It's Chinese New Year ... the year of the tiger. The tiger signifies courage. I was born in the year of the dog. There are quite a few qualities, good and bad, that people born in the year of the dog are said to possess. I'd like to think I have the good ones and not those other ones. I'm pretty loyal, have been a good leader on occasion and I'm pretty good at keeping secrets. I hope I'm not selfish (but I do have my moments!) or cold.
I have always loved the American version of all things Chinese .... you know, China Town, the New Years Dragon parade, red satin dresses with gold embroidery. But by far it is the food that attracts me the most.
I'm sure I ate it much earlier but my first real memory of Chinese food was the time my Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Loyal took me to pick up take-out at a little place on Charter Way in Stockton. There was no going back from there.
When Tommy and I were newlyweds I introduced him to all things good in Chinese take out. We lived down the block from a great little place and we found we could order dinner for two and have enough to cover three days' dinner.
Just recently we had our grandson, Andrew over for New Years' eve and launched his love of Chinese food. His favorite is the Pot Stickers.
I can eat Chinese cuisine for dinner, grab some cold crab rangoon for breakfast and eat the leftovers for lunch and then do it all over again.
I have my favorites and most of them were invented in the US and probably would be considered foreign at any table in China. But what can I say, I love what I love. Crab puffs or crab rangoon should be a staple of life and they do use wontons to make them (although I am doubtful that cream cheese is very popular in China!).
Another of my favorite dishes is sweet and sour (here again, not probably from China) chicken or pork.
And no Chinese meal is truly complete to me without the fried rice. It is really comforting to eat a bowl of fried rice. The mix of rice, egg, onions, peas, carrots and whatever else was probably just a way to use up all the small amounts of leftovers. Ingenious!
Whether it's truly authentic Chinese or just the Americanization of the East, I really don't care. When I call Tao San Jin and place my order to go and Lillian says, "Is this Laurie?" it is all good!
Gung Hay Fat Choy to you .... may 2010 be a truly prosperous year for us all.
1 comment:
Chinese food use to be my favorite. But I get bad headaches from the MSG. I think Mexican food has trumped Chinese for me. Especially the chips and salsa from little manuals. Yum!
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