Taste, To Go: Chinese

Menu: Lettuce Wraps with Pork • Sautéed Prawns with Sweet and Sour Orange Sauce • Fortune Cookies

Chinese cooking cuts across all borders and cultures. Asian restaurants cook ingredients that are in season and maintain high standards by preparing food to order on wok-charring flames, ensuring freshness and traditional dishes that travel well. They are almost always open for business, even on statutory holidays. Many Chinese restaurants are a family business, appealing to consumers in this age of indifference and absenteeism. Best of all, Chinese food is excellent value for your money

How To Order: Order one dish per person and one for the table. A Chinese menu can be overwhelming with its myriad of options. If you’re ordering for a crowd, you should consider 1 1/2 or double orders of your favourite dishes.

TIP: Ask for extra steamed rice, sauces and chopsticks. Choose vegetables and entrées that are not deep-fried. Request sesame seeds — they’re complimentary and finish a dish.

How to make it your own

Lettuce Wraps with Pork

Order extra hoisin sauce and use your own lettuce. Even the freshest cups may wilt, so it is best to prepare your own.

Take a head of crisp iceberg or butter lettuce, core removed and leaves separate, and tear into approximately 4-inch cups. Just before guests arrive, arrange lettuce cups and hoisin in a bamboo steamer lid and refrigerate.

Tell your guests to layer with hoisin sauce to taste on top of the lettuce and cover with approximately 2 tablespoons of pork (there should be enough room to fold the lettuce over the pork). Garnish with chopped roasted peanuts and a wedge of lime.

Sautéed Prawns

Order sautéed prawns and serve them with the following sauce on the side.

Sweet and Sour Orange Sauce

• 1 cup marmalade
• 4 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 4 Tbsp. rice vinegar

Mix ingredients in a small bowl. Sweet and sour sauce can be refrigerated up to 2 weeks after preparing.

Fortune Cookies

Dip half of each fortune cookie in melted dark or white chocolate. Let excess chocolate drip back into bowl. Place on wire rack over waxed paper to cool.

When to serve it

For casual or family dinners with kids — especially when time is short.

How to serve it

Remove Chinese dishes from foil containers and place food in different sizes of bamboo steamers lined with a plate or foil. (You can use both the base and the lid.) You can also showcase the takeout in woks. For serving utensils, use tongs.

What to serve with it

Choose a floral jasmine tea in the summer or a robust Iron Buddha in the winter.

Wine matches to try

Dr. Loosen 2008 Dr. L Riesling, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

Melini Chianti 2008 Pian del Masso, Tuscany, Italy