"chinesefood" news and stories

Last week, ABC News revealed in an article that a baby formula from China was made illegal in the U.S. after the death of a Chinese infant was traced to its food. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials believe there is reason to be concerned that some formula from China may have slipped into markets serving Chinese consumers in the United States even though its sales are prohibited.

This concern is based on an FDA probe in 2004 that found this Chinese formula on the shelf of Chinese grocery shops. Do you remember that, in 2007, deaths and illnesses of hundreds of cats and dogs were linked to pet food ingredients from China? FDA officials believe that the Chinese baby formula may be tainted with melamine, the same ingredient found in that pet food. The FDA relieves concerned parents by affirming that U.S.-approved baby formula is safe.

A little over two years ago, my daughter was born. At the time, I was in moderately decent shape; although I smoked, I ate fairly well, walked all over the place, and generally kept my weight in an area that my doctor and I considered acceptable. However, my daughter's birth, my decision to quit the demon cancer sticks, and the fact that I spent an insane amount of time on the couch with her quickly bore fruit. Within six months of her arrival, I had packed on about 20 pounds.

After I had to buy new, larger pants, I decided that enough was enough. I started going to the gym, watching what I eat, exercising more, and generally trying to regain my svelte, pre-fatherhood body. I spent a lot of time looking in the mirror, looking at my measurements, and looking at my diet. When I moved to New York, however, my weight loss began to slow, sputter, and even reverse a little bit.

It wasn't too hard to figure out why I wasn't losing weight like I used to. While I was busy looking at the scale, I wasn't looking at my neighborhood. On the bright side, the Vietnamese restaurant near my apartment has several relatively healthy offerings and the taco truck a couple of blocks away is great if I don't order cheese, sour cream, and fried meat. However, the Dominican bakery, with its seductive tres leches cake, the Puerto Rican Cuchifritos stands, and the various pizzerias, Chinese food joints, and Gyro restaurants all taunt me with their wares. While I'm pretty good at avoiding the siren song of KFC, Burger King, and all the other fast food places, I am a sucker for homemade, high-fat goodies.

New York Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee traveled the world to crack the case of the fortune cookie's cryptic origins, hunt for the infamous General Tso and track chop suey back to its creator. Turned out, many of the answers were closer to home than she'd ever imagined.

The author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food served up her favorite Chinese food facts, myths and mysteries to AOL Food, and then she took your red-hot questions on Slashfood. Here's how Jennifer 8 Lee responded.

Q: What makes you pick a particular Chinese restaurant from all the ones around it?

A: Well, I tend to like Chinese restaurants that cater more to Chinese people rather than to an American palate. They may both serve General Tso's chicken, but you can look at a Chinese menu and know if they expect a more Chinese clientele. For example, cold appetizers -- especially jellyfish – is a giveaway. Lamb dishes are also ore Chinese. Anything with whole fish, and certain kinds of noodles: cold noodles, dan dan noodles.

Yesterday, as I hunted through Flickr for a picture of a Chinese take-out box for the post about weekly meal patterns, stumbled across the image you see above. It is a crocheted take-out box, complete with handmade shrimp and noodles. The little red pagoda is embroidered on in nearly spot-on likeness. I am boggled by the level of detail that this crafter put into this project.

Source

• The Super Bowl is almost here. Check out some stuff to eat during the big game, including Beef and Dark Beer Chili and Mac and Cheese with Buffalo Chicken.
• How to turn one great weekend meal into two weeknight dinners.
• A fresh take on Chinese food.
• How about some winter aromatherapy? Some great recipes that include cinnamon, nutmeg, chai, and ground spices.
• Where to eat if you're going to Portland, OR, Charleston, SC, and Toronto, CN.
• The Oscars are coming up soon too. What wine goes with what movie? (Not sure what wine you should drink if you rent Saw II.)