A Promise of Dinner
Hsiao-Ching Chou
Author's Note: For the month of November, I am participating in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month) and pledge to post once a day.
A couple of months ago, my friend Kate posted on Facebook that she was headed to Shanghai on business but would have a little down time for exploring the city. She asked her friends for suggestions and I, of course, encouraged her to seek out soup dumplings because Shanghai is home to excellent xiao long tang bao, which literally translates to “little steamer basket soup buns.”
I didn’t think of it at first, because Kate doesn’t cook much Chinese food, but I told her later that if she were interested in getting a piece of history in the form of a hand-hammered wok from the storied Cen Brothers, then she should take advantage of her trip to Shanghai. The Cen Brothers wok shop, which is tucked away in an alley, was made famous to Westerners by Grace Young, who wrote about these gorgeous handmade woks in her 2004 book “The Breath of a Wok.” I found this interesting post from July 2015 from someone who says he’s making a documentary about the Cens and provides some details about these artisans. (Williams-Sonoma is now selling the Cen woks – not by name – for $129. The Cens sell their woks for under $20 U.S.)
Another friend had given me a Cen wok (pictured above) a few years ago. But I’d always wanted another, because it is my hope to pass one each along to my children. So I proposed a trade to Kate: if she would pick up one of these woks and haul it back for me, I would make her family a Chinese dinner. It didn't take long for her to agree. And so, Sunday night, Kate and her family are coming over for dinner.
For the moment, here's what I'm thinking for the menu. But I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow, so I may make some changes according to what looks the best:
- Potstickers (because everyone always wants me to make potstickers)
- Dry cooked green beans
- Beef with pickled mustard greens
- Ma po tofu
- Steamed fish or a shrimp stir fry (depending on what's available at the market tomorrow)
- Winter melon soup