From Amazon
There's something of a warning for all readers in this book: blend too well with the American melting pot and you may lose the way things tasted when you were a child. Such was almost the case with Ellen Blonder and Annabel Low, who grew up together in Chinese families in California.
"For all the time we spent helping in the kitchen while we were growing up," Blonder writes, "we missed the next step of mastering the recipes on our own; we lost our connection to the old ways of cooking. We can teach our daughters how to deal with corporations, but we couldn't pass down the simplest technique for dealing with taro root."
While compiling a collection of favorite family recipes meant as a wedding gift, Blonder and Low realized there was a deep hole in their heritage: when push came to shove, they really didn't know how their parents had prepared a lot of their favorite foods. Fortunately for their families and any other families that open and use this book, their rediscovery developed into a gem of a book.
Blonder's illustrations alone are worth the price of the book. The reminiscences open up a chapter of American immigrant history too often hidden, and the recipes and careful instructions for assembling the dishes bring the special foods of a particular village in China to anyone's table.
There may well be better Chinese cookbooks on the market, but Every Grain of Rice is special for the implied invitation to sit down and eat with the two authors, their families, and all their ancestors stretching back in time to the place where the recipes were originally developed. Invitations like that don't show up every day. The experience may turn readers back to their own favorite foods, and their own heritage, and encourage them to save what they can while the information is still available. That, in and of itself, is a very special sauce to add to any dish. --Schuyler Ingle
From Publishers Weekly
Low and Blonder, aunt and niece born within 16 days of each other, offer glimpses of their Chinese-American childhood in California in this utterly charming and strikingly illustrated (by Blonder) cookbook. Recipes are for home-style foods but are sometimes complex, like the one for Savory Jeng, a glutinous rice mixture cooked in carefully folded bamboo leaves. Both Green Loofah Squash with Prawns and Long Beans with Ground Pork in Lettuce Packets make use of more exotic vegetables. Chinese New Year's Cake with mashed yams and brown sugar is described as being similar to "a soft caramel." More familiar Chinese-American favorites like Fried Rice and Vegetarian Chow Mein are not neglected either. Even stronger than the recipes are the anecdotes provided by both authors, which are personal without being too sentimental: Low remembers her imposing and impressive father, Low Hop Joe, proprietor of the Hong Kong Cafe in Sacramento, and Blonder reflects on the Chinese tradition of never accepting a compliment. This book is both appetizing and engaging.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Blending together favorite Chinese recipes with personal recollections from the two authors, this beautifully written book celebrates the way food ties one Chinese American family together. Over 80 authentic recipes, covering everything from Tomato Beef Chow Mein to Chinese New Year's Cake, are woven together with short reflective essays on topics such as Jeng and Dim Sum. Suggestions of sample menus are provided as well as a helpful glossary of Chinese food techniques and food terms. The delicate color illustrations by Blonder are a delightful addition. Certain to charm and delight readers, even noncooks, this is highly recommended for all libraries.?John Charles, Scottsdale P.L., Ariz.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Every Grain of Rice" mixes a variety of recipes with lovely reminiscences of family lore. Combined with the beautiful (and helpful) illustrations by Blonder and the high quality of production, the cookbook is a small gem... -- San Francisco Chronicle, November 4, 1998
...a book filled with personality, warm stories, and recipes that reflect the Chinese table in America. -- Philadelphia Inquirer, August 19, 1998
...charming watercolor illustrations...Learning new techniques was a bonus to this lovely book full of good food. -- Taunton's Fine Cooking, January 1999
Graceful recollections of family and food are scattered among the recipes, along with Blonder's harmonious, informative drawings. -- Gourmet Magazine, December 1998
...a book filled with personality, warm stories, and recipes that reflect the Chinese table in America. -- Philadelphia Inquirer, August 19, 1998
...charming watercolor illustrations...Learning new techniques was a bonus to this lovely book full of good food. -- Taunton's Fine Cooking, January 1999
Graceful recollections of family and food are scattered among the recipes, along with Blonder's harmonious, informative drawings. -- Gourmet Magazine, December 1998
Book Description
Fried Green Tomatoes with Flank Steak. Pan-Fried Prawns in Ketchup Sauce. “Stand Back” Chicken. Turkey Jook. Sticky Rice with Sausage and Taro Root. These are the foods that say “family” and “home” to Ellen Blonder and Annabel Low. In Every Grain of Rice they have collected more than 120 outstanding recipes for the delicious homestyle and special occasion dishes they remember so vividly from their childhoods but have rarely found in conventional Chinese cookbooks. Studded with recollections from their years as part of an extended Chinese-American family and with Ellen Blonder’s exquisite watercolor drawings, it is a remarkable debut from two major new talents on the culinary scene.
