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From the city of the melting pot and beyond, this is my bird's eye view on food. As a foodie, my choice for discussion will always be food related; either through my own preparation; or restaurants that strike me for its: 1) taste, 2) presentation, 3) value or creativity. Food is beautiful. And sharing its beauty delights me. I hope that you enjoy and learn something new each time you view! Join me!
That's how I feel after having ordered the casserole or seafood soup at this Chinese soup stop.
I ordered the seafood soup and chose 5 items. Each item is like a token and majority is the noodle. Yes, it's tasty after you seasoning with the condiments on the table - but the crabs they added was half an empty top shell of a small crab, 3 tinier than Manila clams - where did the other 2 I chose go? Only 1 is in my soup and it didn't even open!
Sure I spent only $6.50 - but around that cost I could get a large excellent Bahnmi Sandwich on 1st street and First Avemue.
Maybe I'll come back for the oxtail soup when I'm hungry to change my opinion.
Tonight, as suggested by my friend, I went to try the Peking Duck at Chef Ho's Peking Duck & Grill. Because the purpose of my visit was to have the Peking Duck, I was dreaming of something even better than where I usually go to in Chinatown as she persuaded me.
I was disappointed because the duck came already all cut up and the skin was not crisp except for the dried parts of the leg. It was very fatty too.
As you can see, the duck was served already carved and look how the drumsticks are very dry. And when it was served, it was cold. I don't know if it got cold from the cold cucumbers and onions, but I've never had it served that cold before.
The saving glory for the night was their friend rice and green beans:
The fried rice was excellent with plenty of large pieces of shrimp
The green beans were very good as well.
The Grand Marnier shrimp was a bit sweet for me.
The place was nice and the food overall wasn't bad, but it's not the place to go for Peking Duck!!
One of my favorite restaurants in the city for group dining is The Peking Duck House in in New York City in Mott Street, Chinatown. Their duck is consistently moist with crispy skin and the price is the most reasonable in town.
In fact, you can either order it ala carte at $48 (for a whole duck good for 2-4)or prix-fixe price with choice of 4-6 entrees for a special $31/person! Details in their menu.
You may eat the sliced duck using traditional method of wrapping it with crepe-like pancakes with scallions and cucumber and sauce; or you can order Chinese fried rice separately to eat it with. Either or, if you like duck as well as I do, you will enjoy it here!
Located in the Lower East side of New York City is this Chinese restaurant where the style has been tweaked to a different level but still bearing the flaovrs of China. Although it's been described as American Chinese, it should not to be confused with "suburban" Chinese food. It is a breed of its own using Chinese seasonings in a different level. You have to try it in order to judge it.
I believe, this restaurant was named after Mission Street where its main restaurant is located in San Francisco bearing another name.
When you enter the restaurant, there is a long corridor where you can watch the chefs cook. At the end is a red curtain that opens to another corridor with steps up to the restaurant. (Sort of a mysterious destination)
Steps down from the street is the restaurant. It's a relief that it's graded A by the Health Department
As you enter, you will see the menu board.
If you are ordering to take out, this is where you would do it.
Watch the Chef cook through the glass window in the corridor before going in to the restaurant area.
In this area, as you walk towards the restaurant area, you feel that you just stepped outside the street where you can see the dining room area up ahead. The dining area seats up to 40 people and has 2 big paper dragons hanging from the ceiling and some chairs.
What we ordered:
I particularly liked the fried rice with salted cod, Chinese sausage and lots of chopped parsley. It was well seasoned and had a clean taste. But do not confuse with typical Chinese fried rice.
It somewhat reminds me of Malaysian style fried rice except in this case, they used salted cod instead.
The Kung Pao dish has loads of skinned peanuts and chunks of their homemade pastrami with Sichuan seasoning.
It's a little spicy in a good authentic way.
