| CANNOT recall when i first realized that the Chinese know more about food than anyone else. THE FRUGAL GOURMET I was a child, opinion has not changed. There is no other culture in the world that puts as much time, effort and an- ticipation into a meal as do the Chinese. For the Chinese, another person is a thing of great intimacy and import. This seems to have been the case for thou- sands of years. The Chinese had the first restaurants and the first cooks, and they were the first to understand the necessity of a balanced diet. To this day the proper greeting to offer a friend is, ‘*Chi fan le, mei you?’? It means, ‘‘Have you eaten yet?” ANTS CLIMBING UP A TREE (Serves 6 to 8 as part of a Chinese ‘meal) ’ This dish will simply delight your children. There are no ants in the dish, of course. You were rude to ask! However, this dish ‘from the northern regions of China does give the appearance of little creatures climbing up thin _branches. (The little creatures are chopped black mushrooms. The branches are fried glass noodles). 1, pound pork shoulder, steak, boned and finely chopped, not ground . - 2 tablespoons fight soy sauce 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger 6 green onions, sliced thin 1 cup finely chopped cabbage or Napa (celery cabbage) 1 oumce Chinese dried mushrooms, soaked in water for two hours, draine2 and finely I’m sure. My ° eating. with NEWS photo cere Goodman THE CHINESE know more about food than anyone else: ‘Chi fan fe, mel you?” chopped (reserve the water) 4 cups peanut oil for deep-frying 1 4ounce package glass noodles (sai fun) 3 cloves garlic, chopped I tablespoon hot bean sauce Pinch of sugar Freshly ground black pepper te taste 2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil Iceberg lettuce leaves, 2 or 3 for each persom Bone and finely chop the pork.- Do not grind it, because you want very small pieces to ‘‘climb’’ on the branches of the noodles. Marinate the park in the soy, wine and ginger for about 15 minutes. Slice. the green onions. Finely chop the cabbage and mushrooms, reserving the soaking water from the raushrooms. Heat the oil ina wok until it is just beginning to smoke. Use good ventilation in your kitchen for this one! Open the noodle package anc undo them a bit. Drop into the hot fat in small batches. They will immediately puff up into wonderful white crunchy noodles. Turn quickly to be sure they are all cooked. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Be very careful with this. You could burn yourself. Set the noodles aside. Heat another wok or frying pan and add 1 tablespoon of the pea- nut oil. Add the chopped garlic and toss for a moment. Add the meat and marinade and stir-fry, ‘mixing it about, until the meat is tender but not dry, about three minutes on high heat. : Remove the meat mixture and add the vegetables to the wok. Stir-fry over high heat for three more minutes. Return the meat to the pan and add the hot bean sauce, sugar and black pepper: Stir-fry for one minute and then add the cornstarch dissolved in the water. Stir until the sauce thickens. If you have too little sauce, add a bit of the water in which you soaked the mushrooms. Add the sesame oil and stir. Place the fried noodles on a large platter and pour the meat and vegetable mixture over the noodles. Do this carefully so the little pieces of pork and mushroom will cling to the “‘branches.”’ Toss at the table in front of your guests. Each person then takes a bit of noodle and meat sauce and places it in the center of a lettuce leaf. Roll it up like a burrito and enjoy. Clay cookware fills ‘back inquisitive Cook GARDINER WILSON THERE’S SOMETHING appealing about unadorned, clay cookware. A pizza stone, a clay baker, some clay bread pans. Perhaps it filis a need to get ‘‘back to the basics,"’ since today’s earthenware is a modern version of a very primitive means of cooking. But its use makes sense even today. Clay holds heat. And because of its porous nature, unglazed clay also holds moisture. That simple combination of heat and moisture is used in many ways in cooking. Years ago wet clay made a unique cooking vessel. A favorite old timer tells of coating gutted chickens with a jacket of mud and baking them slowly over glowing embers. The brittle casing opened with a crack, feathers stuck to the hardened clay and the succulent chicken was so tender it literally fell apart. Beggar's Chicken is still a Chinese favorite. Wrapped in dampened leaves and coated with mud, chicken cooks slowly, ab- surbing the heady aromas and flavor of special spices. Sornetimes the guest of honor-is handed a ceremonial mafilet to crack open the hard clay casing. Enjoying this dish is a treasured memory brought back from Hong Kong. a city full of surprises. For