Sunday, August 7, 2011

The Kitchen Mouse’s Chinese Meal

Originally published March 26, 1984

The Kitchen Mouse is now celebrating the Chinese year of the rat.

Babies born between February 2, 1984 and February 19, 1985 are seductive, energetic, of good counsel, charming, meticulous, intellectual, lovable, sentimental, generous and honest.

Your signs of the zodiac predict  the following: these years are yours alone. Profit from every single angle you see before you. It won’t be long before your sign comes under some straining influences. Lay in stores. Save your money and eat wisely.

Chinese Cuisine
Just how far back good cooking actually goes back in China is hard to determine, but the Chinese were early discoverers of fire, and have been farmers for well over 4,000 years. In the course of their long history they have evolved a high sense of harmony in the delicate blending of tastes and textures.

Some cooks believe that Chinese food is too exotic to be attempted in the home kitchen, but nothing can be further from the truth, for no special utensils are needed and the few special extras - soy sauce, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts - can be found, bottled or canned, in most local groceries.

Chinese dishes are inexpensive, quick to prepare and fun to cook. Using an electric wok or frying pan, you can cook Chinese food right in the dining room in front of your guests. A Chinese dinner served in true oriental fashion assures a nice evening. And for those who like an authentic atmosphere, Chinese serving dishes and chopsticks are inexpensive and easily available.

Serving a Chinese Meal
Rice is the staple food of the Chinese but it is a mistake to think that the Chinese eat nothing but rice. Rice is the center, the focal point, but is usually ringed with a large variety of dishes, each blending perfectly with it and with each other. An average Chinese meal consists of one or two soups, one or two meat dishes, an egg or fish dish and one or two vegetable dishes served in conjunction with rice.

The one supreme meat for the Chinese is pork. Those who can afford it eat it almost every day. Poorer Chinese dream about it, and even the poorest save up a few coins to buy some with which to celebrate special occasions.

Today's recipes: 

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