Chinese recipes

Recipes From
  “THE ONLY PLACE IN PEKING”
  The Nellie Wong Tea Shop
  Peking
  China

Additional copies of this book for your friends may be had from my
little store Twelve Hundred Twenty Six Amsterdam Avenue, or from my
printer

The American Rehabilitation Committee, Inc., Twenty Eight East Twenty
First Street, New York City, New York.

[Illustration: Nellie C. Wong]




  Copyright,
  Nineteen Hundred Twenty Seven,
  by       Nellie C. Wong




EXPLANATORY NOTES


Soy bean sauce and ginger are universally used in China for seasoning.
Soy bean sauce in many instances takes the place of salt.

Mushrooms, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots are the distinctive
vegetables used in many of the Chinese dishes.

All of these supplies may be obtained in New York City at the Chinese
Grocery, Quong Yuen Shing and Company, Thirty-Two Mott Street,
Chinatown; The Cathay Tea Garden, One hundred Sixty-Four East
Eighty-Sixth Street; Yoeng’s Restaurant, Broadway and Forty-Eighth
Street or the College Inn, Broadway near One hundred Twenty-Fourth
Street.

Peanut oil, or lard are used in China for frying and cooking. Where the
recipes call for “vegetable oil or lard” any shortening or drippings
may be used, including Crisco, Best Foods Shortening Mazola and Wesson
Oil.

The ingredients noted in each recipe are enough to serve six portions.




CONTENTS


  TEA                         1

  EGG-FLOWERS SOUP            2

  CHINESE RICE                3

  LEFT OVER RICE              3

  SHRIMP STRAWS               4

  SHRIMPS AND TOAST           5

  SHRIMPS AND MUSHROOMS       6

  FRIED SHRIMPS               7

  SHRIMP CAKES                8

  SWEET AND SOUR FISH         9

  FISH BALLS                  10

  PINEAPPLE FISH              11

  PEI YU                      12

  BROILED PORK                13

  BEAN SPROUTS AND PORK       14

  BEAN SPROUTS                15

  SPRING ROLLS                16

  CABBAGE ROLLS               17

  MEAT CUSTARD                18

  CORN AND WHITE MEAT OF
  CHICKEN                     19

  WALNUT CHICKEN              20

  STUFFED MUSHROOMS           21

  WANG SHIH                   22

  STRING BEANS                23

  ALMOND CHOW MEIN            24

  SWEET POTATO BALLS          25

  PRECIOUS PUDDING            26

  SAUCE                       27




TEA


  1 teaspoon of tea leaves
  6 cups of boiling water

Scald out a crockery teapot. While it is warm put into it a teaspoonful
of tea leaves. Pour on fresh boiling water. Steep from three to five
minutes before serving.




EGG-FLOWERS SOUP


  1 quart chicken broth
  ½ cup finely chopped water chestnuts
  2 eggs
  pepper and salt

Pour half cupful of finely chopped water chestnuts into a quart of
boiling chicken broth. Cook for about five minutes. Beat up two eggs,
yolks and whites together. Pour egg into chicken broth and stir well
and slowly until it forms small flowers. Add pepper and salt to taste.




CHINESE RICE


The proper way to cook rice is to wash the rice clean, add water,
measuring one inch above the rice surface.

Let it come to a boil, then turn the gas low, let the rice simmer until
it is cooked dry. Do not open the lid during cooking. When the rice is
correctly cooked, every grain stands by itself.




LEFT OVER RICE


Chop up some left-over meat, or ham or bacon, and an onion. Brown all
together in a frying pan, with a little oil or fat. Add rice, fry all
together again until rice and meat become brown.




  This Recipe Awarded First Prize
  The Women’s Exposition of Industrial Arts, New York City
  Nineteen Hundred Twenty-Seven

SHRIMP STRAWS


  1 lb. fresh shelled shrimps
  1 lb. white bread
  whites of 3 eggs
  ½ onion
  ½ teaspoon salt
  ⅛ teaspoon pepper
  small piece fresh ginger

Place shelled shrimps, onion and ginger in a chopper and chop very
fine; remove from chopper into a large bowl, add the whites of three
eggs, salt and pepper, then beat the ingredients until stiff. Now
spread the mixture upon thinly sliced bread. Cut into strips about an
inch wide and four inches long. Sprinkle browned bread crumbs upon the
shrimp strips. Place in boiling deep vegetable oil or lard; as soon as
the bread turns golden brown, remove straws from fat and place upon a
piece of paper to drain off the oil.

Shrimp straws should always be served hot and fresh.




