Tag: chinatown

Four Dollars a Brew

M's Adventures
The leaves when reconstituted.

When a cup of tea costs $20, then you might as well get as many brews out of it as possible. The tea tasting I did in New York seems a world away from Adana, and centuries ago.

One of the pours.

When I went to Chinatown Flushing in New York, I went on a tea tasting at Fang Gourmet Tea. After selecting two teas (at $20 each), the tea connoisseur explained the tea, washed the miniature cups in hot water, and brewed the tea. Five times for each tea. After each brew, we tasted the tea again.

The tea changed color with every brew.

I’ll admit that this may be too subtle for me. After a while, it just tasted like ‘tea’ to me. I could see the change in color, but I started to hallucinate that I was making up flavors and aromas just because I was supposed to be able to detect them… actually, what I found most interesting was the tea person. She had worked there for decades. She was calm and deliberate with all her movements. She really sensed every nuance in each brew… and I think she found our obtuseness a bit amusing.

The skein of a filter.

After the tasting, we could buy the teas. These are not cheap. Nothing below $45. The shop was filled with tea paraphernalia that we could buy.

A selection of the cheaper teas.

And photos were not allowed of the shop…

The outside of the teashop.

In Sri Lanka, I went to a tea shop and did a tea tasting. I’m a simple person and I like my Earl Grey…

Fast forward a few centuries and I live in Adana where tea is offered at every meal. And in between. But here the tea is the color of mahogany. (Turkiye has the highest per capita of tea drinking at three kilos per person, per year.)

The Softest Sponge Cake in the World?

M's Adventures

No, but it’s really good. It’s so good that they put a sign up about it.

One on of my New York City visits, I went to this place for the “best sponge cake in NYC” and it was.

The address is 118 Baxter Street. Inside is a bit of a dive (but it’s more fun that way, right?).

Try to go when the buns are hot out of the oven.

I’m not even into sponge cake and this was so soft. Is sponge cake the same as chiffon cake?

Can You Find Authentic Asian Food in the DMV?

M's Adventures
Not fancy but the real deal at Y Noodles.

First, what is authentic? Is the indicator that only people of that nationality are eating at the restaurant? Only Chinese people at a Chinese place? Only Thai at a Thai place? “Chinese New Year” or lunar new year, celebrated in many parts of Asia, was on January 29 this year. There is a “Chinatown” in Washington, DC, but it’s not as “authentic” as “Little Vietnam” — Eden Center, out in Falls Church, Virginia.

Back to the idea of authentic Asian food. It’s been tough finding food that meets the standards of my “authentic like it’s 1985 kind of way” friend. But we have found a few places, some listed on my favorite places list: Y Noodles, Mumaroi, Mandu Erang, and the mala tang place in the 99 Ranch store in Centreville. Plus some of the places in Eden Center. At Eden Center, I like the Huong Viet, Thanh Son Tofu (only take out tofu and desserts), Hai Duong, and some of the other places out there. You can follow my Instagram account to see more of my recommendations.

From 99 Ranch: the dry version. Woo was that spicy!

Mainly, all this talk of “authentic” makes me ponder the nature of food culture. The food of the diaspora is probably more “authentic” if you are looking for the food of 40 years ago. For example, Korean food now includes cheese in the ramyun and rice cake dish. What horror! Not to everyone. Times move on and the food becomes “fusion” or “Americanized” or “de-constructed” — but it’s all good unless you want it the way it used to taste.

Meanwhile, for lunar new year, the “authentic” food is tea cakes. I prefer spicy noodles.

Brilliant Exiles

M's Adventures

If you can find 14 friends, you can book a private tour. Otherwise, just wander around and read the labels, then google more info… and repeat. This exhibit shows how many American women, artists, dancers, lesbians, African Americans, writers, and freedom lovers moved to Paris to find the freedom to be themselves.

Learn about Josephine Baker, Gertrude Stein, and many other women who were trailblazers in the women’s movement.

This exhibit runs through February 2025 and entrance is free at the National Portrait Gallery.

Not-Official Food Tour in the Largest Chinatown in America

M's Adventures

In a nod to Chinese/Asian new year (February 10, 2024), this article is about a Chinatown. The largest Chinatown is in Flushing, Queens, New York.

A sign in the dim sum house.

We went to eat good Chinese food and we went to Flushing to find it. It is a mere Subway ride (take the 7 from Midtown — also, you can pay by credit card at the Subway turnstile! No need for a ticket.) and get off at the Flushing-Main Street stop. Just down the street to Roosevelt and Prince streets, you will feel and hear the Chinatown atmosphere. Actually, the minute we got above ground, we heard people talking loudly in Mandarin Chinese. The smells made us realize that we were near some dumplings.

After doing some research, we decided (also because it was all last minute) to make our own food tour. There is a new mall called Tangram at the modern fancy end and then “hole in the wall” types of places like the famous White Bear. We headed for White Bear. The dumplings were good but can be had at other places for equal quality. The sauce was not spicy. Also, I felt a bit sad for the staff as they did not seem happy to have gained such fame.

White Bear is only take away.
Dumplings with spicy sauce from White Bear.

We were only there for a short while and only had so many stomachs to fill so we ONLY managed to eat at four places in as many hours. After White Bear, we headed to a dim sum place called Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao (as seen in the first photo at the top of the article). This place had the legit dumplings included their famous soup dumplings (xiao long bao).

Bamboo steamers.
Multicolor dumplings are a modern take.

Luckily we got there before noon (yes, we already had the dumplings above before noon) so we only had to wait a few minutes for a table. This restaurant offered warm fresh soy milk which is apparently an authentic thing to have for breakfast. Warm soy milk and a cruller (deep fried dough).

