She leaned across the counter and said, "Gimme the good stuff."
July 31, 2015 9:43 AM Subscribe
Can I order off menu at my local Chinese restaurants? If so, what is the best way to go about it?
I frequent a couple of Chinese restaurants near my home and workplace where the food is OK. not outstanding, but not bad at all. The menus at these restaurants tend to be the same things everywhere, the classic "Chinese-American" menu rather than an authentic Chinese array of dishes. When I am waiting for my meal, I cannot help but notice that restaurant staff and family members are eating things that look unlike anything on the menu. We're talking big piles of scrambled eggs with shrimp and green onion or chives, tofu with ground meat and black beans in some sort of gravy, gai-lan, and real ma po tofu (one restaurant I frequent has "ma po tofu" on the menu, but it is just tofu in a spicy sauce with no ground pork or black beans). These dishes look amazing, and better than most things on the menu.
How do I go about getting access to dishes like this? I don't know if this is even a good idea to be pursuing or not. I speak no Chinese but recognize cognate characters from learning Japanese (numbers, the character for meat, etc.). I don't know if that is a barrier or not. Living in the Midwest, I realize that the regular menu has been chosen and dumbed down to avoid strong or unusual flavors that would put off consumers. I don't want to try to talk to the staff when they are eating these dishes because they are on their breaks, after all. I experience some language barrier issues just in the process of normal ordering and would like to keep going to these places sometimes, so I don't want to tick anyone off. Perhaps the "special menus" in these places are for staff only. Should I just let this go and save up for when I can go to more authentic places, which do exist in my area, but don't deliver to where I live or work and are not conveniently located?
Thank you in advance.
I frequent a couple of Chinese restaurants near my home and workplace where the food is OK. not outstanding, but not bad at all. The menus at these restaurants tend to be the same things everywhere, the classic "Chinese-American" menu rather than an authentic Chinese array of dishes. When I am waiting for my meal, I cannot help but notice that restaurant staff and family members are eating things that look unlike anything on the menu. We're talking big piles of scrambled eggs with shrimp and green onion or chives, tofu with ground meat and black beans in some sort of gravy, gai-lan, and real ma po tofu (one restaurant I frequent has "ma po tofu" on the menu, but it is just tofu in a spicy sauce with no ground pork or black beans). These dishes look amazing, and better than most things on the menu.
How do I go about getting access to dishes like this? I don't know if this is even a good idea to be pursuing or not. I speak no Chinese but recognize cognate characters from learning Japanese (numbers, the character for meat, etc.). I don't know if that is a barrier or not. Living in the Midwest, I realize that the regular menu has been chosen and dumbed down to avoid strong or unusual flavors that would put off consumers. I don't want to try to talk to the staff when they are eating these dishes because they are on their breaks, after all. I experience some language barrier issues just in the process of normal ordering and would like to keep going to these places sometimes, so I don't want to tick anyone off. Perhaps the "special menus" in these places are for staff only. Should I just let this go and save up for when I can go to more authentic places, which do exist in my area, but don't deliver to where I live or work and are not conveniently located?
Thank you in advance.
"I'll have what she's having."
Seriously, just point to the person eating the thing you want to eat and say you want that, too. If no one's eating when you go in there, try, "what would you eat for lunch? I'd like that, please!"
This ordering method has brought me all sorts of delicious things over the years.
posted by phunniemee at 9:52 AM on July 31, 2015 [4 favorites]
Seriously, just point to the person eating the thing you want to eat and say you want that, too. If no one's eating when you go in there, try, "what would you eat for lunch? I'd like that, please!"
This ordering method has brought me all sorts of delicious things over the years.
posted by phunniemee at 9:52 AM on July 31, 2015 [4 favorites]
Consider it's possible those items were made at home and brought in, involve ingredients bought in limited batches meant only for private use, or are staff meals and there's not enough for customers. I think it's definitely worth asking what they're eating if you're interested, but asking to have it could be like pointing at a Starbucks barista's member's peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and saying "Can you give me that?"
posted by Anonymous at 9:57 AM on July 31, 2015
posted by Anonymous at 9:57 AM on July 31, 2015
This doesn't exactly answer your question, but: I always ask for half the sauce they normally use, and it improves the experience immensely (and probably halves the salt, fat, and cornstarch, too). Extra vegetables helps too. I always say I'm willing to pay extra if necessary.
