During the Han Dynasty of China (206 to 220 B.C.), the slave Ah Yi won the trust and admiration of his emperor with his cooking skills, and eventually rose to the position of prime minister.
Ancient China's aristocracy valued delicious cooking and entertained with lavish banquets. During this era, dishes flavored with fruits and nuts were known as "imperial food."
The best cooks used fruits and nuts to perk up their fowl, beef, and seafood.
Numerous Chinese dynasties left their telltale marks on many of the dishes the world knows today, such as Mandarin and Sichuan flavors.
Modern Chinese cuisine is geared to allow simultaneous preparation of a number of elegant foods. Skilled Chinese cooks also know how to keep vegetables at just the right crispness.
This recipe combines the fruit flavor of pineapple and the texture of nuts with fresh vegetables and plump prawns.
Quick pineapple cashew shrimp
1 large bag frozen jumbo shrimp
1 cup fresh cauliflower pieces
1 cup fresh baby carrots
2 cups pineapple
1/2 cup cashews
2 cups fresh snow peas
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 half-stick (4 tablespoons) butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine the oil and butter in a wok or deep skillet. Add the cauliflower, carrots, salt and pepper and cook on high heat for 15 minutes or until vegetables are semi-soft.
Add the shrimp, snow peas, cashews and pineapple. Cook another ten minutes, tossing with two wooden or nylon spoons.
Serve over a bed of cooked long-grain rice as a single-plate meal, or alongside bread. Serves four.