4-5 shiitake mushrooms
2.5 oz. (70 g.) bamboo shoots (half a small can)
1 whole chicken (older and tougher is better)
5-6 white mushrooms
1 piece ginger (about 1 inch, or 2.5 cm., on a side)
1 quart (about a liter) cold water
1-2 tsp. (6-12 g.) salt
Chicken is believed by some Chinese to possess mystical healing powers. It is frequently served to people who are sick or undernourished, and often stewed together with medicinal herbs like ginseng. It is usually cooked slowly to maximize its healing powers.
Scrub the mushrooms and slice the bamboo shoots into pieces about an inch (2.5 cm.) square and ¼ inch (6 mm.) thick. Then turn on the oven and set it at 250°F (120°C or gas mark ½).
Place the chicken and all the other ingredients except the salt in a large, oven-proof bowl with a cover. Cover it tightly and place it in the oven. Cook for two hours.
Remove, add salt and serve.
One of the few so-called “revolutionary” ballets permitted to be performed in China during the Cultural Revolution was Ode to Yimeng. It tells the story of a poor peasant woman who came upon a wounded Communist platoon leader and resolved to nurse him back to health. He had fled to the mountains because the Nationalists had occupied his village.
The ballet portrays fighting between the Communist guerillas and the Nationalist army, and was a vehicle to demonstrate the support of the peasants for the Communists. In it, Sister Ying, living at subsistence level herself, selflessly kills and cooks a chicken, and then finds a way, at the risk of her life, to deliver the broth to the wounded officer and save him from otherwise certain death.
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) cornstarch
4 Tbsp. (45 ml.) cold water
½ a carrot
½ cake firm tofu
1 14.5-oz. can (or a 454 g. container) of chicken stock, salted
1 egg
2 Tbsp. (30 ml.) vinegar (any variety except cider vinegar)
1 tsp. (2 g.) pepper
½ Tbsp. (8 ml.) sesame oil
There are references to this dish in Chinese literature as early as the Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), and then as now, it was believed to possess the ability to neutralize alcohol in one’s body. It is hence a traditional remedy of choice for a hangover.
Mix the cornstarch with the water to form a paste, taking care to eliminate all lumps. Slice the carrot in half lengthwise and then cut the strips into two-inch (5 cm.) lengths. Slice the tofu to match the size of the carrots.
Boil the chicken broth in a pot and add the carrots and tofu. Cook for about a minute and a half and then add the cornstarch paste. Stir it in until the soup thickens – it should do so within a few seconds. Once the soup has thickened, beat the egg in a small dish and drizzle it slowly into the soup, where it will cook quickly and form shreds in the broth. Turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar. Then add the pepper and sesame oil and serve.
Note: A vegetable broth may be substituted for the chicken stock if desired.
Song Qingling, widow of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the so-called “Father of Modern China,” was one of a very few leaders permitted to entertain foreigners in her home during the Cultural Revolution. One dish she sometimes served was Hot and Sour Soup, which she had her cook make with bean curd and chicken blood – both gelatinous substances, one white, one red. She once explained the symbolism of this “cooperative soup” to a guest: her wish for collaboration between the Kuomintang (Nationalists) and the Communists.
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) cornstarch
4 Tbsp. (60 ml.) cold water
2 eggs
½ scallion (spring onion)
1 14.5-oz. can (or a 454 g. container) of chicken stock, salted
Small handful of corn kernels (frozen or canned; either is fine)
1 tsp. (5 ml.) sesame oil
Dash of pepper
2-3 sprigs of cilantro, or coriander (optional; for garnish)
Dropping beaten egg into a hot broth that has been thickened with starch creates thin shreds of egg – called “egg flowers” by the Chinese, or “egg drops” in traditional American Chinese restaurant parlance – that give dishes like this a lovely texture and appearance.
Combine the cornstarch with the water and make a paste, taking care that no lumps remain. Beat the eggs and chop the scallion on the bias into small pieces (about ¼ inch, or 6 mm., in length).
