Show me someone who doesn’t crave Chinese food and I’ll show you someone not open to culinary adventure.
Dad needed a culinary adventure tonight and called me for suggestions. I offered chicken parmesan or spaghetti with meatballs, but I heard hesitation. So I said, “How about Chinese?’ and we were off. We went to Xing’s Panda Palace and feasted on pupu platter, green jade shrimp, shredded beef szechuan style and shrimp lo mein. Half way through the pupu platter, I realized something was missing.
What ever happened to the crispy wonton strips and duck sauce that used to be waiting on the table when first seated (sliced, deep fried wonton wraps)? I grew up in Bayside, NY. A place where if there wasn’t a pizza place on the corner, there was a Chinese restaurant (or a bar). And each restaurant had its own trademark fried wonton strips: some wide, some thin, some crisp, some crunchy, sometimes stale.
But, could you imagine sitting down in a Mexican restaurant and not being served tortilla chips and salsa? Well, now that I’ve noticed, I’m going to investigate. I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with trans-fats, because it would be stupid to worry about FAT during a chopstick craving.
I am 27, and was raised in California, so it might be a generational, or regional difference, but I’ve never had fried noodles and duck sauce served to me like chips and salsa. Usually Chinese food places start you off with a soup instead. Just my 2 cents.
Comment by Kat — September 19, 2008 @ 12:38 am