SHRIMPS AND TOAST


  1 lb. small fresh shrimps, shelled
  ½ lb. thinly sliced toast
  ½ lb. water chestnuts
  1 small piece of ginger
  pepper, salt and soy bean sauce

Toast sliced bread, butter and cut into small cubes. Fry shrimps in a
red hot frying pan, use very little vegetable oil or lard to grease
the pan; as soon as shrimps turn red remove from the pan. Fry water
chestnuts, which have been boiled a little, and cut into cubes. Add
shrimps and a little finely chopped ginger, season to taste with
pepper, salt and soy bean sauce. Now add the cubes of toast to the
cooked shrimps and stir well before serving.




SHRIMPS AND MUSHROOMS


  1 lb. fresh shelled shrimps
  1 lb. fresh mushrooms
  ¼ lb. bamboo shoots, sliced thin
  Cornstarch
  small piece ginger, pepper,
  salt and soy bean sauce

Fry shrimps in a red hot frying pan, which has been greased with a
little vegetable oil or lard, until shrimps turn red. Place in a hot
pan, which has been greased with vegetable oil or bacon fat, finely
chopped ginger, mushrooms and bamboo shoots; fry until tender. Remove
the cooked mushrooms and use drippings with cornstarch to make a medium
gravy, season with pepper, salt, and soy bean sauce. Add shrimps,
cooked mushrooms and bamboo shoots.




FRIED SHRIMPS


  1 lb. shelled fresh shrimps
  3 eggs
  ½ cup flour
  ½ teaspoon salt
  ⅛ teaspoon pepper
  2 teaspoons soy bean sauce

Beat up the three eggs, whites and yolks together, add flour, pepper,
salt and soy bean sauce to season, lastly add the shrimps to the
mixture. Dip out one shrimp at a time with a tablespoon, drop into a
pan of deep boiling vegetable oil or lard; as soon as it turns brown
take out of the fat and place on a piece of paper to drain. They are
then ready to serve.




SHRIMP CAKES


  6 eggs
  ¼ cup cooked shrimps, sliced fine
  ⅛ cup onion, sliced fine
  ⅛ cup mushrooms, sliced fine
  ⅛ teaspoon salt
  ⅛ teaspoon pepper
  3 teaspoons soy bean sauce

Beat six eggs, whites and yolks together, add the sliced onion and
mushrooms, season to taste. Put a tablespoonful of the mixture into a
red hot frying pan which has been greased over with vegetable oil or
lard. Shrimp cakes are fried just the same as pancakes. Serve hot.




SWEET AND SOUR FISH


  1 large fish, well cleaned
  1 cup pickled onions, cucumbers,
    sliced thin
  2 large fresh onions, sliced fine
  1 cup cider vinegar
  1 piece fresh ginger
  2 bell peppers, red and green
  2 tablespoons sugar
  cornstarch

Slice the fresh onions and peppers, soak three hours in hot cider
vinegar which has been boiled with a little salt and sugar. After
rubbing the fish with salt and black pepper, fry it in deep cooking oil
or lard until fish skin is crisp and brown. When cooked enough remove
from the deep fat and place on a large platter. Drain the onions and
peppers. Use the same vinegar, pouring it into a frying pan which has
been greased; let vinegar come to a boil, add sugar, salt, pepper, and
Chinese soy bean sauce to taste. Then take up the ingredients spread
them nicely over the fried fish, now add the pickled mixtures to the
seasoned vinegar and let them come to a boil. Dip up the pickled
vegetables and spread evenly on top of the fish. Make a medium gravy
with a little cornstarch, using the same vinegar in which the pickled
vegetables were cooked. Pour that rich gravy over whole fish and serve
hot.




FISH BALLS


  1 lb. white fish meat
  2 ounces of pork fat
  1 piece ginger
  1 small onion
  1 teaspoon salt
  ½ teaspoon pepper
  3 teaspoons soy bean sauce

Remove bones and skin from fish and chop fish, ginger and onion in a
meat chopper until very fine. Take out and put into a large bowl. Beat
whites of two eggs, add fish mixture, beat the entire mixture until
light. Shape the ingredients into balls, with a spoon and knife, drop
the balls in deep red hot fat; when brown remove from fat, place the
balls on a paper to drain off the oil. Serve hot.




PINEAPPLE FISH


  1 lb. white fish
  ½ can sliced pineapple
  4 green peppers
  ¼ lb. bamboo shoots
  ⅛ cup white vinegar
  2 teaspoons brown sugar
  small piece of ginger
  soy bean sauce
  cornstarch

Wash fish clean and dry with a towel. Slice it cross-wise. Dice the
pineapple. Cut up the peppers and bamboo shoots into small pieces and
fry in a red hot pan and add ginger. Add a quarter cup full of white
vinegar, brown sugar, pepper and salt and soy bean sauce to taste. Add
the fish to the mixture, stir well until cooked tender. Lastly add the
diced pineapple, thicken the gravy with a little cornstarch. Serve hot.




