Spring into Spring Bamboo Shoots

Post author:Kian Lam Kho
Post published:May 16, 2013
Post category:Recipe Article
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A Chinese children fable called “Spring Bamboo Shoot and the Pebbles” (春筍與亂石) tells a story of a spring bamboo shoot aspiring to burst through the soil, but is halted by a group of pebbles above him. He politely asks the pebbles to let him through but to no avail. With shear determination he pushes through between the pebbles and grows out of the soil. The pebbles are so impressed that they start celebrating him as a superstar. I’m actually not quite sure what the moral of the story is. But “success through determination” is so typically Chinese and very tiger-mom like. Regardless of the moral though, the story does tell of how bamboo shoots surge forth every spring to produce one of the most delicately delicious ingredients in Chinese cooking.

My Father’s Island Paradise

Post author:Kian Lam Kho
Post published:May 3, 2013
Post category:Recipe Article Featured Article
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Across a very narrow strait from the downtown waterfront of Xiamen (廈門) sits the island of Gulangyu (鼓浪嶼), a hilly outcrop smaller than Central Park in New York City and dotted with colonial-era European style buildings. Warren and I took the short five-minute ferry ride to this island last month while we were in Xiamen. Gulangyu occupies a very special place in my heart because my father spent his formative years there attending the Anglo-Chinese Middle School in the 1930’s.

The Enduring Flavors of Jinjiang

Post author:Kian Lam Kho
Post published:April 25, 2013
Post category:Recipe Article
Post comments:7 Comments

Growing up in Singapore I often chatted with my grandfather about Jinjiang (晉江), our ancestral hometown in Fujian (福建) province of China. The stories he told painted a picture of a fishing village with a thriving commercial center where our ancestors lived and worked as merchants and traders. So imagine my surprise when I learned that Jinjiang is now a city with a population of one million.

Still a busy fishing port, Jinjiang has become the largest center of underwear and swimsuit production in all of China, and by extension the whole world. That is the product of economic liberalization over the last three decades. But what interested me the most was investigating the local foodways. Would I be able to find the comfort foods of my youth in Jinjiang? Would the different kinds of flavored rice, fish balls, angel hair noodles and fresh spring rolls be the same?

During my book research tour of Fujian last month I got my chance to find out when we were invited to accompany Ben, our host in Jinjiang, to a funeral lunch hosted by the family of one of his friends. These lunches are offered to friends and extended family members, who come to pay their respects to the deceased during one of the three days of a traditional Chinese funeral. I was excited by this opportunity since I knew the meal would be comprised of local rustic dishes.

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Exploring My Roots in China’s Fujian Province

Post author:Kian Lam Kho
Post published:April 11, 2013
Post category:Recipe Article
Post comments:11 Comments

Two weeks ago Warren and I left Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Airport bound for Xiamen (廈門), a major southern port city of Fujian (福建) province where my ancestors are from. The first thing I noticed onboard our Xiamen Airlines airplane was that the pre-flight announcement was in the Southern Min (閩南) dialect that I spoke with my grandparents. During my travels in China over the last decade I've never heard any local dialects used in such official announcements. So this was surprising to me since China’s central government pretty much dictates people's life including the language used for official or business purposes. I knew then that I was about to witness a very different independent minded part of China. This spirit probably helps explain their unique culture and cooking customs as well.

Beijing Cuisine Beyond Peking Duck

Post author:Kian Lam Kho
Post published:March 30, 2013
Post category:Recipe Article
Post comments:9 Comments

Mention Beijing cuisine and Peking duck immediately comes to mind. It conjures the image of sumptuous palace fare and complex cooking techniques. This dish is considered the ultimate of Chinese cooking wisdom and knowhow. Perfectly roasted duck with a lacquer-like glaze covering the skin is the definitive Beijing delicacy prized by connoisseurs. But one would be hard pressed to find another dish from Beijing cuisine that stands out like the duck.

A Love Affair with Pan-Fried Noodles

Post author:Kian Lam Kho
Post published:March 18, 2013
Post category:Featured Article Recipe Article
Post comments:22 Comments

My family is originally from the coastal Chinese province of Fujian. Traditionally our noodles are cooked in soup, boiled unadorned except for seasonings, or stir-fried in a wok with a thin sauce. When I was about ten years old my family went to a Cantonese dim sum house in Singapore, which at that time was an exotic excursion for a family accustomed to mostly eating Fujianese food. We were served a pan-fried noodles dish of delicious seafood vegetable sauce dripping all over thin golden brown crispy noodles. That was the beginning of my life long love affair with Hong Kong pan-fried noodles.

We Have a Winner!

Post author:Kian Lam Kho
Post published:March 9, 2013
Post category:Stories
Post comments:0 Comments

As promised I have randomly selected a winner, or rather Warren did, for Diana Kaun’s new book The Chinese Takeout Cookbook. The winner is “gryhndldy.” Let me congratulate “gryhndldy” and I will be contacting you for your mailing information. Diana’s book is a wonderful collection of classic Chinese takeout recipes that you can reproduce at home. Diana’s recipes are easy to follow and use ingredients readily available in your local markets. For those who did not win the book go out and buy a copy. Make takeout Chinese food you can enjoy while controlling the quality of the ingredients, and not worrying about whether your neighborhood restaurant slipped in some MSG unannounced.

Strengthen Your Kidneys with Mountain Yam and Fox Nuts

Post author:Kian Lam Kho
Post published:March 5, 2013
Post category:Recipe Article
Post comments:21 Comments

For millenniums the Chinese prepared their meals with the express purpose of maintaining a healthy constitution. In fact the earliest texts of Chinese cookery read more like a pharmacologist’s guide than recipe book. It is not surprising that this practice has become a formalized discipline known as food therapy, and making herbal soup one of its best-developed aspects.

Diana Kuan’s General Tso’s Chicken and the American Admiral

Post author:Kian Lam Kho
Post published:February 22, 2013
Post category:Recipe Article
Post comments:23 Comments

In 1953 Admiral Arthur W. Radford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Taiwan for talks with President Chiang Kai-Shek. The presidential palace chef, Peng Chang-Kuei (彭長貴), was asked to create a banquet to entertain the illustrious guest. After planning some traditional Hunan dishes, he decided to create a few new dishes for the menu. One of them was General Tso’s Chicken. Thus the world’s most famous Chinese dish was born.

The Year of the Snake and the Blizzard

Post author:Kian Lam Kho
Post published:February 11, 2013
Post category:Stories Holidays
Post comments:18 Comments

For Warren and me Chinese New Year has always meant family and friends. To express our love and affection we do what we do best: offer good food. For many years our Chinese New Year celebration centered on a ten-course banquet. Our nieces would invariably be the focus of the evening. But this year was different. One of our nieces is now living in Singapore and the other one is off in college at Cornell University. Fortunately we live in a Harlem apartment building full of young and lively families. They have become our extended family, so our Chinese New Year tradition continues with them.