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<\/a>\nYou\u2019ve probably had mediocre wonton soup with nondescript flaccid dumplings in Chinese restaurants so many times that you don\u2019t even bother to order it. It seems to be ubiquitous. But I urge you to try Wu’s New York Number 1 Wonton Soup. The sturdy dumplings packed with shrimp, pork, and watercress are bathed in a bone broth soup, cloudy, flavorful, and rich with collagen. A great starter for which they are justly famous.<\/p>\n
I was especially keen to try their take on a dish I\u2019ve had elsewhere that features osmanthus clam\/mussel. My \u201cclam\/mussel\u201d equivocation stems from the fact that the seafood in question is actually neither. Rather, it is an internal component of the sea cucumber, an echinoderm that inhabits the ocean\u2019s floor. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re unenthusiastic when it comes to even reading about innards, skip to the next paragraph. Now.<\/strong> Sea cucumbers have a soft, sausage-shaped body with no solid appendages and don\u2019t even have a proper brain, so one might reason that they wouldn’t be particularly adept at self-defense against predators \u2013 but for one saving grace. From Wikipedia: \u201cSome species of coral-reef sea cucumbers…can defend themselves by expelling their sticky cuvierian tubules to entangle potential predators…in an autotomic process known as evisceration.\u201d [I\u2019ve heard the term \u201cstomach eversion\u201d. Simply put, they literally puke their guts out.] \u201cReplacement tubules grow back in one and a half to five weeks, depending on the species.\u201d The tubules look very much like squid tentacles which is how they appear on the plate. Here\u2019s a photo from Ripley’s in vivo.<\/a><\/p>\n That having been said, the name of this absolutely delicious dish is \u8106\u5976\u62fc\u96d9\u868c, #10 on the Seafood section of the menu; its English name is Saut\u00e9ed Clam with Fried Milk (although the menu uses a different word for \u201cfried\u201d).<\/p>\n They say that timing is everything and that\u2019s surely the case with this presentation. Mix well: if you start crunching before the sauce has a chance to permeate the noodles, you\u2019re missing the point; wait too long and the rich seafood m\u00e9lange will have saturated and drowned them into a submission of sogginess. Nope. There is a window of culinary opportunity in which the noodles still have crunch but have absorbed enough of the sauce to be flavorful \u2013 and that\u2019s what you\u2019re going for.<\/p>\n This may very well be the best rendition of Cantonese pan fried noodles with you-name-it I\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n Instagram Post 2\/21-24\/2020 and 3\/16-22\/2020 It seems to me that authentic Cantonese cuisine is often overlooked in favor of other, less subtle, regional Chinese fare. That may be because Chinese-American food, a poor excuse for gastronomy IMO but a stepping … Continue reading <\/a>
\nSolo.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThe inner workings.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nHere are two dumpling orders from the Dim Sum section of the menu. Pan Fried Shrimp with Green Chives, just what it sounds like and totally delicious…<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n…and Steamed Chaozhou dumplings, halved so you could see the filling (and yeah, so we could share). Peanuts provide the crunch in these classic pouches in addition to an ample complement of carrots, peas, shiitake mushrooms, ground pork, and dried shrimp. Love these.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nAs presented: there are king oyster mushrooms and saut\u00e9ed asparagus beneath the Chinese chives and clams. It\u2019s pricier than some other menu items, but I thought it was excellent.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nPost-bite close-up of the crispy, sweet, creamy fried milk; these could be a snack by themselves. So good.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nClose-up of a clam; its flavor and appearance are similar to that of a razor clam but perhaps a bit more slippery and chewy. Now here\u2019s where I need some help from the cognoscenti among you. Is that red bit (which tasted completely different from the other part, brinier and spicier for sure) part of the clam, or something different? TIA for the info!<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nOur foray into the real deal at Wu\u2019s Wonton King was rewarded with this bowl of Pan Fried Noodles with Seafood.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nRevealing the crispy noodles beneath that are the raison d\u2019\u00eatre of this dish.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nYou\u2019ve probably gazed at the awesome roasted\/BBQ meats (and sometimes cuttlefish if you\u2019re lucky) hanging in the windows at Cantonese restaurants: roast pork, roast pig, soy sauce chicken, and so many more. The collective term for these favorites is siu mei (\u71d2\u5473), not to be confused with the popular dim sum dumpling, shu mai (\u71d2\u8ce3). But if you\u2019d like a change from roast duck, give this marinated braised duck, beautifully rare and perfectly succulent, a try.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nI\u2019ve worked my way through most of the duck options on the menu from roast to marinated braised. This one is Honey Roast Duck; gotta love that sweet and shiny skin protecting the succulent meat within.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nCheck out the framed posters on the wall and you\u2019ll spot \u201cDried Squid Saut\u00e9ed Fried with Silver Anchovy\u201d; it was that photo that tempted us and it proved to be another outstanding choice. (It\u2019s \u201cDried Squid Stir Fry\u201d, #16 on the Seafood section of the menu, if you don\u2019t see it on the wall.) Tender squid contrasted with the crispy little fish, but don\u2019t envision European salted anchovies packed in oil like you might find on a pizza; these are half a world apart. Literally. I\u2019ll be returning with a different group very soon, and this dish is at the top of our gotta-do-this-again list.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nIf you\u2019ve never tried a Chinese casserole you should add it to your repertoire. The cooking vessel is a clay pot and the variety of recipes and ingredients seems limitless. Often a rice dish with a crispy bottom layer, this one is a rich home style stew featuring chunks of lamb and bean curd sticks \u2013 another example of bean curd skin\u2019s many guises (see this recent post<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nTo me, this dish is Sichuan comfort food: the menu calls it Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce, the commonly used descriptor. The Chinese characters are \u9c7c\u9999\u8089\u4e1d, literally fish flavor (or fragrance) shredded pork, but don\u2019t infer that it tastes like (or contains) fish from the phrase \u201cfish flavor\u201d; it simply refers to a method often used for cooking fish, and it\u2019s delicious. A little sweet, a little sour from vinegar, accented by the omnipresent garlic and ginger, it\u2019s chili sauce based \u2013 and it\u2019s the kind of chili sauce that tastes a bit like ketchup. (As a matter of fact, one theory holds that the word ketchup comes from the Cantonese words \u201ckeh jap\u201d, literally tomato sauce, but there are others of course.) Etymology notwithstanding, the dish is classic.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThis is Snow Pea Sprout with Dried Scallop. The dish as presented has the appearance of an ocean of sauce with a school of shredded dried scallops swimming just beneath the surface.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nOnly by parting the sea are the snow pea shoots revealed. Subtle and delectable.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nChinese Broccoli (gai lan), stripped of its leaves, included here to dispel the myth that I tend to overlook vegetables. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nComplimentary mango jelly for dessert.
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\nWu\u2019s Wonton King is located at 165 East Broadway in Manhattan\u2019s Chinatown.
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