Exceptions

I'm a freak about the food I eat. Organic this, no preservatives that, you know, one of those freaks. I do make exceptions, though.



I don't see how you can not like Spam. If you like bacon, you like Spam. Unless you're one of those food texture freaks (I am partially, so, I guess I can understand it). It's fatty, it's salty, it's satisfying. I don't eat a lot of meat, but I'd push children over for some Spam. One of the comfort foods my mom would make when I was growing up was sort of like the Hong Kong version of chicken noodle soup. My mom would take chicken broth, add in enriched macaroni product (haha), celery and Spam. We'd have this on lazy afternoons for lunch. I often see it on menus of Hong Kong style cafes listed simply as macaroni with Spam. It may be weird, but it's delicious. As usual, I suggest you give it a shot.

Spam musubi's also rock. But not as hard as macaroni with Spam. Spam fried rice also rocks. Spam is great. Turkey Spam is also great.

A Pause From the Food

I post a lot about food. I know this. So here's a break from that.



This is a piece of art at LACMA. I didn't get the name, so maybe someone can figure it out for me. This caught my eye because of how bright and beautiful it was. When I read the plaque, I was surprised to find that the picture is in fact not an oil painting but thousands of pieces of glass carefully pieced together. I was in awe of this. If you enlarge the picture and look at the sky, you can make out what I mean by tiny pieces of glass. It's a wonder what humans are capable of when they put their minds to things. Not that I'm not amazed by other things. Like skyscraper architecture, IPL surgery and ballet dancers. Just to name a few things.

I'm humbled. And now I feel rather small and useless. Time to change that!

Chinese "Quesadilla"

Upon first glance, this looks like a weird healthy wrap or burrito. Upon closer inspection, you'd probably realize that it's not. This is the leek leaf cake from Dean Sin World in Monterey Park. It's filled with clear vermicelli noodles, tofu and Chinese leeks (gow choi). The outside "tortilla" thing is actually the same dough as the wontons are made out of. Am I blowing your mind? This thing is delicious. I suppose some people would balk that it has no meat, but, I'm Chinese, so I'm used to things not having meat. It's fried (usually not my thing, but I make exceptions) and there's a great balance between the crispy oily skin and the inside. If I haven't made a strong enough case for you to visit Dean Sin World before, I think I have now. So, please go and support the old ladies that work there. Thanks (:

Noodle Love

I love pasta. Italian pasta, Japanese ramen, Vietnamese pho, Chinese egg noodle, etc etc. Interestingly enough, Chinese noodles happen to be my least favorite, though they are still very beloved in my tummy. I think this might be because there are so many variations of Chinese noodles that I can't really pinpoint one specific type to hone in on and love. There's Cantonese/Hong Kong style fried egg noodles (that Americans go gaga for), wonton egg noodle soup, wok'd vermicelli, fat rice noodle in soup, wok'd wheat noodles (Shanghai style) in delicious brown sauce... the list goes on. And none of these noodles really have specific English names, so maybe that's why they're not very popular to Americans. I guess the ubiquitous "CHOW MEIN" found in American fast food joints. That stuff is disgusting though.

PAGING ALL YOU PEOPLE THAT LIKE THAT CRAP...

IT'S DISGUSTING.

Anyway. Here is a bowl of noodle soup I had at Twin Dragon in Placentia. I don't know if a non-Chinese person has ever eaten this before (sarcasm, but not far from the truth!). The noodles were made of wheat (looked soba-ish, but not soba) and were white. The topping was pork with salt pickled daikon and suey choy (a type of Chinese cabbage that looks sort of like bok choy). This dish is a Shanghainese dish but the southern Chinese in me loves it muchly. I don't know what this dish is called in English, but in Cantonese it's roughly suey choy yook see mein. I suppose you could try ordering it like that at Twin Dragon (:

Chinese Fast Food CAN Be Good

Time for another plug of a mom and pop Chinese restaurant! This is a picture of wontons in soup from Twin Dragon in Placentia. I was very, very skeptical when I walked in here today despite my mom's rave reviews. This place is opened by a couple who worked at 369 in Anaheim (on Euclid by Anaheim Festival) for years and years. I ate there for a good 15ish years until it recently became terrible when the original people left. But.. now they're at Twin Dragon! So, when first walking in it looks like a crappy Chinese fast food place. There's the typical hot lamp trays of crappy Chinese food (I thought it was crappy, it almost always is), you know, Broccoli & Beef, Firecracker Shrimp, "Chow Mein" (this crap is so nasty, why the hell do people think it's good?). The entire menu is in English.