The spiciest of all we tasted was the fried chicken - mostly wings and some small drumsticks. I personally did not like the strong powdery seasoning that was on this chicken dish. I think it was a bit powerful. It left my lips tingly and throbbing. Others like it.
The restaurant donates 75 cents from every large plate to the Food Bank for New York City.
Ordering 3 items is not enough for me to make a judgment. I need to go back one more time and try more things in their menu.
You may wait a while in cooler season, so make sure you have a scarf.
I've been to Beijing, China and have eaten at the Peking Duck restaurant where they've taken dignitaries to. This place in Chinatown New York can pass for the one I visited in Beijing.
They have prix-fixed Peking Duck meals which include a variety of dishes besides the Peking Duck at a very reasonable price. But for those days where you crave for a Peking Duck without having to over eat, I am so glad that I can have it without having to travel far away.
You can actually order 1 Peking Duck, a vegetable dish and if you want something else more to eat, you can order the house fried rice. This order will feed a party of 3 maybe up to 4 if the group are light eaters.
Above, is a video of how Peking Duck is carved to be served. The process to prepare the duck itself is the secret. Some blow air between the skin and the meat which makes the skin crisp when baked.
My Chinese Pediatrician told me long time ago that to prepare a Peking duck, you prick the skin and brush the entire duck liberally with Sherry or Chinese wine. Then, you hang it a few hours before baking or roasting it in the oven, to drain all the fat out. Would you believe that I actually tried it at home? Although the skin became crisp, I think it's easier to eat this at a restaurant that specializes in Peking duck.
The Peking duck was served on our table with thin slices of scallions and cucumbers in a dish and some hoisin sauce to add to the duck. Not shown is the container of warm pancakes where you put some duck, sauce, some scallions and cucumbers. Roll the pancake to eat it. It's like a thin wrap.
I never complete a dinner without vegetables. The broccoli with lots of garlic was perfect.
Since childhood, I've always loved Chinese fried rice. So, to make the meal perfect, we had to have some fried rice. By the way, this fried rice is so similar to the kind I grew up with knowing. Lesson #1, there are many ways of making fried rice. There are some fried rice whereby the Chef adds soy sauce in it. I prefer the clean taste of a light fried rice such as the one pictured on the right.
Although we have a big Chinatown in Manhattan, last weekend, I decided to explore Flushing Queens, New York, for its Chinatown; particularly the New World Mall. I was happy to discover that it was very close to the last stop of the #7 train. A friend of ours had talked it up so I was curious to see it for myself. I was in for a great surprise! As soon as I stepped in the mall, I felt as though I was suddenly beamed down into another world!
The mall has three floors and a basement with a big food court. I was transported into Asia (mostly China) with restaurants galore. Except for the 2nd floor, the entire building including the basement, was dedicated to food! A foodie's heaven. (NOTE: I have a quick recipe below)
Our first stop at this food court to try was the grill place below. It's easier to remember it as Food Stall #16. It's where we had the sticks of various foods of your choice for $1/stick. (Unbelievable for New York City)They came in a variety of seafood, beef, chicken or lamb and vegetables.
The stall for grilled foods in a stick (easier to remember as #16)
I selected skewered shrimp, seasoned lamb, stuffed long thin peppers with seasoned pork, and wrapped cilantro. They were all very well seasoned with Xian type condiments. The taste reminded me of Szechuan food I had in Xian, China except that these were grilled.
Above is how my skewered meats were ready to eat!
At New World Mall, some of the shops make their own noodles and buns. Below are some of the videos I took: This one was Tianjin Foods where we ordered the bun with chives and pork. Watch her make it!
First, the man above made the noodle. Then, she steps in to continue and stuff it. Note: She also tasted the filling before stuffing them in to make sure it tastes good!
Above, she's preparing the dough to put the chive pork mixture (bowl of greens on the left) into it. It is then fried on an oiled oven skillet.
