dumplings

Yeh Yeh’s Funeral (The Way He’d Want It – Lots of Food)

May 18, 2013

beef, beverage, Chinese, dessert, dumplings, Korean, NYC, seafood, soup, tea, travel

Don’t Worry – this post is only contains pictures of the food we ate and written things we did for Yeh-Yeh’s funeral service.

Albany John & I drove down for the service. My lovely sib-in-laws, Maka & CVS, were nice enough to let us stay with them. We drove down late on a Friday night, so that I could be at the airport to pick up my sister, who was flying in from Seattle.

Once I picked her up, we went to the YehYeh’s condo in Flushing. The parking god must have smiled on me for driving late at night and waking up early to pick up my sister from the airport, because I found (free!) street parking almost instantly. In Flushing. On a weekend. My poor sister was sick, and the flight didn’t help, so she napped in the condo while I went out to lunch at Jin Cheng with my dad and Aunties.

Jin Cheng is stupid close to the condo, and it has free parking, so it’s in my family’s roster of restaurants to go to. And guess what? They actually serve a good lunch. Unlike the rest of Flushing, Jin Cheng was pretty quiet, not even half full. The meal was miles better than when I’ve been for dinner or Chinese New Year. They really can’t handle a crowd.

Seafood Congee up top. Light & gingery. I didn’t mind a bowl.

I requested we get a plate of black bean squid. Good wok hei on the squid. Bleh to the peppers.

Beef and gai lan. Very tender beef, also with good wok hei.

Oop, sorry, this was chicken with hard chives cut long. Tasty stuff. I bought more chives to cook with at home shortly after this.

We hung around and just talked for a while. It’s just a whole other transition, a new step in life, to process with Yeh Yeh passing.

We went to San Soo Kap San for dinner with my uncle, aunt & her husband/my uncle, and one of my cousins. That dish with the red strip in the right bottom corner on the big plate? Raw squid. It was soooo freaking good! They only gave 1 plate of it as ban chan, and probably for good reason (I could have eaten about 10 of these). The rest of the banchan spread was also pretty impressive – fresh tofu, konjac (I think…) kimchee, cucumbers, small fish, pickled parsnips (MY JAM!), turnips. So much tastiness.

One bubbling bowl of scrambled egg ban chan. Very delicate – like a savory custard.

They grill all of the meat for you. Kind of expensive – most dishes hover around $30! Yikes! You can see tongue above. Thin rounds. Tasty.

Pork Belly! Yeah!

Galbi! We got two orders. My other cousin’s girlfriend is Korean and she said you don’t normally get 2 orders of the same thing, traditionally. My cousin said his parents know and do it any way, lol. I can’t argue, that galbi was great. Meaty, juicy, had that nice galbi marinade.

I think we got some other kind of sliced beef, too.

I still felt like eating my feelings after dinner, so my dad and I went to Tous Les Jours for some dessert. I was up for anything, but my dad says after going to Korea for a few months last year, he prefers Korean bakeries over Chinese ones because they have better quality ingredients & products, and are more innovative in what they make.

I think they are kind of expensive, but they are also the only bakeries open after 6/7 PM in Flushing. All of the Chinese ones close by then. There’s also a Paris Bakery nearby in downtown Flushing (that you can see from Tous les Jours) and is also open late.

I went for a black sesame doughnut and a cream cheese filled danish.

My dad got a blueberry cheesecake.

All sliced up:
Black sesame doughnut – mochi dough was chewy and kind of odd at first, then an addictive texure. Not too sweet.
Blueberry cheesecake – Asian cheesecake. Fluffy and cake-like.
Cream cheese danish – rich, rich rich, and crispy pastry exterior. Indulgent, but really good.

And like that, I was down with the more expensive Korean bakeries. Good stuff, and different than what the Chinese bakeries sell in Flushing.

Saturday I went to Flushing not knowing when I was going to leave. I wound up spending the whole day there & taking the subway back to Forest Hills. I was really happy to have late night public transportation – I wouldn’t have been able to drive, I was so sleepy!

The next morning we got up and ready to go to the funeral home for the Chinese equivalent of a wake.

Mama & Papa John had come in and were staying near the funeral home. We went out there to grab an late dim sum at … some place in Manhattan Chinatown. My bad, I forget the name. I was trying not to spill anything on my clothes and get to the funeral home on time (Thanks for lunch, Mama & Papa John!).

