Dumplings From Five Distant Cultures

Flushing Town Hall Hosts 'Round The World' Dumpling Tour

November 18, 2013 / Flushing / Ethnic Food In Queens / Flushing Restaurants / Queens Buzz. This past weekend I attended a workshop entitled Harvesting Our Diversity at Flushing Town Hall. They had invited five restaurateurs to come to discuss and present the dumplings indigenous to their homelands which they serve in their Flushing restaurants. The presenters would first talk a little about the history of the dumpling in their culture and then provide us with a sample dumpling made in their restaurants.

In the photo to your right the audience is being served samples of Indonesian, Korean and Chinese Korean dumplings at Flushing Town Hall.

The Harvesting Diversity event was designed to take us around the world on a dumpling tour, where we would sample dumplings made by the Italians, the Indians, the Indonesians, the Puerto Ricans / Latin Americans and the Koreans / Chinese. Click here to read the rest of our report on a world tour of dumplings at Flushing Town Hall - served by Flushing restaurants.

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Dumplings From Five Distant Cultures

Flushing Town Hall Hosts 'Round The World' Dumpling Tour

November 18, 2013 / Flushing / Ethnic Food In Queens / Flushing Restaurants / Queens Buzz. Continued. I arrived a bit early and was greeted by Gabrielle Hamilton, Director of Education & Public Programs at Flushing Town Hall. She introduced Emily Griffin Sheahan and John Choe who are both active members of the Flushing CSA. The Flushing CSA is one of a number of CSA's or Community Supported Agriculture organizations in Queens. The Flushing CSA provides its members with cost effective access to fresh natural and organic produce for a couple of seasons each year. We've posted more about the Flushing CSA down below near the end of this report.

Flushing Restaurateurs Present Dumplings At Flushing Town Hall

John Choe then became our emcee for the rest of the program. He introduced the Flushing restaurant chefs and representatives: 1) Sal & Sebastian of Phil & Sons Pizzaria, 2) Sushma Thukral of the New Asia Restaurant, 3) Martha Flores-Vasquez a former city council candidate and passionate empanada cook, 4) Nina Igusti and Merlah Ambrose (not shown - she was taking photos of her own) formerly of the family that owned and managed the Pinisi Bakery on East 4th Street in Manhattan [now part time caterers 347.678.5995], and 5) Taehoon Kim friend and representative of Da Hua Restaurant (also not shown in the photo at right). Both Merlah Ambrose and Taehoon Kim are shown in photos below and in the slide show.

Italian Restaurants In Flushing - Calzones by Phil & Sons Pizzeria

Sal would take us back in time to rural Italy. Sushma would take us into vegetarian Asia. Martha would take us into the Pan Latin American cuisine. Nina and Merlah would take us into the archipelago of Indonesian islands in southeast Asia. And Taehoon Kim would take us into the historic culinary relationship between China and neighboring Korea. But we were on a timed trip, so we only had a chance to step off the imaginary airline, meet and greet the locals, sample some of their delicious dumplings, snap a couple of photos before being whisked away to another foreign land.

 

 

 

 

Sal told us that he has been a Flushing resident since he was eight years old. He's been working at Phil & Sons Pizzeria for thirty-six years [Phil is his father] and his apprentice and son, Sebastian, was on hand to assist, while learning the ropes of the marketing role of the small businessman / entrepreneur. Phil & Sons Pizzaria is located at 57-29 Main Street in Flushing [718.961.0263], south of the Queens Botanical Gardens and just south of New York Hospital Queens.

 

 

 

 

Sal told us that calzones are the Italian dumplings. They're generally made on Italian farms and date back to who knows when. They have a cheese / dairy component to them as Sal inserts a light but flavorful dash of fresh mozarella and ricotta cheese into the wrap. He told us that he makes them with his famous pizza dough and that they can be made with an assortment of ingredients like beef, chicken, vegetables - but that today we were being served fresh pork.

We were served the calzones after he spoke and they were simply delicious. The pocket exterior was a flavorful baked dough and inside there were moist bits of pork ever-so-lightly mixed with the cheese.

Indian Restaurants In Flushing - Samosas by the New Asian Restaurant

Sorahb of the New Asian Food Restaurant [newasianfoodny.com] was up next. He was presenting dumplings made at his family's Indian restaurant located at 140-13 Cherry Avenue in Flushing, which is south and east off Kissena, past the Queens Library, in the Indian section of Flushing. The 'New' Asia Food Restaurant was recently renamed to reflect changes made to the decor and menu, but its owners remain the same.

Sorahb, his mother Sushma and family have been working in the all vegetarian restaurant for eighteen years now. The food they serve is strictly vegetarian meaning no meat or eggs. The dumplings, or samosas as they are called by the Indians, were made of a soft and crunchy dough exterior and contained potatoes, peas and a number of Asian spices which added a slightly hot flavor to them.

