David H. Urmann asked:


Ethnic Recipes are cultural or regional ways of cooking authentic cuisine. Cooking Chinese foods are considered healthy and a balanced way of having ancient Chinese culture.

Ethnic recipes originated from different cultural diversities of each country. It is a way of learning traditional meals in terms of food preparation, dietary habits, food symbolism and rituals.

Most Chinese dishes combine a mixture of ingredients and a balance of elements in its flavors, colors, aroma, textures and food preparations. It is a noted and regarded great combination of dishes.

The usual meal that comprises Chinese ethnic dishes would include a cup of steamed rice, mixed vegetables, fried, steamed dish or soup. It even has four major Chinese cooking styles like Beijing Cuisine, Cantonese, Szechwan and Hunan also incorporate mixing of dishes.

A good Chinese cooking practice can be distinguished by their seasoning blends, temperature control and meticulous cutting of ingredients. For best results, parboiling and partial frying are the techniques used by Chinese for centuries already.

In a family meal, eating rice two to three times a day is basic. Two cups of long grain white rice is cooked with 3 cups water for just 20 minutes, done usually in four servings.

For rice porridge or congee, combining 8 cups of water and 1 cup of short grain rice will make out a commonly eaten breakfast. You can bring it to a boil, cover it in low fire and allow it to simmer for 1 ½ hours. Stirring is important every now and then in order to keep it from sticking in the pan. Veggies, dried fruits, meat, scallions, gingers and nuts can be added on top in order to spice up the recipe.

A combination of tea in every meal is a must. It is the most-loved beverage of Chinese individuals. Social gatherings would not be complete without a cup of hot tea. Oolong, black and green tea are the 3 popular varieties in China. Oolong is brown pale tea as compared to fresh peaches. Black tea has a more strong taste. Green tea has a light and fresh flavor. It comes in loose form and it is often drank without sugar or milk. Drinking tea lowers the risk of cholesterol, prevents cancer and heart diseases.

Some Chinese ethnic recipes are as follows:

Soups and Appetizers

A clear soup serves as a drink during meals; it is a way to warm up people during the winter time. Their soup is usually served in large bowls, for dinner or banquet. On the other hand, dimsum as an appetizer is served during the mid-mornings or afternoon and can be as a late night snack. Dimsum samples include wonton, egg rolls, dumplings, shrimp balls and pastries. To enjoy delicious soups and dims sum samples, you can try these recipes:

Wonton Recipe - Ingredients:

o Minced pound pork ½ lb.

o Minced fresh mushrooms ¼ lb.

o ¼ tsp. salt

o 1 tbsp. minced scallion

o 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

o 1 pc. egg yolk

o Peanut oil

o Wanton squares

Method:

o Using a bowl, mix pork, mushrooms, salt, scallions, pepper and egg yolk.

o Put a 1/2 tsp mixture at the center of won ton square and fold a corner to make triangles.

o Pull the corner bottom and overlap the tips pinching together.

o Fry in hot oil and drain.

o Serve with ketchup or mustard with a horseradish. It can make 120 pieces.

Main Dish

A main dish usually consists of meats or fish and vegetables. Fresh vegetables are important. It should be cooked quickly in order to retain its color and crispness. The dish below is good for 4 persons.

Almond Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

o 1 ½ lbs. chicken breasts

o 1 tsp. honey

o 1 tbsp. cornstarch

o 12 ounces pea pods

o 3 tbsp. soy sauce

o ¼ cup vegetable oil

o 3 to 4 tbsp. Water

o 1 tsp. ginger

o 1 cup natural whole almonds

o 1/3 cup sherry

Method:

o Cut chicken breasts in ½ inch cube.

o Mix ginger, cornstarch, and honey. Blend soy sauce and sherry in water.

o Heat oil in a wok on medium heat.

o Add almonds and chicken. Cook for 3 minutes.

o Pour sherry mixture until sauce thickens and add pea pods. Stir fry and glazed.

Anne Harvester asked:


There is an idiom that you have likely heard–”the salt of the earth.” That saying refers to a person who is someone you can count on, who does not put on airs but is a decent, good person.