Someone brought treats to the funeral home. Dan tats. Okay, I will have one. Still warm. Yum. Yeh Yeh. Sigh.

And we went in. It was a traditional Buddhist Chinese funeral, even though we’re not really religious. We folded lots of coins out of paper – that was pretty nice – having something to do with your hands at all times. These were burned as offerings. Although my cousins & I were smartasses and couldn’t help but jokingly bemoan how stereotypical it was to have origami at an Asian funeral, or how we were doing arts & crafts.
Showing emotion/sadness was discouraged, and certain curious circumstances before the funeral helped prepare me for this, although, really, I’d been fairly emotionally detached up until then, so I don’t think crying would have been all too much of an issue any way.

Two Buddhist Monks came in and read a chant. We thought it would just be for a few minutes, but it ended up being about 45 minutes. It wound up being very soothing. Albany John was sweet and took a video of it all for my brother, who couldn’t make it. I think he will really appreciate the monks’ chant.

The service was also bilingual, for us ABCs who don’t understand Cantonese. I’m thankful for that, so I could still participate and understand what was going on without feeling ashamed about my lack of Cantonese.

After the funeral, the sons (my dad & uncle) took all of the remaining guests out for dinner at a nearby restaurant on Mott Street. Eh, food was okay, but Manhattan Chinatown is mostly for tourists now.

This was “special” chicken, in that it tasted like they steamed it one day not quite all the way, and then served it the next day. :X

Salt & pepper pork – okay, this was good.

Gummy lobster. Didn’t even finish it. My dad tried it and agreed. His table’s was good, though.

I always forget how absurd banquet food seems to people who didn’t grow up with it.

After this, we all went our respective ways. Albany John had to get back to Albany that night, so he took a train back.

The next day was the burial. We woke up early to get to the funeral home. Some more traditions/rituals that I didn’t quite understand. Drive to the graveyard, where YehYeh was buried next to Grandma.

Once Yeh-Yeh was buried, we went to one of his favorite restaurants in Flushing – Mellie’s. Another traditional post-service meal.

Sticky Rice with lobster, sweet & sour pork, some soup.

Then I spent the day hanging out with my cousins & sister at my Aunt & Uncle’s place just outside of Flushing. That was great. I haven’t done that since I was a kid. Just spend a few hours hanging out, watching TV, chatting. My sister was all about mahjong. We got Caribbean food & pizza for dinner.

I went back to Forest Hills for one last night with CVS & Maka. Maka took me with her to work in the morning. It was kind of like the world of tomorrow. How did it take me so long to visit this place? There were also snacks everywhere, so I left well fed & caffeinated on my way to Flushing to hang out with my Dad & head back to Albany with my sister.

My Dad and I decided to go out and try a bunch of food from all of the places in Flushing. My sister tagged along for the com First up:

My Sweet Home Dumpling on Roosevelt for 10 tasty dumplings. Freshly made to order (including the dough rolled out!). So good, and under $5.00

Then we walked to the underground food mall on Main Street. You know, the one past Starbucks? Any way, we hit up NY Lan Zhou La Mian. The guy at the stall evidently was asking my dad if my sister & I were single, and my dad quickly responded in the affirmative, haha (my sister is single).

There’s one long folding table and some low stools near the menu board.

Dad went with oxtail noodle soup. He loves oxtails, and I can’t seem to get enough of them, either. The broth was very flavorful, and came with a few pieces of baby bok choy.

Hand pulled noodles were great! Springy chew, flavorful, and went well with the oxtails and broth. The bowl was enormous, and there were hot sauce condiments aplenty on the table. Dad let me spike the broth near the end when he was done with the soup. Yeah!

Then we walked off our gluttony a little more around the edge of downtown Flushing. My Dad saw Forest House, and “Hong Kong Milk Tea” on the sign and wanted to go in.

My Dad said he hadn’t had Hong Kong style Milk Tea in the US, and the difference between this and other Milk Teas you get is that they steep the tea for longer. He said in Hong Kong when he was growing up, the really legit places would strain the tea through a silk stocking.

It took a few minutes for this to come out, but boy was it good! Now I want Hong Kong Milk Tea ALL OF THE TIME – it makes other milk teas look weak and too creamy by comparison. There was a nice bitterness to contrast all of that dairy, and the bottom of the cup had some tea leaves (in Flushing Chinatown it’s usually a teabag in coffee + cream, and it’s not steeped for very long).