We were shown how the samosas were made. They cut them into a triangle, create a pocket and fill the pocket with the ingredients. They can be fried or baked and make a great snack or appetizer or possibly even a full meal.

 

 

 

 

Indonesian Caterers In Queens - Formerly Pinisi Bakery NYC

Nina Igusti and Merlah Ambrose are a neice and aunt team that also includes Nina's mother Laurency who was not present. They told us that the Indonesian pastels originated in Portugual and were brought to Indonesia when the Portuguese sailed to the orient in the 16th century in search of conquests and trade.

 

 

 

 

The Indonesians added a bit of their home grown spices to flavor the Portuguese pastels. The pastels we were treated to came from a family recipe handed down by the grandmother. The dough is mixed with butter and rolled flat and can then be filled with an assortment of ingredients. The pastels we were served included sauteed onions, garlic, beef, carrots and potatoes. They then added nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, coriander and kumen. The pastels have a slightly sweet flavor and they reminded me of the French pasties sold in Canada and northern parts of the U.S.

Korean & Chinese Dumplings In Flushing by Da Hua Restaurant

Dua Hua Restaurant at 36-26 Union Street and the San Soo Kap San Restaurant at 38-13 Union Street in Flushing were represented by Taehoon Kim, who presented himself as a friend of the owners. Taehoon showed us two different kinds of Korean mandus [dumplings] - one was the traditional Korean dumpling and the other was the Chinese influenced rice mandu.

Taehoon explained that the Chinese rice dumplings made by Da Hua Restaurant are much thicker because rice doesn't have the same characteristics as wheat in holding together as a bread or crust. The Korean rice mandus are rather moist and sticky and are filled with cabbage, pork, garlic, onions and scallions.

The traditional Korean mandus / dumplings made by San Soo Kap San Restaurant were made of wheat. They are flatter and drier and filled with an assortment of ingredients. Today they came filled with a taste of pork, with cabbage and scallions. The mandus were accompanied by a soy sauce with vinegar, diced scallions, garlic and chili pepper.

Puerto Rican & Latin American Empanadas in Queens

Our last presenter was Martha Flores-Vazquez. She has been a caterer since her college days and continues to dabble in the culinary arts of her homeland Puerto Rico.

She presented us with chicken and beef empanadas. The outer bread was made with Goya dough. She added cilantro, ajacito which is a Latin American green pepper, recao and the meats. She mixes it all up in a blender before inserting it into the empanada.

Mmm. By this time I had become distracted and must apologize as I did not photograph the empanadas opened. They went right past my camera and into my mouth, where the savory breaded exterior and the moist chicken and beef satiated my taste buds before heading south for the duration.

Salute, Acchī Sehat Ke Lie, Tos Jaya, Wihayeo and Salud [Cheers in Italian, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean and Spanish].

Flushing CSA Participant Of Event - CSA's in Queens

The Flushing CSA delivers fresh natural and organic produce based on what's grown and seasonally available. The winter 'shares' are still open as of this writing, but closing before the Thanksgiving holiday. Winter shares cost $150 apiece, run for between five and seven weeks over the winter, and you get about six to eight pounds of fresh produce which you must pick up on a specified day [this season it's Thursdays] at the drop point, which is Flushing Town Hall.

As the progrm started Emily had informed us that the winter produce includes primarily root vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, Kale, rutabaga [large turnips] and other goods. Naturally the spring / summer and fall seasons provide a wider selection of fresh vegetables, but it's nice to cook with fresh root vegetables in the winter.

Emily Griffin Sheahan and John Choe of the Flushing CSA are shown in the photo above. Click this link to to view their contact info along with the contact info for most Queens CSA's.

Ethnic Foods In Queens - Photos From Flushing Town Hall

All in all it was a fun and delicious tour of dumplings from around the world. Our thanks to Flushing Town Hall and the participating restaurateurs and culinary enthusiasts included on the panel. We also want to thank the participating Flushing CSA.

Click this link or watch the following slide show containing photos of the dumplings served by Flushing Restaurants at Flushing Town Hall.

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Queens Taste 2012

Sampling Queens Restaurants & Artisanal Foods

May 1, 2012 / Flushing / Queens Restaurants / Food in Queens / Queens Buzz. I arrived at Queens Taste 2012 at Caesars on the fifth floor at Citifield about an hour after the event had begun. The feeding frenzy that generally occurs at the very beginning had passed, and most people had found tables and were pleasantly enjoying the fare and light dinner conversation, along with intermittent people-watching [see photo to left].

Borghese Red & White Wines of LI

I started into the food and beverage area surveying the vendors offerings this year and made my first landing at the Borghese Vineyards wine table. I met Ann Marie Borghese, who along with her husband, bought a farm in the 1970’s in Cutchogue, NY, which is located about in the middle of the northern fork of eastern Long Island.