PEI YU[1]


  1 lb. fresh white fish
  4 large green peppers
  4 onions
  ½ lb. mushrooms
  ½ lb. water chestnuts
  ¼ lb. bamboo shoots
  1 small piece of ginger
  1 dessertspoon of cornstarch

Wash fish (such as flounder or halibut) and dry it with a towel. Slice
cross-wise. Cut onions, green peppers, water chestnuts, mushrooms and
bamboo shoots into pieces. Grease a hot frying pan and fry all the
sliced vegetables together in the pan until tender. Then add sliced
fish. Stir the whole well, adding soy bean sauce, salt and pepper to
taste. Thicken gravy with a little cornstarch.

[1] (White Fish)




BROILED PORK


  1 lb. lean raw pork
  6 tablespoons black soy bean sauce
  2 tablespoons sugar
  2 tablespoons salt
  1 teaspoon pepper

Cut meat into strips about two inches thick. Soak meat in mixture made
of soy bean sauce, sugar, pepper and salt.

String the strips of meat on a wire, broil over a glowing charcoal
fire. If charcoal fire is not convenient, place strips of meat in a pan
and broil under a gas flame slowly, until meat is well done and golden
brown. Serve hot.




BEAN SPROUTS AND PORK


  1½ lb. bean sprouts
  ½ lb. pork, sliced thin
  1 small piece of ginger, chopped fine
  4 teaspoons soy bean sauce
  pepper and salt

Fry sliced pork with ginger in a red hot pan, with a little oil, then
add the soy bean sauce to the meat. Cook the pork until golden brown
and add the bean sprouts. Cook sprouts slightly, not more than three
minutes, season to taste and serve hot.




BEAN SPROUTS


  1 lb. bean sprouts
  1 small piece of ginger
  salt and pepper, soy bean sauce

Wash bean sprouts clean. Chop the ginger very fine. Fry sprouts and
ginger together in a hot frying pan which has been greased with lard or
vegetable oil. Cook for five minutes, season with salt, pepper and soy
bean sauce.




SPRING ROLLS


  4 large thin membranes from the
    fat of lard
  1 cup of cold ham, sliced fine
  ¼ cup mushrooms, sliced fine
  ¼ cup onions or celery, sliced fine
  ⅛ cup bamboo shoots, sliced fine
  4 teaspoons soy bean sauce
  1 teaspoon salt
  ⅛ teaspoon pepper

Fry onions, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and ham in a frying pan with a
little vegetable oil or lard, season the mixture with pepper and a dash
of soy bean sauce. Remove ingredients from pan. Spread the mixtures
evenly on each of the lard membranes. Roll them up as you would jelly
rolls. Be sure to roll the mixtures together tightly. Drop each roll
into the deep hot fat. As soon as a roll turns brown and crisp, remove
it from the fat and drain off the oil on a piece of paper.

The spring rolls should always be sliced slantwise and served hot.




CABBAGE ROLLS


  ½ lb. meat chopped fine
  2 red peppers
  1 onion
  1 head of white cabbage
  4 teaspoons soy bean sauce
  pepper and salt

Place meat, onion and peppers in a meat grinder and grind the mixture
fine. Season to taste.

Remove each leaf from the cabbage and wash and dry thoroughly. Take two
tablespoons of the meat mixture and place on the cabbage leaf, shape it
lengthwise and roll tight. Do the same thing with each leaf until all
the meat mixture is used.

Place the cabbage rolls in a steamer and steam for half an hour, or
until well done. Serve while hot.




MEAT CUSTARD


  8 eggs
  ⅓ cup water
  ½ cup cooked meat, chopped fine
  1 small square of butter
  1 small piece of ginger
  2 teaspoons soy bean sauce
  pepper and salt

Beat the eggs, add one-third cup of water, meat and ginger chopped
fine. Beat all the ingredients well and add seasoning to taste. Pour
the mixture into a large sized bowl or a deep platter. Bake the meat
custard over a pan of water in a moderate oven as you would any egg
custard. Bake until well done and serve hot.




CORN AND WHITE MEAT OF CHICKEN


  1 can sweet corn
  1 cup strong chicken soup
  ½ cup fine white meat of chicken
  ¼ cup cooked ham, chopped fine
  salt and pepper

Cook the corn and white meat of chicken just to a boil, then add soup,
stir the ingredients well, bring all to a boil and add seasoning. Pour
the cooked mixture into a deep vegetable dish, sprinkle with fine
chopped ham and serve hot.