This isn't exactly what you're asking, but it does improve the experience.
One other thing: you could try "no frozen broccoli". For some reason, generic Chinese restaurant food has the soggiest broccoli florets, and they're just not that good.
Extra bok choi seems to be an improvement, though.
One final thought: there is one (not too expensive) Chinese restaurant in Chapel Hill that has a second, "Chinese" menu with unusual-to-me dishes on it, e.g. a bok choy and mushroom dish. Maybe there's a restaurant near you that has something like this too.
posted by amtho at 10:29 AM on July 31, 2015
This isn't exactly what you're asking, but it does improve the experience.
One other thing: you could try "no frozen broccoli". For some reason, generic Chinese restaurant food has the soggiest broccoli florets, and they're just not that good.
Extra bok choi seems to be an improvement, though.
One final thought: there is one (not too expensive) Chinese restaurant in Chapel Hill that has a second, "Chinese" menu with unusual-to-me dishes on it, e.g. a bok choy and mushroom dish. Maybe there's a restaurant near you that has something like this too.
posted by amtho at 10:29 AM on July 31, 2015
This isn't a "special menu." The stuff you're describing (the eggs, for example) is seen as home/comfort food-type stuff, not stuff that would be served at a restaurant, so they might find it strange to serve that to you. In their eyes, it wouldn't be giving you the "good stuff"-- it'd be giving you the stuff people eat when they're at home without any guests over. It is exactly like a peanut butter sandwich or leftover mac and cheese.
You could go to the restaurant with a Chinese friend. It might not give you the dishes that you see staff eating, but it should at least keep the waiters from specifically trying to recommend dishes that they believe Americans prefer.
Another possibility is to just go to a place that is an actual Chinatown and not somewhere in the Midwest. I 've watched family friends run restaurants in the Midwest versus East Coast... totally different things.
posted by gemutlichkeit at 10:29 AM on July 31, 2015 [5 favorites]
You could go to the restaurant with a Chinese friend. It might not give you the dishes that you see staff eating, but it should at least keep the waiters from specifically trying to recommend dishes that they believe Americans prefer.
Another possibility is to just go to a place that is an actual Chinatown and not somewhere in the Midwest. I 've watched family friends run restaurants in the Midwest versus East Coast... totally different things.
posted by gemutlichkeit at 10:29 AM on July 31, 2015 [5 favorites]
I do this sort of thing for a living as a food writer, and I endorse the first two responses wholeheartedly. Even severe language barriers cannot withstand a person showing genuine interest in things they like.
My method, with all due credit to Calvin Trillin's seminal treatise on ordering specials without a word of Mandarin or Cantonese:
I point at the delicious-looking thing not listed on the menu, I point at myself, I make the come-hither motion. Usually that's enough. If they frown or say "you no like" etc. I put my palms together, fingers upward, in the universal sign of supplication, "pretty please" heard round the world.
If that is not availing, I put a $20 bill on the counter and make the sign again. Whether they're from Bangladesh or Beijing every person who I have met in the business of selling food has gotten with the program.
The best part is the second or third time you go in to the same place and do this. You have proven that you are not the usual foreigner who only wants the General Tso's deep-fried sugar-soaked nonsense. When they start bringing you dishes they think you might like? That is my happy place.
posted by Andrew Galarneau at 10:31 AM on July 31, 2015 [22 favorites]
My method, with all due credit to Calvin Trillin's seminal treatise on ordering specials without a word of Mandarin or Cantonese:
I point at the delicious-looking thing not listed on the menu, I point at myself, I make the come-hither motion. Usually that's enough. If they frown or say "you no like" etc. I put my palms together, fingers upward, in the universal sign of supplication, "pretty please" heard round the world.
If that is not availing, I put a $20 bill on the counter and make the sign again. Whether they're from Bangladesh or Beijing every person who I have met in the business of selling food has gotten with the program.
