Tag Archives: Chinese

Ba Bao Cai

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Instagram Post 2/21/2018

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More of my home cooking, this time from China 🇨🇳 by way of Brooklyn 🇺🇸!

One of the dishes I like to make for Chinese New Year is Bā Bao Cài (Eight Treasure Vegetables) 八宝菜. By way of identification, the object that looks a slice of potato in this photo is arrowhead (sometimes called Chinese arrowroot), easy to find in Chinatown this time of year; behind it is a chunk of gluten (seitan) – it soaks up sauce like a sponge; a bean curd knot – you can buy these fresh, frozen, or dried and they’re adorable; up near the chopsticks is a piece of sweet & spicy prepared bean curd; peanuts; and less obvious in this photo are dried lily buds, an indispensable ingredient in Moo Shu Pork; dried bean curd skin; smoked tofu; dried shiitake mushrooms; and wood ear (black fungus). Trust me, they’re in there; dig for buried treasures if you like. You could almost play Where’s Waldo with it! Lots of seasonings went into the savory sauce, too many to list here. (You think I’m gonna give away my recipe?! 😉)

So there’s my spin on Eight Treasure Vegetables. Oh wait. That’s ten treasures, not eight. So I guess I made Shí Bao Cài!

恭喜發財!
 
 

South of the Clouds

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Instagram Post 2/13/2018

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Cuisine hailing from southwest China’s 🇨🇳 Yunnan province is underrepresented in New York City, but South of the Clouds at 16 West 8th St in Manhattan recently stepped up to the plate (or bowl, more accurately) to help rectify the situation. Not long ago we sampled most of the menu, and the rice noodle soups turned out to be a perfect foil for that evening’s cold snap.
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Broth that has been simmered for four hours is the base for their signature soup, Yunnan Crossing Bridge Noodle, which comes with its own charming fable recounted on the menu. Shown here is the palette of ingredients that would be added tableside. Cilantro, scallions, bean sprouts, silkie chicken, egg, tofu skin, pork, and chicken would customarily be sufficient to run the gamut of components, but the spotlight here was on the noodles.

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Pigs on a Stick, Cucumber Salad, and Yunnan Ghost Chicken (nothing to do with ghost peppers BTW) kept us busy until our Tofu Pudding Rice Noodle arrived. Minced pork in fermented bean paste along with pillowy tofu and a selection of vegetables cloaked the rice noodles, all of which, when stirred together, complemented each other perfectly. Cold Stir Rice Noodle was a less elaborate (i.e., no tofu), and slightly spicier, rendition.
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We finished with Tomato Soup Rice Noodle, probably the spiciest dish we ordered but far from incendiary. As you’d expect, this dish is half a world away from Mom’s lunchtime bowl of Campbell’s, but given the bitter cold awaiting us outside, it was assuredly mm-mm-good! 😋 😋
 
 

Private Kitchen

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When I write about restaurants on Instagram, they’re usually brief takes accompanied by a photo or two. (You can see my feed right here on ethnojunkie.com, updated almost daily, by selecting the “Instagram” category from my home page – no signup required.) But because of Instagram’s character count limitations, it’s often necessary to break up a review into several parts. This one originally appeared as five posts, published on November 22, 25, 27, 28, and 29, 2017.

Taking a break from Thanksgiving cooking to give thanks for the exquisite cooking at Private Kitchen, 36-35 Main St, Flushing, Queens. You’re going to hear a lot more about this place – trust me. Here are a few of the delicious dishes we tried:

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Braised Dongpo Style Pork Shoulder

Tempting Braised Dongpo Style Pork Shoulder, a red cooked Hangzhou dish served with airy steamed bao, garnered murmurs of anticipation from our eager group…

Braised Dongpo Style Pork Shoulder

…as the warming flame beneath the serving dish glowed with the promise of lusciousness.

Braised Dongpo Style Pork Shoulder

After being expertly carved by our server…

Braised Dongpo Style Pork Shoulder

…we rolled our own: a little bit of meat and a little bit of fat yielded a big bite of rich flavor.

Clams and Baby Bok Choy with Scrambled Eggs

Another tasty dish from our feast and one you don’t see everywhere. Clams and Baby Bok Choy with Scrambled Eggs can be found in the Vegetables section of the menu. Simple yet satisfying, almost comfort food.

Grandma’s Mixed Cold Dish

This delicious appetizer is Grandma’s Mixed Cold Dish and oh, how I wish my grandma could have cooked like that! Easily one of the most appreciated items that we ordered, it’s at the top of my list for the next time I bring a group to Private Kitchen.

Dry Stir Fried Squid Tentacles

True story from the day we went to Private Kitchen, 36-35 Main St, Flushing, Queens:

I tasted one. “Oh, man! These Dry Stir Fried Squid Tentacles are bangin’!” That’s all I said. That’s all that needed to be said. The rest was an ecstatic blur.

Braised Duck and Bamboo Shoots with Special Beer Sauce

That’s the way the menu describes it, but I’ve always seen it simply as “Beer Duck”. Braising any meat long enough will render it languorous and defenseless against your chopsticks and choppers but the beer only helps to further tenderize the duck (not to mention adding a piquant flavor). It’s a dish worth trying if you’ve never done so, and Private Kitchen does it rather well. Bamboo shoots, bok choy, and a bit of spice were the other significant components. Wish I had more of those steamed bao to soak up the extra sauce. Or perhaps a straw.