The seasoning salt is rather like that idiom. Salt is a basic seasoning that is used in many of our favorite dishes and is useful in other applications around the house. You will find it in your favorite foods at every meal, as well as an important ingredient to recipes such as bread, salsas and chips. Stocking your kitchen with bulk organic spices will allow you to add endlessly seasoned savory foods on the table morning, noon and night.

Seasoning Blends

Many blends of bulk herbs and spices can be made more zesty with the addition of organic salt. Imagine fajitas seasoned with black pepper, onion and garlic powders, cumin, coriander, lemon peel, oregano, parsley and cayenne, then brought to perfection by a little sprinkle of organic salt.

Many dishes can be made much more flavorful by simply using organic salt and spices. For instance, savory Cajun foods shine when you add a seasoning blend of black pepper, cayenne, organic salt, garlic, onion and paprika. Southern Red Beans and Rice dishes can benefit from the addition of these wonderful Cajun seasonings as well. Cajun seasoning blends are also useful as a dry rub that can be used with fish or chicken that gets sauteed or even barbecued on the grill.

Salt itself can be seasoned by the addition of different herbs and spices in bulk. A delicious rub that can be used on beef steaks, pork spareribs, hamburgers, and even fish fillets can start with salt that is flavored with pepper, paprika, and a smoky malt that goes by the name of Hickory salt.

You can make your own special blends of organic salt, herbs and spices suited to your favorite dishes. If you cook a lot at home, it does save money to purchase spices in bulk. That way, you will have a good supply and not run out when you are cooking late at night, at a crucial moment in putting together an anticipated dish.

Other Uses for Salt

In addition to cooking, salt makes a wonderful organic home cleaner. By combining vinegar with salt in a sturdy spray bottle, you have created a non-toxic counter cleaner that will help you scrub away dirt and grime.

Ana Maria Da Costa Vasconcellos asked:


Italian traditional food is known for its wonderful recipes and wines, but often an important side of it is hidden or even unseen.

This side is what eating means for Italians. It’s not just eating, it means much more.

If you happen in a major Italian city you may find some shops with continued opening time. But the most close from 1 to 4.30pm. Italians do stop for lunch.

Life has changed in Italy too, not allowing everyone to go home for lunch and maybe take even a rest. But most public offices close at 2.00pm and the ones that work from 9 to 5 have lunch time, where people go to restaurants and have a real meal.

I went to meet a friend who works in a bank office in Rome and we had lunch together. She suggested a small familiar restaurant (trattoria) where I ate wonderful potato gnocchi and unforgettable artichokes with potatoes. A real lunch, that is maybe served in luxury Italian restaurants abroad, eaten during a lunch break from job.

This idea lead to another interesting fact about restaurants in Italy and Italian restaurants abroad.

Usually, the Italian restaurants abroad are good and sometimes luxury restaurants. Very well decorated and often a very pleasant environment, many times tied to society fashions.

In Italy, the luxury and the “environment” are secondary. Often an Italian friend takes you to a very good restaurant, and it looks too poorly decorated. Don’t worry, he cares about you, because…you eat wonderful food, and that’s the important thing for your friend.

He does not think about taking you to a fashionable place where food is not good. He would fail towards you, and for an Italian, it hurts.

There are so many restaurants in Italy that are square spoiled rooms that are really not inviting…but their food is wonderful. They just don’t consider the decoration, but what you’re going to eat.

In Italy go out to have dinner is also a social program, as all around the world. But what you eat has a stronger role in the whole evening.

Among other cultures, the food may be medium, and people talk about other things and have a good evening.

In Italy, may be the most enjoyable people, but if the food is not good, they will feel like the evening was a little bit wasted for that. They will talk about it, comment it, showing that the food isn’t merely part of the evening, but quite the main attraction.

Another side of tradition concerning Italian food regards eating at certain times, following a established order in eating (never eat a meat dish before the pasta one, for example), and some other small but present rules.

Concerning time, Italians have lunch from 1.00pm to 2.00pm. Most restaurants close at 2.30 pm. It’s frustrating for a tourist visiting Rome, for example, to find the restaurant closed at 3pm.

Now some restaurants are offering different scheduled times, but these are the tourist restaurants, not the good ones. These keep pasta cooked and re-warm it. It’s better not to trust them if you desire a good Italian homemade dish.