The best part is the second or third time you go in to the same place and do this. You have proven that you are not the usual foreigner who only wants the General Tso's deep-fried sugar-soaked nonsense. When they start bringing you dishes they think you might like? That is my happy place.
posted by Andrew Galarneau at 10:31 AM on July 31, 2015 [22 favorites]
To add: the second "home style" menu is A Thing in Chinese restos in Amherst, N.Y. Never would've known until I saw the owner hand Chinese people a different one. It was in Chinese, which I do not read. The third time I came back she had a single copy of a translated one, which I wheedled out of her and took to a copy shop, bringing her back 20 so I could keep one.
They pretty much have English-translated versions now, though they will hand you the Americanski version every time if they don't recognize you. That's what it's like here, anyway.
posted by Andrew Galarneau at 10:40 AM on July 31, 2015 [3 favorites]
They pretty much have English-translated versions now, though they will hand you the Americanski version every time if they don't recognize you. That's what it's like here, anyway.
posted by Andrew Galarneau at 10:40 AM on July 31, 2015 [3 favorites]
IIRC, Calvin Trillin wrote that the little banners hanging on the walls were actually the names of off-the-menu dishes and he'd point to them. Followed by the you-no-like conversation, etc.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:40 AM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:40 AM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
An ex spoke Mandarin, and one night he busted it out when we were having Sichuan hot pot and he was trying to explain to the waitress that she should put the milder broth closer to where I was sitting (he asked her in English, and when she didn't get it, he asked her in Mandarin). That got the attention of a guy at the next table, who then spent the next hour chatting with him entirely in Mandarin, asking him all kinds of questions about how he learned Chinese and teasing him about how low my spice tolerance was. At some point he shared his copy of the special menu with my ex, and we were about to order something off of it before the guy realized he had to leave, and just gave us all his own food.
In short, speaking the language may help.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:47 AM on July 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
In short, speaking the language may help.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:47 AM on July 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
Speak the language or go with a Chinese friend!
Usually otherwise it is extremely hard to convince the waitstaff that no, you really DO want to try the jellyfish/tripe/12-alarm spicy dish.
posted by chainsofreedom at 11:33 AM on July 31, 2015
Usually otherwise it is extremely hard to convince the waitstaff that no, you really DO want to try the jellyfish/tripe/12-alarm spicy dish.
posted by chainsofreedom at 11:33 AM on July 31, 2015
This isn't a "special menu." The stuff you're describing (the eggs, for example) is seen as home/comfort food-type stuff, not stuff that would be served at a restaurant, so they might find it strange to serve that to you. In their eyes, it wouldn't be giving you the "good stuff"-- it'd be giving you the stuff people eat when they're at home without any guests over. It is exactly like a peanut butter sandwich or leftover mac and cheese.
To a certain extent, this is very true. What my Cantonese family ate in restaurants and what we ate at home might as well have been two completely different cuisines. The things we ate for regular weeknight meals are things you would never find in restaurants. There's a resemblance, but in general, less sauce, less variety of vegetables in a dish - just plainer food. An example would be something like pork and squash, fried with a little soy sauce, salt, pepper, and a little bit of corn starch and water to make a very small amount of a not too thick sauce.
The only time the "we'd like to have what they're having" gambit has worked was once, in England, when the food served was so far from resembling anything Chinese, that my Dad actually complained. When the owner came out and realized that he was Chinese, there were many profuse apologies and explanations, and an offer to share the staff meal - which was gratefully accepted.
IIRC, Calvin Trillin wrote that the little banners hanging on the walls were actually the names of off-the-menu dishes and he'd point to them. Followed by the you-no-like conversation, etc.
If you see handwritten signs on the wall in Chinese, those are the specials that day/week/month/forever that they don't put on the menu. Just point, ask, and be insistent.
If all else fells, bring Chinese or Chinese-speaking friends with you.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 11:47 AM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
To a certain extent, this is very true. What my Cantonese family ate in restaurants and what we ate at home might as well have been two completely different cuisines. The things we ate for regular weeknight meals are things you would never find in restaurants. There's a resemblance, but in general, less sauce, less variety of vegetables in a dish - just plainer food. An example would be something like pork and squash, fried with a little soy sauce, salt, pepper, and a little bit of corn starch and water to make a very small amount of a not too thick sauce.
