BEEF TOMATO RICE

Today I went to China Town to one of my favorite Chinese Resturants. Tai Tung has been a mainstay in the city of Seattle for many years and has many loyal customers. The same waiters have been there since the first time I walked in the door about 16 years ago. When you first walk in and sit at the counter you tell the waiter what you want. He goes to the kitchen and tells the cook and comes back with a bowl of Cabbage Soup. Sometimes the soup d'jour will be hot and sour egg drop soup. Then comes a pot of tea, a small cup and water. I usually put a little pepper in the soup and eat it with the small porcealine Chinese-style spoon. Next I'll pour a cup of tea. By that time the entre arrives.

I have tried many different dishes over the years but most of the time I have either French Mushroom Chow Mein with Soft Noodles and Pork or Beef Tomato Rice, which is what I had today. The waiter told me today that this is the dish Bill Gates has whenever he comes there. I have even asked for the recipe of this dish, which one of the waiters gladly gave me a couple years ago. When I tried to make it at home it wasn't the same. The tomato sauce is made with chicken stock and catsup. The catsup gives the dish a subtle tangy flavor that I like. I usually start out by using the chopsticks to pick up the beef strips and dipping them in the hot Chinese mustard before I bring it to my mouth. I alternate this with bites of onion, tomato wedges and rice. When I'm down to the sauce and the rest of the rice I pick up the fork and run it through the sauce and into the rice. I pause after each bite to savor the combination of flavors. The trick is to conserve the sauce so that the last bite has the sauce and the rice in it. When the waiter sees that you are just about finished he will give you the bill along with a fortune cookie, sometimes 2. At this time I usually pour another cup of tea from the metal teapot and open the fortune cookie and read the message on the strip of paper inside then eat the cookie and sip more tea. After a couple more cups of tea I get up and leave. Sometimes I will get a few Seasame Balls to go if I feel like something sweet on the way home.