China Moon Cookbook

by Barbara Tropp, Sandra Bruce (Illustrator)

Overview

Winner of an IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award

The "Julia Child of Chinese cooking" (San Francisco Chronicle), Barbara Tropp was a gifted teacher and the chef/owner of one of San Francisco's most popular restaurants. She was also the inventor of Chinese bistro, a marriage of home-style Chinese tastes and techniques with Western ingredients and inspiration, an innovative cuisine that stuffs a wonton with crab and corn and flavors it with green chili sauce, that stir-fries chicken with black beans and basil, that tosses white rice into a salad with ginger-balsamic dressing.

Casual yet impeccable, and as balanced as yin and yang, these 275 recipes burst with unexpected flavors and combinations: Prawn Sandpot Casserole with Red Curry and Baby Corn; Spicy Tangerine Beef with Glass Noodles; Pizzetta with Chinese Eggplant, Wild Mushrooms, and Coriander Pesto; Chili-Orange Cold Noodles; Sweet Carrot Soup with Toasted Almonds; Wok-Seared New Potatoes; Crystallized Lemon Tart; and Fresh Ginger Ice Cream.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761164494
Publisher:	Workman Publishing Company
Publication date:	10/01/1992
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	528
Sales rank:	690,604
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Barbara Tropp was the chef and owner of China Moon Cafe, a small Chinese bistro-style restaurant in San Francisco. Before establishing herself as one of America's foremost chefs and cooking teachers, Barbara studied Chinese language, poetry, and art history at Columbia, Yale, Princeton, and the University of Taiwan. While living in Taiwan, she developed her passion for the simplicity of fresh home cooking, Chinese-style. Barbara was an elected member of Who's Who in Food & Wine in America. She was profiled in the New York Times Magazine, House Beautiful, Bon Appetit, Metropolitan Home, Self, and in the PBS series Great Chefs in San Francisco.

Read an Excerpt

CHILI-ORANGE COLD NOODLES

Serves 3 to 4 as a main course, 6 to 8 as part of a multi-course meal

This is one of the most popular cold noodle dishes in the China Moon repertoire. The combination of chili spice and fresh orange zing with slithery noodles and crunchy peanuts spells heaven for most of our customers and staff.

With the seasoned oil and the fabulous "goop" on hand, this dish can be whipped up within minutes. The dressing may be made well in advance, but for finest flavor the noodles and other ingredients should be tossed together just prior to serving.

DRESSING:

2 1/2 tablespoons China Moon Chili-Orange Oil

1 tablespoon "goop" from China Moon Chili-Orange Oil

2 tablespoons black soy sauce

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 pound very thin (1/16 inch) fresh Chinese egg noodles

1/2 pound fresh bean sprouts

3/4 cup finely shredded carrots

1/2 cup thinly sliced green and white scallion rings

3/4 cup slivered coriander leaves and stems

1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts

Coriander sprigs for garnish

1. Combine all of the dressing ingredients, whisking to blend. Set aside, leaving the whisk in the bowl.

2. Fluff the noodles in a colander to separate and untangle the strands. Bring a generous amount of water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the noodles and swish gently with chopsticks until the noodles are al dente but cooked, about 2 minutes. Drain promptly, plunge briefly into ample ice water to chill, then drain thoroughly.

3. Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water for 15 seconds. Refresh in ice water. Cover with cold water and refrigerate until ready to use. Drain well just before using.

4. Re-whisk the dressing. Scrape the dressing over the noodles and toss well with your fingers to coat and separate each strand. Scatter the bean sprouts, carrots, scallions, coriander, and two thirds of the chopped peanuts on top; then, toss lightly to mix. Taste and adjust, if needed, with a dash more sugar to bring forth the heat.

5. To serve, heap the noodles in bowls of contrasting color and garnish with sprigs of coriander and a sprinkling of the peanuts.

Excerpted from The China Moon Cookbook. Copyright (c) 1992. Reprinted with permission by Workman Publishing.

Table of Contents

FIRST THOUGHTS

THE CHINA MOON PANTRY: The better-than-store-bought basics that make China Moon food distinctive.

NUTS, PICKLES AND PRELIMINARY NIBBLES: Dishes of color and dash that stave off hunger and enliven main courses.

STOCKS AND SOUPS: The secrets behind our sauces, plus bowls of good-and-plenty, to eat with other dishes or as a whole meal.

POULTRY: Baby chickens, big chickens, duck, quail, and rabbit-for baking, smoking, steaming, deep-frying, and casseroling.

FISH AND SHELLFISH: Whole fish, fish nuggets, and shellfish from sea and river. Hot and cold dishes to show off their flavor.

BEEF AND LAMB: Dishes from Mongolia and North China to warm you in winter.

PORK: The classic Chinese red meat, as savory as it is light. Loins, butts, and ribs cooked to perfection.

DIM-SUM AND THEN SOME: Dumplings, buns, and other teahouse fare, along with platters of cold noodles and crispy springrolls.