The only time the "we'd like to have what they're having" gambit has worked was once, in England, when the food served was so far from resembling anything Chinese, that my Dad actually complained. When the owner came out and realized that he was Chinese, there were many profuse apologies and explanations, and an offer to share the staff meal - which was gratefully accepted.
IIRC, Calvin Trillin wrote that the little banners hanging on the walls were actually the names of off-the-menu dishes and he'd point to them. Followed by the you-no-like conversation, etc.
If you see handwritten signs on the wall in Chinese, those are the specials that day/week/month/forever that they don't put on the menu. Just point, ask, and be insistent.
If all else fells, bring Chinese or Chinese-speaking friends with you.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 11:47 AM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
Absolutely ask if there's a Chinese menu. Quite likely they won't give it to you by default if there aren't any Chinese people in your party.
Occasionally they go to the opposite extreme. My wife is Chinese, and once took me to a restaurant where she'd already been with a group of Chinese colleagues. Unfortunately, when we sat down she couldn't find any of the dishes she'd had before on the menu. It turned out that when they saw her come in with me (Caucasian), they gave us both the American menu.
Also, be careful with dishes which have American Chinese versions. For instance, if you're in a place that has real Sichuan food, and you're ordering kung pao off the Chinese menu, make sure they know you want the Chinese version of the dish and not the American version.
posted by McCoy Pauley at 11:48 AM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
Occasionally they go to the opposite extreme. My wife is Chinese, and once took me to a restaurant where she'd already been with a group of Chinese colleagues. Unfortunately, when we sat down she couldn't find any of the dishes she'd had before on the menu. It turned out that when they saw her come in with me (Caucasian), they gave us both the American menu.
Also, be careful with dishes which have American Chinese versions. For instance, if you're in a place that has real Sichuan food, and you're ordering kung pao off the Chinese menu, make sure they know you want the Chinese version of the dish and not the American version.
posted by McCoy Pauley at 11:48 AM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
My favorite Chinese restaurant has a separate Chinese menu with different, and I assume more authentic, dishes on it (with English translation to boot). When a coworker of mine ordered off of it, the waitress basically started ignoring the rest of us out of what appeared to be shear excitement of an American eating off the Chinese menu. Just ask if they have one.
posted by noneuclidean at 12:31 PM on July 31, 2015
posted by noneuclidean at 12:31 PM on July 31, 2015
Lots of Chinese restaurants in the US have a separate Chinese only menu. or they'll all in little pieces of paper hung on the wall (and in Chinese).
This could be because restaurant owners might be afraid of scaring off potential American customers with things like pork blood, etc?
Do you have a Chinese speaking and reading friend you could bring with you?
posted by raw sugar at 1:09 PM on July 31, 2015
This could be because restaurant owners might be afraid of scaring off potential American customers with things like pork blood, etc?
Do you have a Chinese speaking and reading friend you could bring with you?
posted by raw sugar at 1:09 PM on July 31, 2015
Can't find the article in a quick search, but 20 years or so ago the Minneapolis Star Tribune had a food writer who thought it would be ironically humorous to take celebrity chef Martin Yan to the Nankin Cafe. This was a restaurant that had been in business off and on for decades, and a lot of what they served wasn't just softened down for American tastes, but for sensitive and easily-frightened Minnesota eaters.
Mr. Yan tossed away the menu and ordered a variety of things from the waiter in Cantonese. Result: one of the best dinners the writer had ever had.
My takeaway: yes, this is a thing a person can do. But yes, it also helps if you know what to ask for first. (I'd also show some consideration for the owners and staff--I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time quizzing them if they're busy, or trying to order something too unusual if they're a tiny neighborhood joint without a lot of stock on hand.)
posted by gimonca at 1:11 PM on July 31, 2015
Mr. Yan tossed away the menu and ordered a variety of things from the waiter in Cantonese. Result: one of the best dinners the writer had ever had.