Bun with chives cut in half to show the filling. You get 2 large buns for $5. They are slightly crisp outside with very tasty filling. The filling has been cooked ahead of time prior to stuffing it in the homemade dough.
Above, watch the man make the noodles. It reminds me of a pizza maker except this looks like you need a lot more muscles and precise movement to make the noodles. By his slamming and stretching, the dough splits in multiple strands to become noodles.
And he does it again and again!
Another interesting place was the Seafood bowls of food at Tian Fu. One selects from an assortment of seafood to use from lobsters, cut up fat crabs, to tofu, mushrooms, and vegetables. They sell the lobsters by the pound. They cook it for you and serve it in a huge tin bowl.
Also called Spicy Wok.
Seafood of your choice is placed in a bowl to be made into soup with Chinese condiments that again remind me of Szechuan or Hunan style cooking. They serve the soup dish in a silver bowl as you see them on the left. They are very big!
Then, we went over to the Taiwanese food stick stall.
Above is an assortment of food found at the Taiwanese food stall.
Notice how the signs are mostly in characters. Although they have a menu board above, it is still pretty challenging to make one's mind a pick the food you want. It's really another world! Fortunately, they all look good to eat. Pointing at something may be the best way. That's how I did it when I selected the foods to grill at the grill area #16.
After our meal, we went down to the main floor for some supermarket adventurous hunt. Below, we found some geoduck clam. This is more than a pound so it's actually a very good price. They also had very fat crabs. This is something you buy at their market to take home and cook yourself.
Above, I like the razor clams. The recipe below is not a Chinese recipe but it's delicious! It's what I did with the razor clams. INGREDIENTS:
Olive oil
garlic
razor clams
sea salt
minced parsley
One can actually cook them with garlic and olive oil. Then sprinkle it with minced parsley. It's so delicious! First, quickly blanche the razor clams; then, brush them well with olive oil mixed with minced garlic (or olive oil that has been soaked with garlic to get a strong garlic flavor). Open the razor and lay them shell up on a hot griddle. You can put a large heavy pan on top to flatten the razor clams open.
Above was our dessert. I selected the sesame paste and almond soup. It was different but we liked it.
I hope that I've given you an idea of what you will see under one roof at The New World Mall at Flushing Queens. If you're like me, I'm never contented to have the same thing to eat and go to all the time. With over 7000 restaurants in New York City, and various openings and closings of restaurants, why would you go to the same place all the time?? That's what I like about this city. It's always changing and things to try is endless.
In this area, as you walk towards the restaurant area, you feel that you just stepped outside the street where you can see the dining room area up ahead. The dining area seats up to 40 people and has 2 big paper dragons hanging from the ceiling and some chairs.
The spiciest of all we tasted was the fried chicken - mostly wings and some small drumsticks. I personally did not like the strong powdery seasoning that was on this chicken dish. I think it was a bit powerful. It left my lips tingly and throbbing. Others like it.
I selected skewered shrimp, seasoned lamb, stuffed long thin peppers with seasoned pork, and wrapped cilantro. They were all very well seasoned with Xian type condiments. The taste reminded me of Szechuan food I had in Xian, China except that these were grilled.
Another interesting place was the Seafood bowls of food at Tian Fu. One selects from an assortment of seafood to use from lobsters, cut up fat crabs, to tofu, mushrooms, and vegetables. They sell the lobsters by the pound. They cook it for you and serve it in a huge tin bowl.
Seafood of your choice is placed in a bowl to be made into soup with Chinese condiments that again remind me of Szechuan or Hunan style cooking. They serve the soup dish in a silver bowl as you see them on the left. They are very big!
Then, we went over to the Taiwanese food stick stall.
Notice how the signs are mostly in characters. Although they have a menu board above, it is still pretty challenging to make one's mind a pick the food you want. It's really another world! Fortunately, they all look good to eat. Pointing at something may be the best way. That's how I did it when I selected the foods to grill at the grill area #16.
