COOKLORE


Asian-Style



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Shushi (Japanese)





1910



Wash and cook 1/2 cup of rice, mix in 2 Tbsp chopped, preserved ginger, and mold into cakes about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide, flattened on top. Cut 1/2 pound of halibut, haddock, or other strong-flavored fish into narrow strips, boil in a little water in a skillet, and add 1 small bottle of shoyu sauce. When the fish is cooked, let it cool in the liquid. Put one small strip of fish on each rice cake, and serve cold.


Tinola (Filipino soup)





1931



Boil a chicken and save the soup. Remove the meat from the bones, cut in small pieces and brown in fat in which some onion has been fried. Peel a green papaya and cut into small pieces. Add soup stock to the browned chicken and onions and cook a few minutes. Then add the papaya pieces and cook until soft. This takes about ten minutes.



Lompia (Filipino)





1931



This is a mixture of meats and vegetables served rolled up in a pancake and lettuce leaf.


Pork, shrimp and chicken are cut in small pieces and fried in oil. Then a mixture of many kinds of cut up vegetables is added. These can include peas, cabbage, potatoes and onions, as well as certain Filipino vegetables such as singkamas (jicama), tokua (tofu), and apolip (ampalaya).


The meat and vegetables are cooked together by adding tomato juice to keep from burning and the whole stew is well colored with paprika. The juice is strained off, and the meat and vegetables are rolled up in a small pancake (bits of dough made of egg and rice flour), then wrapped in a lettuce leaf.


The juice from the meat and vegetables is thickened with cornstarch, flavored with sugar and soya and perhaps a bit of garlic and this gravy is poured over the rolls.



Escaveche (Filipino)





1931



This is a sweet-sour gravy on fish. Slices of a large fish are fried in oil. The fish is removed and a gravy made with the fat left in the pan, garlic and onion, which are browned. A little fresh ginger root is added to a little weak vinegar and water, then added to the gravy to thicken; sugar is added to sweeten to taste. Pour gravy over fish.


Shinsillo-Tainkocha (Korean stew)





1931



In a stewpan, separately prepared ingredients are arranged in layers. The sauces draining from them bubble up from a gravy in the bottom, and the steam keeps them hot.


First layer—Thin slices of tenderloin beef, flavored with a little garlic, green onion, pepper, roasted and pounded sesame seed, and a small spoon of kangjang (soy sauce). The meat is fried in sesame oil with these ingredients, cut into small squares, and arranged in the bottom of the pan with a couple small white radishes and some bean sprouts.


Next layers—The meats are cut in thin slices, salted, floured, dipped in beaten egg, and fried in fat: 1/2 lb fish; 1/2 lb opii (limpets); 1/2 lb cow’s brain; 1 lb chicken meat; 1/2 lb liver; 6 long pieces of water cress and 6 long green onions.


On top of this is piled two small dried abalone that have been soaked, boiled until tender, and sliced; two dried Korean crabs, similarly treated; raw chestnuts, sliced; Korean sweet dates, sliced; 1/4 lb unang nuts; and 1/4 lb pine nuts. Two eggs are separated and the whites and yolks fried separately, then sliced into fine shreds. These and the nuts garnish the top of the dish.



Korean Beef or Pork





1931



Slice meat thin, salt it, roll in flour and egg and fry in deep sesame seed oil. Serve with a sauce made of kangjang mixed with a little vinegar and seasoned with garlic and fresh ginger. Dip meat in sauce to eat.



Mahn Doo Kook (Korean)





1931



Make a thick dough with 2 lbs of flour and enough water so that it can be rolled out very thin. Cut into circles with a cookie cutter and make into half-moon turnover with the following filling:


Two cups boiled bean sprouts; one bean cake (tofu), one chopped green onion, a bunch of boiled chopped water cress; one pound chopped chicken or other meat; one half cup dried, soaked and chopped mushrooms; fried egg yolk, sliced; one teaspoon roasted ground sesame seed.


Mix these together, flavor with pepper and kangjang. Put a spoonful in the center of a round of dough, pinch the edges together and drop into a pot of boiling chicken soup for about five minutes. Serve in individual dishes sprinkled with salt, pepper and kangjang.



Kwachool (Korean sweets)





1931



Mix 1 lb flour, 1 cup honey, 1/2 cup sesame oil, baking powder into a dough. Make a filling with 1/2 cup shelled peanuts, 1/2 cup dried, seeded Korean dates, and cinnamon. Chop and mix with 1/2 cup maple syrup.


Take a ball of dough, make a hole in the center, add some filling and close it. Drop these into hot fat and cook until brown (about 10 minutes). Drain and then dip the balls in boiled maple syrup and roll in chopped pine nuts and cinnamon.



Si-Yang Choi Tong (Chinese)





1931



2 eggs, well beaten

1/2 lb tender watercress

1 lb lean beef, shredded

Small piece raw ginger root

Salt and pepper to taste

Soy sauce


Soak 1/4 lb shredded beef for fifteen minutes in a mixture of: 1 Tbsp vegetable oil, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1/4 tsp sugar.