My takeaway: yes, this is a thing a person can do. But yes, it also helps if you know what to ask for first. (I'd also show some consideration for the owners and staff--I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time quizzing them if they're busy, or trying to order something too unusual if they're a tiny neighborhood joint without a lot of stock on hand.)
posted by gimonca at 1:11 PM on July 31, 2015
In Minneapolis according to your profile?
Being Chinese, I mostly cook at home unless they can do better than I can. Here are the places with great authentic menus that I go to. Hong Kong Noodle is one of my favorites as is Shuang Cheng. If you like spicy food, Grand Szechuan is a bit of a haul, but it's amazing. I love Mandarin Kitchen, but that menu has a few Americanized traps in it.
I'd be game to have a Chinese menu meetup.
posted by advicepig at 1:12 PM on July 31, 2015 [4 favorites]
Being Chinese, I mostly cook at home unless they can do better than I can. Here are the places with great authentic menus that I go to. Hong Kong Noodle is one of my favorites as is Shuang Cheng. If you like spicy food, Grand Szechuan is a bit of a haul, but it's amazing. I love Mandarin Kitchen, but that menu has a few Americanized traps in it.
I'd be game to have a Chinese menu meetup.
posted by advicepig at 1:12 PM on July 31, 2015 [4 favorites]
It's definitely worth asking, probably easier to navigate if you have a friend who speaks Chinese and knows the sorts of authentic/comfort food type dishes to ask for! I have a friend who's originally from Malaysia and he ordered off-menu at a Chinese restaurant in western Mass. all the time. They seemed delighted. (He held a buffet-style birthday dinner there and I don't think there was a single thing from the regular menu.)
posted by usonian at 1:30 PM on July 31, 2015
posted by usonian at 1:30 PM on July 31, 2015
The food you are describing is normal home cooked meals, which Americans tend to not think of as Chinese food. It is delicious and can actually be eaten every day without causing health issues. (I usually dread going to Chinese restaurants in the US.)
In many restaurants, there is a Chinese menu, as in written in Chinese. I have definitely ordered off that. They're usually handwritten, and sometimes displayed like calligraphy. (So even if you can read Chinese characters, they're not that useful unless you can read Chinese handwriting.)
amtho mentions a "bok choy and mushroom" dish. This is one of the most basic Chinese food dishes, as in, I've had it almost every time I've been in any restaurant in China. Again, this is on the Chinese menu because it's what Chinese people would expect. But if an American orders it and is not expecting it, they might make a fuss and at the end it's not worth it. (Another common one is anything with black fungus. I don't know what the English term is, but it's a wavy black gelatinous thing and I find it delicious. My (American) husband finds it weird and gross.)
If you can actually see what they are eating, you can just point and ask for it. In Chinese culture, it is not generally considered rude to look at other people's food, and older generation people might even come up to you to ask what you are eating. (This is usually considered quite unusual in the US.)
I doubt that it's made with limited ingredients. In fact, they're usually fast and easy to make, and made with more common ingredients. But they don't "pop", as in there's usually less sauce, less sugar, less grease, etc. And it's just served on a bowl of rice.
Have fun. But don't be surprised if you don't like it. It's very different from American Chinese food.
posted by ethidda at 2:18 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
In many restaurants, there is a Chinese menu, as in written in Chinese. I have definitely ordered off that. They're usually handwritten, and sometimes displayed like calligraphy. (So even if you can read Chinese characters, they're not that useful unless you can read Chinese handwriting.)
amtho mentions a "bok choy and mushroom" dish. This is one of the most basic Chinese food dishes, as in, I've had it almost every time I've been in any restaurant in China. Again, this is on the Chinese menu because it's what Chinese people would expect. But if an American orders it and is not expecting it, they might make a fuss and at the end it's not worth it. (Another common one is anything with black fungus. I don't know what the English term is, but it's a wavy black gelatinous thing and I find it delicious. My (American) husband finds it weird and gross.)
If you can actually see what they are eating, you can just point and ask for it. In Chinese culture, it is not generally considered rude to look at other people's food, and older generation people might even come up to you to ask what you are eating. (This is usually considered quite unusual in the US.)