I became much less skeptical when I saw my favorite waitress from 369 serving customers and chatting with my mom. Her and her husband own and run the place. As always, she was super sweet and my mom started ordering food from her straight from the back kitchen. That's where this delicious bowl of wontons in broth came from and along with it, a Shanghai noodle dish with preserved veggies and pork in more broth. We did order some broccoli and beef (I'm a broccoli fiend, I left ALL the beef, much to my mother's consternation) and some tofu from the shovel trays -- it was actually delicious!

I was amused at the clientele that came in while we ate there. The typical Chinese fast food orders were purchased. Tons of chow mein was eaten. Ew ): my stomach just turned thinking about it. I'm sure their chow mein is.. decent... but I'll stick to continuing to order off the secret menu (: The service was great and the place is super clean. Now I'm hungry again (thoughts of chow mein abolished). I want food ):

I normally hate wontons. Well, hate is a strong word. I normally dislike wontons. But I became a wonton fiend today. /: I also ate the hot and sour soup (another thing I despise) and I ate the weird Asian salad she gave us. Me.. eating Asian salad provided at an Asian food place aimed towards white people.. WTF? I don't ever do this. o_O EVER. Today is a weird day!

My mom asked the owners why they didn't open a restaurant aimed for Chinese clientele since their food is so amazing. They said that it's a hassle to hire so many people and operate a front of house. Additionally, it's not as lucrative since white people are willing to pay for cheapy fake Chinese food and Chinese people are less willing to pay for anything at all, even if it's good. Man, Chinese people are cheap. Nevertheless, I'm glad this place is open and nearby! I was devastated 369 turned to crap and am happy to hear I can eat this couple's nomlicious northern Chinese food again. Yippee :D

PS: I want potato salad.

One XLB to Rule Them All

Looking at this picture as I was about to post it made my tummy grumble. These xiao long bao are amazing. They're from Dean Sin World in Monterey Park. This is a tiny place that is labeled bakery that no one really knows about on the corner of Garfield and Garvey (well, one plaza up on Garfield). There is a craptastic XLB place that has 5x the Yelp reviews and the same rating of four stars down on Garvey that is DISGUSTING in comparison. More people should eat at Dean Sin World and realize that Mama Lu's Dumpling House is garbage. Garbage that will make you puke your insides out at that and emit weird gasses. Mama Lu's also costs more and has a longer wait. Logic clearly points to Dean Sin World.



The woh teep (fried dumplings) here are also out of this world. Oh man, this is seriously causing immense tummy grumbling and I'm pretty sure I'm still digesting dinner. I've also heard that Din Tai Fung is the shit, but, it also costs more and I'm sure it's not as tasty as Dean Sin World (I read many Yelp reviews!). I hear the original DSW in Taiwan is amazing but it doesn't translate as well over here. This is a ridiculous plug for Dean Sin World but that's how strongly I feel about this place. I even dragged my grandpa out of Chinatown and over to Monterey Park to eat here. He's 94 and the most bad ass Chinese man ever. He had to experience this food. And he did. Now, you need to too. (HAHA, tutu. Once I wore a tutu to a stupid roller rink Halloween thing my mom made me go to where I knew no one and I awkwardly and clumsily was forced to skate as weird music played and my tutu got caught in my skate and ripped. Sigh.)

Pop!

I wonder what sound it would make if that thing was pop-able? I wonder what that thing is made out of. The color entrances me. I really like blue. And I really like that color of blue. I also like puppies. And balloons. I've never had a balloon animal before. I always sort of wanted one but my parents wouldn't have ever said yes so I didn't bother asking. Also... clowns tend to make them. I'm not scared of clowns, they're just weird and annoying and I'd prefer to not talk to one. That's probably why I've never had a balloon animal.

I would take this balloon animal though. Although, it wouldn't fit in my car.