A traditional Italian meal begins with the antipasto (which means before the meal). Usually it’s “from land”(di terra) or “from sea” (di mare). Those from land are usually Italian cold cuts, olives, cheese and so on. Those from sea are seafood salad and similar.

After the antipasto comes the first dish, that can be pasta, soup or rice (risotto). After then there’s the second, when you can choose between meat and fish. It’s necessary to add a side, because in Italy they are not included. If you ask for a steak, it will come by itself, with no French fries or salad.

After that, you can eat fruit and a dessert. Then a good coffee and a liquor called “ammazza caffè” (kill the coffee). It can vary between many choices, being the more used nowadays the lemon liquor (limoncello) and grappa.

At this point, your Italian friend looks satisfied. He will probably rest his shoulders on the back of the chair and take a long breath. After a perfect meal, these few minutes just enjoying it all are surely needed.

Frank Dalotto asked:


What is the correct name for the Italian sandwich in New Jersey? Is it the Hoagie, the Hero, or the Sub?

New Jerseyans love their food and the most popular sandwich in New Jersey is the Italian sandwich, although it’s not called the Italian sandwich, depending on what part of the state you live in, it is called the Hoagie, Hero, or Sub.

New Jersey, similar to the United States, is divided into two geographic regions with people having different roots, cultural traditions, and food tastes. I-195, running west to east from Trenton to Belmar, is considered the unofficial dividing line, between north and south Jersey.

North and south Jerseyans root for different football teams, different baseball teams, different basketball teams, and have different accents.

In south Jersey, most people who live there had roots in the Philadelphia area. South Jerseyans receive their TV programming and newspapers from Philadelphia and tend to be slower paced with food tastes and food descriptions largely influenced by Philadelphia.

People who live in the more crowded north Jersey are influenced by NYC events and traditions and either have roots in New York or commute to New York to work. North Jerseyans receive their TV programming and newspapers from NYC and tend to be faster paced, with food tastes and food descriptions largely influenced by New York City.

Where did the Italian sandwich come from?

Most of the early twentieth century Italian food in the United States came from the southern Italian immigrants who arrived during the great wave of immigration in the United States from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s.

Most of these immigrants settled into the large north east cities of New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia.

Many Italians became fishermen, shoemakers, waiters, fruit and food peddlers, and tradesmen, though most were unskilled laborers working in mines, construction jobs, building roads, and as longshoreman on the waterfront.

The southern Italian immigrants from the Naples, Italy region (Neapolitan) brought with them the Italian sandwich, made with baked crusted bread with pointed ends stuffed with cured meats and cheese. Entrepreneurial immigrants seized on the opportunity to peddle the sandwich to the Italian immigrant workers on the docks at the waterfront, and to the laborers at construction sites.

Later on, this tasty sandwich became sought after by Americans and other ethnic groups and they began to include additional varieties of meat, vegetables and cheese. It wasn’t until the end of World War II that the Italian sandwich caught on outside the Italian-American community and began to achieve widespread popularity. At that time, the typical Italian sandwich was made with 12” long by 3” wide baked crusted bread with pointed ends, provolone cheese, Italian hard salami, lettuce, tomatoes, oil and vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper.

How did the Italian sandwich in New Jersey take on the names of Hoagie, Hero, and Sub?

The Origin of the Hoagie

The Hoagie originated in the Philadelphia area. The term is now used in regions such as Scranton, Pittsburgh, southern New Jersey, Delaware, and southern Ohio.

Legend has it that an area of Philadelphia known as Hog Island, a shipyard during World War I, had many Italian immigrant workers who would take large Italian sandwiches made with cured meats, spices, oil, tomatoes, onions, and peppers for their lunches. Because of the location of the shipyard, the workers were nicknamed “hoggies”, and at some point the sandwiches they ate adopted the name “Hoggie”.

After World War II, the “Hoggie” became the “Hoagie” and quickly caught on outside the Italian community and soon achieved the status as the favored sandwich in Philadelphia. South Philly neighborhood “mom and pop” delis began offering the Hoagie as the featured sandwich and Wawa Food Markets began selling Hoagies in the late 1970s. Philadelphians who began the migration to south Jersey in the 50’s, retained the name Hoagie for the popular Italian sandwich.

