My interest in Chinese food started years a90, when l was a young reporter for the Washington Post. Our office wasn't far from Chinatown, where I found some very good Chinese restaurants. The first time I ever ate Chinese food I loved it. I noticed the fresh taste of the meat and vegetables. When I learned more about the food, I began to understand why it has this special feature. Many years ago, China had an energy crisis because it lost much of its wood due to over population and poor management of its forests. This loss was very bad for the country, of course, but it turned out to be very good for the food. Wood became very expensive and hard to get,so the Chinese had to either find a substitute for their valuable wood,or learn how to use it better. There weren't any substitutes so people found ways to economize. In order to economize in cookin9, they had to use very little wood. So they started cutting their meat and vegetables into small pieces before they put them in the hot oil.That way,the food cooked faster and they saved their fuel. The food prepared in this way kept its fresh flavorand it's this flavor that attracts people from other countries to the art of Chinese cooking. It can be inferred from the text that before the energy crisis Chinese food  _  .
was cooked in rather large pieces was cooked in water but not oil didn't taste good didn't look fresh