RICE AND VEGETABLES: Rice, potatoes, vegetables, and salads to anchor and embellish a meal.

DESERTS: Tiny cookies of good fortune, fabulous tarts and tartlets, and inimitable ice creams.

GLOSSARY

INDEX

Recipe

Chili-Orange Cold Noodles

Serves 3 to 4 as a main course, 6 to 8 as part of a multi-course meal

This is one of the most popular cold noodle dishes in the China Moon repertoire. The combination of chili spice and fresh orange zing with slithery noodles and crunchy peanuts spells heaven for most of our customers and staff.

With the seasoned oil and the fabulous "goop" on hand, this dish can be whipped up within minutes. The dressing may be made well in advance, but for finest flavor the noodles and other ingredients should be tossed together just prior to serving.

DRESSING:
• 2 1/2 tablespoons China Moon Chili-Orange Oil
• 1 tablespoon "goop" from China Moon Chili-Orange Oil
• 2 tablespoons black soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 pound very thin (1/16 inch) fresh Chinese egg noodles
• 1/2 pound fresh bean sprouts
• 3/4 cup finely shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green and white scallion rings
• 3/4 cup slivered coriander leaves and stems v1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
• Coriander sprigs for garnish

1. Combine all of the dressing ingredients, whisking to blend. Set aside, leaving the whisk in the bowl.
2. Fluff the noodles in a colander to separate and untangle the strands. Bring a generous amount of water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the noodles and swish gently with chopsticks until the noodles are al dente but cooked, about 2 minutes. Drain promptly, plunge briefly into ample ice water to chill, then drain thoroughly.
3. Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water for 15 seconds. Refresh in ice water. Cover with cold water and refrigerate until ready to use. Drain well just before using.
4. Re-whisk the dressing. Scrape the dressing over the noodles and toss well with your fingers to coat and separate each strand. Scatter the bean sprouts, carrots, scallions, coriander, and two thirds of the chopped peanuts on top; then, toss lightly to mix. Taste and adjust, if needed, with a dash more sugar to bring forth the heat.
5. To serve, heap the noodles in bowls of contrasting color and garnish with sprigs of coriander and a sprinkling of the peanuts.

Excerpted from The China Moon Cookbook. Copyright (c) 1992. Reprinted with permission by Workman Publishing.

Editorial Reviews

In this wide-ranging collection of recipes from her famed Chinatown cafe, the doyenne of California Chinese cuisine offers a ``private cooking school'' for cooks who want to enter the ``world of traditional Chinese flavors combined with exclusively fresh ingredients.'' Beginning with the ``pantry'' chapter on basic condiments like five-flavor Oil and China Moon pickled ginger, Tropp ( The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking ) moves throughout the meal, offering signature recipes, like plum wine chicken salad with sweet mustard sauce, and Hoisin pork buns with ginger and garlic. An entire chapter is devoted to the meat that is ``symbolically central to the entire Chinese culture''--pork. Not surprising for a book that is as much a course in method and culture as a collection of recipes, instructions are detailed and descriptive. True to her hybrid East-West cuisine, Tropp reveals eclecticism in her observations about cooking: In one chapter she praises traditional Chinese seafood cooking and presentation practices for following ``the integrity of the fish''; a few pages later, she muses about that modern American invention, plastic wrap. Stylish illustrations that simultaneously recall a modern upscale restaurant menu and a 1950s Vogue are also true to the mixed nature of Tropp's cuisine. Author tour. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Tropp, author of The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking and chef/owner of San Francisco's China Moon Cafe, is a talented and passionate cook. Her new book is filled with hundreds of creative, unusual, and fascinating recipes. However, ``homestyle'' does not quite seem the word to describe them. Many have lengthy ingredients lists, and many dishes require components from other recipes for their preparation--not necessarily complicated on their own, but in the end somewhat daunting for busy home cooks. Nevertheless, the recipes are inspired and mouth-watering. Tropp's sidebars--on every page--are filled with information about Chinese cooking and food in general. This unique book is recommended for most collections. BOMC HomeStyle Books selection.

Library Journal

What Russo and Lukins accomplished for secreted-away American ingredients and recipes, so will Tropp (with the help of her coauthors) achieve for Chinese foodstuffs and menus. In fact, her second culinary collection (the first was "Modern Art of Chinese Cooking") is laid out in much the same manner as the popular Silver Palate series: fun and funky line drawings, lots of personal narrative, and sidebars on subjects from choosing serrated bread knives to cleaning squid. She's quick to point out that her more than 250 recipes from her China Moon restaurant are, strictly speaking, not authentic. But the oriental romance lingers in mile-long names (Ma-La steamed poussin with roasted Szechwan pepper-salt), techniques (stir-fry, sandpot casseroles), and fresh, from-scratch ingredients (infusions, spices). First-timers might balk at the preparation times and occasional intricate techniques, but this is a compilation worth savoring.

Barbara Jacobs