Former Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell declared the hoagie the “Official Sandwich of Philadelphia”.

The Origin of the Hero

The Hero originated in New York City. The term is now used in downstate New York and north Jersey.

The name “Hero” is credited to NY Herald Tribune Food writer Clementine Paddleford who wrote in the 1930’s that you needed to be a hero to eat the giant sized Italian sandwich.

Legend has it that in 1905, James Manganaro, who came from Italy to New York to join his cousin in the deli business was responsible for popularizing the Italian sandwich in NYC where he sold the king sized Italian sandwich that later caught on and became the Hero.

The Origin of the Sub

The origin of the name submarine sandwich or “Sub” is widely disputed, with stories of its origin taking place in Boston, MA, Groton, CT and Patterson, NJ. Today the term is used throughout New Jersey and New England, and has spread across the United Sates by the many chain restaurants like Subway, Quiznos, Blimpies, and Jersey Mikes Subs.

One legend credits it being originated at a restaurant in Scollay Square in Boston, MA at the beginning of World War II, and whose customers were large numbers of navy servicemen stationed at the Charlestown Navy Yard who coined the name sub after the hull of the submarine.

Another story places the naming of the sub sandwich during World War II when the naval submarine base in Groton, CT ordered 500 Italian sandwiches a day from Capaldo’s Italian deli in New London, CT and the employees of the deli began to refer to the sandwich as the “Sub”.

The other legend has the earliest date in 1910, when the sub was named by Dominic Conti owner of Dominic Conti’s Grocery Store on Mill Street in Patterson, NJ who observed the similarity of shape with his crusted, pointed end bread sandwich and a local exhibit of the first experimental submarine, and began selling the sandwich as the “sub”.

The Correct Name of Italian Sandwich in New Jersey is the Sub.

The appropriate name for the Italian sandwich in New Jersey is the Sub. Although the location of the origin of the name “Sub” is widely disputed, one of the three popular legends has it that the name “sub” was coined in Patterson, NJ. The Jersey legend also has 1910 as the earliest date of all the legends. Hoagie and Hero clearly have their origins in Philadelphia and New York City.

Sack O’ Subs, with four sub shops in south Jersey, in Absecon, Brigantine, Ocean City, and Ventnor, has it right when they say that in New Jersey the correct name is the Sub. In south Jersey where many other sandwich shops sell “Hoagies”, if you come into their sub shop and ask for a hoagie, they will jokingly remind you that you have crossed over the bridge and you are now in Jersey and it’s called a “Sub”.

Henry Verden asked:


Ask most people what the biggest day on the Norwegian calendar is and they would probably say the first day of the ice fishing season. If you’re in that group (come on, be honest) you may be shocked and surprised to find out you’re WRONG…close…but WRONG! If you live in Dane, Rock, or Green Counties, you should be run out of town on a rail.

The correct answer is Syttende Mai. (Pronounced Setten de my). Syttende Mai holds the same significance in Norway as the 4th of July holds in the United States. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Norway, which had been under the control of Denmark since the mid-1300s, was given by Denmark to Sweden. The Norwegians were miffed at this turn of events since they always considered themselves an independent country and on May 17 (or Syttende Mai), 1814, they signed a constitution declaring themselves so. Sweden was unimpressed and continued to rule Norway for another hundred years, finally granting independence in 1905.

But I digress. Syttende Mai is celebrated with children’s parades, big parades, dances, and food, lots and lots of food. And what do Norwegians eat, you may ask? According to Howard Mohr, in his bible of Scandinavian lifestyle in the Upper Midwest How to Talk Minnesotan, Norwegians like white food. If it’s not naturally white, they’ll make it white. While this is mostly true, it’s not completely true. A little color does creep in, here and there.

Like most cuisines, Norwegian cooking includes things both wonderful and to the uninitiated…frightening. Here then is a quick overview of Norwegian cooking. The most famous Norwegian foods are the ever-popular lutefisk and lefse. Lutefisk literally means lye fish. Lutefisk is air-dried cod, called stockfish, that is sawn (literally) into manageable pieces, soaked in fresh water for eight days, a lye (you read it right, lye) solution for two days, and then fresh water again for an additional two days. After all that, lutefisk is simmered until it is firm and translucent. Lutefisk is NOT an acquired taste. You either like it or you don’t.