An aunt and niece who are separated in age by only 16 days, Annabel and Ellen were raised virtually as sisters, dividing their time between Ellen’s family farm and the renowned cafe where Annabel’s father was chef/proprietor. From him, and from their mothers, aunts, and uncles, Ellen and Annabel learned to make such satisfying everyday fare as Steamed Minced Pork, Wonton Soup, and Uncle Bill’s Chow Mein, as well as more elaborate dishes as Sweet-and-Sour Whole Fish and festive bamboo-leaf-wrapped Jeng. Special occasions and family gatherings were marked by steaming trays of dim sum and pork-filled Bao, Low Hop Joe’s glistening Soy Sauce Chicken, and the magnificent Boned Stuffed Duck. In chapters ranging from “Comfort in a Bowl” on soups and jooks to “Fish and Seafood” and “Bearing Gifts,” which features foods for holidays and family celebrations, the authors cover the range of traditional Chinese cooking as it was prepared in their childhood homes. The more than 120 recipes and variations offer careful explanations of unfamiliar techniques along with suggestions for replacing hard-to-find ingredients and lowering the fat count of many dishes, and each recipe and story is illustrated with Ellen’s delightful watercolor paintings.
With a comprehensive glossary of ingredients and detailed listing of equipment and techniques, Every Grain of Rice is a perfect introduction to the art of Chinese cooking and a moving celebration of food and family.
An aunt and niece who are separated in age by only 16 days, Annabel and Ellen were raised virtually as sisters, dividing their time between Ellen’s family farm and the renowned cafe where Annabel’s father was chef/proprietor. From him, and from their mothers, aunts, and uncles, Ellen and Annabel learned to make such satisfying everyday fare as Steamed Minced Pork, Wonton Soup, and Uncle Bill’s Chow Mein, as well as more elaborate dishes as Sweet-and-Sour Whole Fish and festive bamboo-leaf-wrapped Jeng. Special occasions and family gatherings were marked by steaming trays of dim sum and pork-filled Bao, Low Hop Joe’s glistening Soy Sauce Chicken, and the magnificent Boned Stuffed Duck. In chapters ranging from “Comfort in a Bowl” on soups and jooks to “Fish and Seafood” and “Bearing Gifts,” which features foods for holidays and family celebrations, the authors cover the range of traditional Chinese cooking as it was prepared in their childhood homes. The more than 120 recipes and variations offer careful explanations of unfamiliar techniques along with suggestions for replacing hard-to-find ingredients and lowering the fat count of many dishes, and each recipe and story is illustrated with Ellen’s delightful watercolor paintings.
With a comprehensive glossary of ingredients and detailed listing of equipment and techniques, Every Grain of Rice is a perfect introduction to the art of Chinese cooking and a moving celebration of food and family.
About the Author
Ellen Blonder is an illustrator and designer whose work has appeared in books as well as on stationery, dinnerware, and textiles. She lives with her husband and daughter in Northern California.
Annabel Low’s interest in cooking was sparked by her father, whose Hong Kong Cafe was a Sacramento institution for many years. She and her husband, daughter, and son live in Northern California.
Annabel Low’s interest in cooking was sparked by her father, whose Hong Kong Cafe was a Sacramento institution for many years. She and her husband, daughter, and son live in Northern California.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Some of the translations for “dim sum” are “heart’s delight,” “touch your heart,” and “a little bit of heart.” Dim sum includes an amazing assortment of small dishes and snacks that are enjoyed in restaurants and occasionally in homes.