Our mini food tour was a nice segue into leaving (fat and fairly happy). There are plenty of things to think about when one of your loved ones passes. I’m lucky to have been able to connect with my Yeh-Yeh. I was still a kid when my other grandparents passed, and I didn’t get to know them as well.

Snacks at Ala Shanghai

March 31, 2013

Chinese, dumplings, frugal, local, recommendations, restaurant, review, seafood, soup

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My Dad was in town to say farewell to my sister before she left the state for a few months. We stopped at Ala Shanghai for snacks.

Noodle soup, xiao long bao, and some other nibbles while we spent some time together. I drove my dad by some houses I liked in the Latham area, and I can’t decide how good/bad it is that I’m giving extra points to places for their proximity to Ala Shanghai.

Uncle Lanny brought out some siu mai for us to try out. These are all-seafood. Scallops and shrimp. No pork or other meat. Dude, these were awesome – fresh and briny. I’m so getting these again.

Chinese New Year – The Snake (Albany)

March 11, 2013

Chinese, dumplings, fried, local, pork, recommendations, restaurant, review, seafood

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Albany John and I went to Ala Shanghai with Phairhead, SexyBeast, & another of our pals to celebrate Chinese New Year in Albany. Some tasty nibbles with jelly fish, and aster salad. Spicy wontons in chili oil. Meaty, peanutty, and silky soft wonton skins. A present from Uncle Lanny – an order of Xiao Long Bao. Gung hey fat choy, and xie xie! We got an order of spicy fish fillets on the special Chinese New Year menu (now over). These were great, and I’d love to see it make an appearance on the regular menu. Hm, although you could also probably just ask for it and they’ll make it for you in the kitchen, too. The fish had no breading on it, and was crispy & moist without being the least bit greasy. Nice spicy kick infused in the fish flesh, with the chili peppers adding some extra burn (I could eat a few whole ones, and the mess of hot chili peppers Albany John ate didn’t make him sweat bullets at the table).
Wuxi style spare ribs – a sweet and slightly tangy sauce over some tender pork ribs. SOFT SHELL CRAB WITH EGG YOLK! I was looking forward to this dish for weeks. A platter of salty, briny happiness. The egg yolk in the batter makes this a great occasional treat. Some medlar jelly for dessert. Mmm.

Surrounding myself with some great friends was a nice way to gently wean myself away from my family after seeing them at Chinese New Year in Flushing, Queens.

Taiwan Noodle – Winter Steamed Rice Dishes!

November 30, 2012

Chicken, Chinese, dumplings, frugal, local, recommendations, restaurant, review, soup, veggies

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Met up with one of my good ol’ Albany friends, her son, and her beau, Farmer Jon, for dinner at Taiwan Noodle recently. ‘Scuse the yellow-y and/or out of focus pictures. My white balance was slacking during this meal, and I don’t get to see my girly all that often so I was more focused on her.

We chose Taiwan Noodle because it was a good middle meeting point for us, and because they have seriously cheap eats. And we like to eat. Scallion pancakes to start!

Ground pork noodle soup for my friend & her kiddo.

Stuffed pork steamed buns. I think we also got some Xiao Long Baos as well.

I can’t not order the pork foot noodle soup. Or some iteration of pork trotter when I’m at Taiwan Noodle. So tender! Farmer Jon said he’s seen where pigs walk, and he’d rather not nibble on that, tyvm. Lol, love that Farmer Jon.

Oh, more snacks! Spicy chicken wings. These had a good amount of kick but weren’t overwhelming. It was a dry-spice heat, not saucy. Reminded me of togarashi spice like you can put on Japanese ramen soups.

And some wood ear & celery in the background. Albany John can’t get enough of these. I think he orders these every time we go to Taiwan Noodle. He likes how soft and tender they make them.

I am bummed this came out so yellow & blurry! Okay, so Taiwan Noodle now has steamed rice in bamboo baskets for the winter months. They’re all $7.95, and they are GIGANTIC! Albany John got a pork & black bean steamer above. I don’t know why I was surprised by the size, since at $7.95 they are the most expensive dish on the menu, but seriously… it’s enormous. It’s an entire large bamboo steamer – like 9-10″ in diameter, and filled with rice and pork. They come with a dark soy sauce on the side.