I doubt that it's made with limited ingredients. In fact, they're usually fast and easy to make, and made with more common ingredients. But they don't "pop", as in there's usually less sauce, less sugar, less grease, etc. And it's just served on a bowl of rice.
Have fun. But don't be surprised if you don't like it. It's very different from American Chinese food.
posted by ethidda at 2:18 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
While this thread is still alive, I just wanted to reference a FanFare thread on this documentary about Chinese restaurants, "The Search for General Tso".
posted by gemutlichkeit at 3:18 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by gemutlichkeit at 3:18 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you are in/near the twin cities , I think the best option is to find some more non-Americanized Chinese restaurants that have this kind of stuff on the menu already. I would probably look around the university area - there are often Chinese restaurants near big universities that cater to the Chinese student population.
posted by nakedmolerats at 5:31 PM on July 31, 2015
posted by nakedmolerats at 5:31 PM on July 31, 2015
I went out to Thai food with Tyler Cowen once and instead of ordering off the menu he told the waiter to just bring us whatever dishes he'd want to eat himself if it was his last day alive.
It was an amazing meal.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:27 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
It was an amazing meal.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:27 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think you just need to tell the waiter that you are open to choices that are NOT on the menu... that you're not just someone who only order fried rice and egg fooyoung. :) Be sure to let them know if there's something you refuse to eat or get grossed out. Any objections to Chicken feet or duck feet? (rare, but not impossible).
The term often used is "private dish", or 私房菜 (si-fang-chai in Mandarin, see-fong-choi in Cantonese)．While it often refers to a 'secret recipe', it usually means chef's signature dish. OTOH, you can also ask for "chef's signature dish" 師傅拿手好菜 (si-fu na-so-hao-chai / see-fu na-sau ho-choi).
You may also want to go on the weekends, as some Chinese restaurants may have different menus on the weekends. Some restaurants do a "northern breakfast menu" on the weekends with Chinese steamed biscuits (sao-bing), Chinese donut (yo-tiao), soy milk (warm) in salty or sweet forms, plus dumplings in red chili oil, rice crepes (chiong-fan) with multiple types of fillings (spinach, plain, BBQ pork, beef, shrimp...) and so on.
I'll try to name the dish you mentioned in Chinese, but keep in mind I don't know for sure what they call it.
"big piles of scrambled eggs with shrimp and green onion or chives" -- 蝦仁炒蛋 (lit: scrambled eggs with shrimp, green onions in such are given) pronounced in Cantonese ha-yan-chau-dan (do "ciao" like Italian, chiao!) You can also order this over rice. 蝦仁炒蛋燴飯 ha-yan-chau-dan hwui-fan
"tofu with ground meat and black beans in some sort of gravy" I think this one is actually "豆豉辣酱烧豆腐＂，which is braised tofu in spicy bean sauce. You can actually make the sauce by gently stir-frying a bit of the regular hot sauce (the chunky kind, fortify with Sriracha if you have to) and mix on some of the fermented black beans then set it aside, mixed. Gravy can be added by simply adding some thickener (tapioca or other starch) near the end until you get the right consistency. Or you can buy them like this:
https://www.hddus.com/product-1327.html
When you order mapo tofu, make sure you tell them you want the authentic Chinese version. :)
Good luck and enjoy.
posted by kschang at 12:33 AM on August 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
The term often used is "private dish", or 私房菜 (si-fang-chai in Mandarin, see-fong-choi in Cantonese)．While it often refers to a 'secret recipe', it usually means chef's signature dish. OTOH, you can also ask for "chef's signature dish" 師傅拿手好菜 (si-fu na-so-hao-chai / see-fu na-sau ho-choi).
You may also want to go on the weekends, as some Chinese restaurants may have different menus on the weekends. Some restaurants do a "northern breakfast menu" on the weekends with Chinese steamed biscuits (sao-bing), Chinese donut (yo-tiao), soy milk (warm) in salty or sweet forms, plus dumplings in red chili oil, rice crepes (chiong-fan) with multiple types of fillings (spinach, plain, BBQ pork, beef, shrimp...) and so on.