For the uninitiated, we highly recommend a trip to a dim sum restaurant, where customers are surrounded by bustling waiters and waitresses pushing carts full of morsels from which customers select whatever suits their fancy: char siu bao (buns filled with barbecue pork), ha gow and siu mai (stuffed savory dumplings), egg rolls, pot stickers, bite-sized portions of pork spareribs, stuffed bell peppers, lek doi (Chinese doughnuts), curried meat pastries, chicken in foil, dry-fried prawns, deep-fried taro root turnovers, beef meatballs on spinach beds, shrimp toast, and don tot (custard tarts) are only a sampling of what is offered. The dim sum are served with a variety of savory, sweet, spicy, or hot dips. (See the Sweets chapter on page 173 for additional recipes.)
Few people take time now to make dim sum, but women in our family used to gather to socialize and make hundreds of those treats at a time. We hope you’ll try making them with your friends, too.
Ha Gow
makes about 28 ha gow
In dim sum restaurants, ha gow are single bites filled with shrimp and some bamboo shoots. The ha gow we used to make also included pork, water chestnuts, and black mushrooms and couldn’t be eaten politely in just one bite.
filling
2—3 black mushrooms
4 ounces pork shoulder (not too lean), cut into 1-inch cubes
5 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined
2—3 fresh or canned water chestnuts, peeled if fresh, and sliced
2 ounces bamboo shoots, sliced
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Few drops of sesame oil
1 teaspoon vegetable or peanut oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
dough
2 cups wheat starch
1 1/2 cups boiling water
condiments
2 teaspoons Coleman’s Hot Mustard mixed with 1 teaspoon water (optional), soy sauce, chili oil
Put the mushrooms in a small bowl with hot water to cover. Let stand 30 to 45 minutes to soften. Cut off and discard the hard stems. Rinse the caps, squeeze them dry, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
Put the pork, shrimp, water chestnuts, black mushrooms, bamboo shoots, sugar, salt, pepper, and sesame oil in a food processor and chop coarsely (or chop the ingredients finely with a Chinese cleaver).
Place a wok or skillet over high heat and heat the oil. Add the pork mixture and stir-fry 4 to 5 minutes, breaking up the mixture with a spatula. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook 1 minute longer, until the liquid has thickened. Set the filling aside and let cool.
Oil two or three 9-inch round cake pans. Set a rack in a pot and add water to a depth of 1 1/2 to 2 inches. (If you are using a steamer, fill the lower tier of the steamer with water.)
Put the wheat starch in a bowl. Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil, then pour it over the wheat starch, stirring with chopsticks or a fork until the dough becomes too thick to stir. Allow the dough to cool just long enough to handle, then knead it with your hands in the bowl. (Be careful handling the hot dough, but don’t wait too long–you will get a better result if the dough doesn’t cool too much before you knead it.)
Turn the dough out onto a board lightly dusted with wheat starch. Knead 1 minute, until the wheat starch is well incorporated. (Overkneading will make the dough too chewy, while underkneading will make a dough more prone to cracking or splitting open while cooking.)
Divide the dough into quarters and shape each into a 1 1/2-inch diameter roll. Keep the unused portion in a bowl or on the board, covered with a damp cloth.
Cut the first roll into 7 equal segments. Form one segment into a ball. Roll out into a circle about 3 1/2 inches in diameter. (If you want your ha gow to be uniform, use a 3 1/2-inch-diameter cookie cutter, open-ended can, or drinking glass. A 6-ounce tuna can works well. Scraps may be kneaded together and rerolled.)
Pinch 6 or 7 pleats around half the circumference of the circle, creating a pocket. The pleated side should resemble the toe of a baby slipper. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of filling into the pocket, being careful to keep it from touching the edge of the dough. Firmly pinch the pleated side to the unpleated side to seal in the filling. Place the finished ha gow in the oiled pans 3/4 to 1 inch apart. (They will expand when they cook, so don’t try to fit more than 8 to a pan.)
Bring the water in the pot or steamer to a boil. Lower a pan onto the rack (or upper tiers of the steamer), cover, and steam 8 minutes over high heat. The dough will look raw and white when you open the pot but will become translucent as soon as it cools a little. Keep warm while you cook the remaining batches, adding water to the pan as needed. Serve hot, with small dishes of condiments for dipping.
