When I was a small child, I was lucky enough to be poor. So, we ate a lot of fresh vegetables from our garden, fruit from trees in the back yard, eggs from the chicken coop, fish from the freezer that Dad had caught in a stream, meat from hunting trips and dairy from a church friend’s cows. But when it was a very special occasion, like my mother’s birthday or Christmas eve, we went out for Chinese food. The only other ‘restaurant’ I recall going to as a child was the Froster Freeze for milkshakes after church on a Sunday night.
Sadly, when we moved from California back to Prescott, Arizona where I was born, we lost access to any Chinese restaurants. To try to cheer her up, my Aunt Gertie bought Mother a Chinese cook book called ‘The House of Chan’ by Sou Chan published in 1952. My mother hated to cook, but she loved Chinese food. Yet the only dish Mother ever tried, was pork fried rice.
Only one item challenged her. What in the world were ‘scallions’ and where could she get them? With me in tow, Mother walked to the local grocery store and handed the owner the sheet of paper she wrote the strange word ‘scallions’ upon. “I’m making Chinese food and I need this. Do you got any?” He simply shook his head no and handed the paper back to her. On our way out the door he called out to her and said “Mrs. Gregory, I heard there was a new grocer that has opened up across town with all kinds of crazy foreigner stuff, so you might check there. It’s called the Farm Basket or the Full Basket, Basket something.” Mother thanked him and all the way home she pondered how she might get a ride to this Basket place across town. Eventually she called the only ‘foreigner’ she knew, her friend Millie who was from Canada. When she explained her problem, Millie knew immediately what store she was talking about and drove over to pick us up for the big adventure.
The moment we walked in the door it smelt like fish and the walls were full of unusual boxes and jars of things I couldn’t pronounce. This was before any ‘ethnic’ products were readily available from the local markets in Prescott. Mother walked up to the cashier and explained she was preparing Chinese food and she needed this ingredient, again showing her paper. The cashier screwed up her face as if to say, ‘Lady, I have no idea what you are talking about’, and she turned toward the back of the store and yelled, “Al, up front”.
An older man in a large white apron soon came up front and wiped his hands on his apron as he asked how he could help. The cashier pointed to my mother who once again extended her piece of paper. The man looked over the top of his glasses and then said, “Yes mam, green onions are in the produce department. Let me show you.” As he turned to lead us to produce, Mother yelled after him, “No, you don’t understand I’m making Pork Fried Rice and I need this Chinese thing.”
Al just kept walking and so we had no choice but to follow him. He picked up a bunch of green onions and handed them to Mother. She had a puzzled look on her face and started to argue, but before she could get a word out, he interrupted her. “Scallions mam, also called green onions around here. Anything else I can help you with?”
Mother eventually mastered the dish and never ventured beyond it. The relic of a cookbook and the recipe became a staple in my own home once I married. With slight variations it remained the very tasty, and not so healthy dish my mother had made.
Fast forward to today and our desire to live healthier and eat a WFPB diet. I’ve included my current version {Here} as well as some options for variety. It is now both tasty and good for us. It might give you some ideas for ‘cleaning up’ one of your favorite family traditional meals. As Dr. Montgomery suggests, it’s frequently the recipes we inherit that are as important as the genetics!
“Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves… doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then, you do now.” (1 Peter 1:14-15 TM)
“It’s not the diseases that are hereditary, it’s the recipes!” (Baxter D. Montgomery, MD – The Food Prescription for Better Health)
“It’s often more effective to control your options than to self-control your choices.” (Dan Buettner, (Author of The Blue Zones) – Instagram Post)
Yours for a Joyful Journey,
Joyice