While lutefisk is available here and there in grocery stores, especially around Christmas, it’s not the easiest thing to find. The Olsen Fish Company on the north side of Minneapolis is the world’s largest producer. They make over 650,000 pounds a year. They sell stockfish for the do-it-yourselfers and processed and ready to cook lutefisk for the rest of us. The lutefisk is packaged under Olsen, Viking, Kemps, and Mike’s labels but you can’t buy directly from Olsens for they are strictly a wholesale company.

Lefse is made from potatoes. It’s thin and flexible, and it looks and feels much like a flour tortilla. It has been likened to a dish rag but that is an unfair judgment by people who have tried poor quality, store bought, or old product. Fresh lefse is a delicate, flavorful delight, especially when buttered and rolled up with brown sugar.

The absolute best place to get lefse is to find a church with a crew of little Norwegian ladies who set up in the church kitchen and crank out lefse to sell as a fund-raiser. Stoughton, Mount Horeb, or Westby are good places to start. Failing that, the general consensus among lefse connoisseurs is that Countryside Lefse in Blair, Wisconsin, is by far the best commercially made lefse around. The reason is that they make lefse the same way you would at home (or at church). They use real potatoes and they roll and flip the lefse by hand. Countryside Lefse is distributed to local grocery stores but you can also order directly from them on their website lefse.com.

Lutefisk isn’t the only fish dish around. Almost as ubiquitous is pickled herring. Norwegians eat tons of the stuff every year. Herring are pickled in the traditional manner with vinegar and spices and then things get interesting. There are 15 species of herring and at least that many ways to pack them. The two most popular variations are in a sour cream or wine sauce, but recent years have brought about new varieties including Cajun and fresh dill.

Fiskeballer (fish balls) and fish soup can contain almost anything. The main trick with fish balls is to run the meat through a grinder at least five times. Oddest sounding of all is fiskepudding or fish pudding. It’s exactly what it sounds like. To get the light, spongy consistency required, you need really fresh fish. The fish is pureed with cream and some other stuff and then baked. It’s usually served hot and drenched in butter.

Now that those are out of the way, we can move on to the important stuff — cookies and baked goods. The most recognizable Norwegian cookies are krumkake. These cone shaped delights are sometimes filled, but often are served plain (as God intended) and are light and crispy with just a hint of cardamom. Sandbakkel come in a variety of shapes. The dough is pressed into forms that are essentially tiny tart tins. They have a thicker, more substantial texture and a definite almond taste. Fattigman (poor man’s cookies) are similar to sandbakkels in texture but without the almond flavor. Fattigman cookies are different in that they are deep fried. A little powdered sugar on top and you have a very tasty cookie.

By far the prettiest and most delicate cookies are the rosetter, or rosettes. The cookie starts with a thin batter, then flower- or star-shaped irons with long handles are dipped into the batter and then lowered into hot oil. The cookies fry until they are a beautiful golden brown. Once they are sprinkled with powdered sugar, they are as much a work of art as they are a paper thin, yummy treat.

Cakes of all kinds are part of the Norwegian diet. Two in particular are worth noting. One is the kransekake. This is an almond cake that is baked in 18 thin concentric rings that are then stacked to form a cone 12 to 18 inches tall, all glued together with frosting. Kransekake is usually served on special occasions, especially weddings. They are decorated for the occasion with real flowers, party poppers, flags, or whatever. They’re about as putzy as a cake can get and seem deceptively simple to create once you have the special baking rings. When things go wrong, kransekake are next to inedible. However, when Ole and Lena smile and it turns out as it should, kransekake’s pleasing texture and almond flavor make all the work worthwhile.

At the other end of the spectrum, Norwegian apple cake is a study in rustic elegance that satisfies without pretension. Sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, apples, nuts, and an egg combine to create a sturdy cake loaded with bits of nuts and apples. It’s simple, but this is a clear case of the sum being greater than its parts. Serve it with a little fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top. Best of all it’s even better the second day.