Farmer Jon got chicken & lop cheong (chinese sausage). He wasn’t too crazy about the chicken having bones in it (it’s rustically chopped and hacked pieces of chicken on the bone), but thought the flavors weren’t too shabby at all.

One of the best things is that an extra lop cheong is just $1, so you can add it to any of the steamed rice dishes. Yeesssssss.

Taiwan Noodle for CNY Eve Lunch

January 23, 2012

Chinese, dumplings, frugal, local, pork, recommendations, restaurant, review, seafood, soup

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I remember CelinaBean called me when I was waiting to cross the boarder back to the US from Montreal when she told me about a new soup place on Central Ave – Taiwan Noodle. Their menu is small, simple, and cheap.

I had planned on heading down to NYC this past weekend to spend Chinese New Year with my family. But the snow storm put a kibosh on that. I was bummed I was going to miss them. I hadn’t finished making soup for Renee’s soup swap, but was happy when Celina mentioned she’s be back in town to order as much off of the menu as possible. She brought the whole family with her, and we were able to sample quite a few different dishes.

These spicy wontons ($3.95) were great – slippery skins, and a hearty dose of heat.

Two orders of scallion pancakes were a big hit with the kids. This is a crispier version than I am used to, but not at all oily.

Wood Ear ($3.95) was a cold dish of wood ear, carrots, and celery in a slightly sweet sauce. Not cloying, and really quite refreshing.

The shop itself is in the old Saso’s space on Central Ave (218 Central Ave, Albany, NY). The interior is clean and simply decorated – it appeared to be the owner and maybe his son or another young adult relative doing FOH service.

I heard an order of “Har Gow” getting shouted at the kitchen when we sat down, which means I was all like “TWO ORDERS OF HAR GOW, PLEASE!” when it was order time. They’re on the menu in English as Shrimp Dumplings ($3.95). You can skip these and get more spicy wontons, though – they were just frozen pre-fab ones. The shrimp inside was kinda mealy.

Pork and leek dumplings – $2.95 for four hefty dumplings. Not too shabby.

Xiao Long Bao ($2.95)! I can probably tell you what brand of frozen XLB these are, coz I think I have these exact same dumpling sitting in my freezer right now. Not bad, but… you know. Frozen and premade. It’ll scratch your XLB cravings.

So. The dumplings might be a little hit-and-miss, but what you really want to come here for are the noodle soups.

Chicken wing soup – the kids really liked this one.
Pig foot soup. OMG, love. Celina and I were raving about how good the broths were – so clean, light, but still rich and flavorful. They surprised us and told us that ALL of their broths were vegetable based (made in house)! WHAT?! Veggie based broths at an Asian restaurant?

These were so good, and I don’t think these pictures do justice to the sheer size of these dishes – huge! You get SO much food for $5! They were bigger than my head! I can’t wait to go back and try more soups, and more mains-over-rice types of dishes. Great flavors, and the soup broth was so clean.

Pan fried dumplings – another big hit with the kiddos. Not too greasy even though the bottoms were fried into tasty crispiness.

We also got to try another vegetarian broth chock full of onions and tomatoes. This one, he said, was for beef noodle soups. As-is, you wouldn’t peg it as an Asian broth. But it was very richly flavored and I can’t wait to try out a beef soup now.

A meal for 8 people was $57! That’s less than $10 per person, even with tax and tip! What a steal!

Then Albany John and I went for a hike at Grafton Lakes State Park. We hit up a trail with only two other sets of footprints on it!

Gung Hey Fat Choy

NYC Christmas

December 30, 2011

Chinese, dumplings, NYC, pork, seafood, travel

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I went down to Queens the weekend before Christmas to see my family. Stayed with my bro & sis in laws, Maka & CVS. CVS is too good of a chef and insisted on cooking for us while we were there. He made smoked chicken wings, and this mezcal-brushed smoky pork chop with a side of spicy BBQ sauce. Dude, so good. I think I like mezcal now.

The stuff on top is a jerusalem artichoke puree. SO GOOD. He uses cream in his dish, but I’d just sub in chicken broth. Because I am so making Albany John make this at home – I wanted to eat a bucket of it. I think it was in a recent edition of Gourmet magazine? Or some kinda food magazine.

