EAST-WEST TRADE: Cuttlefish, Anyone?

Ever since President Nixon lifted the embargo on Chinese imports last month, Americans have wondered precisely what tempting goods the People’s Republic could offer. Part of the answer arrived last week in San Francisco: 11,350 pounds of tinned and packaged delicacies imported by Wo Kee & Co.—the first commercial shipment from the mainland allowed in the U.S. for 21 years. Sample goodies: fried longtailed anchovies, lotus paste, red date soup, bitter melon, spiced grapefruit skin, sauce of cuttlefish, dried dace (a fish), and a candy called white rabbit rolls.

Actually, reports Wo Kee’s Manager Bruce Jang, these are mere staples compared with what he intends to import.

“Next time I’m planning to get exotic,” he says. “Things like canned rice birds —they’re sort of like squab—and white fungus and the interior of bamboo shoots.” M-m-m good. Is Chung-King worried?