For this book only such Chinese and Japanese dishes have been selected as would appeal to the Western palate, and which can be prepared with the kitchen utensils of Western civilization. Many dishes prepared by the Chinese cooks in this country are only modifications of their native dishes. Recipes for the same dish, obtained from different parts of China, vary considerably. The combinations here given are those which experience has proved most easily prepared and most palatable.
The authors advise any one who intends to cook "Chinese" to go to some Chinese restaurant and taste the various dishes he desires to cook. A good cook always should know what a dish tastes like before he tries to cook it. All cooks can tell how the taste of a strange dish reveals to him many things, and it is often possible to guess of what the dish is composed.
No cookbooks, so far as the authors know, have ever been published in China. Recipes descend like heirlooms from one generation of cooks to another. The recipes included in this book (the Chinese ones, that is) have been handed down from Vo Ling, a worthy descendant of a long line of noted Chinese cooks, and himself head cook to Gow Gai, one time highest mandarin of Shanghai. They are all genuine, and were given as an especial expression of respect by a near relative of the famous family of Chinese cooks.
PART I
CHINESE RECIPES
RULES FOR COOKING
GENERAL
The first and the most important rule for Chinese cooking is cleanliness, first of the hands, second of the utensils, and third of the food.
Meat should not be washed, but should be rinsed in cold or lukewarm water and, if necessary, singed over a hot flame and scraped with a sharp knife.
All vegetables and fruit should be washed in cold water,--if necessary, in fifty different waters.
Never use soap to wash saucepans. Use washing soda or sand.
All cloths and dish towels should be boiled and rinsed thoroughly.
Care must be taken to measure accurately the ingredients of recipes, for the spices and relishes used in Chinese kitchens are exceedingly hot and pronounced in flavor.
To make rich stock for soup use only a quart of water to every pound of veal, mutton, or beef bone.
To determine whether a fish is fresh, watch that its flesh is firm and thick, its scales glistening, and its eyes prominent.
When dropped into a bowl or pan containing cold water, eggs that are absolutely fresh will immediately sink to the bottom and rest there; eggs which are not perfectly fresh will stand on end or rise a little.
Delicious dishes can be obtained only from the use of the purest and best quality of ingredients. A good cook needs to be as well a discriminating purchaser.
Glass measures recording pints and quarts of liquid and ounces and pounds of solids (like sugar), with the fractions thereof, are handy and sanitary.
TO BOIL RICE
Use an iron pot. Wash the rice thoroughly in many waters, until, in fact, the water is as clear as for drinking. To one cupful of rice add one and a quarter cupfuls of cold water. Cover tight, and boil slowly half an hour--no more. On no account stir. Rice should not be disturbed till it is taken up; that is the secret of the dry, finely cooked Chinese rice. Set on back of range, covered with a clean cloth or napkin, until ready to serve. Rice should be served in individual bowls, replenished as soon as empty throughout the meal. With the Chinese it takes the place of bread or potatoes. Salt is not added until it is served.
TEA
The quantity of tea used depends on the quality, and the taste of the individual. Rinse the pot with boiling water before putting in the tea. The water should just come to a boil--no more. Pour on the tea leaves. Let it stand for two or three minutes, but on no account must it be allowed to boil. Strain tea from leaves, and serve pure, if Chinese tea is used. See more about tea on page 109.
SOUPS
YEA FOO MAIN
One quart of soup stock; one quarter pound of mushrooms; three stalks of celery; one eighth clove of garlic; six water chestnuts; one quarter pound of vermicelli; one and one quarter teaspoonfuls of salt; one teaspoonful of syou (Chinese sauce).