I stopped by to see YehYeh, my uncle, and my dad and his lovely lady on my way out through Flushing. I lucked out and found street parking – wahoo! It’s becoming so hard to find in Flushing now, and the public lot is always full on the weekends.

We grabbed some yum cha at Grand Restaurant. Taro cake.
Har cheung! We got about 3-4 of these. My YehYeh knows how much I love this dish. My fave dish at yumcha – supple rice noodles, and briny shrimp in a sweet soy sauce.
Some steamed spare ribs & siu mai.
Fried taro with meaty stuffing. Ok, but kind of cold.
And a plate of chow fun (cow). More fresh rice noodles! So good!

Then I wandered around for a while (but it was SO cold). I recognized the characters for Xiao Long Bao at a stall in the Flushing mall (the one that’s pretty much all food stalls), but I was too full to order them. 8 for $3, too! Sadness.

I wanted to try White Bear. I’d heard great reviews on other blogs, and all signs on Yelp seemed to indicate that these were some of the best dumplings hands down in Flushing. It’s a hole-in-the-wall type restaurant. But slightly larger. There are 3-4 small tables, but it’s hard to fit a group of 4 in here. Better for groups of 2-3.

One of their popular dishes is #6 – wontons in chili oil, $4.50. It’s not actually spicy, despite all of the chili oil, but my main point issue were the gummy & overcooked skins. I think these had been sitting around too long, because a dude behind the counter was just like “Number 6?” and I was like “yeah” and he was like “here” about 30 seconds later.

I decided I liked my wontons I make at home better. So, at least on the bright side, I won’t be lusting over dumplings 200 miles away.

Winter 2011 Seasonal Dinner at Ala Shanghai

November 18, 2011

bloggers, Chinese, dessert, dumplings, lamb, local, pork, recommendations, restaurant, review, seafood, soup, veggies

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Daniel B. organized another lovely seasonal dinner at Ala Shanghai. Now that we are in the middle of November, and well into our way of the season of slight chilliness in the Northeast, it’s a great time to try out some warming dishes at Ala Shanghai.

About 16 of us gathered earlier this week to eat a bunch of courses for $20 per person, inclusive of tax and tip. You too can enjoy this menu if you so desire. And by the end of this post, you’re gonna desire.

Many thanks to the man who organized the lot of us rogue eaters. Cheers, Daniel! (I hope I didn’t make your face look too melty here).

Thanks also extend to Steve for bringing some wine. Yay! Great pairing with the food. Ala Shanghai is a BYOB place, so feel free to bring your own if you’d like.

Xiao long bao to start. They were all soooo full of soup! Yay! No sad deflated XLBs here

This time we made sure Celina had one, since I probably ate hers at the last dinner. That’s grounds for de-friending right there. I’m a terrible dining companion.Man, how have I not alienated myself from most of the fooding elite in Albany?

More apps – turnip pastries on the left, steamed glutinous rice dumplings in the center, and steamed and pan fried meat dumplings on the right. Love the turnip pastries when they’re nice and warm with crunchy sesame seeds on the bottom. And you can’t go wrong with meat filled carbs! I don’t really like rice that much, but boy does Albany John, so he ate my dumpling with gusto.
Soup course – chicken and wonton soup. It came out bubbling in the casserole dish. Now that’s fresh!

So chickeny! This was a great simple soup for a cold day – the chicken flavor shone, the soup was refreshing and light. I’ve mentioned before that Ala Shanghai is my favorite place for soup in the area because they don’t load their soups up with unnecessary sugar or fat.

Flounder filets with woodear. This is a simple fish dish. The fish are tender, and the woodear is a nice crunchy foil. I love, love, love woodear. It’s a mushroom/fungus that’s more texture than anything, but I think it goes really well in meat dishes.

Lanny and one of his staff assembling the sizzling lamb table-side.
Lamb slices with scallion and onion. I’ve had similar dishes Cantonese-style with beef, but the lamb flavor and tenderness blows it out of the water. It’s so meaty and good!
Note: This is not a dish for someone counting calories – there’s plenty of delicious fat and flavor in this dish.
Pork shoulder. Fatbomb on a plate! Unctuous skin, incredibly tender meat within, and a wedge of bok choy with some crunch. Mmmm. Meat coma. This is a little on the sweet side of flavor. This is a dish you absolutely must share with eight other people. You wouldn’t stand a chance of putting a dent into this rich dish on your own.