Boil the chicken stock in a pot and add the corn. When the stock boils a second time, add the cornstarch paste. It will thicken the broth in a few seconds.
Drizzle the beaten eggs into the boiling broth to create cooked shreds and then turn off the heat. Add the sesame oil, scallion and pepper. Garnish with cilantro, if desired, and serve.
Note: Vegetable broth may be substituted for the chicken broth.
Between 1966 and 1969, China produced an estimated 2 billion buttons depicting Chairman Mao in various poses. People wore these ornaments to proclaim their loyalty to him. The largest collection of Mao badges is reportedly in the hands of Dr. Chen Xinji of Guilin, who has amassed more than 240,000. He started collecting in 1967 as an eight-year-old child in a small village. Lacking money, he traded an egg for his first few specimens.
Chen has 13,000 varieties of Mao buttons, made, variously, of steel, aluminum, porcelain, limestone, copper and even gold and silver. They show Mao in a military uniform, Mao with the Red Guards, Mao with workers, Mao against a red flag, Mao surrounded by sunflowers and many other scenes.
1 turnip
2 14.5-oz. cans (or two 454 g. containers) of chicken stock, salted
3-4 pork ribs
4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms
Use dried shiitake mushrooms rather than the fresh variety for this dish if they are available. They have a considerably richer flavor and keep their shape better when cooked for a long time. Tofu and other vegetables, such as celery, squash and fresh mushrooms, may be added for variety, but make sure you don’t overwhelm the ribs with too much of them.
Peel and dice the turnip into cubes about an inch and a half (4 cm.) on a side. Then pour the chicken stock in a pot and add the ribs and mushrooms. Cover the pot, and place over medium heat.
Cook for 45 minutes and then add the turnip pieces. Continue cooking for an additional 15 minutes and serve.
The Cantonese love nothing so much as spare ribs, but they avoided them like the plague during the 1970s when meat was heavily rationed. The reason was simple: if you were entitled to only 250 grams of pork per month, it was the height of stupidity to accept any cut with bones in it. Far more popular, especially in the countryside, was “pork fat, four fingers thick,” because it provided precious calories, oil for cooking and a wonderful taste.
Ration coupons like the one above from Pingyao, Shanxi Province, were given out by neighborhood committees and had to be used in the month indicated; if for some reason you didn’t buy meat that month, you were out of luck.
2 quarts (1.9 liters) of cold water
¼ lb. (115 g.) spaghetti, linguini or similar variety of noodles
1 egg
1 14.5-oz. can (or a 454 g. container) of chicken stock, salted
3-4 meatballs (made of beef, pork, chicken or turkey; optional)
½ lb. (225 g.) green vegetable (mustard greens, spinach, lettuce, cabbage or kale, for example)
This is a popular breakfast dish in China, though the optional meatballs would have been very unusual during the Cultural Revolution. In some places, when little was available other than noodles and broth, it was called “bald-headed noodles.”
Bring most of the water to a boil in a pot and add the noodles. When the noodles are fully cooked, remove and drain them. Separately, boil the egg in the rest of the cold water until it is hard-boiled – about 10 minutes.
Boil the chicken broth and add the meatballs and green vegetable. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Then place the noodles in a large bowl (or in individual bowls if you wish).
Peel the egg and cut it in half, or into smaller pieces. Add the egg to the noodles. Pour in the rest of the ingredients and serve.
Mao Zedong, Peng Zhen, Prince Norodom Sihanouk and Liu Shaoqi.
For the sake of face and for propaganda purposes, the Communists always fed foreign guests very well, even when food was scarce. China saw itself as the leader of the so-called “non-aligned movement.” A frequent visitor to China was Cambodia’s Prince Norodom Sihanouk.
In 1973, when the Prince visited Shanghai, local officials received an order to prepare a 14-course banquet for him. Among the dishes was a chicken broth made with pre-laid eggs that required the slaughter of 108 chickens to prepare properly. Sihanouk loved it – so much so, in fact, that he reportedly ordered it again the next day!