Tolya Ugajin Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 So, I'm sitting here on the Forum while playing Hand and Foot inworld (spoiler, that is the only tie in to SL in this light-hearted diversion) when it occurs to me to ask: Why do Chinese delivery places never seem to deliver hot mustard for crab rangoon? So, how do you like your crab rangoon? Or any Chinese food, for that matter? We had the KFC thread, so let's go international. Share your favorite food and how you like it, especially if it's unusual or others find it odd or gross. While I'm at it, why do places with names like "Hunan House" or "Szechuan Palace" never serve food that is hot and spicy, which is the entire point of ordering Hunan or Szechuan to begin with?!?!?!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArgontheDevil Ormega Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 My local Chinese delivery includes hot mustard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindal Kidd Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 I don't know the answers to any of your deep philosophical questions. But then, I only recently learned that the square little boxes they put Chinese takeout into can be opened up into handy plates. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chinese-takeout-boxes_b_2571824 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleMe Jewell Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said: I don't know the answers to any of your deep philosophical questions. But then, I only recently learned that the square little boxes they put Chinese takeout into can be opened up into handy plates. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chinese-takeout-boxes_b_2571824 Yeah, I tried that. Talk about one major mess. Obviously I'm too uncoordinated. Never again. Edited January 17, 2020 by LittleMe Jewell 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KanryDrago Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Rangoon is in burma so assuming the dish is named after its birthplace then its not chinese food 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindal Kidd Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Hey, most "Chinese" food served in the USA isn't at all what they eat in China, either. Don't be so picky. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missyrideout Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Yeah, crab rangoon is American. If you have Netflix, the fried rice espisode (s1e7) of David Chang's Ugly Delicious is an interesting quick look at some of the differences between "Chinese" and Chinese food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolya Ugajin Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 1 hour ago, Lindal Kidd said: I don't know the answers to any of your deep philosophical questions. But then, I only recently learned that the square little boxes they put Chinese takeout into can be opened up into handy plates. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chinese-takeout-boxes_b_2571824 OMG! This solves the "how do I eat this on a hotel desk without making a mess for the housekeeper" dilemma. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolya Ugajin Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 29 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said: Hey, most "Chinese" food served in the USA isn't at all what they eat in China, either. Don't be so picky. For the most part, I prefer the Chinese food in China to the American version (which I've never seen in a Chinese restaurant except for tourist traps). The lamb there is especially delicious. I'm not picky, it's just better with mustard! I still ate all 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolya Ugajin Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 38 minutes ago, KanryDrago said: Rangoon is in burma so assuming the dish is named after its birthplace then its not chinese food That, along with the fact it contains no crab, has always confused me. But, then, most of my fellow Americans couldn't find China, much less Burma (Myanmar), on a map. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bree Giffen Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 I had dim sum recently. They had so many kinds of dumplings and buns. I think most restaurants serve up Western style Chinese food because that is what customers want. You can try asking for the "other" menu if they have one. It's probably in Chinese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolig Loon Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 When I was young, almost all "Chinese" food in the US was derived from Cantonese or Taiwanese recipes, altered to American tastes. I was in college before I remember seeing anything else. Since China started opening to the west in the 70s, Hunan- and Szechuan- inspired food has become fairly common. I agree that it's not the same as the food you get in China, but then the American food that you get in China is not the same as what you can get here either. We don't share the same cultural palate, so we "improve" each other's food. I was reminded of this the other day by seeing the KFC thread in this forum. KFC is surprisingly popular in China -- at least in the northern provinces where I have traveled. I don't touch KFC myself, so I can't vouch for its authenticity. However, I have had several students from Tianjin who were very disappointed by the inferior taste of KFC in the US -- inferior to the "real" KFC that they were used to at home. (As a counter example, however, I have had Starbuck's coffee in Beijing and can report that it is every bit as burnt and distasteful as it is here. Some icons are more resistant than others.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seicher Rae Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 You mean cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce and fake crab aren't traditionally Chinese? Gah, Tolya, you're killing me here. When I last had these, they were served with two sauces, a sweet red mess and the hot mustard. As anyone with a lick of sense knows, you combine the two, using a 1:2 ratio of the red to the yellow. The best way to eat crab Rangoon is extremely quickly, in a defensive eating maneuver, so that the other diners at your table don't eat more than you. Pro tip: Never, ever, under any circumstances, eat Chinese food from a deserted restaurant in a half-abandoned strip mall in a tiny Kentucky village somewhere east of Jesus. Learn from my experience... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da5id Weatherwax Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 I have a very good chinese (han ethnicity, "chinese" covers, as they say, a multitude) friend who has introduced me to a few restaurants in my city where the local population of a particular asian culture like to eat. I'm usually the only roundeye in the place and would never have found them if I hadn't been introduced by somebody on the inside.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimmi Zehetbauer Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 Nothing to get "Crabby" about! 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceka Cianci Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 I only wish we had more food places that delivered besides pizza hut and dominos,which we never use anyways.. What i wouldn't give for Chinese food delivery.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeromia Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 I miss living somewhere that had the food diversity that I grew up with. I'm currently stuck in the middle of 'white bread America' and it's literally as exciting as that. There were a couple of places that pop up every now and then, but never stick around for long because what the demographic finds as good food here in this area doesn't consider flavorful food as -good-. Or something. I can't even begin to guess why they'd choose the 'Asian-American' oversauced with teriyaki flavoring to the real thing. (There is about 6 different 'Chinese buffets' within an hour drive every direction though :/) The Ethnic section in the haphazard grocery stores isn't even big enough to shake a stick at. That said, there is this tiny Vietnamese restaurant about an hours drive away from me that we try to get to once a week. (For some reason an hour rural drive is a lot longer than an hour in the city?) The best noodles and Pho on the planet. I'm afraid it's going to go under soon and then I'll be left with nothing but my own cooking again. I'm not a bad cook, but I can't hold a candle to real Ethnic foods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maitimo Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 Crab Rangoon sounds delicious, I wish they'd serve it in the UK. I guess it's an American thing only. My go-to choice for Chinese food is salt and pepper beancurd (tofu) with noodles. The spicier the better. Not all Chinese takeaways round here serve beancurd though; if they don't, I'll have salt and pepper prawns instead. I tend to avoid Szechuan; while it's usually spicy enough for me, it's also much too sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleMe Jewell Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 (edited) Growing up in Kansas City, MO, we did not have anything other than Americanized Mexican. I moved to Colorado in my late 20s and there was even quite a bit of authentic variety back then - at least in the Denver metro area. These days, you never have to go far to find the authentic stuff (Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indian, and probably quite a bit more that is not coming to mind right away) - though, amazingly enough, the Americanized version places are always still packed with people. We have a huge Asian grocery just a mile from my house, which I have used a few times for some asian recipes that I've fixed. Edited January 18, 2020 by LittleMe Jewell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChinRey Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 (edited) On 1/17/2020 at 2:46 AM, KanryDrago said: Rangoon is in burma so assuming the dish is named after its birthplace then its not chinese food No, it's all American and doesn't have anything to do with any Asian food traditions at all. Sounds delicious though. Edited January 18, 2020 by ChinRey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahala Roviana Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 OMG I miss food delivery. This town is so small you can walk to the two take out options anyway. I need to get to the city soon. Ya'll are making me homesick AND hungry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleMe Jewell Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 1 hour ago, Mahala Roviana said: OMG I miss food delivery. This town is so small you can walk to the two take out options anyway. I need to get to the city soon. Ya'll are making me homesick AND hungry! I was visiting my mom about 10 years back, in a large suburb of the Kansas City area, and the only delivery they could get was pizza. I have lived in Colorado the majority of my adult life and cannot even remember a time when we couldn't get Chinese delivered. I honestly thought that Chinese always delivered unless you were in a really tiny town. I was just so shocked that we had to go pick it up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolig Loon Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 One of the advantages of living in small towns is that you never have to deal with traffic or parking when you stop to pick up something at a restaurant on the way home. One of the big disadvantages is that there aren't many restaurant choices, so there's not much incentive to get something to take out. In this town, the choices are mostly fast food, so there's even less incentive. I stop to get something maybe once a month and I can't remember the last time I had anything delivered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahala Roviana Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 3 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said: One of the advantages of living in small towns is that you never have to deal with traffic or parking when you stop to pick up something at a restaurant on the way home. One of the big disadvantages is that there aren't many restaurant choices, so there's not much incentive to get something to take out. In this town, the choices are mostly fast food, so there's even less incentive. I stop to get something maybe once a month and I can't remember the last time I had anything delivered. We have a diner with tourist prices and a convenience store, which oddly, has much better take out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maitimo Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 There are.... (counts)... about fifteen take-away or delivery places within a mile of my house. I can get Chinese, Indian, English (Fish & chips etc), burgers, pizzas, Kentucky-style fried chicken, Jamaican, Thai or Turkish. Increase that distance to 3 miles and I can add Japanese, Greek, Korean and Persian. It's no wonder I cook so rarely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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