Use the rest of the beef to make soup stock, boiling it down to a quart, then strain soup until it is clear.


Fry shredded beef with finely chopped ginger in a hot pan greased with bacon fat or vegetable oil. Stir beef until tender, then add washed and chopped watercress and soup stock. Bring whole to a boil, remove from heat, then add the well-beaten eggs. Cook again for a few minutes, then season with salt, pepper, and soy sauce. (Nellie Choy Wong)



Chow Tao (Chinese)





1931



2 lbs shoestring beans or string beans

1/2 lb pork, sliced thin

Small piece finely chopped ginger root

Salt and pepper

Soy sauce


Break up beans, which are generally eighteen or twenty inches long, into 2-inch lengths. Wash clean and drop into boiling water. Bring to a boil and pour off water. Fry sliced pork and chopped ginger in a hot, greased pan. Add cooked beans to the fried meat and cook slowly until meat and beans are tender. (Nellie Choy Wong)



Chef Minh Lee’s Chinese Crispy Fish





1946



1 whole fish, about 3 lbs

Ground pork

Water chestnuts, chopped

Mushrooms, chopped

Bamboo shoots, chopped

3 cups chicken soup stock

3 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp black pepper

Sesame oil

Corn starch

Frozen green peas and carrots

1 whole horseradish root for garnish

2 egg whites


Clean out fish’s stomach and head. Make 2 or 3 diagonal cuts in its side and pull the flesh outward. Coat fish with egg whites and then corn starch. Deep fry until crispy.


In a wok, stir fry ground pork, water chestnuts, mushrooms and bamboo shoots for 3-5 minutes. (Amounts can vary as preferred.) Add soup stock, soy sauce, sugar, and pepper. For a spicier dish, add some ground red chili.


Add peas and carrots, then a little corn starch dissolved in water to thicken the mixture. Pour over cooked fish. Garnish with a piece of horseradish cut in the shape of a rose.



Seafood Chop Suey or Chow Mein





1949



1/4 cup shortening

1 small can tuna fish, shrimp or crabmeat, drained

1/2 to 1 cup onions (as desired), sliced

1 tsp salt

1/16 tsp pepper

2 cups celery, cut fine

1 1/2 cups hot water

1 can bean sprouts

2 Tbsp cold water

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar


Sauté onions in melted shortening (without browning or burning) for 2 minutes. Add salt, pepper, celery and hot water. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Add seafood (broken in small pieces) and drained bean sprouts. Heat thoroughly. Combine and add thickening and flavoring ingredients. Stir lightly and cook 1 minute. Serve over chow mein noodles or with cooked rice for chop suey. Flavor individual dishes to taste with soy sauce.



Shira (An Indian Dessert)





1960



1 cup cream of wheat

1/4 lb butter

1 1/3 cups boiling water

2/3 cup sugar

30 raisins

1/8 cup slivered almonds

1/2 banana, sliced

Whipped cream


Melt butter in saucepan. Add cream of wheat and cook over low heat until cereal is slightly brown. Add boiling water, stir, and cover pan. Allow to cook over low heat until water is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add sugar, raisins, and almonds. Mix well and keep covered for 10 minutes. Add banana slices. Serve warm with whipped cream. Makes 6 servings.



Chi Ting (Chicken with Peas)





1960



1 1/2 lbs chicken breast

2 tsp salt

2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup chicken broth

6 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 package frozen peas

1 stalk green onion, chopped


Bone chicken breasts. Dice into 1/2-inch cubes. Add 1 Tbsp chicken broth, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, and chopped green onion. Mix well. Defrost peas an hour before cooking.


Add remaining cornstarch to 4 Tbsp chicken broth. Heat oil to very hot temperature. Quickly add chicken mixture. Turn with spatula constantly for 1 minute, then remove chicken from pan.


Add peas to oil in pan. Add salt and half-cooked chicken cubes. Pour chicken broth mix into pan. Stir and bring to boil, about 2 minutes.



Fried Rice





1962



Fry some bacon, then brown 2 cups coarsely chopped onions in bacon fat. Add 2 cups cooked rice. Add a mixture of 2 eggs, 1 Tbsp soy sauce and 1/2 tsp salt. Add bacon back in (or add in other cooked meat like ham or shrimp). Simmer over low heat until thoroughly cooked. Chopped green peppers may be added during sauté stage.)



beef and mushrooms





1962



Sauté 3 cups onions (cut lengthwise) until slightly brown. Remove from pan. Fry one pound ground beef or chopped/sliced beef. Add onions then one 3 oz can mushrooms (or 1/2 lb fresh mushrooms), 2 Tbsp ginger and 4 Tbsp soy sauce. Add 2 Tbsp cornstarch which can be mixed with the canned mushroom liquid. Cook over low heat until thick. This can be served over rice or noodles.