Ginger

Serve over freshly steamed rice and garnish with chopped green onions.

Here we've adapted the classic Chinese dish "squab in jade," in which the meat is minced, stir-fried, and served in "cups" of lettuce.

This fragrant stew is great over couscous.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This was inspired by a similar dish served at the now defunct China Moon restaurant in San Francisco. Serve the salsa with a bowl of Parmesan Pita Crisps.

This is a coleslaw-style salad — its sweet, spicy, and crunchy elements make it a terrific accompaniment to anything fried. Sichuan peppercorns, sometimes called fagara, can be found at many Asian markets (though they're technically banned from import because they come from a plant that is susceptible to citrus canker, a disease that devastates citrus orchards). There's no substitute for their flavor, but if you can't find them, the recipe works perfectly well without them.

Cook and refrigerate the rice ahead of time. This meal needs only a bottle of Chardonnay.

To roll out this dough you will need a pastry cloth and a rolling-pin cover, which are available at kitchenware stores and by mail order from Bridge Kitchenware, tel. (800) 274-3435 or (212) 838-1901.

In Chinese culture, noodles symbolize longevity and are often served at New Year celebrations and traditionally left very long.

Each year, some fifteen thousand Iowans enter nearly fifty thousand things in competitions at the State Fair. Categories range from draft horses and monster trucks to quilts and corn-cob mosaics. Of course there are pies and cakes, breads and biscuits, jellies and preserves, plus contests for the ugliest cake, the most creative dough sculpture, and things you can do with breakfast cereal. In 1994 Emma Whitlock of Indianola took first prize in the "Let's Cook Healthy! Iowa Pork" category. Although this isn't a traditional Fair version of pork tenderloins, it's a simple way to give them a sweet twist.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.