A Chinatown Food Crawl: Dumplings, Fish Balls, Dive Bars

MD: Once I got past the first dumpling it was great.

MG: Yeah, that chili oil can pack a punch.

MD: That one was covered in chili oil and I inhaled it whole. I've never felt like more of a Chinatown novice. But the filling was flavorful and the dumpling skin wasn't too thick... That perfect filling to dough ratio is hard to find. You said something interesting last night about how your spot to buy them changes periodically?

MG: Right. My wife and I have spent nearly 15 years buying bags of frozen dumplings to cook at home. We used to get them from Sun Dou Dumplings, on Grand Street, and then Sun Dou moved/closed, and we got them for a while from this place on the corner of Grand and Chrystie, but really they're best at Lam Zhou... for now. In the restaurant, it's $3 for 12, and a bag of 50 frozen to take home is $9.

MD: Cray-cray!

MG: Okay, next we attempted to get Malaysian grilled beef jerky, but the jerky places were closed, so we grabbed some Taiwanese fried chicken at Quickly, the bubble-tea chain. Good stuff?

MD: Excellent, and only made better by the fact that it exactly the type of place that I would never order Taiwanese fried chicken. They were like really well-seasoned Popeyes chicken bites, in the best way possible.

MG: Exactly! One of my favorite things about the influx of bubble tea places in Manhattan is that so many of them are Taiwanese-owned, which means you can get little snacks like the fried chicken dusted with five-spice and chili powder, or stewed pork on rice. Then, it was on to fish balls. Not everyone's cup of tea, and these were a special variety: Fujianese-style, stuffed with roast pork and floating in a bowl of clear chicken broth.

MD: I liked these! I also got to learn about Q.

MG: Tell me (and our readers) about Q.

MD: I knew there would be a quiz. So, it's a word to describe the springy or toothsome texture found in some Chinese foods. I'll use it in a sentence: I loved those fish balls and they were QQ (two Qs mean there were especially springy).

MG: A+! After that we wandered a bit: It was a Tuesday night, and much of Chinatown was closed—Excellent Pork Chop House, for instance.

MD: You were so sad when we turned the corner and saw that it was closed.

MG: I do like my fried pork chop on rice—another Taiwanese specialty. (I should note here that my wife, Jean, is from Taipei, which is partly why I am so devoted to the cuisine.) Instead, we drowned our sorrows at Winnie's, the classic karaoke dive bar.

MD: The amazing video game console at the bar. It sounded like a Vegas slot machine but that really only added to the vibe of the place.

MG: The bored bartenders, who looked like they'd grown up pouring shots for Chinatown's finest. The Food Network cooking show on the pre-flatscreen TV.

MD: I do like that there was a pretty large flatscreen present (I'm guessing that's for karaoke), but Chopped was playing on the 32" old school CRT set.

MG: When we left, I was totally craving noodles—but it was late, and everything seemed to be closed. My favorite late-night noodle joint, Yummy Noodles, had recently closed, and we'd both been to Great N.Y. Noodle Town too many times. So no noodles.

MD: But there was cake!

MG: Cake!

MD: Sort of gelatinous Malaysian semi-sweet cakes from a subterranean Indonesian/Malaysian place called Sanur. I believe you described them as "herbaceous."

MG: That's that pandan-leaf flavor. Mmm.... They're called kuih (pronounced kway), and they come in about a million varieties (and colors). Hard to find in Manhattan, though. Sanur is a very reliable source, however. We had the pandan leaf ones studded with little white tapioca balls, right?

MD: Yeah, and you took the rest home for your kids. Or ate them on the subway alone. You tell me.

MG: Shh! Don't tell my wife!

MD: So, at the end of South Park, one of the characters always gives a speech near the end of the episode wrapping up what they've learned. I wonder what they'd say about last night?

MG: [Cartman voice] You guys are so lame! Flushing is sooooo much better.

MD: Do I HAVE to go to Flushing or LA's San Gabriel Valley to get the REAL experience? What's the call there?

MG: Think of our crawl last night as preparation for those experiences. Now that your eyes (and stomach) are attuned to the wonders of Taiwanese fried chicken, Fujianese fish balls, and Malaysian cakes, you'll spot them in Queens or SGV—or in Taipei or Kuala Lumpur—and know what and how to order. Basically, eat everything that's set in front of you—and watch out for the chili oil.

MD: Oui chef.