Ham with Chinese cabbages. I really liked this ham. I want to make some myself. It was rich and smoky, with a little bit of sweetness. And I usually don’t like sweet meat. It’s got a lot of flavor. The small slices are all you need. BIG FLAVORS here. Albany John wasn’t as big of a fan of the sweetness (just not his thing), but that just means he won’t be touching my ham this winter.

SALTED VEGGIE WITH SOY BEAN AND TOFU SHEET!!!

Lanny brought this out and told my table “This is favorite dish,”

He is so right. If there is a dish you MUST order at Ala Shanghai, it is this. It’s so good and fresh, and they make the salted veggies there (it’s salted mustard greens so they’re kind of like pickles), and the combination of flavors just makes it so that you can’t stop eating it, and I love it so much, and it’s perfect for winter.

It’s mega-salty and refreshing. And very low fat. It really wakes you up (and fills you up). And makes you a happy person. Like their soups, I think this dish really highlights Ala’s abilities to let ingredients shine on their own.
Noodles made in-house with some veggies and chicken. Tender noodles. They’re good. But you know what makes them even better? Having those salted veggies to toss on top! Great combo!

Red bean pancakes for dessert. I got at least two because Albany John doesn’t like red bean paste. Yesssss.

Go there. Bring your friends and get all of this delicious food. $160. 8 people (or dinner for a week). Do it.

Or just go there and get the salted veggies with soy beans and tofu sheets, because I said so, and because it will take the winter blues right out of you.

Tai Pan in Clifton Park for Dim Sum

September 18, 2011

beef, bloggers, Chinese, dumplings, fried, local, restaurant, review, seafood

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It’s rather unfortunate that some of my clearest pictures in a while were taken at one of the most ‘meh’ meals I’ve had in a while. Daniel B. and I met up for lunch one day at Tai Pan (1519 Route 9, Clifton Park, NY). I’ve had food at Tai Pan before. Never been very impressed with it – usually long waits for so-so food, but The Profussor was all about Cheryl Clark’s upbeat review in the TU. Eventually, he wore me down enough to go over there and try out their dim sum menu for a weekday lunch.

We sat in a front/sunny area. The seats/tables looked like outdoor patio kind of furniture, and a lot of the backs of the wicker chairs were broken. :/

One positive thing about Tai Pan’s weekday dim sum menu – they don’t have everything on the sheet, and they tell you that. More like, circle it and see what your server says they have.

We got some of my dim sum mainstays – har gow & har cheung. Shrimp rice rolls & Shrimp rice noodle dumplings. These were really bad. There’s no mincing words about it. I’d just basically suggest avoiding the dim sum dishes that involve rice noodles.
The har gow were better than the har cheung, but… they were still kind of gloppy/granular. And what’s up with the bed of shredded iceberg lettuce underneath instead of a leaf of napa cabbage?

These may have been some of the worst shrimp rice noodle rolls I’ve ever had. See how thick the noodle is? It was crazy-thick. And tough. And tasted kind of stale. And there was only One. Small. Shrimp. in the roll. It was way overcooked and gummy. WTF, you always get two whole shrimp in har cheung. Not one or one half. And they should pop with shrimpy goodness, not mushiness.

The sauce was really weird too – VERY oily and greasy.

The shrimp eggplant were one of the better dishes. New take on it – I’m used to seeing the eggplant stuffed with shrimp and the entire thing deep fried. This dish was more like they fried slices of eggplant, and then put slices of fried shrimp discs on top that were battered in panko. Nice texture, and not too oily for something fried.

At first I was like “WTF is this?! This isn’t traditional!” But then the texture won me over, so I ended up really liking it at the end. But if you’re used to the more traditional stuffed eggplant dim sum dish, the first time you eat this will be way different.

Taro dumplings with some meat in them. These were also good. Too oily/greasy, but still passable. You know how you get some fried foods, and you’re like “Oh, these are good, but there is a lot of oil coming out of these.”, and you still eat it? Yeah, that’s what these were like. Nothing so horrible we couldn’t eat ‘em, but enough of a distraction to make us double check where our napkins were.

Beef chow fun. It was okay. But suffered from way too much oil. Good wok hei on the meat and some noodles, though. These rice noodles were much better than the rice noodles in the dim sum dishes.