Odd and assorted other Norwegian specialties include rommegrot, fruktsuppe, and sweet soup. Rommegrot is sour cream soup that is usually generously drizzled in butter and sprinkled with sugar and ground cinnamon (Norwegians seem to do this a lot). Rommegrot is thick and sweet and needs something to wash it down. Red current juice is popular, but you might be better served by beer or Aquavit.

Fruktsuppe, or fruit soup, is pretty much what it says it is, a soup made with tapioca, prunes, raisins, apples, oranges, and just about any other fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit you happen to have around. The difference is that while Americans like their fruit soup cold, Norwegians serve it hot, garnished with lemon and orange slices.

Sot suppe (sweet soup) is pretty self-explanatory. It is also a fruit soup made with dried fruits, especially raisins, currants, prunes, and tapioca, but this one is served cold. Accompaniments include Christmas bread, Christmas cookies, open-faced sandwiches, and a variety of sliced cheeses.

This is far from a complete list of Norwegian foods. Norwegian is as wide and varied a cuisine as that from other countries and it waits for you to go exploring. Many of the foods I’ve mentioned are available prepackaged or as mixes. The web offers recipes galore for those who want to get hands-on. Either way, you can enter into the spirit of the holiday because, like on St. Patrick’s Day, on Syttende Mai everybody is Norwegian.

Buying Norwegian in Wisconsin

Many Norwegian food items are things you cannot get at the local Pick ‘n Save or Piggly Wiggly. These are specialty items that are only available at certain shops. Some require special appliances. Lefse and krumkake griddles and sandbakkel tins are usually available at the same stores. Here is a partial list of places to check out.

Open House Imports, 306 E. Main St., Mt. Horeb, WI 53572, (608) 437-5468 openhouseimports.com

Open House carries a nice selection of products including Freia Chocolates, sandbakkel, lefse, and rommergrot mixes, fish soup, fish balls, salmon and caviar spread, lingonberries, and Hartshorn Salt (a hard-to find ingredient of some Norwegian dishes). They also carry Norwegian equipment.

Dick’s Quality Meats, 201 Main Street, Mt. Horeb, WI 53572. A good source for herring, lefse, and, at holiday times, lutefisk.

Norske Nook Restaurant and Coffee House and Gift Shop — Osseo, 13804-13807 7th Street, Osseo, WI 54758, (715) 597-3765 norskenook.com

Norske Nook — Rice Lake, 2900 Pioneer Avenue, Rice Lake, WI 54868, 715-234-1733

Norske Nook — Hayward, Hwy. 27 South, Hayward, WI 54843, (715) 634-4928

The Norske Nook is a legend in Wisconsin, offering “from scratch” cooking and fabulous baked goods. The restaurants offer a limited selection of products but the selection at the Osseo gift shop is more extensive with imported cookies, lingonberries, lefse, potato dumpling and Norwegian pancake mixes, and more. They also carry lefse and krumkake griddles, sandbakkel tins, and other needed equipment.

Dregnes Scandinavian Gifts, 100 S. Main St., Westby, WI 54667, Phone: (608) 634-4414 Toll Free: (877) 634-4414 DregnesScandinavianGifts.com. Dregnes had the best selection of goods of all the places we checked. They offer Norwegian cheeses, fish soup, two different kinds of fish balls, vanilla and pearl sugars, Ljus syrup, glug, and numerous mixes. Their kitchen shop carries any cookware necessary to turn out a delicious Norwegian meal.

Nordic Nook, 176 W. Main St., Stoughton, WI 53589, Phone: (608) 877-0848 Toll Free: (866) 912-6665 nordic-nook.com. The Nordic Nook has a nice selection of Norwegian cooking gear and all the standard food offerings. A couple of unusual and yummy additions are pepparkakor (gingersnap) caramels and Ole and Lena fortune cookies.

Cheesers, LLC 186 E. Main St., Stoughton, WI 53589, Phone: (608) 873-1777 Fax: (608) 877-0362 cheesers.com. Stoughton has the biggest Syttende Mai celebration outside of Norway so you know Stoughton is serious about Norwegian food. Cheesers doesn’t offer the cooking equipment like the others but they do offer a nice selection of products including a broad selection of flatbreads and crisps, fresh lefse, coffee, Jarlsberg cheese, and two kinds of Gjetost. This is a great place for all your cheese needs. Their selection is comprehensive.