Private Kitchen is located at 36-35 Main St, Flushing, Queens.

 
 

Dim Sum VIP

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Instagram Post 11/2/2017

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I stumbled upon Dim Sum VIP at 68 Mott St, Manhattan, shortly after their opening and it’s been on my to-eat list ever since. It was fortuitous that I was in the neighborhood recently because almost everything I tasted was worth doing again (something I seldom do because I’m always on the lookout for something new). It’s the kind of format that we New Yorkers may be less accustomed to although it’s commonplace elsewhere: you’re furnished with a list of dim sum and you check off whatever is your heart’s delight at the moment.

A large poster on their window touts Abalone Siu Mai; since I love abalone and since siu mai are often a litmus test of the chef’s skills, I reasoned that the choice would yield a double return on my investment. I was not disappointed. The siu mai were unusually dense and delicious (reminiscent of Joe Ng’s work) and the abalone topping was, if you’ll forgive my mixed metaphor, the icing on the cake.

The synergistic Crispy Shrimp Rice Roll exceeded my expectations as well. Envision shrimp in a crisp fried spring roll wrapper swaddled in a steamed rice roll; the roll was greater than the (dim) sum of its parts.

The Red Oil Wontons were accompanied by steamed greens as a foil (a nice touch) and were excellent, presenting just the right amount of heat; the Chaozhou Fen Guo dumpling was tasty as well.

Note that the prices are a few dollars more than the neighboring dim sum parlors, but definitely worth it.
 
 

New York Mart/Fresh Market

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Instagram Post 10/31/2017

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Never smile at a _____________ ….

CROCODILE! Right! At first glance, I thought perhaps it had something to do with Halloween – you know, like chicken feet in a costume or something? But those would have to be some big honkin’ chickens!
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The sign in New York Mart/Fresh Market at 128 Mott St in Manhattan’s Chinatown says crocodile foot (鳄鱼脚). I have to trust that $6.99 a pound is a good price – I mean, there’s no place to comparison shop, is there?
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And no, I didn’t buy any. I’ve eaten alligator (and no, it does not taste like chicken) but never crocodile (and no, I am not chicken to taste it).
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#alligatorpear #crocagatorpear #thatswhytheyssomean
 
 

Fu Xiang Ju – Conch with Noodle Salad

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Instagram Post 10/27/2017

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The menu at Fu Xiang Ju, 136-80 41st Ave, Flushing, Queens, lists this delicious cold dish as Conch with Noodle Salad, a very popular course at our last group dinner. I get the distinct impression that there’s gochujang, the Korean sweet and spicy red chili paste, at work here. Dongbei’s proximity to Korea and the fact that the menu is in Chinese and Korean (in addition to English) lead me to believe that I might be on the right track.
 
 

Laoma Mala Tang – Upside-down Dumplings

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Instagram Post 10/23/2017

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sƃuᴉldɯnp uʍop-ǝpᴉsdn
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No, it’s not a flying saucer! Rather, these tasty Pan Fried Dumplings (pork, shrimp, and leek) from Laoma Mala Tang in the New York Food Court, booth 20, at 133-35 Roosevelt Ave, Flushing, Queens start out like potstickers (that is, fried then covered and steamed) with an additional final step consisting of a small amount of batter poured into the pan and swirled around. The batter clings to the dumplings and when fully cooked it’s carefully flipped over onto a plate. The second photo shows a couple of rogue dumplings that escaped from the mothership, re-flipped to give you an idea of the textures under (crunchy) consideration. Soft dumpling wrappers plus crispy pancake – out of this world!
 
 

Fu Xiang Ju – Lamb Chop with Cumin Sauce

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Instagram Post 10/20/2017

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Now a Dongbei classic in NYC, I never get tired of introducing people to this dish. Sometimes called Muslim Lamb Chop, this braised, battered, fried, cuminized, chilified ode to luscious lambiness never fails to get rave reviews. Fu Xiang Ju, 136-80 41st Avenue in Flushing, Queens, calls their version Lamb Chop with Cumin Sauce, but what’s in a name?
 
 

Four Seasons Snacks

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Instagram Post 10/19/2017

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It’s easy to find pork and leek/chive/cabbage dumplings everywhere in every Chinatown (and that’s a good thing, because where would we be without them?) but don’t overlook dumplings featuring dill. They’re absolutely delicious and, if I may say so, a delightful change from the usual. You might have to search a bit because of a language hurdle: For example, go to the New York Food Court at 133-35 Roosevelt Ave, Flushing, Queens and head over to booth 19, Four Seasons Snacks (but you won’t find the name in English, so refer to the second photo). The Dumplings sign uses the characters 茴香 and translates it as fennel, their paper menu translates it as dill; Google Translate reports that it means fennel.

No matter. Get an order of D5 (Fennel with Pork) and prepare for a treat. To me, they taste like dill and they’re wonderful.

I’ve seen a beef and dill combination elsewhere as well. Does anybody else here crave these as much as I do?