Evening star., 1960-08-11
THECHEF FSAYS.
Chinese
Tid-Bits
Popular

Centuries ago Q cook In the
imperial kitchen In Peking
made rice wine by accident.
He tasted It; he found IL
good; he Nked its effect. The
find was reported to the En-
peror, who liked the wine.
too. It seemed to make his
duties much lighter. So the
Emperor FED bowls Of de.
Hcious rice wine To his Min
listers and foreign envoys.-
with the happy result that
they agreed with his every
suggestion. But next morn
ing for the Emperor's early
conference not one minister
or envoy appeared.
The Emperor concluded
that this new drink should
be taken In moderation. He
ordered tiny thimble. sized
cups to be made for wine-s
size in use to this day. He
commanded that no one was
to drink wine on an empty
stomach: that It must be
taken with small bits Of solid
food. en- "leng' pen" or hors
d'oeuvre originated. The
Emperor also thought that
there should be an interval
between drinks, 50 he insisted
that a game, which required
the player 10 haYe his wits
about him, be played at the
table. So the game Of "Hua
chuan" was invented. The
Chinese have always tried to
keep these three rules, with
such success that 1t Is . rare
thing to see o Chinese In.
toXicated.
: Here are three Chinese hors
9'oeuvre that are especially
popular with Westerners.
Fried shrimps
10 shrimps
" teaspoon salt 7,
" teaspoon soy sauce
"a teaspoon sherry ii
] tablespoon cornstarch u
Oil for deep frying (The
Chinese use peanut or
other vegetable oil.J
Shell the shrimps, leaving
the tails on. Devein, but bo
careful not to split the
shrimps. Mix together the
salt, soy sauce ana sherry,
pour over shrimps and let
naarinate for 10 minutes. Dip
the shrimps in the corn.
starch and coat well. Heat
enough oil for deep-frying in
a pan and lower the shrimps
into this. When they are
ready the shrimps will float to
the top. Serve very hot.
Mushrooms Stuffed With Pork
IL large mushrooms,
Stemmed
Filling:
u ID. pork, minced
l tablespoon oil
l teaspoon salt 90,
" teaspoon pepper -.
l tablespoon soy sauce
tablespoon cornstarch
l scallion, chopped fine
2 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoon salt
70 teaspoon pepper '.'
2 tablespoons chicken stock
Thickening:
l tablespoon cornstarch
l teaspoon cornstarch
u cup water.
Mix together well the first
z ingredients. Fill the mush-
room caps with this mixture.
Heat a heavy pan with 2
tablespoons oil; add salt and
pepper. When oil is very hot,
place the mushroom caps in
1t with the chicken stock.
Turn down the heat, cover
the pan and cook slowly for
20 minutes. Remove the
mushrooms and place on a
fiat serving plate. Mix the
thickening mixture together
and add to the gravy in
which the mushrooms were
cooked. When it is thick and
smooth pour over the mush-
rooms and serve Immediately.
Fried Wan Tuns
u cup ground pork
"a cup chopped shrimp
u teaspoon salt
20 wan tun skins
l egg beaten
l quart boiling water
Oil for deep frying
The wan tun skins can be
obtained at most Chinese
food stores and at some su-
permarkets.
Mix pork, shrimp and salt
together; reserve.
Hold wan tun skin in left
hand and place teaspoon Of
filling in center. Fold bottom
of skin to about " inch from
top. Bend the pocket in half
again, and bring the two ends
to the front and seal with
beaten egg. Cover with damp
cloth until all skins are
made up.
Bring water to boiling
point and slowly drop wan
tuns into water and boil for
about five minutes or until
they rise to the top. Lift out
and put in .colander. Run
cold water through and drain
well Let stand for ahNIIt