Xi’an Famous Foods

Yet again, the food was much too delicious to take the time to snap a photo.  There are a couple of clips from the Travel Channel and the Cooking Channel on Xi’an Famous Foods Homepage.  I hadn’t realized that there several locations in New York City.  There are two in Flushing and two in Manhattan.  I went to the one inside the Flushing Mall Food Court and since I was running errands in Flushing, I got my order to go.  Yes, it is the stall that has the picture of Anthony Bourdain framed in front.  Although I have had their hand pulled noodles before (excellent), I had a hankering for the cumin lamb burger.  I ordered their Liang Pi, which is a spicy cold noodle dish.  I’ve been craving Liang Pi ever since my parents said they ordered it from a restaurant in San Gabriel, California.  From the Xi’an Famous Foods page:

Chinese-Korean Zha Jiang Noodles from Hyo Dong Gak

Conversation number one:

Calvin (Chinese):  What’s the Korean word for three?

Abe (Korean):  Sam

Calvin:  That sounds just like the Chinese word for three.

Abe:  That’s the word the Chinese imposed on the Koreans.

Conversation number two:

David (Korean):  Let’s go have Zha Jiang Mian in K-town.

Alicia (Chinese):  Isn’t Zha Jiang Mian a Chinese dish?

David:  It’s a dish that the Chinese Imperialists brought to Korea.

Alicia:  But the Chinese invented it!

David:  The Chinese may have invented it but the Koreans perfected it!

Alicia:  I guess I can live with that.

Hyo Dong Gak is a Chinese-Korean restaurant in Midtown on 35th Street between 5th and 6th.  I had always watched my dad eat Zha Jiang Mian growing up.  We always celebrate birthdays in our family with noodles and my dad’s favorite noodle dish was Zha Jiang Mian.  I never could bring myself to try them because I couldn’t get over the black colored sauce.  Boy, I never knew what I was missing out on until now.  We ordered ggampoongi for the table.  When it arrived I couldn’t help but call it a Korean General Tso’s Chicken.  The irony in that is that General Tso’s Chicken is not a dish that is found in China.  It is a Chinese-American creation.  But I digress.  The Zha Jiang noodles were amazingly delicious.  And the spicy seafood noodles called jjam bong were nicely done, as well.  The bowls are huge so this is a great place to take guys, Chinese or Korean!  Or anyone else, for that matter.  It’s very reasonably priced.

Korean General Tso's

Zha Jiang Noodles

Jjam Bong Noodle Soup

Phö Băng

Yes, there are countless jokes out there about the Vietnamese dish called pho.  The correct pronunciation of it is fuh like fun minus the n.  It is actually a similar pronunciation for a Chinese rice noodle called fun.  In case you haven’t heard any of the jokes, there’s, “What the pho?” and plenty more out there.  Pho is a staple in Southeast Asia.  It’s rice noodles bathed in a spiced beef broth accompanied by various cuts of beef and garnished with bean sprouts, basil, lemon, cilantro, jalapeños and onions.  I always add Sriracha hot sauce into my bowl of pho as well.  Anthony Bourdain once compared his steaming bowl of pho to paradise and I don’t feel that he was far from the truth.  A friend and I ate at a chain called Pho Bang in Chinatown on Mott Street.  There’s also one in Elmhurst that I frequent.  It’s where I go whenever I am craving Vietnamese food.  Delicious pho sure!

Sanur Indonesian and Malaysian

Sanur in Chinatown

I was in desperate need of company after a couple weeks of not seeing any friends.  Diana and I were going to have dinner with Kai, a guy.  I told him that we were going to take him to Alice’s Teacup and he said that was fine with him!  We couldn’t do that to him in good conscience, though.  We ended up at Sanur in Chinatown where the food is good and cheap.  You have to go downstairs to be seated.  We ate family style, of course.  We had seafood soup (hot and sour), curried beef with potatoes, Yang Chow fried rice, Roti Canai, and Mee Rebus, which is a spicy noodle dish with vegetables, egg, and potatoes.  Kai is a chef and gave it a positive review.  Well, he picked the restaurant so he’d better give it a good review!  It was a highly satisfying dinner for the palette as well as the fuel tank.

Curry Beef, Yang Chow Fried Rice, Roti Canai

Soup and Mee Rebus