in one's food. Confucius would not eat anything which was not chopped up properly. To-day, unconsciously, the Chinese people are obeying this same law.
It is this scientific custom which makes Chi- nese food particularly nourishing and beneficial. In ancient days the Chinese used knives and forks. Later, they found that sometimes these impaired the delicious flavor of the food; hence their use of chop-sticks and spoons.
China has always been noted for its cooking. Many Americans prefer Chinese cooking. In fact, many Americans have Chinese cooks in their kitchens. After having tasted Chinese
THE CHINESE COOK BOOK
food, one realizes how delicious it is. It has been said that if the Chinese were as great in other ways as in cooking ability they would notably influence other nations.
The story is told of a young Chinese couple newly married. The bridegroom was boasting to a friend of his bride's ability in cooking. The friend was invited to visit the groom's home. The friend had a keen sense of humor and so he asked the groom if his bride would cook anything he brought. The groom, feel- ing confident of his wife's ability, told his friend that he might bring anything he wished and the bride would cook it.
The friend came, bringing with him a stalk of sugar-cane and a pound of pork. He gave it to the bride. Now, the friend of course thought it would be impossible for the bride to do anything with these things. But he had not taken into consideration her cleverness.
The bride took the cane and, with a scraper, removed the outside rind. Then she put the pound of pork, cut into pieces, and the remain- ing cane through a grinder. To this chopped cane she added the white of an egg, and, using a little cornstarch, mixed all well together.
THE CHINESE COOK BOOK
Then she made balls. She fried these balls in oil and proudly set them before their guest, who was astonished at their delicious flavor and tastiness.
This story simply shows the magic of Chi- nese cooking. Often very tasty and wonderful dishes are made out of unexpected and unusual things. The result is not only savory and ap- petizing; it creates a desire for more.
Even the inexperienced housewife can pre- pare Chinese dishes of great flavor and deli- cacy.
GENERAL LAWS OF CHINESE
COOKING
A Chinese dish consists of three parts: (a) meat; (b) secondary vegetables, such as Chi- nese water chestnut, bamboo shoot, celery, Chi- nese mushroom, and sometimes other vege- tables according to the season; (c) the garnish on the top of each dish, consisting of Chinese ham, chicken, or roast pork cut up into small dice or into small bars about one inch long, and enough parsley to aid the taste as well as to ornament the dish.
The amount of meat, in accordance with the hygienic law of Confucius, is about one-third that of the secondary vegetables.
The meat should be the same size and shape as the vegetables and must be uniform. It may be cut into dice, into bars, or into fragments; judgment must be used as to this when the size of the vegetable is limited.
There are three methods employed in Chi- nese cooking; steaming, frying, and boiling.
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