Cooking corner: Chinese food in Las Vegas

David W. Cowles

guest columnist

Today, most every Las Vegas hotel/casino features one or more gourmet food palaces owned by celebrity chefs; beautifully appointed restaurants, where, for a steep price, indifferent, condescending and often surly waiters serve you small portions of beautifully plated but otherwise forgettable food.

It’s a masochist’s dream!

Ah, but I remember the good ol’ days in Vegas, when the Mob was still in control. When I first moved there in the mid-1970s, hearty, low-cost food was a major attraction, designed to pull people into the casinos.

The theory was simple: What you saved on your meal, you’d be sure to lose at the tables or in the slots afterwards — and probably much more.

For $10 or less, you could enjoy a dinner show with entertainment by top stars of the day, such as Wayne Newton, Robert Goulet and Liberace. The menu was limited but had universal appeal: Your choice of prime rib, New York steak or lobster tail, complete with a large salad, baked potato, vegetable and dessert.

Then there were the fabulous all-you-can-eat chuck wagon buffets: $1.99 for breakfast, $2.99 for lunch, $3.99 for dinner. Oh, how I loved the spectacular, lavish Sunday champagne brunches at Caesars, Sands and Bally’s!

Truly, those were the good ol’ days.

Of course, don’t forget the graveyard specials. Breakfast of a thick, full center slice of bone-in ham, three eggs, hashbrowns and toast for 99 cents; or, a T-bone steak dinner with all the trimmings for $2.99.

Best of all, in my opinion, was the great Chinese food served in casino coffee shops (of all places). My favorites were the Barbary Coast and Gold Coast. We held our company’s Christmas parties in a back room at the Gold Coast, in comfortable booths that would seat as many as 20 people.

Each coffee shop had two full but separate kitchens: one for American food, the other for Chinese.

It was widely rumored that the Chinese chefs were in the country illegally, smuggled here inside large, wooden packing crates.

The food was said to be quite authentic, even though it was considerably tailored for American tastes.

Since moving to Gig Harbor, I’ve tried to find a restaurant with equally good Cantonese-style Chinese food, to no avail. On a scale of one to 10, I’d rate the Gold Coast food a full 10.

Chinese restaurants in Gig Harbor and Tacoma come in around three or four, probably because most of them aren’t run by Chinese, but by other Asian ethnicities — Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai, etc.

On occasion, I’ve dined at a pricey quasi-pseudo-Chinese restaurant at the Bellevue Mall, part of a large, well-known chain. On my last visit, the food was mediocre — undoubtedly cooked by rote from a company-mandated recipe by inexperienced non-Chinese line cooks.

I decided to scratch that place off my list, permanently.

It’s easier to make delicious Chinese food at home than most meals. The down side is there’s a lot of preparation before cooking — cutting, chopping, readying sauces, etc.

Afterward, I always wind up with at least two dishwasher loads of pots, pans, bowls and utensils, in addition to the dinnerware.

And that’s just for one or two entree dishes and soup!

You’ll find that Chinese food is very inexpensive when made at home, and it’s not much more work to prepare enough to serve a large crowd than it is to feed just a few mouths.

The following two recipes, together with steamed rice and fortune cookies (available in most supermarkets), constitute a satisfying meal for three or four people.

Double the recipes to serve more, but don’t plan for leftovers. Chinese food doesn’t reheat well.

In a future column, I’ll give you a few more of my Chinese recipes.

Sihk faahn (bon appetit)!

EGG DROP SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon corn starch

Few drops yellow food coloring

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons cooked chicken, shredded (optional)

1 tablespoon minced water chestnuts (optional)

2 scallions, cut into 1/4 inch slices (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS

Put cold or room-temperature chicken broth in a medium-sized pan. Add the corn starch.

Using a wire whip, mix the corn starch with the chicken broth, making sure there are no lumps.

Add the food coloring, cooked chicken and water chestnuts.

Heat over a low burner, stirring occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens slightly.

Drizzle the beaten egg into the soup. Don’t stir until the egg cooks and sets up; just a minute or so.

Serve immediately. Garnish each cup with a teaspoon of the scallions.

Note: Costco, Trader Joe’s and many supermarkets carry 32-ounce boxes of chicken broth. Manischewitz clear chicken broth (in cans) is OK, but many other brands of canned chicken broth are unpalatable.

Better yet, make chicken broth from scratch using backs and necks cooked for hours with water, a little salt, and the soup trilogy: onions, carrots and celery. Strain after cooking, discarding the chicken remnants and vegetables. Refrigerate or freeze until needed.

SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS: THE CHICKEN

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch squares

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons water

flour, for dredging cooking oil (peanut is traditional; I prefer canola)

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, use a wire whip to beat the eggs, soy sauce and water.

Place 1/4 inch cooking oil in a large frying pan over a medium burner.

Dredge the chicken squares in the flour. Then, dip them briefly in the egg mixture and dredge them again in the flour.

Fry the chicken in batches until golden brown (about 2-3 minutes), turning occasionally.

Drain on a paper towel-covered plate and set aside.

INGREDIENTS: THE VEGETABLES

1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

1 small sweet onion, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 stalks celery, diagonally cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 can sliced water chestnuts (optional)

Cooking oil

DIRECTIONS

Pour out and discard the oil used to fry the chicken.

Rinse the frying pan in hot water and wipe it dry with a paper towel.

Put a small amount of fresh cooking oil into the pan and return it to medium heat.

Add the red and green bell peppers, onions, celery and (optional) water chestnuts. Stir frequently.

The objective is to cook the vegetables slightly, but not so much that they lose their crispness or color. It takes only a couple of minutes — don’t overcook!

SWEET & SOUR SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup white (distilled) vinegar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (optional)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Few drops red food coloring

1/2 cup canned pineapple chunks, drained

DIRECTIONS

In a small sauce pan, use a wire whip to mix the sauce ingredients (except pineapple), making sure there are no lumps of corn starch.

When you start cooking the vegetables, place the sauce pan over low heat.

Stir frequently until the sauce thickens. Then, add the pineapple chunks and turn the heat down to simmer — or off entirely.

FINAL ASSEMBLY

Transfer the vegetables to a large serving dish. Return the cooked chicken to the frying pan.

Stir for a minute or so, just until the chicken is thoroughly heated and the crust is crisp.

Transfer the chicken to the serving dish and mix with the vegetables. Cover with the sweet and sour sauce. Stir or not — it’s your choice.

If desired, sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Serve immediately.

NOTE: Substitute 1-inch cubes of pork loin for the chicken to make sweet and sour pork, or 1-inch slices of large prawns for sweet & sour shrimp.

Reach David W. Cowles, the Fastest Chef in the West, at dwcowles-gateway@comcast.net.