As a child, I always loved going with my mother on a trip to Centerdale. It was around a two and a half mile walk, and whether we were going to the A&P for groceries, or a trip to the 5&10, I knew one of our stops would be the China Jade Restaurant for their delicious luncheon special. :)
For under $5.00, we would stuff ourselves on Cantonese Chicken Chow Mein, Sweet and Sour Pork and, my favorite - Chow Har Kew, which would come to the table in a large oval silver pedestled bowl, full of crunch- cooked, piping hot bok choy, pea pods, water chestnuts, onions and ripply sliced carrots in a clear sauce, topped with six huge golden fried, batter dipped, butterflied shrimp that were way more batter than shrimp. The food was oh-so good, and the dishes had a taste like nothing my mother herself had ever cooked. It would be years before we would discover that the mysterious flavor came from an over abundance of MSG, a big no-no for most people today, and an ingredient that I suspect was in more American kitchens as "Accent", than in authentic Chinese homes.
Even then, I knew that what we were eating was NOT what real Chinese people ate.
This all came back to me after reading an interesting article and interview by Nina Lalli, with Jennifer 8. Lee, the author of "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles."
You can find it at Salon,
http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink/2008/03/11/fortune_cookie_chronicles/index.html
It's a nice article, and it sounds like an interesting book. :)
Now, I'm going to go and eat my instant Chicken and Abalone flavored oriental soup... of which I'm pretty sure no chickens or abalone were harmed in the making of...
For under $5.00, we would stuff ourselves on Cantonese Chicken Chow Mein, Sweet and Sour Pork and, my favorite - Chow Har Kew, which would come to the table in a large oval silver pedestled bowl, full of crunch- cooked, piping hot bok choy, pea pods, water chestnuts, onions and ripply sliced carrots in a clear sauce, topped with six huge golden fried, batter dipped, butterflied shrimp that were way more batter than shrimp. The food was oh-so good, and the dishes had a taste like nothing my mother herself had ever cooked. It would be years before we would discover that the mysterious flavor came from an over abundance of MSG, a big no-no for most people today, and an ingredient that I suspect was in more American kitchens as "Accent", than in authentic Chinese homes.
Even then, I knew that what we were eating was NOT what real Chinese people ate.
This all came back to me after reading an interesting article and interview by Nina Lalli, with Jennifer 8. Lee, the author of "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles."
You can find it at Salon,
http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink/2008/03/11/fortune_cookie_chronicles/index.html
It's a nice article, and it sounds like an interesting book. :)
Now, I'm going to go and eat my instant Chicken and Abalone flavored oriental soup... of which I'm pretty sure no chickens or abalone were harmed in the making of...
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