Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-02
A DISH OF CH0P-SU|
Commonest Order in a Chinese
Restaurant.
USUAL BILL OF FARE
IT Is A YARD SQUARE AND Is
Tackled ON THE WALL,
An American Acquainted With Only
About HALF Dozen Of the Com
pounds in the List.

Few Of those who nightly pave the way
to govt and dyspepsia with layers Of ter
rapin. canvasback and champagne have
ghost Of notion Of the unheard-of but
none the less palatable dishes that are
served in the Chinese restaurants Of WASH
ington.
The Amercanized celestial looks invari-
ably pale, and in most instances half fed,
and people think of a Cinnamon as scrub
bling away in his laundry day and night
and subsisting on rice, but 1t is said that
this wan, pallid fellow, with his funny hat
and combination cape, sacque and petit
coat, Is about the merriest and best or
dered glutton to be found in days jour-
ney. Most persons would be surprised to
know the large amount Of meats he gets
away with. 1t is simply amazing what the
Chinaman will do with pork 1t is safe to
say that, after rice, it is the chief staple
Of Chinese diet. In Chinese restaurant in
this city one will see whole carcasses laid
out upon a table, being painted with vari-
GUS dressings cut into assorted shapes and
sizes, and different portions are cut and
laid aside for different dishes. Altogether,
when Chinaman is done with a pig there
is nothing of the dead but bones"
The chicken, the pigeon, the goose and
the duck play an important part in the
Chinese bill of fare. and at all hours one
can hear the live birds squawking in the
kitchen. AS may we'll be imagined, the
interior Of Chinese restaurant-even the
best ones-are not the cleaEest and most
inviting. The Chinese waiter in one place
in this city has what appears to be pain
full attack of the dope walk" and he
seems to glory in the fact that in the res
taurant he can do just he chooses. He
does not hand you bill Of fare. That
glittering leaf1et which walters in other
restaurants are invariably and persistently
Juggling away to another table Is never
seen here. The only printed list is one a
yard square, in Chinese characters. tackled
upon the wall. Unless you know the names
which the Chinese have themselves given
the various dishes it is well nigh impossible
to get what you want. There are probably
half dozen compounds which comprise
the entire list Of things an American is
likely to call for, although the range Of
Chinese dishes Is something marvellous.
Much of their meat comes direct from
China. It is distinctively Chinese, and is
There is a duck which Is picked in some
mysterious fashion then dried and nclosed
in Theoretically sealed jar, where 1t may
be kept for years. You can get some of
this Chinese duck, sliced into small pieces,
if you know the Chinese name for it. The
way Chinaman cuts a fowl Is strangely
unlike the European method. The Ameri-
can or European unjoints the bird and
strips the skeleton of its meat. John China
man slices a duck or chicken straight
across-bones and all. The bones are as
clearly cut as the flesh. In Chinese cook
cry everything is prepared with a view to
the use Of chop-sticks. 1t is chop this and
chop that, and all the viands are in bits,
which can be taken up easily with those
two dainty straw-like instruments.
"Chop-sui" the Usual Order.
The staple dish and the one easiest man.
aged is chop-sui. This is generally the first
dish an American not familiar with Chinese
dishes asks for because it is the cheapest
and most universally eaten. After your
table Is set the smiling celectial says
tChop-sui?" and Of course the answer is
yes. Setting the table does not imply the
presence Of cloth or napkin or casters, for
these luxuries are noticeable for their alb
sence. First is brought a teapot-a tin one
which holds pint; delicate cups, narrow
at the bottom. To an American a fork is
generally given, but Cinnamon are provided
with chop-sticks The tea having been de-
Nothing is charged for the first pot of
tea. Then comes the chop-sui and chowan.
If you want some pork sausage you will
have to say 1t over three or four times
before the waiter will understand you.
That also Is chopped and made ready for
the sticks, as also the chicken and
pigs feet, with which you had better aug
ment your feast, for these are really a
feast. Etiquette must be observed in the
restaurant. For example, when you drink
tea you must pour a little into the cup,
rinse II around anu dump II UPON Tie
floor. Whether this libation is a precau-
ton in behalf of cleanliness or whether
some god must be propitiated cannot be
said and 1t is needless to ask Chinese res
taurant keepers about it, for upon all
points pertaining to his own life and Gus
toms John Chinaman is strictly non-com-
initial.
Never Such Rice Before.
Along with the dishes ordered come small
dishes like butter plates in which Is a
brown fluid known as soya or at least that
is as near as an American can get to it.
In appearance 1t is like Worcestershire
sauce, and while its flavor Is not SO pun
gent, it is delicious and agreeable. The
waiter gives you, too, small dishes contain
ing a pale mustard, and another condi-
ment which seems to be a preserve, made
from fruit, which Is highly seasoned.
There Is also bowl of rice, big and heap
ed high. You will admit that you never
before saw rice cooked properly. Each
snowy kernel stands out separately, firm,
dry yet tender, and is utterly unlike the
slushy dish found in most American eating
houses, even among the better class. The
bowl Of rice serves two purposes. 1t is
plate and bread. In the middle of the ia
BILE Is the big dish of chop-sut, a compound
of pork mushroom, chicken livers. chop
ped celery, bits of fish, little tender Chi
nese sprouts about the length of small
needle and the size Of the lead in pencil
Sometimes too. there are bits Of onions
81 pufh in 70