To appease clientele dining in a restaurant while waiting for their food to be served, a basket of bread or rolls along with a dish of cubes of butter is generally brought to the table. If you are in an Italian restaurant, often you will be served flat bread, such as focaccia, along with a small dish of balsamic vinegar and a splash of olive oil. And if you happen to be in the mood for Mexican food, well immediately a basket of chips and salsa appear.
However, if you have decided to go out to a Chinese restaurant, service is a ‘tad different. While waiting for that bowl of egg drop or hot and sour soup generally served prior to your main course, you fiddle with your napkin, pull apart the bamboo chopsticks, and wad up the paper they were wrapped in. But wait a minute… where is the bread to munch on that you are so used to having at any other restaurant?
Well, it’s pretty simple… that custom we are used to, the Chinese do not practice. Oh, they have bread, but not the traditionally “baked” bread we are accustomed to.
Bao, Bing or Chunbing, steamed, flat or pancake formed breads, have been cooked in China for thousands of years, just not oven baked as do most other countries.
One of the pan-fried breads, Scallion Bing, is made throughout China. This small scallion onion is used in both soups and salads as well as garnishes, likened to our chives.
The renowned Chinese chef, Joyce Chen, opened her first restaurant in Massachusetts, serving mainly the Italian and Irish working-class. Being a pretty smart “cookie,” she adapted minor name changes to her dishes to better appeal to her diners; i.e. Chinese Dumplings became Peking Raviolis on her menus. Now the Italians had names they could relate to.
Boston being known for its molasses industry, Chen turned that sweet and sticky syrup into fillings for steamed buns and sauces for orange chicken and sweet and sticky barbecued pork ribs, which appealed to the Irish especially. And in her restaurant Chen satisfied that tradition of serving bread, which carried through in all of the Chinese restaurants in Massachusetts. Along with fiddling with your chopsticks while waiting for your food, you are now privy to Bao, Bing or even Chunbing in all of Massachusetts’ Chinese restaurants today.
I am cooking a luncheon for a group of friends the week after Easter, which has given me plenty of practice time for making a baked version of Scallion Bing.
Instead of forming the dough into a spiral ring and then fried, I am following, to a degree, an easy method of cutting and twisting four thinly rolled-out layers of dough, which have been covered with finely chopped scallions, stacked onto each other, and then formed into a flower-shaped bread.
Along with the Scallion Bing, I’m making egg drop soup and a Chinese chicken salad recipe topped with strips of delicious fried ginger wontons.
Wolfgang Puck, a world-renowned chef, is said to have invented this salad, which did have its origin in the United States, somewhere in the 1930s. Because of its Chinese ingredients, the salad became known as Chinese chicken salad.
I like to grill the chicken breast basted with sesame seed oil, as boiled cold chicken is not terribly appealing to me. And there is the plus side. Once you have the pan you’ve used for the chicken, simply add more oil along with ginger root and you will have deliciously flavored wonton strips.
Yesterday, while pulling my pan of scallion bread from the oven, I was happy I had researched the “perfect” recipe… soft and pillowy and delicious smelling. I was proud of my first attempt shown here.
Chinese Chicken Salad
(Serves 4)
4 cups finely sliced Chinese or Napa Cabbage
2 cups finely sliced romaine lettuce
½ cup julienned carrots
2 cups bamboo sprouts (not shoots)
½ cup sliced water chestnuts, drained
¼ cup scallions cut diagonally
¼ cup diced cilantro
Chinese Salad Dressing
½ cup ‘seasoned’ Rice Vinegar
¼ cup toasted Sesame Seed Oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp. freshly grated gingerroot
2 Tbsp fresh orange Juice
1 tsp. grated orange zest
2 Tbsp. honey
Mix and let sit for 1 hour.
Wonton Strips
5-7 Wonton wrappers cut into ½ in. strips
1 Tbsp. sesame seed oil
2-3 one-inch pieces of gingerroot added to pan
Heat oil to 350deg and fry wonton strips just until puffy and golden.
Drain on paper towels.
Grilled Chicken Breasts
3-4 ounces per serving
Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper on ea. side.
In a medium hot grill or frypan add:
2 Tbsp. sesame seed oil
1 Tbsp. butter
Fry each side until nicely browned, about 5 min. per side.
Slice chicken into strips about ½ in. wide and serve warm atop each plate of salad and garnish with wonton strips and more cilantro. Beautiful presentation.
Colly Gruczelak, a Ben Lomond resident, loves people and loves to cook. Contact her at [email protected].
