My Memories Of Chinese Food

The first time I tried Chinese food, I was 16 years old. My Jewish friends from high school were astounded that I’d never had Chinese food, because they’d grown up eating it. Not to mention the fact that we lived in a large and diverse suburb of Atlanta with more than enough Chinese restaurants at our fingertips. After their initial shock at my culinary naïveté, my friends Sandi and Lauren took me to dinner at my very first Chinese restaurant, and their local favorite, Tientsin II.
My memories of that first Chinese dinner are relatively clear, even though it was 20 years ago. Of course, I had no idea what to order, so my friends Sandi and Lauren did all the ordering. As the food began to arrive at our table, we quickly ran out of space for the never-ending dishes. I think Sandi and Lauren were so eager to convince me I was going to love Chinese food, they ordered one of everything. Our table was overflowing with food and the owner, a Chinese man in his 60s, came over and said, “You white girls really love my food,” which, of course, made us all laugh. Sandi, Lauren and I still say that to each other to this day, and we still laugh.
I loved most everything they ordered for me, but one item in particular stood out: crab rangoon. Crab rangoon is a deep-fried crab and

serviceman were returning from their stints in the South Pacific. Fong Kwok Shang and his co-chefs at Trader Vic’s capitalized on this cultural phenomenon and their crab rangoon appetizer quickly became a menu favorite. Little is known about the spread of crab rangoon from Trader Vic’s to other parts of the country. One may assume that diners recreated the recipe themselves, or even requested it at restaurants across the country. It’s safe to say that with the 1968 publication of Trader Vic’s cookbook, Pacific Island Cookbook, the dish spread even faster and even