I sampled a merlot, which had a mix of cabernet in it. It had less sweetness than in a merlot, an acidic cabernet body and it was surprisingly good. I say surprisingly, because New York wines have ‘been on the come’ for a long time, but never seemed to quite make it.

Emboldened by the flavorful first wine, I tried a second … the white chardonnay. This wine was a sweet fruity wine that tasted to me a bit like a Riesling. The hints of oak I might have expected in the chardonnay went undetected, and again I felt like I had stumbled on a nice summer white wine. Ms. Borghese told me her husband was the vintner and it was a labor of love. Ann Marie Borghese is shown [center] in the photo above.

Click here to view our report of Queens Taste 2012 [formerly Taste of the World].

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Queens Taste 2012

Sampling the Fare of Queens Restaurants & Food Entrepreneurs

Continued. May 1, 2012 / Flushing / Queens Restaurants / Food in Queens / Queens Buzz. I had a few more minutes to sample the fare before the event winners were to be announced.

 

 

Uncle Peter’s Restaurant – European & Asian Restaurants in Jackson Heights

Uncle Peter’s Restaurant is a mix of Italian, French, Spanish and some Asian. A sort of modern eclectic restaurant that borrows the best from the panoply of cuisines around the world. They were serving a seafood salad, that was sogood, you wanted to revisit this food table several timesover. The salad was made of shrimp, octopus, calamari all cut up into small bite size pieces and mixed with onion, pepper andmango in vinaigrette. Chewy, sweet and sour’ish, and just plain lovely.

I met Patty, also one of the owners, who encouraged me to try their dolce de leche mousse. I’m glad I had it second because it was a cream mousse covering part of a crumbled exterior of an oreo cookie. Something for the old sweet tooth. Uncle Peter’s is located near 83rd Street along Northern Blvd in Jackson Heights. Patty is shown in the photo above right and the dolce de leche mousse is shown above left.

 

The Dog & The Duck – Irish American Restaurants in Sunnyside

I made my way down to the Dog and the Duck Restaurant of Sunnyside. This is a 21st century Irish American restaurant that was offering a dish they called ‘Duck Confit’. It was duck cooked in fat and served with parsley, atop a dash of mashed potato, inside of breaded bottom and covered in a wild mushroom sauce. Duck is normally a fairly lean dry meat and this wasn’t. It tasted like a tender, flavorful shredded beef and the potato and the pastry bottom balanced out the dish. The Dog & Duck is located in the mid 40’s along Skillman Avenue in Sunnyside.

In the photo to your right are James Dolan [left] and Padraigh Connolly [right], aka the owners.

Kombucha Time – Astoria’s New Tea Brewer

Liz Parsekian was serving Kombucha tea nearby and I decided to give this heretofore, unheard of, slightly alcoholic beverage a try. They offer familiar flavors like vanilla and not-so-familiar flavors like Yerba Mate. I sampled both flavors and they tasted like a mix of tea and wine cooler. The tea leaves come from all over the world, depending on the flavor, and then there’s a light sweetness to it and almost a hint of carbonation that’s the alcohol. At 1.5% you’d have to drink four or five to get the equivalent of a bottle of beer. These are priced at $3.99 a bottle.

Spiro Theofilatos is the creator / vintner / brewer of the kombucha and he produces gallons each day, which is sold to local stores like Food Cellar & Co in LIC and restaurants like Queens Kickshaw in Astoria. Kombucha is located on Steinway Street south of Broadway in Astoria. Spiro Theofilatos [left] and Liz Parsekian [right] are shown in the photo above.

Creative Concepts – Entrepreneur Space Caterers In Queens

A number of the vendors had got their start and continue to work out of the Entrepreneur Space in Long Island City. Creative Concepts is one such caterer that got its start about three years ago. I sampled the only remaining offering they had left. It was an appetizer containing bits of shrimp, melted Monterey jack cheese, tomato sauce, scallions and a nice little kick compliments of a jalapeno chipotle mayonnaise on a thin cut of panini or a crepe. It was a tender little appetizer that slid down easily, so I treated myself to more than one.

Creative Concepts got its start three years ago and is now employing 12 full time people and works with a cadre of temps, continuing to operate out of the Entrepreneur Space as their primary kitchen. It was started by a trio, Julie Sommers [see sister in photo], Miguel Urrego [not pictured] and Benjamin Lester [also in photo]. The third person [right] in the photo is Creative Concept’s sous chef.

Gilles Louvet Wines Distributed by MHW Wines in Manhasset

I sampled a sparkling wine from France that was organic and flavorful and well worth the $20 - $25 I was informed was the retail asking price for a bottle. In the photo you can see the distributor [center] along with a couple of the people who did the pouring.

