguing – I am adding them to my “for later” list. I have never made pasta from scratch – I just don't have “staying power” and equipment for this. Luckily, our friends sometimes invite us for their self-made pasta, and it's really yummy.

    Reply
  3. An Almost Unschooling Mom says

    April 22, 2010 at 1:54 pm

    I wonder how far we'd have to drive to find a Chinese grocery store…?

    So, the big question is – how much fungus did you buy?

    Reply
  4. Debbie says

    April 22, 2010 at 2:02 pm

    I love to make homemade noodles, but do not have the equipment you have. I never let mine sit for any length of time and cut mine with a pizza cutter. Love the trip to the Chinese store!

    Reply
  5. Jenny says

    April 22, 2010 at 2:05 pm

    What a great field trip! I bet making the noodles was fun for the kids. Abby loves noodles.

    Reply
  6. Cindy says

    April 22, 2010 at 7:28 pm

    Have them watch this video. So coolhttps://www.eatmedaily.com/2009/09/hand-pulled-noodle-making-narrated-by-alton-brown-video/

    Reply
  7. JDaniel4's Mom says

    April 22, 2010 at 11:42 pm

    What a great field trip idea.!

    Reply
  8. sbswtp says

    April 23, 2010 at 12:05 am

    I LOVE your post:)

    Reply
  9. Sherri says

    April 23, 2010 at 2:10 am

    that looks like a perfect day! I love the idea!

    Reply
  10. Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog says

    April 23, 2010 at 2:59 am

    That last photo made me giggle!! What a fun field trip, and looks like the kids had a blast! Emily is completely obsessed with China, and she would have loved this!

    Reply
  11. Christy says

    April 23, 2010 at 11:39 am

    You went all out for this one. Love that box! My kids like to stare at the lobsters too, so I'm sure they would love that fish tank!

    Reply
  12. littlewondersdays says

    April 23, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    What a great idea to do with the kids! We often make food from the country that we are studying, but I've never thought about visiting a corresponding grocery to actually see all the foods.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. China activities for elementary | Adventures in MommydomAdventures in Mommydom says:
    February 6, 2014 at 9:32 am

    […]  Make homemade noodles […]

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