Chinese Recipes
by
Nellie C. Wong

Recipes
From
“THE ONLY PLACE IN PEKING”
The Nellie Wong Tea Shop
Peking
China

Additional copies of this book for your friends may be had from my little store Twelve Hundred Twenty Six Amsterdam Avenue, or from my printer

The American Rehabilitation Committee, Inc., Twenty Eight East Twenty First Street, New York City, New York.

Nellie C. Wong

Soy bean sauce and ginger are universally used in China for seasoning. Soy bean sauce in many instances takes the place of salt.

Mushrooms, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots are the distinctive vegetables used in many of the Chinese dishes.

All of these supplies may be obtained in New York City at the Chinese Grocery, Quong Yuen Shing and Company, Thirty-Two Mott Street, Chinatown; The Cathay Tea Garden, One hundred Sixty-Four East Eighty-Sixth Street; Yoeng’s Restaurant, Broadway and Forty-Eighth Street or the College Inn, Broadway near One hundred Twenty-Fourth Street.

Peanut oil, or lard are used in China for frying and cooking. Where the recipes call for “vegetable oil or lard” any shortening or drippings may be used, including Crisco, Best Foods Shortening Mazola and Wesson Oil.

The ingredients noted in each recipe are enough to serve six portions.

1 teaspoon of tea leaves
6 cups of boiling water

Scald out a crockery teapot. While it is warm put into it a teaspoonful of tea leaves. Pour on fresh boiling water. Steep from three to five minutes before serving.

1 quart chicken broth
½ cup finely chopped water chestnuts
2 eggs
pepper and salt

Pour half cupful of finely chopped water chestnuts into a quart of boiling chicken broth. Cook for about five minutes. Beat up two eggs, yolks and whites together. Pour egg into chicken broth and stir well and slowly until it forms small flowers. Add pepper and salt to taste.

The proper way to cook rice is to wash the rice clean, add water, measuring one inch above the rice surface.

Let it come to a boil, then turn the gas low, let the rice simmer until it is cooked dry. Do not open the lid during cooking. When the rice is correctly cooked, every grain stands by itself.

Chop up some left-over meat, or ham or bacon, and an onion. Brown all together in a frying pan, with a little oil or fat. Add rice, fry all together again until rice and meat become brown.

[Pg 4]

SHRIMP STRAWS

1 lb. fresh shelled shrimps
1 lb. white bread
whites of 3 eggs
½ onion
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
small piece fresh ginger

Place shelled shrimps, onion and ginger in a chopper and chop very fine; remove from chopper into a large bowl, add the whites of three eggs, salt and pepper, then beat the ingredients until stiff. Now spread the mixture upon thinly sliced bread. Cut into strips about an inch wide and four inches long. Sprinkle browned bread crumbs upon the shrimp strips. Place in boiling deep vegetable oil or lard; as soon as the bread turns golden brown, remove straws from fat and place upon a piece of paper to drain off the oil.

Shrimp straws should always be served hot and fresh.

1 lb. small fresh shrimps, shelled
½ lb. thinly sliced toast
½ lb. water chestnuts
1 small piece of ginger
pepper, salt and soy bean sauce

Toast sliced bread, butter and cut into small cubes. Fry shrimps in a red hot frying pan, use very little vegetable oil or lard to grease the pan; as soon as shrimps turn red remove from the pan. Fry water chestnuts, which have been boiled a little, and cut into cubes. Add shrimps and a little finely chopped ginger, season to taste with pepper, salt and soy bean sauce. Now add the cubes of toast to the cooked shrimps and stir well before serving.

1 lb. fresh shelled shrimps
1 lb. fresh mushrooms
¼ lb. bamboo shoots, sliced thin
Cornstarch
small piece ginger, pepper,
salt and soy bean sauce

Fry shrimps in a red hot frying pan, which has been greased with a little vegetable oil or lard, until shrimps turn red. Place in a hot pan, which has been greased with vegetable oil or bacon fat, finely chopped ginger, mushrooms and bamboo shoots; fry until tender. Remove the cooked mushrooms and use drippings with cornstarch to make a medium gravy, season with pepper, salt, and soy bean sauce. Add shrimps, cooked mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

1 lb. shelled fresh shrimps
3 eggs
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons soy bean sauce

Beat up the three eggs, whites and yolks together, add flour, pepper, salt and soy bean sauce to season, lastly add the shrimps to the mixture. Dip out one shrimp at a time with a tablespoon, drop into a pan of deep boiling vegetable oil or lard; as soon as it turns brown take out of the fat and place on a piece of paper to drain. They are then ready to serve.

6 eggs
¼ cup cooked shrimps, sliced fine
⅛ cup onion, sliced fine
⅛ cup mushrooms, sliced fine
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
3 teaspoons soy bean sauce

Beat six eggs, whites and yolks together, add the sliced onion and mushrooms, season to taste. Put a tablespoonful of the mixture into a red hot frying pan which has been greased over with vegetable oil or lard. Shrimp cakes are fried just the same [Pg 9]as pancakes. Serve hot.

