In the long hot months of the summer, there are few things more pleasurable to serve for dinner than a cold dish. Actually I love Chinese cold dishes. I have always found the taste of food chilled overnight to be especially tasty.
Even when I was a little girl I would sneak midnight snacks from leftovers in the fridge: a cold soy sauce chicken wing, an icy wine flavored shrimp, a cool knob of fatty pork. YUM! Literally finger licking good! My grandma used to always yell at me for this habit of eating straight out of the fridge. 'No, no, that's not the Chinese way!' she would say, exasperated and confused by my strange behavior.
I guess what she meant was that Chinese food was meant to be eaten hot (and at a table!). Which Chinese food is most of the time and properly so too. Chinese cuisine is based on things like 'breath of the wok' after all. But luckily there are many Chinese foods which are meant to be eaten cold, like this delicious and very easy to make Chinese Chilled Crab with Vinegar Dip, or 凍花蟹. It's the perfect seafood dish to serve on a hot summer's night!
