baking soda
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
2 tablespoons peanut oil
½ cup (100 g) cowpeas (garden peas may be substituted)
3 scallions (spring onions), sliced
Mix rice flour, water, salt, baking soda and ginger in a bowl. Place a 12-in (30-cm) frying pan over medium heat and pour 4-5 tablespoons of rice paste into the pan. Lightly brush the pancake with a little oil and sprinkle on cowpeas and scallion. Cook for 3-4 minutes till under-side is crisp. Fold in half and cook for 1 minute on each side.
Shwekyi Senyinmakin
Sesame-topped Semolina Cake with Coconut
2 ¼ cups (240 g) semolina
2 ½ cups (625 ml) coconut milk
2 ½ cups (625 ml) water
2 ½ cups (550 g) sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup (125 ml) oil, heated
2 tablespoons white poppy seeds
½ cup (75 g) raisins
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C, gas mark 6). Dry-roast semolina in a frying pan over low heat for 10 minutes till reddishbrown, then cool. In a saucepan, add roasted semolina, coconut milk, water, sugar, salt, beaten eggs, and hot oil. Bring to a boil and cook over medium low heat for 20 minutes till the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan. Stir continuously with a wooden spatula throughout cooking process. If the mixture begins to stick to the pan, add a teaspoon or two of oil. Several minutes before the end of cooking, add raisins and mix well.
Transfer the mixture to a lightly oiled round baking tray 12 in (30 cm) in diameter and 3 in (7½ cm) deep. Smooth the surface with a metal spoon or cake knife and sprinkle poppy seeds on surface. Bake on medium shelf for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside for several hours at room temperature. Cut the cake in the baking tray and arrange slices on a serving plate.
Ngapiyayche
Fish Sauce Dip
1 cup (250 ml) water
1 tablespoon preserved fish paste
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
2 dried red chilies, soaked
2 bird's-eye chilies
1 tablespoon dried shrimps, soaked
2 cloves garlic
Bring water, fish paste and turmeric to the boil, simmer and reduce by half. Strain and discard solids. Pound remaining ingredients in a mortar and mix with fish stock. Serve with raw vegetables.
"An ancient Chinese proverb says, 'To the ruler, people are heaven; to the people, food is heaven.'"
Three generations sit down to a meal in the courtyard of an old house in Fujian province, in Southern China.
CHINA
An ancient and inventive cuisine, known and loved all over the world.
Steamed dumplings are popular in most regions of China and connoisseurs can recognize their provincial origin by their stuffing and accompanying sauces.
From a country whose usual greeting is "Chi fan le mei you?"-Have you eaten?-you can expect nothing less than a passionate devotion to food. Chinese food is known the world over, thanks to the peripatetic nature of its people, but the success of its food hinges on much the same things: fresh ingredients and the balance of flavors. The next time you go to an Asian market, observe: the Chinese shoppers are likely to be the ones who prod the fish, inspect entire bunches of vegetables, and accept and reject a batch of shrimp based on the kick in their legs.
While the array of seasonings and sauces used by Chinese cooks is not vast, every dish must meet three major criteria: appearance, fragrance, and flavor. The Chinese also prize texture and the health-giving properties of food.
An old Chinese proverb says, "To the ruler, people are heaven; to the people, food is heaven." This is no truer than in China, where gastronomy is a part of everyday life.
The Making of a Cuisine
So large is China, and the geographic and climatic variations so diverse, that you can travel through the country and never have the same dish served in exactly the same way twice. The paradox of Chinese food is that it is one borne of hardship and frequent poverty: this is, after all, a country that houses 22 percent of the world's population and has only seven percent of the world's arable land.
There is much debate and confusion about how many regional cuisines there are, but most gourmets agree that at least four major Chinese regional styles exist: Cantonese, centered on southern Guangdong province and Hong Kong; Sichuan, based on the cooking of this western province's two largest cities, Chengdu and Chongqing; Hunan, the cooking of eastern China-Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai; and Beijing or 'Northern' food, with its major inspiration from the coastal province of Shandong. Some would add a fifth cuisine from the southeastern coastal province of Fujian.
All regions use various forms of ginger, garlic, scallions, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, and bean paste, but combine them in highly distinctive ways. What distinguishes these regional styles is not only their cooking methods but also the particular types and combinations of basic ingredients.
The southern school of cooking was the cuisine taken to the West by Chinese migrants-egg rolls, dim sum, chow mein, sweet and sour pork, chop suey, and fortune cookies. With the exception of the last two, which were American inventions, the other dishes are orthodox Cantonese creations.
Cantonese food is characterized by its extraordinary range and the freshness of its ingredients, a light touch with sauces, and the readiness of its cooks to incorporate "exotic" imported flavorings such as lemon, curry, and Worcester shire sauce. Cantonese chefs excel in preparing roasted and barbecued meats (duck, goose, chicken, and pork), and dim sum, snacks taken with tea for either breakfast or lunch. Dim sum can be sweet, salty, steamed, fried, baked, boiled or stewed, each served in their own individual bamboo steamer or plate. To eat dim sum is to "yum cha" or drink tea. In traditional yum cha establishments, restaurant staff walk around the room pushing a cart or carrying a tray offering their tasty morsels. Dim sum restaurants are important institutions where the locals go to discuss business, read newspapers and socialize.
Smiling Shanghai children enjoying a snack. Each region has its own special array of morsels for when the next meal is just too far away.
The home of spicy food, Sichuan, is a landlocked province with remarkably fertile soil and a population of over 100 million. The taste for piquant
