King's Garden Restaurant - Dublin, OH

I'm always looking for new Chinese restaurants in the Columbus area, so I was delighted to hear than an old one had reopened last week by a couple who had run a different restaurant that I used to frequent.

Jessie and Guill joined me at King's Garden Restaurant for lunch today. It's on Sawmill Road, about 1 mile north of the I-270 exit. It's a small place - only about a dozen tables - with no decor in yet another strip mall. Although the new owners were known for their dim sum at their former restaurant (Shangri-La), no dim sum here. But they did carry over their 2 menus - including their menu of real Cantonese dishes (fortunately, in Chinese and English here), as well as their Chinese-American menu.

So many interesting dishes - real Chinese comfort food! We started with Won Ton Noodle Soup and Preserve Egg w/ Pork Congee. Each was a big bowl, plenty for 4 or more to share. Then the Empress Fried Tofu (reminiscent of Pipa Tofu), Beef Stew With Daikon (with chunks of tendon as well as meat), and Eggplant w/ Anchovy Sauce (a nice change from the plebeian eggplant with garlic & ginger sauce).

Each dish had authentic tastes, but will be unusual for those not familiar with real Chinese dishes. And the prices are certainly reasonable. Since Jessie & Guill live nearby, they'll be stopping by for takeout on the way home.

I was very happy to find another authentic Chinese restaurant. The dishes were most like those at Imperial Garden on Hayden Run Road at their weekend lunch buffet (always jammed with Chinese diners). Unfortunately, both King's Garden and Imperial Garden are on the other side of town from me. Nearer me with a real Shanghai menu is Little Dragons on Morse Road just off I-71.

Even in little Columbus, we can get authentic home-style Chinese food. As I've been happy to say, I never have to apologize for the quality of food here in Columbus!

Hairy Melons - Restaurant Style

Last year, I posted a blog on my adventure cooking a hairy melon grown by my friends, Roger & Sherran Blair, from seeds I provided. Well, this year, they grew more, but this time, I took them to one of my favorite restaurants to see how they would prepare them.

On Tuesday night, I dropped off 2 hairy melons with Andrew, owner of Ming Flower in Westerville, OH. He said for the 5 of us who would be eating, the 2 melons would be enough for 2 dishes, and he suggested a soup and a stir-fried dish. I also ordered a few other dishes that I've really enjoyed there, only one of which is on their menu.

Wednesday night, we arrived for dinner with guests Bob and Ann Reves and sat down to the first course: Hairy Melon Soup with Mushrooms and Pork. It was light and delicious. The melon was tender yet with still enough firmness to provide textural interest.

Next course: classic Crispy Skin Chicken. This is one of my all-time favorite Cantonese dishes. The whole chicken is blanched and seasoned, hung to dry for a day, then fried in a large wok of oil. Somewhat like Peking Duck, though fried, not roasted. Still, much too involved to do at home, given the huge wok of hot oil involved in the cooking. When it's done properly, the chicken is moist and juicy -- even the white meat. It's served with fresh lemon and seasoned salt, accompanied by shrimp chips. Ming Flower again did this dish wonderfully. No left overs here.

Then came the remaining courses. Stir-fried Hairy Melon with Pork, Straw Mushrooms, and Carrots -- a stir-fried version of our soup dish. It was a huge platter and again, light and delicious.

Chow Fish Kew -- chunks of fish filets -- with Chinese Broccoli and Ginger. The main components were clearly cooked separately then brought together, for the fish and vegetables were each perfectly cooked. This was the only dish that's on their regular menu.

House Special Pan-fried Noodles. A classic Cantonese dish, but not on Ming Flower's regular menu. The crunchy/soft pan-fried noodles were in a bed under the mixed meat, seafood, and vegetable sauce.

Our wines for the evening: a 2006 Grgich Hills Fumé Blanc and a 2006 Sterling Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay. Both went nicely with the meal.

It was a lot of food for the 5 of us, because each dish was banquet sized -- the equivalent of 2 times a normal order. Despite the quantity, we ate almost all of it because it was all quite delicious and light.

Roger picked up the bill, but I caught a look. It totaled only $63 for the 5 huge dishes! Andrew charged us only $5 each for the two hairy melon dishes -- quite a gift! I asked Roger to tip lavishly.

Ming Flower has become my "go to" restaurant in the Columbus area for Chinese food. Andrew and his son Sam have been incredibly accommodating to my special requests (see my prior blog on Chinese dinners with dietary restrictions), and the food always comes out delicious and interesting. I wonder how I'll challenge them next?

Chinese Pancakes

Moo Shu Pork. Peking Duck. These familiar restaurant dishes are traditionally served encased in thin Chinese crepes.

I recall wonderful dinners in the late 1960s at the home of my parents' friends I-Cheng & Jane Loh. Their cook Wang Sao kept a steady stream of her freshly handmade two-layer pancakes coming out of her kitchen while we, in the dining room, gleefully peeled them apart, filled them with savory stuffings, and greedily consumed them for, it seems, hours at a time. As much as I enjoy cooking, the memories of Wang Sao's unceasing work while we ate kept me from every attempting to make my own Chinese pancakes.

In 2007, when my Mom and I visited her friends in the Chinese suburbs of Toronto, we were taken to a restaurant with Beijing cuisine - my first. I had grown up learning that the food of Beijing, as China's capital, was called "Mandarin" and represented the best of dishes from the various regions of China.  Well this Beijing restaurant's menu was quite an education. The menu was filled with crepe-filled dishes. I concluded that Peking Duck became the most famous of their cuisine's filled pancake dishes.

Mom just reminded me, though, of a scene in Ang Lee's movie Eat Drink Man Woman in which the crepes aren't rolled out, as Wang Sao had made them, but are formed by swirling a lump of dough on a hot griddle. She asked for the clip to share with our foodie friends, so here it is:



The film's cook's skill reminded me of Chinese cooks making hand-pulled noodles - getting 1,000 to 16,000 noodle strands from a single lump of dough. It undoubtedly looks a lot easier to do than it really is!

A Moment in Time

Mine is one of thousands of photos included in the NY Times'  "A Moment in Time" website! Here it is.

In April, the Times asked its readers throughout the world to be ready to snap a picture of what they were doing on Sunday, May 2nd at 11 a.m., EDT and submit it to them for inclusion in this project. I knew I'd be in church and it would be at the end of the 10 a.m. contemporary service I usually attend at Peace Lutheran Church in Gahanna, Ohio. I took a seat in the area I normally do, thinking I'd get a shot of one of our pastors closing the service, along with the band and contemporary choir.

That Sunday, however, we had a guest preacher: Rev. Dr. Kevin Dudley, from the nearby Church at North Pointe, a fairly new congregation he had started. About 20 of us from Peace had attended a service at North Point in January as a way of starting to get our congregations to know each other as a prelude to possibly working together on ministry efforts.

Well, Rev. Dudley's wonderful sermon was more characteristic of the African-American style of worship service and ran a little longer than our usual 10-12 minute sermons, so the service was still running strong at normal 11 a.m. ending time. Pastor Doug Warburger concluded the service with a special prayer involving members laying hands on Rev. Dudley. Rather than joining the group laying hands on, I remained at my seat to take my photo. It was exactly 11:00 a.m. and that's the shot I got from my seat.

The idea of capturing a unique moment in time on earth and showing what thousands of people were doing at precisely the same moment in time is an intriguing one, and certainly one in line with my own practice of being a photo documentarian. That idea has been applied to the many books of photographs entitled "A Day in the Life of [country name]." Having admired those books, I felt that merely taking a beautiful photograph wasn't the point. I wanted to capture something happening just there and then - something that couldn't have occurred a moment after or before, or a day or year after or before. (Indeed, the Times reported they excluded photos that clearly weren't taken at the prescribed time - for example, a daytime photo submitted from China, where it was nighttime.)

Looking at many of the other photos submitted - many of them quite beautiful as photographs - I am pleased that my photo was one of a small percentage of those that captured a unique moment in time. I hope you enjoy the photos on the website.

If you like my photo, I hope you'll take a moment to "Recommend this photo" by clicking on the link at the bottom right of the photos in the Times website. Here's a link to my photo (please be patient - it will take several seconds for the page to load): http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/03/blogs/a-moment-in-time.html?ex=1289707200&en=fe1e232b8fb2e13f&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=NYT-E-I-NYT-E-AT-0519-L1#/4bddcc2e0bca2560ba00068f.

From there, you can surf to other photos by geography (click "Return to globe"), or subject (drop-down list). As the site warns, "Make no plans for the rest of the day" - it's a fascinating site to explore.

Chinese dinner - no gluten, no MSG, no soy, no pork

A Chinese dinner with friends at P.F. Chang's? That was the chilling prospect unless I could come up with an alternative. The challenge: Compose a gluten-free, MSG-free, no pork dinner for 5 in a real Chinese restaurant.

On Thursday, I went to one of my favorite Chinese restaurants near my home - Ming Flower, in Westerville, OH - and consulted with Sam Mark, son of the owner, Andrew. Sam was very knowledgeable about gluten-free diets. No wheat, no soy sauce (there's MSG in most soy sauces, and the "G" in MSG is related to gluten). That eliminated so many dishes! Here's the menu we came up with:

Watercress soup
Crispy skin chicken
Fish fillets in cream of corn sauce
King Du pork chops
Jumbo salt-roasted shrimp
Sauteed pea pod tips with Chinese mushrooms
Yang Chow fried rice

Yes, I know: I said "no pork." Actually, I found out about that restriction on Friday. A quick call and the pork dish was replaced by:

Beef with Chinese broccoli

The dinner was a great success. My guests, Tally & Midge Krumm, Herb & Janice Wolman, and I had a great time.

Here are the dishes - some of which we were so excited by that I forgot to take photos until we had already eaten some.

The watercress in the soup was new to my guests. It was tasty, but proved difficult to eat by them. (I pointed out that in Chinese dining etiquette, one may pick up a large piece of vegetable or meat, bite off a piece, and return the remainder to ones bowl or plate.) Tender, thin chicken fillets substituted for the usual pork in the soup.

The chicken was a big hit. The colorful shrimp chips provided a textural comparison to the crispy chicken skin, contrasting with the delightfully moist chicken meat. A squeeze of lemon and pinch of sauteed seasoned salt provided exciting new tastes for my guests, who understood why this is my favorite Chinese chicken dish - one that's difficult to make at home, since the whole chicken must be fried in a large wok of hot oil as part of the preparation.

The fish fillets in cream of corn sauce was new to even me. I was pleasantly surprised with how tasty it was. The fish, coated in corn starch before frying, was moist and tender, in a nicely chewy crust.

Beef slices were very tender (though Mom would probably object to their being so because of the use of baking soda), and the perfectly cooked Chinese broccoli were nicely crunchy and vibrantly green, providing textural and visual contrast to the beef.

Sam warned me about the shrimp dish: Most Western diners are frightened by whole shrimp with their heads on. Still, I wanted them not only because I enjoy the flavor of the little bit of innards in the shrimp heads (the shrimp equivalent of the tamale in lobster heads), but also because it would provide a good conversation piece. I was right and my guests were good sports about eating them.

The closing vegetable dish provided a comparison to the opening soup, looking so similar, yet tasting so different. Eating the pea pod shoots tips was easier than eating the watercress, since the tips were more tender and by now, my guests were more comfortable using their chopsticks. The reprise of the Chinese mushrooms provided me an opportunity to explain the Chinese belief that any black food in Chinese cuisine is good for you. It's a belief concurred by Dr. Andrew Weil, who also recommends eating deeply colored foods for their anti-oxidant benefits.

The Yang Chow fried rice had bits of beef instead of the usual pork and was light, yet tasty, going along with the lighter flavors of the rest of the meal. I had forgotten to order a dessert, but orange wedges came on the house - perfect after so much else to eat!

Andrew and his staff delivered our dishes one at a time so we could enjoy each one leisurely and consume much of the large volume of delicious food. Even so, I got to take leftovers home that will feed me for a few meals.

Wines are always a challenge for a Chinese dinner. I brought along 3 wines from my cellar.

The 2006 Sterling Reserve Napa Chardonnay and the 2004 Lucien Albrecht Alsace Gewurtztraminer were both very full flavored. The 1998 Keenan Napa Merlot was nicely rounded. They would have gone very well with a more traditional Chinese menu, in which the dishes would have also been more heavily flavored. But with these lighter dishes, the wines - especially the whites - were a little overpowering. A Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris would have matched the food better. Still, we all had a good time and enjoyed the good food, nice wines, and great company. All this, while accommodating dietary restrictions!

Alas, I was feeling so good about the dinner and the delightful evening we all had that I forgot to ask Andrew to take a photo of my guests and me. Well, I guess we'll just have to do it again. But I'll have to challenge Andrew and Sam to come up with another menu within my guests dietary restrictions to stimulate us again with something new.

Year of the Tiger

Few Chinese Horoscope books contain overall prognostications for the year. In my large collection of these books, one of the few that does is the first edition of Theodora Lau's The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes, published in 1979. Unfortunately, in the later editions of this book, her overall predictions for each year have been removed.

To provide my friends with this interesting information, here is Ms. Lau's overall forecast for the Year of the Tiger, plus her predictions for how individuals will fare this year, given the animal that represents their birth year. (To determine what animal you are, see my table of animals for birth dates.)

One of the few online sites I've found with both overall and individual forecasts is WayangTimes (it doesn't provide exact dates for the Chinese years, though).

The predictions are for a raucous year. Never mind. Let's all enjoy the beauty of life, family and friends! You might enjoy seeing my facebook album of the beautiful tiger paintings by famed artist Zhang Shanzi offering 10 New Year's wishes to you and your family for good luck, prestige, prosperity, happiness, safety, contentment, ease, health, longevity, success, and reunion.

The Year of the Tiger

February 14, 2010 - February 2, 2011

This is definitely an explosive year. It usually begins with a bang and ends with a whimper. A year earmarked for war, disagreement and disasters of all kinds. But it will also be a big, bold year. Nothing will be done on a small, timid scale. Everything, good and bad, can and will be carried to extremes. Fortunes can be made and lost. If you take a chance, gamble for high stakes, but understand that the odds are stacked against you.

People will do drastic and dramatic things on the spur of the moment. It is not surprising that Watergate and the drama of Nixon's resignation culminated in the hotheaded year of the Tiger. Tempers will flare all around and it will be a trying time for diplomacy. Like the Tiger, we will tend to charge without thinking and end up regretting our rashness.

Friendships, joint ventures and deals requiring mutual trust and cooperation made at this time are brittle and will be easily broken. However, the forceful and vigorous Tiger year can also be used to inject new life and vitality into lost causes, sinking ventures and drab or failing industries. It will likewise be a time for massive change, for the introduction of new and bold, especially highly controversial, ideas.

The fiery heat of the Tiger's year will no doubt touch everyone's life. In spite of its negative aspects, we must realize that it could have a cleansing effect. just as intense heat is necessary to extract precious metals from their ores, so the Tiger year can bring out the best in us.

Just one brief word of advice for this unpredictable year. "Hang on to your sense of humor and let things sizzle out!"

How you will fare in the Year of the Tiger

Rat: A moderately fair year. This year is unsafe for speculation and the Rat will be involved in some misunderstanding or be forced to take actions that are against his better judgment. He could feel some loneliness or sadness at the death of some family member or close associate. The Rat may also be required to travel more than usual.

Ox: A difficult time. The Ox will meet opposition from many sources but will be able to conquer or persevere through his hardships. He must be patient and not be disappointed if results are not immediately visible. A time for the Ox person to reassess his position. He must not take unnecessary risks or drastic measures during the reign of the Tiger.

Tiger: A moderately good year. The Tiger is lucky in the sense that others will come to his aid when he needs help most. Still, he should not take risks as things may turn against him. He will suffer no major illness or upheavals but may be forced to spend money or be unable to save.

Rabbit: A year in which the Rabbit must be extra careful and diplomatic, as he has the tendency to get drawn into conflicts. Lawsuits or disputes arising from unreasonable demands made upon him are prevalent at this time and it would be best if he is cautious about money or the signing of important documents. Otherwise, he will get by without too much hardship and could make some gains toward the end of the year.

Dragon: A worrying and taxing time. The Dragon's plans are blocked by others and he finds it difficult to achieve desired results without much argument. He has to choose between bitter camps of opposing views and finds it hard to please his associates. Home is disturbed by sad news or the departure of some member.

Snake: A year of small but numerous irritations. The Snake may be easily drawn into conflicts not of his own making and will find it hard to please those who surround him at home or at work. He must keep his sense of humor and not indulge in senseless acts of revenge. This way he will receive the help he seeks and avoid major upheavals.

Horse: A moderately happy year for the Horse. No health problems but a lot of entertainment and additional expenses foreseen. Advancement in his studies or on the technical side of his profession can be expected. Disputes or broken friendships could result from his losing his temper this year.

Sheep: A year of mixed blessings. The Sheep native can retain power but will have to strive hard to keep in step with the opposition. Family life is calm, but trouble with relatives is predicted. His work area will be busy but he has the opportunity to meet new and beneficial contacts.

Monkey: A very unsteady time for the Monkey. He is very vulnerable to the attacks of his enemies and may be forced to flee, travel, work for others or borrow money at high interest. People tend to take advantage of his weak position. He must remain patient and lie low. A year for him to consolidate his resources and refrain from embarking on new ventures.

Rooster: An eventful year. The Rooster is lucky with money and his business ventures could produce very fruitful results. Some worries at home, but his general plans go according to schedule. Still he should be careful this year as things tend to happen too fast for proper assessment. He must not be overoptimistic.

Dog: A moderately happy year. No serious disputes at home or office. Some romantic squabbles predicted but they will do no permanent damage. The Dog's net results this year will be mixed and he will be confused by conflicting reports. Friends and family will make too many demands on his time.

Boar: A tough and trying year. The Boar will encounter difficulties that he may have to face alone. A difficult time for him to borrow money or get back money due him. He may have many unexpected expenses or be forced to pay fines, legal fees or extra taxes. He must be very careful of trusting his associates at this time and attend to important affairs himself.

Chinese Zodiac / Horoscope Dates

Chinese horoscopes are determined by one's birth date, according to the lunar calendar. Here's a table 12 Chinese zodiacal animals and the birth dates they represent.

ANIMAL  START DATE - END DATE

Rat     01/31/1900 - 02/18/1901

Ox      02/19/1901 - 02/07/1902

Tiger   02/08/1902 - 01/28/1903

Rabbit  01/29/1903 - 02/15/1904

Dragon  02/16/1904 - 02/03/1905

Snake   02/04/1905 - 01/24/1906

Horse   01/25/1906 - 02/12/1907

Sheep   02/13/1907 - 02/01/1908

Monkey  02/02/1908 - 01/21/1909

Rooster 01/22/1909 - 02/09/1910

Dog     02/10/1910 - 01/29/1911

Boar    01/30/1911 - 02/17/1912

Rat     02/18/1912 - 02/05/1913

Ox      02/06/1913 - 01/25/1914

Tiger   01/26/1914 - 02/13/1915

Rabbit  02/14/1915 - 02/02/1916

Dragon  02/03/1916 - 01/22/1917

Snake   01/23/1917 - 02/10/1918

Horse   02/11/1918 - 01/31/1919

Sheep   02/01/1919 - 02/19/1920

Monkey  02/20/1920 - 02/07/1921

Rooster 02/08/1921 - 01/27/1922

Dog     01/28/1922 - 02/15/1923

Boar    02/16/1923 - 02/04/1924

Rat     02/05/1924 - 01/24/1925

Ox      01/25/1925 - 02/12/1926

Tiger   02/13/1926 - 02/01/1927

Rabbit  02/02/1927 - 01/22/1928

Dragon  01/23/1928 - 02/09/1929

Snake   02/10/1929 - 01/29/1930

Horse   01/30/1930 - 02/16/1931

Sheep   02/17/1931 - 02/05/1932

Monkey  02/06/1932 - 01/25/1933

Rooster 01/26/1933 - 02/13/1934

Dog     02/14/1934 - 02/03/1935

Boar    02/04/1935 - 01/23/1936

Rat     01/24/1936 - 02/10/1937

Ox      02/11/1937 - 01/30/1938

Tiger   01/31/1938 - 02/18/1939

Rabbit  02/19/1939 - 02/07/1940

Dragon  02/08/1940 - 01/26/1941

Snake   01/27/1941 - 02/14/1942

Horse   02/15/1942 - 02/04/1943

Sheep   02/05/1943 - 01/24/1944

Monkey  01/25/1944 - 02/12/1945

Rooster 02/13/1945 - 02/01/1946

Dog     02/02/1946 - 01/21/1947

Boar    01/22/1947 - 02/09/1948

Rat     02/10/1948 - 01/28/1949

Ox      01/29/1949 - 02/16/1950

Tiger   02/17/1950 - 02/05/1951

Rabbit  02/06/1951 - 01/26/1952

Dragon  01/27/1952 - 02/13/1953

Snake   02/14/1953 - 02/02/1954

Horse   02/03/1954 - 01/23/1955

Sheep   01/24/1955 - 02/11/1956

Monkey  02/12/1956 - 01/30/1957

Rooster 01/31/1957 - 02/17/1958

Dog     02/18/1958 - 02/07/1959

Boar    02/08/1959 - 01/27/1960

Rat     01/28/1960 - 02/14/1961

Ox      02/15/1961 - 02/04/1962

Tiger   02/05/1962 - 01/24/1963

Rabbit  01/25/1963 - 02/12/1964

Dragon  02/13/1964 - 02/01/1965

Snake   02/02/1965 - 02/20/1966

Horse   02/21/1966 - 02/08/1967

Sheep   02/09/1967 - 01/29/1968

Monkey  01/30/1968 - 02/16/1969

Rooster 02/17/1969 - 02/05/1970

Dog     02/06/1970 - 01/26/1971

Boar    01/27/1971 - 02/15/1972

Rat     02/16/1972 - 02/02/1973

Ox      02/03/1973 - 01/22/1974

Tiger   01/23/1974 - 02/10/1975

Rabbit  02/11/1975 - 01/30/1976

Dragon  01/31/1976 - 02/17/1977

Snake   02/18/1977 - 02/06/1978

Horse   02/07/1978 - 01/27/1979

Sheep   01/28/1979 - 02/15/1980

Monkey  02/16/1980 - 02/04/1981

Rooster 02/05/1981 - 01/24/1982

Dog     01/25/1982 - 02/12/1983

Boar    02/13/1983 - 02/01/1984

Rat     02/02/1984 - 02/19/1985

Ox      02/20/1985 - 02/08/1986

Tiger   02/09/1986 - 01/28/1987

Rabbit  01/29/1987 - 02/16/1988

Dragon  02/17/1988 - 02/05/1989

Snake   02/06/1989 - 01/26/1990

Horse   01/27/1990 - 02/14/1991

Sheep   02/15/1991 - 02/03/1992

Monkey  02/04/1992 - 01/22/1993

Rooster 01/23/1993 - 02/09/1994

Dog     02/10/1994 - 01/30/1995

Boar    01/31/1995 - 02/18/1996

Rat     02/19/1996 - 02/06/1997

Ox      02/07/1997 - 01/27/1998

Tiger   01/28/1998 - 02/15/1999

Rabbit  02/16/1999 - 02/04/2000

Dragon  02/05/2000 - 01/23/2001

Snake   01/24/2001 - 02/11/2002

Horse   02/12/2002 - 01/31/2003

Sheep   02/01/2003 - 01/21/2004

Monkey  01/22/2004 - 02/08/2005

Rooster 02/09/2005 - 01/28/2006

Dog     01/29/2006 - 02/17/2007

Boar    02/18/2007 - 02/06/2008

Rat     02/07/2008 - 01/25/2009

Ox      01/26/2009 - 02/13/2010

Tiger   02/14/2010 - 02/02/2011

Rabbit  02/03/2011 - 01/22/2012

Dragon  01/23/2012 - 02/09/2013

Snake   02/10/2013 - 01/30/2014

Horse   01/31/2014 - 02/18/2015

Sheep   02/19/2015 - 02/07/2016

Monkey  02/08/2016 - 01/27/2017

Rooster 01/28/2017 - 02/15/2018

Dog     02/16/2018 - 02/04/2019