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TOPICS: Chinese Cooking at Home video; Web sites; Free encyclopedia; New York City's Chinatown; Taiwanese/Japanese influences; Mama Quon and her son ; Chef Chu in Los Altos CA; Eastern Noodles; Kyrgyz cooking
Newman's News and NotesSummer Volume: 2005 Issue: 12(3) page(s): 12, 13, 14, and 33
Tommy and Tina Yen came to the United States from Taiwan over twenty years ago and combined their love of good cuisine with their knowledge of video production for this project. Since that first product, Tokai Industries has gone on to produce a multitude of easy, step-by-step tutorials covering computer operation and English-as-a-Second Language. Tokai's English tutorials are viewed by Chinese immigrants to the United States as well as by many throughout China on national education television. A branch of the company was opened in Beijing awhile ago. These programs are also currently being produced as multi-media, interactive lessons. But as to why the chef's face and eyes are not shown in the production, it was felt that the focus should be on the hands and the food being worked with. The chef was a well-respected male Chinese chef from the Los Angeles area. Your point is well taken that we did not explain why there is no honey in the Honey Spareribs recipe. As you know, many Chinese recipes are named for flavor rather than actual ingredients. Such is the case for honey-garlic sauce, which most often contains sugar and not honey. Had we thought of it at the time, we certainly would have presented an explanation. I would like to thank you for your kind critique, albeit very belatedly, on behalf of Tokai Industries (and Video Tutors Institute), and on behalf of the owners, Tommy and Tina Yen, who have been close friends of mine for over twelve years. The letter is signed by Nancy Teppler, editor of Chinese Cooking at Home ~ It's Easy! And, a question never asked, but here is that answer: I am the voice over in the tape. We, at Flavor and Fortune, do thank Nancy Teppler for taking the time, at this time, to answer those questions. We wonder why she never saw the original review. For those who write, and those who plan to, we do adhere to common protocols and send copies of all book, video, and restaurant reviews to the addresses within them or from whence they came. WEB SITE CONNECTIONS are sprouting like mushrooms. An executive decision on our part has been to link only to those specifically about Chinese food and related topics. Not so, for all others who include our site: www.flavorandfortune.com One such link we think you will enjoy, if you have general interests in food and events, food and history, and things related is: http://www.foodevents.com/about/support.phtml For special sites that relate to Chinese food, see Gary Allen's third item written for Flavor and Fortune in this issue on page 17. FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA on the web loaded with interesting facts and some fantasies relating Chinese food is of interest. We do not attest to its veracity because it uses frequent reader input. Nonetheless, it is worth knowing about. If you go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown, Los Angeles there is much history; and more importantly, several external links including the Chinatown LA Official Website: http://chinatownla.com> and others. People add bits to the thousands upon thousands of other items already there. Do pay attention to when it was last modified, and try to differentiate between fact and opinion; they are often intertwined. Their text is available under terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
One can learn a lot at this wonderful booth. There is a human helper during the day, who can advise on how to get to see the statue of Confucius, the Museum of Chinese in the America's, discuss what to see and where to eat, and more. In the meantime, no matter where you are, get thee to the web and check out www.ExploreChinatown.com See their 'Explore' brochure about Chinatown New York City illustrated above. It advises that Chinatown was founded in the late 1870's, visiting it offers unique historical and cultural experiences, is easily accessible by public transportation, and right next door to Little Italy. Also check out the growing number of Vietnamese eateries, Chinatown's newest immigrants from the province of Fujian, and more. The brochure has a large and wonderful map and can help find all of these when the booth is unmanned in the evening. What the brochure does not tell, is about the other Chinatown areas in New York City. Two are in Queens, in the Flushing and Elmhurst areas, and one is in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn. It also does not advise that Chinese live in all five boroughs of New York City and in all surrounding counties in New York and New Jersey, and in every state, perhaps every county, in the United States.
Two of her son's, Frank and Wally, kept the restaurant going, though now it is only Frank's responsibility. She and her husband's culinary influences planted roots among many of their nine children, no matter their profession; among their in-law children, too. One of them, an industrial engineer, wrote a cross-cultural book called The Renegade Wok and self-published this paperback out of San Diego, with a 1997 copyright. Its ABC author, Jon Hom, offers lots of humor as he brings smiles and Chinese culinary know-how to his readers. Hom and the book's illustrator, Gary Smith, stimulate lore and lure. The title page and elsewhere shows a wok on piano keys, and notes surrounding them. Hom plays with words, perhaps that is the connection to the this illustration. The book is dedicated to 'all wokkers of the world' who, as it says,'share life together...(and)...share the rich customs and delightful ethnic foods of the world.' Jon and Mama Quon wanted to and did contribute to the changing dining habits of a world they saw as coming together. They wanted beginners and connoisseurs alike to be pleased when eating good fresh foods. By the way, Mama Quon's famed specials including her delicious Oxtail Soup, Peking Duck, and other Cantonese favorites, are now made by others while Jon's exciting and delicious menus linger in his recipes. After his book's dedication, he discusses them in a Foreword and goes foreward with ingredients, wok cooking, its drama, and its entertainment. He speaks for himself and Mama Quon and to all who man the woks of the world searching for togetherness as they prepare vegetables, meats, and seafood, and stir-fry them through life, with humor. The restaurant now speaks music as it offers fast fine food. It has been known as a jazz club, a karaoke bar, and a hip-hop house, depending upon the night of the week in question. No ordinary place, the bar is hosted by a former Miss Hong Kong, is open from 5 pm to 2 am; and Frank presides over a staff of fifteen that please hearts, souls, stomachs, and ears.
A rumor says that this couple are looking for larger and finer quarters. Another indicates they are seeking a place further uptown. One customer told us that their long-time dream may be a mite far from realization. Wherever they are, seek them out. She makes the soups, he makes the noodles, and together they make the best; so enjoy then as soon as you can. As we went to press, we learned he moved to 28 Forsyth Street near Canal Stree and has a new telephone number: (212) 941-7678. This was pasted into all magazine copies. KYRGYZ COOKING, is a book by the author of the New Kyrgyz-English Culinary Dictionary; both authored by Martha E. Weeks. The dictionary was reviewed in this magazine's 2003 Volume, number 10(3) on page 28. This volume, dated 2005, is a cook book of that culture. It is fifty pages long, and probably the first English-language Kyrgyz cookbook ever. A few of its recipes and some background material were featured in that same 2003 issue on pages 13, 14, and 18. This 8 x 11-inch spiralbound is plastic-covered and includes many recipes titled in English with a Latin transliteration of its Cyrillic title. They are carefully written in English. The book arrived just as this issue was readied for the printer, so this is not a formal book review. We snuck it in here and are thrilled that Ms. Weeks completed and forwarded it to us. The Kyrgyz are one of China's mid-size ethnic groups. Recent estimates are there are more than one hundred fifty thousand of them in China. The author lived in Bishkek, the capital of post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, and knows the people there and in China, she knows their faith, their land, their snow-capped mountains and spectacular lakes, and their wonderful foods. She speaks their language and shares their special culinary culture though the seventy-five recipes in this book. They are for salads, soups, meat, rice, noodle, and vegetable dishes, and includes breads, condiments, sweets, beverages, and talkans or browned grain dishes. Copies of this very unusual self-published book are available by writing to her at P.O. Box 306, Northhampton MA 01061. |
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