I liked the cold beef tendon dish. We got the whitey warning from our server about it being a “very traditional Chinese dish” and asked if we really were sure we wanted it. *sigh* I guess I’m not looking too Chinese lately, eh? Maybe if I did they wouldn’t have given me a heads up on the cheung fun situation, lol. Give me tendon bits and lemme put them in my mouf, pls!

These were spicy-style and served on a bed of cucumbers. This was probably one of the best-executed dishes of the meal. Pleasantly chewy tendon slices – if you like beef tendon, this will suit you just fine. Beef tendon is more about texture than it is about flavor.

Here’s another shot of the chow fun. Look at all the oil pooling on the bottom! Way too much oil.

If I go back, I’d ask them to go really light on the oil. I think this was about $7-8. I’m not really sure how much everything else was because when we got the bill it just had one price on it. Maybe some of the other Chinese dishes are more authentic than the ones we got. Beef tendon isn’t too popular ’round these parts, so I would go back just to get that again.

Ala Shanghai – My fave local restaurant

September 1, 2011

Chinese, dumplings, frugal, local, pork, recommendations, restaurant, review, seafood, soup

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It’s nice to get a break from the weather sometimes. But if you’re given to sickliness like yours truly, sometimes your immune system doesn’t appreciate the sharp humidity drops and you get a summer cold.

Enter Ala Shanghai. My kitchen away from home. I like going here (especially when I’m sick) because it feels like I pulled a seat up to a relative’s table and they’re taking care of me. Very familial here.

I was so craving some jelly fish, and Lanny must have been reading my mind because some free appetizers came my way. Jelly fish and cabbage. Mmm. Crunchy and so good. Ala Shanghai has the best jelly fish I’ve ever had – nice and crunchy, tastes briny like the sea, and just a touch of sesame oil. Mmm.

Albany John ordered some turnip pastries. I think these are really good for kids – flaky and pastry like, but not too vegetal.

I decided to try the pan-fried steamed dumplings. Basically, steamed baos, with one side fried in oil.

Inside of turnip pastry. So many flaky layers.

Fried baos from above.

Bao innards. Nommy pork with lots of juices.

Oh, and of couse some xiao4 long2 bao. There were a few breaks in the XLB (no soup :<), but…

The few that did have soup were just ay-may-zing. Look at all that soup! The skins also tasted thinner than they usually have. Mmm. Still kind of thick by NYC XLB standards, but quite thin for Ala Shanghai standards.

Albany John also wanted the sticky rice dumplings. You guys know how much I like rice, so this dish was all him. Coin purses of seasoned sticky rice.

And here is the real reason I went to Ala Shanghai. SOUP. They have the best soup in the area. Wonderfully seasoned broth (not too salty, rich meaty flavor). Sure to cure what ails me. Now THIS is my kind of Chinese Medicine. When I get sick, my first thought is “I gotta get to Ala Shanghai for some soup.”

I just got the pickle and shredded pork noodle soup. Nothing overly fancy, just what you’d think your Chinese grandma would make you if you were sick. Good home cooking, and very rich in flavor while being very low in oil. I don’t like a lot of other soups in the area ‘coz of all the grease in them. If I’m eating soup, I don’t want a 1/4″ of oil floating on top! I want to taste the broth!

Mmm, soft, pillowy homemade noodles. Super tender pork. Lots of curative, flavorful broth. Oh, and at $5, yes FIVE DOLLARS you get like a huge quart of soup. It’s insane how cheap and awesome their soups are.

Seasonal Dinner at Ala Shanghai

July 4, 2011

beef, bloggers, Chicken, Chinese, dumplings, fried, frugal, local, new food, night life, pork, recommendations, restaurant, review, seafood, veggies

4 Comments

What captures a season more than a meal specially prepared for a group of friends? Ala Shanghai is wonderful about preparing specialty menus for a group, and was kind enough to prepare a seasonal dinner for Daniel B., Stanford Steph, Mr. Sunshine, Jess Tanner, Cap 2 Cap & her guy, plus Albany John and me.
App plate with aster salad, wine chicken, smoked fish, and Shanghai-style jelly fish.

The fish was sweet and preserved-y. Not much smoky flavor, but nice texture.
I’ve had the aster salad & wine chicken before – nice and refreshing for the Spring/Summer cusp.

