1911 Luncheon Menu: Yet Gai Mein, Duck Chop Suey, Mixed Fruit in Syrup
1911 Luncheon Menu
Jessie Louise Nolton of The Chicago Inter-Ocean (compiler)
Chino-American Publishing Company
Yet Gai Mein (Noodle Soup, Plain)
Duck Chop Suey, Bowl Rice
Mixed Fruits in Syrup
Nuts
Tea
Yet Gai Mein
Noodles
Broth
Hard boiled eggs for garnish
Chinese cured pork
Cooked white meat
Seasoning sauce
Boil the noodles till done in salted water and drain in colander. Put noodles in the necessary number of bowls to serve with chicken stock, or beef, or mutton broth, enough to thin somewhat. Use for garnish one-half a hard boiled egg for each bowl with five or six fine strips of the Chinese cured pork and a few small pieces of the cooked white meat of chicken around the sides of bowl. Additional seasoning may be supplied at the table by using a small portion of the Seasoning Sauce, according to the taste of the individual.
Duck Chop Suey
½ lb partly fat young pork
1 tbs olive or peanut oil
1 lb cooked breast of duck
1 tbs shredded onion
1 cup Chinese potatoes
1 cup celery
1 cup tops of white mushrooms
1 cup hot chicken stock
1 tbs seasoning and flavoring sauce
Dessert-spoon corn starch or flour
½ ounce green ginger or 2 green peppers
Have ready one-half pound partly fat young pork, but not too fat, and slice in thin strips. Brown in kettle with tablespoon olive or peanut oil. Add one pound cooked breast of duck cut in long, fine strips, one tablespoon shredded onion and let cook five minutes. Add one cup fine cut Chinese potatoes, one cup celery cut fine, one cup tops of white mushrooms. Pour around sides one cup hot chicken stock and let cook fifteen minutes. Season with one tablespoon each of Seasoning and Flavoring Sauce and a dessert- spoon corn starch, or flour for thickening. A half ounce green ginger can be added if liked, or two green peppers seeded and cut very fine.
Chinese Seasoning Sauce.
A rather salty sauce with a sort of meaty flavor. It is a necessity in preparing Chinese dishes to obtain the peculiar flavor which makes the chief charm of the dish.
Chinese Flavoring Sauce.
A sauce which is somewhat like molasses in appearance and is used in most of the Chop Suey dishes. These sauces are imported from China in jugs of a distinctive Chinese pattern.
Chinese Methods of Cooking Rice
Rice is to the Chinese what potatoes are to the Irishman, macaroni to the Italian, and bread to the average American. Rice is the staple food; the one thing that is served always, no matter what the variety of other dishes may be. No meal is complete without the bowl of rice. The most important detail in the preparation and cooking of rice, according to the Chinese fashion, is the thorough washing of the rice as the preliminary step. The Chinese wash the rice in many waters, rubbing the rice well between the hands in each water of the many used, until it is entirely free from the white powdery substance that gives the water a milky appearance. In other words, the rice is washed until the water remains perfectly clear. This is one of the secrets of the Chinese cook and is the one great reason why the grains of rice never cling together and present the sticky mass which is commonly the result of American methods of cooking this cereal. When the rice has been thus thoroughly and vigorously washed, and all rice flour removed from it, it should be thrown into a good sized kettle in which a considerable quantity of water is boiling rapidly. Allow this rapid boiling to continue for at least a quarter of an hour, or more. Take one kernel of rice from the kettle and rub between the thumb and finger. If it rubs away easily, the rice is done; if not quite done boil a few minutes longer. Have a colander with fine holes set in a shallow pan. Pour the contents of the kettle into this colander and let the water drain off. Put the rice back into the kettle, pour over it a small cup of boiling water, cover the kettle tightly and set near, but not over the fire till time to serve.
Lichee Nuts.
A thin shelled nut with a fruit- like kernel and a hard seed. Comes either dried, or preserved in a rich syrup.
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