Mou Gou Guy Pan (1902); Pepper Steak (1903); Dim Sum (1908)

Bapopik at AOL.COM Bapopik at AOL.COM
Fri Nov 1 06:58:24 UTC 2002


   Here are a few Chinese restaurant articles I got today, using the NEW YORK
HERALD index.  Sometimes the index cites other newspapers (here, the WORLD).

26 July 1896, NEW YORK HERALD, fourth section, pg. 14, col. 3:
_CHINESE VIANDS_
_FOR AMERICANS._
_Shrewd Celestials Have Built Res-_
_taurants Especially to Catch the_
_Trade of Bohemian New Yorkers._
(...)  The original Chinese restaurant down in Mott and Pell streets was
generally a dreary little hole in the wall, redolent of stale odors.

14 December 1902, NEW YORK HERALD, fifth section, pg. 11, col. 1:
_CHINESE CUISINE A CHRISTMAS DINNER ODDITY_
_REMARKABLE POPULARITY OF THE ORIENTAL RESTAURANT FAD IN NEW YORK_
(..)  (Col. 3--ed.)
   The bill of fare is in ENglish and explanations of Chinese dishes follow
the foreign name.  For instance, we find that "guy fou yong dun" is simply
chicken omelet.  "Mou gou guy pan" loses its mystery as boneless chicken with
white mushrooms, and "chow sang ha" is more tempting as fried live lobsters;
while "you jor bock gob" doesn't appear quite so formidable as fried squab.
If you want any birds' nest--"yin wor"--of sharks' fins--"goy chee"--it is
necessary to order the day before.  Also, if you have a dinner party of
considerable size and want Chinese music with your "chop sooy" and "goy chee"
due notice must be given the manager.
(...)(Pg. 12--ed.)
   The Tenderloin contains half a dozen of them.  They are familiarly known
to the habitues of that lively neighborhood as "chop suey houses."  At one
resort in Twenty-seventh street it is spelled "soui."  In Chinatown it is
"sooy."  But the famous Chinese dish of that name tastes the same in whatever
orthography.  (...)
   The prices range from seventy-five cents for "chow main" to fifteen cents
for "yet go main."

22 March 1903, THE WORLD, metropolitan section, pg. 4:
_Three o'Clock in the Morning at a Chinese Restaurant Uptown._
(...) (Col. 4--ed.)
   The bill of fare is not very extensive.  Its items are:
                                                            Cents
Chop suey.............................................25
Chop suey, with mushrooms...................35
Chicken chop suey.................................50
Yei go main............................................20
Chaw main.............................................75
Pepper steak.........................................25
(...) (Col.5--ed.)
   Chaw main, which costs 75 cents, is chicken chop suey, served on a bed of
crisp vermicella that has been first steamed and then fried--all in the iron
bowl.
   If Saratoga chips could be fixed in strings it would be just about the
same as the chaw main foundation.  Yet go main is simply noodle soup with a
hard boiled egg in it.
   All these stews are enriched with stock from the pot of simmering
chickens.
   Pepper steak is simply chopped beefsteak cooked with chopped-up green
peppers, a little onion and celery.  It's darn good.

22 March 1908, NEW YORK HERLAD, second section, pg. 6:
_MANDARIN GARDEN DEDICATED TO HIGH TEA._
_Chinatown Hails New Restaurant, Elborately Fitted--Imperial Standards Rule
Cuisine, and Leong Gamm, Lord of Cooks, Directs the Kitchen._
(...) (Col. 3--ed.)
   With the beverage are served such delicacies as dim sum, which is a second
cousin to steamed sponge cake, and ha kow, a soulful dumpling modelled about
an armature of water chestnuts. (...)
   Ye sang, which consists largely of boneless fish and rice, is held in high
regard.  Op tup, an essence of duck and rice, is a favorite.
   For dinner there are such culinary delights ar pun lung dan.  Dan means
eggs, and the dish is therefore eggs a la His Royal Highness Pun Lung, who
was the first ruler of China.  The eggs are first fried in deep hot fat as
though they were doughnuts, and then garnished with minced lobster, hashed
chicken, bamboo sprouts, water chestnuts, flaxseed knots, ham and mushrooms.



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