Shanghai-style jelly fish is my new fave summer dish. It’s still got a lot of crunchiness/firmness to it. Flavored lightly, but oh man. Way better than Cantonese style jelly fish (which is more like a noodle-y chewy texture). I want Shanghai jellyfish ALL SUMMER LONG. So good.

Xiao Long Baos for the table, natch. So juicy and porky! Perfect. I know they’re not a dinner dish, but oh man. How can you not order them when they’re an option??

West Lake Beef Soup! The top is covered in a sprinkling of cilantro.

It was more than enough soup for 8 people. Heck, at least 12 people.

This was a great soup for the season. Warm, but very lightly flavored. The cilantro offered some brightness and lightness. A little bit of egg whites and velveted beef. Not a heavy soup at all.
Luffa with shrimp. YUM! I’ve never had luffa. So good. It’s also called the sponge veggie. I’ve read it on Serious Eats but had yet to try it since it’s hard to find up here sometimes, and the season is fairly narrow.

Lanny, the owner of Ala, was telling us that September is the late cutoff for luffa before it gets bitter and unpleasant tasting. August is your last best bet to try this dish at Ala before it goes off of the menu.

It’s like a really light flavor of zucchini/squash and a softer texture.
Chicken with white snow fungus. If you’ve had black wood ear/fungus this is the polar opposite. I was excited to try it since I’ve only had the black versions (heavier flavor) and had only ever seen the white/clear version of it in dessert recipes.

Again, a nice and refreshing dish. Light flavors, great textures.

Tong Bo Pork Belly. This looks laquered, no? The skin is cooked into unctuousness and it’s all quivery and pillowy soft. It comes with some baby bok choy on the sides, but make no mistake – this is no light dish. It’s heavy with layers of fat, and has a sweeter flavor profile. This is a dish that will stick to your ribs.

Sea bass with pine nuts. So lovely and diced! It had a bit of a sweet-salty glaze on it. A bit hit with our table mates. I nabbed a crispy fried fin piece. Yum!

Hello deliciousness and good company!

The softshell crabs with egg yolk were my FAVORITE dish of the night. I think I ate half of the plate by myself (sorry guys…). I mean, you have to eat them soon ’cause fried food only has a finite lifespan. SO GOOD!

Salty, crispy… the egg yolk added a nice rich savory note to the dish. And c’mon. SOFTSHELL CRABS! So perfect.
I forget the name of this dish, but it’s one I’m somewhat familiar with. I’m used to calling it bird’s nest noodles ’cause the noodles are all crispy and the topping is put on top.

Dessert was chrysanthemum jelly with lychees! YAY, lychees!
A really light and refreshing end to dinner. I think this menu showcased Ala Shanghai’s ability to create a well-balanced dinner menu. There weren’t a bunch of heavy dishes, and the lighter dishes they have really are lighter and have very little oil on them. I think this ability to let subtle flavors shine is one of their strongpoints, and one of the reasons Ala is one of my favorite restaurants in the area.

I’m not one to really care about how much fat is in a dish. But there are some dishes that I think are hurt by a heavy hand of oil. A lot of Hong Kong style and Cantonese style Chinese dishes use more oil than I’d like in their veggie dishes. Sure, sometimes it makes them taste rich and buttery, but other times it’s too heavy and you just want pure veggie flavor (or just something light and refreshing). I love that all of the dishes I’ve had at Ala Shanghai that sound light actually come out light and not covered in oil.

Oh, and best of all – dinner was $20 per person, TAX AND TIP INCLUDED! How crazy-cheap is that?! Best of all, if you want a similar menu, you can give them a call or email and you can set up a seasonal dinner of your own. I wish I had more time on my hands to do this every week.

Some of us went out for ice cream after, too

Cotton Candy topping for the win!

—Albany Eats!

Documenting the foodings of a local. With a grain of salt.

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Snacks at Ala Shanghai

Chinese New Year – The Snake (Albany)

Taiwan Noodle – Winter Steamed Rice Dishes!

Taiwan Noodle for CNY Eve Lunch

NYC Christmas

Winter 2011 Seasonal Dinner at Ala Shanghai

Tai Pan in Clifton Park for Dim Sum

Ala Shanghai – My fave local restaurant

Seasonal Dinner at Ala Shanghai

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