WALNUT CHICKEN


  1 young chicken
  ½ lb. walnut or almond meats
  ⅓ lb. water chestnuts
  10 large sized black mushrooms

Fry nut meats in oven until slightly brown or crisp.

Remove meat of chicken from bones and cut into small cubes and fry in
hot pan with a little fat.

Soak mushrooms in warm water and cut into cubes.

Blanch and cut water chestnuts into cubes, then fry mushrooms and
chestnuts in same manner as chicken.

Add mushrooms and chestnuts to chicken, with a small piece of ginger
chopped fine and a dash of soy bean sauce, pepper and salt to taste. To
this mixture add the browned nut meats stirring the whole thing well.
Serve hot.




STUFFED MUSHROOMS


  1 lb. mushrooms
  ⅛ lb. chopped pork
  ⅛ lb. chopped shrimps
  3 egg whites
  small piece ginger
  pepper and salt
  soy bean sauce

Beat up the egg whites, add meat, shrimps, ginger, (chopped fine) and
seasoning. Beat the ingredients well. Drop one dessert spoon of batter
evenly on each mushroom. Place mushrooms on a large platter and steam
mushrooms and meat mixture until well done. Serve hot.




WANG SHIH[2]


  8 nice large tomatoes
  4 eggs
  1 teaspoon sugar

Remove the skins (and seeds too, if you have great patience) from the
tomatoes and put in a granite pan. Cook until water is evaporated. Add
sugar, pepper and salt, and eggs well beaten and slightly cooked. Add
soy bean sauce and serve hot.

[2] (Tomato and Eggs).




STRING BEANS


  1 lb. string beans
  ½ lb. chopped meat
  2 teaspoons black soy bean sauce
  salt and pepper

Remove strings from beans, break up into one and one-half inch lengths.
Wash clean. Put just enough water to cover. Bring it to a boil and pour
off the water.

Fry the chopped meat in red hot pan, previously greased with fat. Add
cooked beans to the meat. Cook mixture until meat and beans are tender.




ALMOND CHOW MEIN


  1 lb. noodles
  ¼ lb. mushrooms
  ¼ lb. bamboo shoots
  ¼ lb. water chestnuts
  ⅛ cup thinly sliced chicken meat
  ⅛ cup thinly sliced cooked ham
  2 fried eggs
  ½ cup roasted almonds

Drop the raw noodles into a pot of boiling water. Add a little salt and
boil for five minutes. Drain and let cold water run over it. Dry for
half an hour or until thoroughly dry. Drop into deep fat as you would
doughnuts. Take out quickly and drain off the fat on brown paper. Take
a clean frying pan, grease it and fry the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and
water chestnuts until they are cooked tender. Season them with salt,
pepper, soy bean sauce and ginger to taste. Remove vegetables from pan
and fry noodles in the same grease. Take a large platter, make a layer
of noodles, a layer of vegetables and a layer of chicken and ham. Beat
up two eggs and fry in greased pan. Slice very fine and spread on top
of chicken and ham. Sprinkle on the almonds and trim with parsley if
desired.

 (Chinese noodles may be obtained at Thirty-two Mott Street, Chinatown,
 New York City.)




SWEET POTATO BALLS


  ½ lb. cocoanut grated fine
  1 cup chopped almonds
  2 teaspoons butter
  1 cup sugar
  ½ lb. mashed sweet potato
  1 lb. Chinese rice flour

Mix shredded cocoanut and chopped nuts with sugar and butter; steam
until butter melts.

Make the mashed sweet potatoes and rice flour into a paste. Roll out
thin on board and cut in small circles.

Fill with cocoanut filling and shape into small balls. Fry in deep fat
until golden brown and drain on brown paper.




PRECIOUS PUDDING


  1½ cups rice
   ½ cup barley
   ⅛ cup candied lotus seeds
   ⅛ cup almonds
   ⅛ cup seedless raisins
   ⅛ cup fresh peanuts
   ⅛ cup large candied cherries
   8 strips of citron sliced very thin
  1½ cups sugar

Cook rice and barley together in about one quart of water.

Take a very large deep bowl or mold that has plenty of surface; arrange
the eight precious fruits and nuts in some kind of pretty design at
the bottom of the bowl. Now pour the rice and barley, which have been
drained, into the bowl, and steam for at least an hour, until well
cooked.

Turn out with design on top and serve with sauce.




SAUCE


  1½ cups sugar
   ½ cup water, seasoned with lemon

Cook sugar and water until a thread spins and add lemon juice to taste.




  Transcriber's Notes:

  Italics are shown thus: _sloping_.

  Variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained.

  Perceived typographical errors have been changed.