Warm fresh soy milk and crullers is breakfast.
The famous soup dumplings.

The soup dumplings were excellent although a touch too big for the spoon so there was no room on the spoon for the soup that ran out of the dumplings when poked with a chop stick. In some places in the world, the soup dumpling is so big that it is served with a straw. This is a gimmick. It is an amateur move to try and put the whole dumpling in one’s mouth. This is steamed dumpling and if you bite into it whole, it will explode like a magma filled volcano. I poked my dumpling over a bowl and drank the soup from there. There is a soy and ginger sauce for the soup dumpling but I loved the dumpling as it was. Inside was a lovely pork meatball juicy with soup.

Cleaver smashed cucumber salad.
Vegetarian leaf shaped dumplings.

Even here at Nan Xiang, there was some concession to being in the US. There were colorful dumplings made to please the eye, vegetarian dumplings, the scallion pancake made too sweet, and the cucumber salad not smashed (apparently the way I like Chinese cucumber salad is too garlicky — which is not authentic).

Notice our order ticket taped to our table?

As we ordered dishes, our ticket was taped to our table. Once we stopped ordering and had paid, we were told, gently, to leave, as there were long lines of people waiting for our table. So we left. But then went on to have dessert soup. I wrote about that in my article about my spirit starch. After a walk around Tangram mall, we went and had Peking Duck at Jiang Nan. Read about that in my article about that. It had gold leaf on it.

We ended our self made food tour of Mandarin Chinatown Flushing and headed back to Midtown New York. I do not think we ate anymore that day.

Oh, I tell a lie. We had boba tea. Which is a meal in of itself. More on that in another article.

Gold Peking Duck in Queens and Yummy Rice

M's Adventures
The Peking Duck platter.

Peking Duck is a dish originally from Beijing, China. It is a specially roasted and basted duck, served with wheat pancakes, scallions, cucumber, and hoisin sauce. But some places, it is elevated to gold level. The first written recipe for Peking Duck is from 800 years ago. The complexities of the recipe and preparation can be read here. Our duck was served with sugar and pineapple chunks giving it a tropical and extra luxurious feel. There was also edible gold leaf on top, like a cherry on top. Surprisingly, the half duck portion only cost 48 bucks. It was enough for three people, with the addition of a few extra pancakes and some fried rice.

Private dining rooms lined up like train cabins.

We had our duck at Jiang Nan, in Queens, New York. It is subway accessible, if you want a cheap but long ride. It is located in Flushing, Queens, which is the largest unofficial chinatown in America. Our restaurant had atmospheric private rooms that took us away to a tea house in the Orient.

So good it required a photo.

Aside from the duck, we had shrimp fried rice. It is not as simple as it seemed. A really good fried rice is about the aroma — not of oil but of umami. This one was like a warm hug.

Chrysanthemum tea was also pretty.

Barrio Chino – Lima’s Chinatown

M's Adventures

IMG_1557Folks told me that Lima’s Chinatown was not that exciting. I’m glad that people played it down. When I saw it for myself, I was pleasantly surprised.

IMG_1546.JPGChinatown consists of a small pedestrian street with requisite arch and aura cleaners… and many shops and mini-malls in the surrounding streets. Chinatown is actually very close to Lima’s central square, the Plaza de Armas.

IMG_1543I was pleased to see that the Chinese stores also sold Thai curry paste and other rare items here in Peru.

IMG_1538In almost every shop, there were items that I did not recognize. That’s part of the fun of exploring.

IMG_1572Considering that the Chinese (mostly from Canton) got to Peru a bit after they got to California in the 1800s, in many ways, lots of Peruvian food is Chinese food. For example, the Peruvians love fried rice, “chaufa,” and eating Chinese food from a “chifa” is a normal part of life.

IMG_1574As I was checking out at one store, I noticed that a last minute “temptation” like chewing gum or candy, were snack packs of chicken feet (three, which I thought an odd number).

IMG_1551When I went a restaurant to get some fried rice and wanted to make sure that their recipe did not involve soy sauce, the owners of the restaurant TOLD me that I’d have it with soup (what is a meal without soup?) and they tried to teach me how to order “chaufa” without soy sauce. In Chinese.

IMG_1570

A City of Villages – New York City

M's Adventures

Colombian food in Brooklyn.
Colombian food in Brooklyn.

While many people visit New York City for the shopping, the sites, the entertainment, I like New York for its villages. It seems like every few streets, New York changes nationality, from Chinatown, Little Italy, Jamaica, and all the other little villages that make up the great world of New York City. Every neighborhood is distinct and many New Yorkers never leave their neighborhoods.

Seafood dumpling soup in Chinatown, NYC.
Seafood dumpling soup in Chinatown, NYC.

Usually, when I take a taxi, I chat with the taxi drivers. Taxi drivers are often immigrants and many have interesting stories to tell. On this trip, my first taxi driver shared with me where to get the best Pakistani food in New York and in Washington, DC. But then suddenly, he asked about my marital status. I was a little taken aback because I had forgotten, after a few months in politically correct DC, that this is considered a polite question in some cultures.

A few days later, my second taxi driver, an Ecuadorian, patiently let me practice my Spanish with him (gracias, and I appreciated your philosophical stance on bilingual education). My third cabbie was a Miami Cuban taxi driver. I considered trying to practice Spanish on him but his delightfully colloquial rapid fire English and his story about his epiphany about happiness, on 9/11, made me keep quiet.

A farmers' market in New York City.
A farmers’ market in New York City.