Among our family inventions: Mu Shu Pork and a Reversible Griddle

My parents weren’t the only ones in our family who made a contribution to the culinary industry during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Mom’s brother, Teddy, and his wife Emily owned the tremendously successful Mandarin House in New York City which was frequented by the NYC social elite.

What is not widely known is that Emily is credited for introducing Mu Shu Pork to the United States. She was also an inventor and one of her patented products was the Reversible Griddle, which received its patent in 1969.

Among its merits, as cited by the U.S. Patents Office: “A reversible multiple cooking oven, steamer, grill and griddle providing two cooking surfaces on opposite faces and in combination with a cover wherein the outer periphery of the utensil is concave and one of the cooking surfaces is raised, there being provided a trough between the raised surface and the inner side of the concave periphery. By so having a point along the inner surface of the upper edge of the concave periphery in parallel vertical alignment with a point along the outer surface of the lower edge of the concave periphery, a single cover may be employed for either of the two cooking surfaces.”

The next time you order Mu Shu Pork or use a reversible griddle, please thank my Aunt Emily!

Emily Kwoh (back row, left) next to her sisters-in-law Grace (back row right), Edie, Bertha, Daisy (front row, l-r)