Thank You, I Will Trivia Quiz

Answer: Moo goo gai pan

Moo goo gai pan comes from the Chinese names of the ingredients. Moo goo is button mushrooms. Gai is chicken. Pan means the chicken is sliced. The dish may also include cabbage, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and other vegetables. Moo goo gai pan uses a chicken stock sauce rather than the brown peanut sauce many other Chinese dishes use. Moo goo gai pan is a Cantonese dish. Canton cooking features milder sauces than other Chinese cuisine.

Answer: Egg foo yung

Foo yung means "lotus flower". Egg foo yung is very similar to an omelet although some chefs deep fry the eggs while others pan fry them. Almost any kind of meat as well as various vegetables can be added to the eggs. Green onions are almost always used.

In a traditional Chinese meal all the foods are served at the same time with the bowls placed in the middle of the table to be passed around. For this reason Chinese dinner tables are almost always round.

Answer: Chicken chow mein

I usually order from a quaint little Chinese restaurant around the corner. The food is simply chow mein. (Charming. Get it?)

Chow mein means "fried noodles". Egg noodles are fried then set aside while the rest of the ingredients are cooked. The noodles are added back in at the end. Chow mein sauce is a soy-based brown sauce. The above description is for Americanized chow mein. The chow mein served in other countries may have slightly different ingredients or be served differently. For example, a lot of places serve chow mein with softer noodles. These noodles are slightly crisp but still chewy.

Answer: Shrimp lo mein

Lo mein (Chinese for "tossed noodles") is actually the name for the way the noodles are prepared. The choice of ingredients that go into the dish is up to the chef. Lo mein noodles are served soft. By adding them at the end of the cooking process they are able to absorb the sauce without becoming hard.

The noodles are long. In fact, the noodles used in Chinese cooking, no matter what type of noodles they are or how wide they are, are long. Chinese equate long noodles with longevity.

Answer: Kung Pao chicken

Kung Pao chicken got its name from Gong Bao (palatial guardian). Traditional Sichuan Kung Pao uses Sichuan peppercorns instead of red bell peppers. Bell peppers came into use instead due to a long-time ban on importation of the peppercorns into the US because of a tree disease they oft times carried. Diced chicken is used although versions of the dish exist using pork, shrimp and even tofu. Most meat used in Chinese cooking is diced or cut into small strips that can be eaten without using a knife. Knives are not found on a Chinese dinner table.

Answer: Wonton soup

Wonton means "floating clouds". The wontons - those bits of meat or vegetables wrapped in dough - resemble clouds as they float in the soup. The wontons are generally spiced with hoisin sauce, green onions and bok choy. Hoisin sauce is a soy sauce mixed with garlic, vinegar and, sometimes, chilis. Bok choy is a type of cabbage.

There really is such a thing as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall soup. It is a shark fin soup that is supposedly so tasty it would make a vegetarian Buddhist monk sneak out of the monastery to eat it.

Answer: Moo shu pork

The filling is fried in sesame or peanut oil. Ginger, garlic, rice wine and soy sauce are used to season it. Generally the Mandarin, or moo shu, pancakes are served separately and the diner prepares his or her own portion.

Pork is the pre-eminent meat in China. Cows are too valuable as work animals to be used for food. The flavor of lamb is too strong. Pigs, on the other hand, are easy to raise, require little land and can be fed on scraps. Which to me suggests that if you are too easy to care for, you are expendable.

Answer: Peking duck

I had duck at a Chinese restaurant once. I almost jumped out of my chair when the waiter removed the cover and I saw two duck eyes looking back at me. He quickly explained: "This is new item: peeking duck."

Peking duck uses Pekin ducks. That is the actual name of the species. The ducks are raised for the specific purpose of being made into Peking duck and are slaughtered when they are 65 days old. A notable feature of Peking duck is the very thin, roasted skin. This is accomplished by separating the skin from the fat by injecting air between the layers. Another feature of Peking duck is that the chef generally carves the duck at the table, allowing the diners to take in the fresh aroma of the roasted meat.

Answer: Sweet and sour chicken

Sweet and sour sauce is known as "the people's sauce" in China because it is so inexpensive. While the sour part comes from rice vinegar and soy sauce the sweet portion may be honey, sugar or candy. As with most Chinese dishes beef or shrimp may also be served with sweet and sour sauce. You cannot serve pork with sweet and sour sauce. You have to use soo-ey sauce.

Answer: Fortune cookies

Fortune cookies are not from China. As near as anyone can determine, they were invented by someone in California. One story has it that a Japanese landscape designer in San Francisco named Makoto Hagiwara lost his position when a prejudiced mayor came into office. When that mayor was replaced, the new mayor gave the landscape designer his post back. Hagiwara baked up some cookies with thank you notes inside to give to the mayor and the fortune cookie was born. Another story credits a noodle maker in Los Angeles named David Jung. He made up the cookies to give to the poor in the area. Inside the cookies were inspirational passages. A third theory is that Chinese immigrants working during the California gold rush of 1849 used them to signal the arrival of the Moon Festival.

A sampling of fortune cookie sayings for you:
"The world may be your oyster but that does not mean you will get the pearl."
"Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional."
"Duck who fly upside down quack up."
"Many blessings come to anyone who rates this quiz Excellent."