Ok, so we all know that when you go to a Mexican restaurant one of the first signs of quality is based on the chips and salsa they serve, right? So what is the standard early warning sign of Chinese food I wondered recently?
Is it the egg rolls, the rice, or the General chicken? No, too easy.
Maybe it is the cheese puffs\ crab wantons with the horribly sweet but delicious dipping sauce...mmm fried cheese.
Though all of these deserve mention, I finally decided recently that, for me, the biggest hint at the quality of food and ingredients you will receive lies in the murky depths of the Hot & Sour Soup bowl.
The consistency, level of spice, type of mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and quality of tofu all play an integral role in the soup's final outcome. If a restaurant uses dried shiitakes in their soup instead of meaty fresh ones, the whole experience is thrown off. Use pickled or canned bamboo and you turn the foodie frown upside down. Tofu falling apart and flavorless? Your soup comes out looking and tasting a bit pre-chewed.
Something so simple, and yet with so much room for error. One of my favorite places in town is actually a little private owned cafe in a strip center along Studemont. It's called Sam's Cafe, and it is an awesome example of a quality Chinese dive. The decor and size of the place aren't stellar, but the sweet and sour soup is one of the best I've ever tasted, and consistently so. This carries over in to their other foods as well, like the tofu in black bean sauce or the sesame chicken which are both really tasty.
Sometimes I go there just for the soup, when I'm sick, or need a quick bite, or am too hungover for more solid foods. It always hits the spot, and it is as kind to your palette as it is to your wallet($1.50 for a small).
Send me your favorite places for Hot & Sour soup, or favorite Chinese places and why. Think there is something else food-wise that marks the level of quality? let me know...let's get a discussion going here people!
Is it the egg rolls, the rice, or the General chicken? No, too easy.
Maybe it is the cheese puffs\ crab wantons with the horribly sweet but delicious dipping sauce...mmm fried cheese.
Though all of these deserve mention, I finally decided recently that, for me, the biggest hint at the quality of food and ingredients you will receive lies in the murky depths of the Hot & Sour Soup bowl.
The consistency, level of spice, type of mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and quality of tofu all play an integral role in the soup's final outcome. If a restaurant uses dried shiitakes in their soup instead of meaty fresh ones, the whole experience is thrown off. Use pickled or canned bamboo and you turn the foodie frown upside down. Tofu falling apart and flavorless? Your soup comes out looking and tasting a bit pre-chewed.
Something so simple, and yet with so much room for error. One of my favorite places in town is actually a little private owned cafe in a strip center along Studemont. It's called Sam's Cafe, and it is an awesome example of a quality Chinese dive. The decor and size of the place aren't stellar, but the sweet and sour soup is one of the best I've ever tasted, and consistently so. This carries over in to their other foods as well, like the tofu in black bean sauce or the sesame chicken which are both really tasty.
Sometimes I go there just for the soup, when I'm sick, or need a quick bite, or am too hungover for more solid foods. It always hits the spot, and it is as kind to your palette as it is to your wallet($1.50 for a small).
Send me your favorite places for Hot & Sour soup, or favorite Chinese places and why. Think there is something else food-wise that marks the level of quality? let me know...let's get a discussion going here people!
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5 comments:
Honestly, the only chinese food I ever want is pei wei.it's just the best quality you can get for the price.
As far as an indicator of chinese deliciousness, I think for me it is the feeling you get after you've eaten it. If you feel all gross and greesy and clogged pores, it wasn't worth it. Granted, general tsao's chicken, or whatever has to nice and crisp in a deliscious sweet and spicy sauce too, but if I feel like I need a shower after I eat it, it doesn't matter how good it was- unless it's 2am and I'm drunk. :-)
pei wei sucks!
that's some bullshit white people food.
judging by your listing of the ingredients in a good hot and sour soup i don't think i have ever had anything that could be considered up to par.
I don't know how I feel about pei wei yet. I do agree you get your money's worth, but it is kind of the Berry Hill of REAL Chinese food places. Then they throw you off by putting actual crab in their crab puffs(most places just use flavoring or only cheese)...so the jury is still out on that one.
And b.s.--I guess I'm going have to make a quality hot and sour and give some to everyone...
Thanks for the input guys!!!!!!
Mmmmmmm Sams, babe you should link their information to the place your writing about. That way more people will know about how wonderful their food is. mmmm sam's....
Ugh! Pei Wei! That's so generic and boring, plus I don't think they're all that great. My friend swears by Happy All but I am not a big fan of them either. I'm pretty happy with Auntie Chang's Dumpling House, but lately I've been unimpressed. I guess I'm hard to please... I'll try Sams.
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