Friday, February 16, 2007

Dumpling Connections

Everywhere in Boston, potstickers (guotie) are called "Peking Ravioli." I always thought this was kind of funny and cute, and certainly ate plenty of them as late-night procrastination at the Kong. Now, I have discovered, via Wikipedia, that this term was actually coined in Cambridge, at the Joyce Chen Restaurant. I had no idea that the Julia Child of Chinese cooking was based in Cambridge, or that she made up goofy americanized names for appetizers. I wonder if she was also behind the profusion of scallion pancakes in the Boston area (nearly impossible to find in California) and sincerely hope she had nothing to do with Crab Rangoon...

For the uninitiated, Crab Rangoon are the un-kosher combination of crab (or imitation crab meat) and cream cheese in a deep fried wonton wrapper dipped in a watery plum sauce. Truly disgusting, and yet strangely appealing after an entire scorpion bowl....

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