Offering kosher Chinese foods
proves popular with area diners
By:Beth Kressel
Eight years ago, Chao Lin, 33, knew nothing about Manville, about kosher Chinese food, or about raising a family of three.
Back then, he was a student at a cooking school in southern China. And now Mr. Lin is as Manville as they come. He is a father, resident and businessman who owns Lin’s Kosher Chinese Kitchen on South Main Street.
The restaurant owner and chef first came to the United States in 1995 "for better living and more freedom," he said. Kosher Chinese food became his livelihood when he started working as chef at a kosher Chinese restaurant in Elizabeth in 1995.
He says that his menu differs little from nonkosher Chinese eateries except for the absence of shellfish and pork, meat that observant Jews do not eat.
His right-hand man is Yosi Baskin, a "moshgiach" who makes sure the food preparation is up to the standards of the Organized Kashris Labs in New York City.
"It’s in a central location," said Mr. Lin of his decision to open shop in Manville. "Jewish people commute from Hillsborough, Somerville and Bridgewater through this area. There is only one main street in Manville and it has a lot of traffic."
Mr. Lin, who prepared his first dish, a chicken and broccoli meal, as a 13-year-old for his family in China, adds that 20 percent of his customers are local people looking for a good Chinese restaurant; not necessarily a kosher one.
He prides himself on the freshness of his ingredients.
"We don’t use MSG because we don’t like it," he said. "We only use fresh ingredients and don’t need MSG."
Mr. Baskin agrees, noting that restaurant food is cooked in soybean oil because it’s a "premium" ingredient.
"We’re the right place to go if a person has food sensitivities," he said. "When people ask if we use peanut oil, nuts or eggs, we know and can tell them."
Mr. Lin recently planted a small scallion garden, in what Mr. Baskin calls "a postage-stamp sized backyard" behind the restaurant. The homegrown scallions are used in many of the restaurant’s dishes.
This summer, Mr. Lin worked with Mr. Baskin to create a trial summer menu that features an assortment of fish and vegetable dishes.
Mr. Lin lives with his wife and two children in Manville. A third child is expected any day now.