most of us, clay bakers are a lot less messy than working with mud! Manufacturers recommend immersing the pot in water so the porous, unglazed clay soaks up water before it’s put into a cold oven. As the oven warms, the clay slowly releases moisture — perfect ONION CHICKEN CASSEROLE (Serves 4) The Chinese cook has been us- ing clay casseroles on top of the stove for hundreds of years. If you .do not have one, use a covered metal casserole. , 1 frying chicken, hacked into 2- inch-square pieces 2 tablespoons light soy sauce 3 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger Y% teaspoon five-spice powder 2 large yellow onions, peeled 1 head iceberg lettuce 4 green onions or scallions 4 tablespoons peanut oi 1 garlic clove, shiced thin Using your cleaver, hack up the chicken. Cooking chicken with the bone in prevents the meat from drying out. Marinate the chicken pieces in the soy, wine, ginger and five-spice for about 15 minutes. Cut the peeled onions into wedges and separate the leaves of the onions. Tear the lettuce into salad-like chunks, Clean the green onions or scallions and slice lengthwise once, then into 2-inch pieces. Heat the wok or large frying pan until quite hot. Add the oil and the garlic. Toss for a mo- ment. Add the chicken pieces drained of the marinade. Stir-fry the chicken pieces until they are well-browned on alf sides. You may have to do this in two bat- ches if you are using a small fry- hug pan, Remove the chicken and set aside. Add the onion leaves, along with | tablespoon of peanut oil, to the pan and stir-fry until they turn a bit brown. Do this: slowly so the sugar in the onion will carmelize a bit. When the onions are soft and brown return the chicken to the pan along with any juice that has accumulated around the chicken. If the mixture appears to be too dry add a few tablespoons of the meat marinade. There should be about % cup of juice in the dot- tom of the pan. Toss for a mo- ment and remove from the heat. Place the lettuce in ‘the bottom of a 2-quart metal casserole with lid. Top with the chicken. and onion mixture, then with the slic- ed green onion. Cover and place on a medi- . um-high burner for a few minutes until the lettuce has cooked and become tender but still. has some body. Serve from the casserole. SPINACH WITH WINE AND ‘ SESAME (Serves 4) Please understand the. reason Chinese vegetables taste so good. It is simple. The Chinese do not cook them, they just threaten them! , Bon’t bother trying this with frozen spinach. It will not be. the same. You can try this with any other !eaf vegetable such as Swiss chard, mustard greens or lettuce. - 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds 2 tablespoons peanut oil V2 teaspoon salt 2 bunches fresh spinach (about a pound), washed and stems remov- td t 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil Toast the sesame seeds by sim- ply placing them in a hot frying pan or wok and stirring them about until they are a light brown. I generally make a cup at a time and use them in additional dishes. Heat a wok or large frying pan and add the oil and salt. Stir for.a moment. Shake the excess water off the cleaned spinach and toss into the pan. Stir-fry over high heat, very quickly, until the spinach wilts a bit and is hot. Add the rice wine and sesame oil. Gar- nish with the sesame seeds and serve, to basics’ need for tenderizing tough cuts of beef or poultry. Baking with clay is also popular with vegetarians as a means of waterless cooking. Pizza stones are voguish this year, But in contrast to clay bakers, instead of imparting moisture, they absorb it from the dough. They make a clever base for home-made pizza since hot clay simulates a brick oven. The clay not only holds heat so the srust cooks evenly, it actually draws moisture from the dough, making the crust crisp. For cooks on your gift list this year, add a pizza wheel for mak- ing clean work of cutting. Attach a recipe for focaccia, that savory Jealian flatbread, and you’ve got a great gift. Sometimes at craft fairs, local potters make biscuit rounds — circular flat discs on which a batch of biscuits can be baked in the oven, then brought directly to the table. The hot disc keeps the buns warm throughout dinner. If you’re lucky enough to find clay bread pins, don’t even hesi- tate. Buy them. Like a good cast iron pan, they hold the heat and release it evenly. With continued use they develop a patina of their own so homemade bread is releas- ed easily from the pans. Don’t use soap or cleaners on clay. And don’t worry about the Stains that become the signature of use — and enjoyment. Simply scour with hot water. In a world of sophisticated cookware, cooking with humble clay is a reminder of the ingenuity of cooks in simpler times.