For the uninitiated, we highly recommend a trip to a dim sum restaurant, where customers are surrounded by bustling waiters and waitresses pushing carts full of morsels from which customers select whatever suits their fancy: char siu bao (buns filled with barbecue pork), ha gow and siu mai (stuffed savory dumplings), egg rolls, pot stickers, bite-sized portions of pork spareribs, stuffed bell peppers, lek doi (Chinese doughnuts), curried meat pastries, chicken in foil, dry-fried prawns, deep-fried taro root turnovers, beef meatballs on spinach beds, shrimp toast, and don tot (custard tarts) are only a sampling of what is offered. The dim sum are served with a variety of savory, sweet, spicy, or hot dips. (See the Sweets chapter on page 173 for additional recipes.)
Few people take time now to make dim sum, but women in our family used to gather to socialize and make hundreds of those treats at a time. We hope you’ll try making them with your friends, too.
Ha Gow
makes about 28 ha gow
In dim sum restaurants, ha gow are single bites filled with shrimp and some bamboo shoots. The ha gow we used to make also included pork, water chestnuts, and black mushrooms and couldn’t be eaten politely in just one bite.
filling
2—3 black mushrooms
4 ounces pork shoulder (not too lean), cut into 1-inch cubes
5 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined
2—3 fresh or canned water chestnuts, peeled if fresh, and sliced
2 ounces bamboo shoots, sliced
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Few drops of sesame oil
1 teaspoon vegetable or peanut oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
dough
2 cups wheat starch
1 1/2 cups boiling water
condiments
2 teaspoons Coleman’s Hot Mustard mixed with 1 teaspoon water (optional), soy sauce, chili oil
Put the mushrooms in a small bowl with hot water to cover. Let stand 30 to 45 minutes to soften. Cut off and discard the hard stems. Rinse the caps, squeeze them dry, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
Put the pork, shrimp, water chestnuts, black mushrooms, bamboo shoots, sugar, salt, pepper, and sesame oil in a food processor and chop coarsely (or chop the ingredients finely with a Chinese cleaver).
Place a wok or skillet over high heat and heat the oil. Add the pork mixture and stir-fry 4 to 5 minutes, breaking up the mixture with a spatula. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook 1 minute longer, until the liquid has thickened. Set the filling aside and let cool.
Oil two or three 9-inch round cake pans. Set a rack in a pot and add water to a depth of 1 1/2 to 2 inches. (If you are using a steamer, fill the lower tier of the steamer with water.)
Put the wheat starch in a bowl. Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil, then pour it over the wheat starch, stirring with chopsticks or a fork until the dough becomes too thick to stir. Allow the dough to cool just long enough to handle, then knead it with your hands in the bowl. (Be careful handling the hot dough, but don’t wait too long–you will get a better result if the dough doesn’t cool too much before you knead it.)
Turn the dough out onto a board lightly dusted with wheat starch. Knead 1 minute, until the wheat starch is well incorporated. (Overkneading will make the dough too chewy, while underkneading will make a dough more prone to cracking or splitting open while cooking.)
Divide the dough into quarters and shape each into a 1 1/2-inch diameter roll. Keep the unused portion in a bowl or on the board, covered with a damp cloth.
Cut the first roll into 7 equal segments. Form one segment into a ball. Roll out into a circle about 3 1/2 inches in diameter. (If you want your ha gow to be uniform, use a 3 1/2-inch-diameter cookie cutter, open-ended can, or drinking glass. A 6-ounce tuna can works well. Scraps may be kneaded together and rerolled.)
Pinch 6 or 7 pleats around half the circumference of the circle, creating a pocket. The pleated side should resemble the toe of a baby slipper. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of filling into the pocket, being careful to keep it from touching the edge of the dough. Firmly pinch the pleated side to the unpleated side to seal in the filling. Place the finished ha gow in the oiled pans 3/4 to 1 inch apart. (They will expand when they cook, so don’t try to fit more than 8 to a pan.)
Bring the water in the pot or steamer to a boil. Lower a pan onto the rack (or upper tiers of the steamer), cover, and steam 8 minutes over high heat. The dough will look raw and white when you open the pot but will become translucent as soon as it cools a little. Keep warm while you cook the remaining batches, adding water to the pan as needed. Serve hot, with small dishes of condiments for dipping.