1 large fish, well cleaned
1 cup pickled onions, cucumbers,
sliced thin
2 large fresh onions, sliced fine
1 cup cider vinegar
1 piece fresh ginger
2 bell peppers, red and green
2 tablespoons sugar
cornstarch

Slice the fresh onions and peppers, soak three hours in hot cider vinegar which has been boiled with a little salt and sugar. After rubbing the fish with salt and black pepper, fry it in deep cooking oil or lard until fish skin is crisp and brown. When cooked enough remove from the deep fat and place on a large platter. Drain the onions and peppers. Use the same vinegar, pouring it into a frying pan which has been greased; let vinegar come to a boil, add sugar, salt, pepper, and Chinese soy bean sauce to taste. Then take up the ingredients spread them nicely over the fried fish, now add the pickled mixtures to the seasoned vinegar and let them come to a boil. Dip up the pickled vegetables and spread evenly on top of the fish. Make a medium gravy with a little cornstarch, using the same vinegar in which the pickled vegetables were cooked. Pour that rich gravy over whole fish and serve hot.

1 lb. white fish meat
2 ounces of pork fat
1 piece ginger
1 small onion
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
3 teaspoons soy bean sauce

Remove bones and skin from fish and chop fish, ginger and onion in a meat chopper until very fine. Take out and put into a large bowl. Beat whites of two eggs, add fish mixture, beat the entire mixture until light. Shape the ingredients into balls, with a spoon and knife, drop the balls in deep red hot fat; when brown remove from fat, place the balls on a paper to drain off the oil. Serve hot.

1 lb. white fish
½ can sliced pineapple
4 green peppers
¼ lb. bamboo shoots
⅛ cup white vinegar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
small piece of ginger
soy bean sauce
cornstarch

Wash fish clean and dry with a towel. Slice it cross-wise. Dice the pineapple. Cut up the peppers and bamboo shoots into small pieces and fry in a red hot pan and add ginger. Add a quarter cup full of white vinegar, brown sugar, pepper and salt and soy bean sauce to taste. Add the fish to the mixture, stir well until cooked tender. Lastly add the diced pineapple, thicken the gravy with a little cornstarch. Serve hot.

1 lb. fresh white fish
4 large green peppers
4 onions
½ lb. mushrooms
½ lb. water chestnuts
¼ lb. bamboo shoots
1 small piece of ginger
1 dessertspoon of cornstarch

Wash fish (such as flounder or halibut) and dry it with a towel. Slice cross-wise. Cut onions, green peppers, water chestnuts, mushrooms and bamboo shoots into pieces. Grease a hot frying pan and fry all the sliced vegetables together in the pan until tender. Then add sliced fish. Stir the whole well, adding soy bean sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Thicken gravy with a little cornstarch.

1 lb. lean raw pork
6 tablespoons black soy bean sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Cut meat into strips about two inches thick. Soak meat in mixture made of soy bean sauce, sugar, pepper and salt.

String the strips of meat on a wire, broil over a glowing charcoal fire. If charcoal fire is not convenient, place strips of meat in a pan and broil under a gas flame slowly, until meat is well done and golden brown. Serve hot.

1½ lb. bean sprouts
½ lb. pork, sliced thin
1 small piece of ginger, chopped fine
4 teaspoons soy bean sauce
pepper and salt

Fry sliced pork with ginger in a red hot pan, with a little oil, then add the soy bean sauce to the meat. Cook the pork until golden brown and add the bean sprouts. Cook sprouts slightly, not more than three minutes, season to taste and serve hot.

1 lb. bean sprouts
1 small piece of ginger
salt and pepper, soy bean sauce

Wash bean sprouts clean. Chop the ginger very fine. Fry sprouts and ginger together in a hot frying pan which has been greased with lard or vegetable oil. Cook for five minutes, season with salt, pepper and soy bean sauce.

4 large thin membranes from the
fat of lard
1 cup of cold ham, sliced fine
¼ cup mushrooms, sliced fine
¼ cup onions or celery, sliced fine
⅛ cup bamboo shoots, sliced fine
4 teaspoons soy bean sauce
1 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper

Fry onions, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and ham in a frying pan with a little vegetable oil or lard, season the mixture with pepper and a dash of soy bean sauce. Remove ingredients from pan. Spread the mixtures evenly on each of the lard membranes. Roll them up as you would jelly rolls. Be sure to roll the mixtures together tightly. Drop each roll into the deep hot fat. As soon as a roll turns brown and crisp, remove it from the fat and drain off the oil on a piece of paper.

The spring rolls should always be sliced slantwise and served hot.

½ lb. meat chopped fine
2 red peppers
1 onion
1 head of white cabbage
4 teaspoons soy bean sauce
pepper and salt

Place meat, onion and peppers in a meat grinder and grind the mixture fine. Season to taste.

Remove each leaf from the cabbage and wash and dry thoroughly. Take two tablespoons of the meat mixture and place on the cabbage leaf, shape it lengthwise and roll tight. Do the same thing with each leaf until all the meat mixture is used.

