Chinese Night

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

In the interest of figuring out what to make for dinner in a less painful way, I recently wrote about my plan to try out International Cuisines night. This week’s plan is Chinese. Hmmm, what to make?

First I did some research into the history of Chinese food. I learned that Chinese food and its preparation have been viewed as both a craft AND art throughout history. Of course, there are dishes (like noodle pulling) that require a high degree of technical knowledge and skill, but the origins of Chinese food and this particular perspective go way, way back. All the way back to when Confucius set forth standards for acceptable table etiquette. Many of these standards were based upon a food’s appearance and flavor, but one of the most influential was regarding knives.

You see, knives were not an acceptable tool at the table. Non-violence was a particularly important tenet of Confucianism, and knives, well, since they were equated with acts of violence, were verboten. Considering that chopsticks were the tool of choice for getting food from bowl to mouth—having neat, little bite-size portions made for much easier eating.

Our Chinese food this week would have bite-size pieces so we could all get some more practice with chopsticks.

Just think: what in the world would a guest do when presented with a London Broil and a pair of chopsticks? One would be reduced to hefting the hunk to one’s mouth, then gnawing it in a manner that would not be considered civilized in any culture. But take that same London Broil and slice it into ½-inch pieces and saute it in some oil with some veggies and serve it over rice? Now you’re talkin’.

Chopsticks are actually one of the oldest utensils known, their first use dating to the Shang dynasty (1766 BC - 1122 BC). And it’s thought that the very first chopsticks may have been mere twigs used for spearing meat over an open fire. Compare that to the common fork that was introduced to the United States in the 18th century, a time at which folks first began to consider using more than the standard spoon and knife.

Of course, had you lived when Confucius did, you wouldn’t be cutting a steak into bite-size pieces either—since very little meat was ever consumed, and vegetarian foods were considered to be the best choice (soybeans and tofu as a source of protein). And since rice was the first grain farmed in China, it was the food of choice from as early as 5000 BC. People boiled it in water, much as we do today.

So the meal plan was coming together: we would use tofu in the interest of creating a more-historically accurate dish. And we would serve it over rice or noodles.

No wonder Chinese food has become known as a healthy diet. It incorporates lots of veggies, uses a lot of rice and grains, and very little meat (although this has changed in some restaurants in modern times). Many dishes also rely on the balancing of opposite flavors: hot/cold, spicy/milk, fresh/pickled.

Sweet and sour sauce is one of my favorite sauces. It livens up just about any stir-fry or rice dish. And it’s the optional zing in this slow cooker vegetable lo mein dish that will cook while you do other things! Best of all, this dish is chopstick-ready with bite-size pieces.

Serves/Makes: 8

• 2 pounds tofu
• 1 pound baby carrots
• 1 pound green beans
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 can (5 ounce size) water chestnuts, drained
• 1 can (5 ounce size) bamboo shoots, drained
• 1 can (20- ounce size) pineapple chunks with juice, reserved
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 package (12-16 ounce size) lo mein noodles (or rice)

***Teriyaki Sauce***

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar