How Do You Say ‘Bam!’ In Chinese? —

Move Over Emeril, Norma Chang Also Cooks For Fun

By Dottie Evans

Local residents looking to infuse an Asian flavor into their home cooking turned out in enthusiastic numbers on February 11 at the Booth Library to hear Traveling Gourmet Norma Chang speak about a “Do-Ahead Chinese Party,” and to sample her dishes that were prepared in the Public Meeting Room, right before their eyes.

When the 90 minutes was up, attendees not only went home with copies of her recipes, they were relaxed and warmed by her friendly sociability, as the renowned author and chef chatted informally about everything from (wonton) soup to (pine) nuts.

Whether she was talking about pre-freezing the steam pearl balls or using peanut butter instead of tahini in the sesame noodles, it was Ms Chang’s good-nature and common sense seasoned with ancient wisdom that won them over every time.

Audience members listened intently and laughed often, while penciling notes in the margins of their Xeroxed recipes. Several enjoyed perusing the well-thumbed copies of Ms Chang’s cookbooks that she had brought along for the demonstration.

 Known as the “Traveling Gourmet” because she frequently takes her cooking show on the road, Norma Chang lives in Wappinger Falls, N.Y., and has written and self-published two classroom-tested recipe cookbooks titled, My Students’ Favorite Chinese Recipes, and Wokking Your Way To Low Fat Cooking.

She showed her guests how to prepare several of the recipes included in the books, such as Turkey Pearl Balls, Lotus Root Salad, and Fried Wontons, and also gave them plenty of hints about short-cuts and ways to save time if they planned to prepare party food ahead of time.

“I will not say to you, this is how it must be done. Everything is flexible. Even using a different pot can make a difference in how a recipe turns out,” Ms Chang said in defense of her free-wheeling style that makes the best of whatever comes, whether it be absent ingredients or sub-standard cooking implements.

The following is a sampling of her advice liberally sprinkled throughout the demonstration.

“Cooking temperatures can vary –– but not when you are deep-frying. If your oil isn’t hot enough, the food will taste greasy.”

“Vinegar turns green vegetables a yucky green color.”

“When you are doing IQF (Individual Quick Frozen) freezer preparation, be sure to cover the items with plastic or they will get freezer burn.”

“But be careful with putting wax paper over hot food. It gets moist and shreds and you find yourself picking the little wax paper bits off your wontons, and you will not be a happy person.”

“Leftover spaghetti is not left over. It’s pre-cooked,” drew the biggest laugh. This message was for the mothers in the audience who had offered their families servings of reheated, day-old spaghetti and then suffered the inevitable complaints.

“When you buy gingerroot in the store, it’s really OK to break off just what you need,” Ms Change said, and she went on to explain her ingenious solution to always knowing where the ginger is.

“I slice it and put it in a glass jar covered with sherry wine. Then I have ginger when I want it and I have sherry wine when I want it, and if the wine is gone before the ginger, I can always add more.”

“Label your sauces,” Ms Chang warned, as she held up an unmarked bottle of a chunky, reddish mixture. She had learned the hard way when she found herself unable to identify something she had made ahead of time, stored in the refrigerator for use during her party.

“When I pulled it out, I had no idea what it was for. Even tasting it didn’t help. So whatever I had intended to do, it wasn’t going to happen,” she admitted, laughing along with audience members who understood only too well.

Ms Chang believes that even near-disasters can be overcome with a little invention. This was demonstrated as she struggled to separate frozen wonton wrappers over the countertop fry pan that she was using for the demonstration.

Having pre-frozen the wonton squares when an earlier Booth Library cooking program had been cancelled due to snow, she had forgotten to take them out of the freezer so they would be thawed and pliable in time for Wednesday’s show.

“These things happen. We are human, so we make mistakes,” she commented as she donned a pair of plastic gloves and forcibly pried apart the noodles one by one, then dropped them into the hot grease.

A little ancient Chinese common sense was perhaps the most important ingredient Ms Chang was serving up.