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The oyster pail, Chinese food box or Chinese takeout container is a folded paperboard container, traditionally with a wire handle (the wire handle has become less common in recent years because metal shouldn't be used in the microwave ovens often used for reheating the food), serving as a portable container for hot or cold prepared Chinese food, and most often used to bring home take-out food from a restaurant.
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Uses
The container has the advantage of being inexpensive, durable and fairly leakproof. The top usually includes a tab so that they are self-closing. The folded construction also allows for some escape of steam from hot food. If care is used to remove the flaps, and the sides are unfolded, the container can also double as a plate. It is almost only used in American Chinese cuisine - it is practically unknown even in Canadian Chinese cuisine[1].
History
The paperboard oyster pail was developed in the early 20th century at a time when fresh oysters were more popular, more plentiful, and less expensive than they are at present.[citation needed] Since shucking oysters (removing the raw meat from the shell) takes some amount of skill and can be difficult and dangerous, it was common to have the oyster seller open the oysters so they could be taken home for use in cooked dishes. The oyster pail provided an inexpensive and sanitary way to accomplish this. In the early 20th century oyster pails were also used to hold honey.[2] However, in the mid-20th century, overfishing (and the subsequent rise in price) of oysters left manufacturers with a significant number of unsold oyster pails.
However, after World War II, there was a huge increase in the United States in interest in prepared foods that could be purchased from restaurants and heated or finished at home. Chinese food proved to be a popular choice, since it was tasty, unusual, fairly inexpensive and traveled well. The oyster pail was quickly adopted for "Chinese take-out." The paperboard pails were to some extent self-insulating and could be used for a wide variety of foods: cooked rice, moist dishes such as egg foo young and sauced dishes – though generally unsuitable for hot highly liquid dishes such as soups. Today, the majority of oyster pails are manufactured by Fold-Pak.
Sizes
In the United States oyster pails are now available in standard sizes and can also serve as self-measuring containers, so that many take-out foods are sold in pints and quarts and packed into pails of the appropriate size.
See also
References
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