I'll try to name the dish you mentioned in Chinese, but keep in mind I don't know for sure what they call it.
"big piles of scrambled eggs with shrimp and green onion or chives" -- 蝦仁炒蛋 (lit: scrambled eggs with shrimp, green onions in such are given) pronounced in Cantonese ha-yan-chau-dan (do "ciao" like Italian, chiao!) You can also order this over rice. 蝦仁炒蛋燴飯 ha-yan-chau-dan hwui-fan
"tofu with ground meat and black beans in some sort of gravy" I think this one is actually "豆豉辣酱烧豆腐＂，which is braised tofu in spicy bean sauce. You can actually make the sauce by gently stir-frying a bit of the regular hot sauce (the chunky kind, fortify with Sriracha if you have to) and mix on some of the fermented black beans then set it aside, mixed. Gravy can be added by simply adding some thickener (tapioca or other starch) near the end until you get the right consistency. Or you can buy them like this:
https://www.hddus.com/product-1327.html
When you order mapo tofu, make sure you tell them you want the authentic Chinese version. :)
Good luck and enjoy.
posted by kschang at 12:33 AM on August 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
I don't know what the English term is, but it's a wavy black gelatinous thing and I find it delicious. My (American) husband finds it weird and gross.
The popular term is "Jew's Ear", really, though a more generic term is "wood ear". If you want to be specific, "Auricularia_auricula-judae" :D
But Chinese term is 黑木耳 (literally: black wood ear)
posted by kschang at 12:41 AM on August 1, 2015
The popular term is "Jew's Ear", really, though a more generic term is "wood ear". If you want to be specific, "Auricularia_auricula-judae" :D
But Chinese term is 黑木耳 (literally: black wood ear)
posted by kschang at 12:41 AM on August 1, 2015
Just realized something, asking for signature dish may get you really fancy stuff. If you want "Chinese homestyle", you may want to ask for 家常菜 (pronounced: jia-chan-chai / ga-chiong-choi, meaning: family common entree) instead.
If a restaurant has the "3 entrees for $20" type combo deals (common in SF Bay Area) those dishes would be the simple stuff like the scrambled eggs with shrimp and such.
posted by kschang at 12:46 AM on August 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
If a restaurant has the "3 entrees for $20" type combo deals (common in SF Bay Area) those dishes would be the simple stuff like the scrambled eggs with shrimp and such.
posted by kschang at 12:46 AM on August 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
You can also always just ask for a dish based on the ingredients you want. The Chinese takeout I go to is a corner Philly take out and I'm not sure if any of the suggestions listed above would work there, but when I order the kung pao, I ask for it with just peanuts, chili, and scallions since that's closer to the authentic recipe.
posted by Deathalicious at 11:02 AM on August 1, 2015
posted by Deathalicious at 11:02 AM on August 1, 2015
Best answer: In the Twin Cities go to Hong Kong Noodle, Shuang Cheng, Tea House, Kowloon, Little Sichuan (all on University) or Szechuan in Roseville. Those are the only Chinese places that I've found that really make an effort. Tea House especially encourages Americans to eat real Chinese dishes -- their English menu is full of very cool different stuff.
Go with a bunch of friends so you can try lots of dishes. Don't order the Chinese-American favorites, order stuff you've never heard of before.
A bunch of the Chinese restaurants in Minneapolis like Hop Wong and Grand Dragon are owned by one company that we jokingly call the Chinese Restaurant Cartel. They all have basically the same equally bland food. Don't order from them.
posted by miyabo at 6:24 AM on August 3, 2015
Go with a bunch of friends so you can try lots of dishes. Don't order the Chinese-American favorites, order stuff you've never heard of before.
A bunch of the Chinese restaurants in Minneapolis like Hop Wong and Grand Dragon are owned by one company that we jokingly call the Chinese Restaurant Cartel. They all have basically the same equally bland food. Don't order from them.
posted by miyabo at 6:24 AM on August 3, 2015
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They may reply that they don't serve it, or it's not on the menu, but it seems like this would be an easy way to ask.
posted by aimedwander at 9:51 AM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]