Place the cabbage rolls in a steamer and steam for half an hour, or until well done. Serve while hot.

8 eggs
⅓ cup water
½ cup cooked meat, chopped fine
1 small square of butter
1 small piece of ginger
2 teaspoons soy bean sauce
pepper and salt

Beat the eggs, add one-third cup of water, meat and ginger chopped fine. Beat all the ingredients well and add seasoning to taste. Pour the mixture into a large sized bowl or a deep platter. Bake the meat custard over a pan of water in a moderate oven as you would any egg custard. Bake until well done and serve hot.

1 can sweet corn
1 cup strong chicken soup
½ cup fine white meat of chicken
¼ cup cooked ham, chopped fine
salt and pepper

Cook the corn and white meat of chicken just to a boil, then add soup, stir the ingredients well, bring all to a boil and add seasoning. Pour the cooked mixture into a deep vegetable dish, sprinkle with fine chopped ham and serve hot.

1 young chicken
½ lb. walnut or almond meats
⅓ lb. water chestnuts
10 large sized black mushrooms

Fry nut meats in oven until slightly brown or crisp.

Remove meat of chicken from bones and cut into small cubes and fry in hot pan with a little fat.

Soak mushrooms in warm water and cut into cubes.

Blanch and cut water chestnuts into cubes, then fry mushrooms and chestnuts in same manner as chicken.

Add mushrooms and chestnuts to chicken, with a small piece of ginger chopped fine and a dash of soy bean sauce, pepper and salt to taste. To this mixture add the browned nut meats stirring the whole thing well. Serve hot.

1 lb. mushrooms
⅛ lb. chopped pork
⅛ lb. chopped shrimps
3 egg whites
small piece ginger
pepper and salt
soy bean sauce

Beat up the egg whites, add meat, shrimps, ginger, (chopped fine) and seasoning. Beat the ingredients well. Drop one dessert spoon of batter evenly on each mushroom. Place mushrooms on a large platter and steam mushrooms and meat mixture until well done. Serve hot.

8 nice large tomatoes
4 eggs
1 teaspoon sugar

Remove the skins (and seeds too, if you have great patience) from the tomatoes and put in a granite pan. Cook until water is evaporated. Add sugar, pepper and salt, and eggs well beaten and slightly cooked. Add soy bean sauce and serve hot.

1 lb. string beans
½ lb. chopped meat
2 teaspoons black soy bean sauce
salt and pepper

Remove strings from beans, break up into one and one-half inch lengths. Wash clean. Put just enough water to cover. Bring it to a boil and pour off the water.

Fry the chopped meat in red hot pan, previously greased with fat. Add cooked beans to the meat. Cook mixture until meat and beans are tender.

1 lb. noodles
¼ lb. mushrooms
¼ lb. bamboo shoots
¼ lb. water chestnuts
⅛ cup thinly sliced chicken meat
⅛ cup thinly sliced cooked ham
2 fried eggs
½ cup roasted almonds

Drop the raw noodles into a pot of boiling water. Add a little salt and boil for five minutes. Drain and let cold water run over it. Dry for half an hour or until thoroughly dry. Drop into deep fat as you would doughnuts. Take out quickly and drain off the fat on brown paper. Take a clean frying pan, grease it and fry the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts until they are cooked tender. Season them with salt, pepper, soy bean sauce and ginger to taste. Remove vegetables from pan and fry noodles in the same grease. Take a large platter, make a layer of noodles, a layer of vegetables and a layer of chicken and ham. Beat up two eggs and fry in greased pan. Slice very fine and spread on top of chicken and ham. Sprinkle on the almonds and trim with parsley if desired.

(Chinese noodles may be obtained at Thirty-two Mott Street, Chinatown, New York City.)

½ lb. cocoanut grated fine
1 cup chopped almonds
2 teaspoons butter
1 cup sugar
½ lb. mashed sweet potato
1 lb. Chinese rice flour

Mix shredded cocoanut and chopped nuts with sugar and butter; steam until butter melts.

Make the mashed sweet potatoes and rice flour into a paste. Roll out thin on board and cut in small circles.

Fill with cocoanut filling and shape into small balls. Fry in deep fat until golden brown and drain on brown paper.

1½ cups rice
½ cup barley
⅛ cup candied lotus seeds
⅛ cup almonds
⅛ cup seedless raisins
⅛ cup fresh peanuts
⅛ cup large candied cherries
8 strips of citron sliced very thin
1½ cups sugar

Cook rice and barley together in about one quart of water.

Take a very large deep bowl or mold that has plenty of surface; arrange the eight precious fruits and nuts in some kind of pretty design at the bottom of the bowl. Now pour the rice and barley, which have been drained, into the bowl, and steam for at least an hour, until well cooked.

Turn out with design on top and serve with sauce.

1½ cups sugar
½ cup water, seasoned with lemon

Cook sugar and water until a thread spins and add lemon juice to taste.