Burgers & Belgain Fries – Butcher Opens Restaurant in Woodside

Burgers and Belgian Fries is the name of a restaurant that opened in January of 2012. It’s located on Woodside Avenue in Woodside across from the Ottomanelli Butcher shop, so you know they get their meat fresh daily. I had a jalapeno burger which was very juicy with a bit of ground jalapeno put into the ground beef to spice it up a bit. The Burgers and Belgian Fries offers a variety of beef burgers and fries, and based on what we’ve seen and tasted, it’s likely to be a big hit. In the photo above right is Frank Ottomanelli [left].

Papazzio – Italian Restaurants in Bayside

Papazzio’s Italian restaurant in Bayside was the winner of the best appetizer with their pasta e fagioli soup. When I arrived at their table I was served a small bowl of it. I savored the red and white beans spread throughout the creamy broth containing prosciutto mixed with onion, carrots, celery and rosemary with cut noodles. It had a slightly sweet comfort food flavor without the calories. Papazzio restaurant is located on Bell Blvd in Bayside.

 

In the photo to your left is a snapshot of Papazzio's Pasta e Fagioli soup being served at Taste of the World 2012 in Flushing Queens.

 

Bon Fete Baking NYC & YouCake of Astoria

Bon Fete Baking and You Cake have not only founded new businesses at the Entrepreneur Space, but also seem to have found friends. The two entrepreneurial companies were working a table with complementary baking goods.

YouCake create fun, joyful party ensembles that contain vivid icons, edible papers [corn starch and sugar] atop baked goods for all occasions. While Bon Fete offered a number of health bars comprised of flavorful mixes of fruits like mangoes, bananas and dates and walnuts mixed in a sweet bread / bar textured cake. You can see both offerings in the photo to above left. In the photo above right are Ike A. de Guzman of Bonne Fete Baking [center left & center right] and Carolyn Sevos Hamilton of YouCake.

Yolanda’s Pesto Sauces – A Mix Of Old & New

I got the impression that the Entrepreneur Space in LIC has been pretty busy these days. Yolanda’s Pesto Sauces were another product coming out of the QEDC incubator kitchen. Yolanda makes four unique pesto sauces which to date she sells online as well as at Roosevelt Mall out on Long Island.

She tries uses mostly all natural ingredients, many of which are purchased from local vendors, and she’s looking for a food retailer in Queens. The sauce comes in a 16 oz bottle [I’m guessing] and retails for about $10. All of the pesto sauces include a base made with parmesan, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. Yolanda is shown with her pesto sauces at Taste of the World 2012 in Flushing Queens.

I sampled the four flavors she had at the table on a small piece of bread. They included a bell red pepper, which is barbequed, and is sweet with a slight hint of smoky flavor. The sun dried tomato pesto sauce has a rich tomato flavor, which is offset by the addition of ground almonds. Her classic flavor is made with almonds in lieu of pine nuts, to which she adds a generous portion of basil leaves which really come through in the flavoring. And she hit me with her Cajun pepper which has a bit of kick to it and includes basil, thyme, paprika and red peppers.

Magna Restaurant – Italian Restaurants in Flushing

Magna had won best entrée. From what I was told, the judges had difficulty deciding which of their two entrees to give first place. As it was late and time to pack up, I didn’t get to sample their Penne alla Siciliana, nor their Pollo alla Romana, but the judges said they were good.

Magna is located in the Marco Hotel along Northern Blvd not far from Main Street in Flushing. The two women shown holding the Magna award are Letizia Barbetta and Eleonora Greco.

Tropisec – Columbian Desserts & Helping A Good Cause

As the saying goes, “last but not least”. And so it was as I struck up a conversation with Blanca Lilla Narvaez who is the creator of Tropisec products. She creates all natural candies made of dehydrated fruit. You really have to taste these to believe them. I’m not sure what she’s named them, but I had a chocolate covered dried banana, that had an al dente texture and a rich banana flavor. And an explosively tart and sweet ball of dried fruits made with pineapple, apple, mango and papaya. In the photo to your left are the dehydrated all natural fruit candies and the chocolate bananas.

The process she uses to create these treats is a bit of a mystery, but it goes something along these lines. First you age the fruit to a certain point. Then you place them on these solar panels and dry / dehydrate them naturally – taking great care to remove them at the exact right time or it doesn’t work. And they have to be prepped and cut a certain way to get the end product, which is really unbelieveable. She also uses packaging, made from banana trees and other natural plants in Columbia, by an artisanal women's group - some of whom have been displaced by violence.

So unbelievable that Williams & Sonoma has picked her up to do artesanal in-store promotions starting this spring beginning in their Columbus Circle store. You can also buy the dried / dehydrated fruit candies online at www.impressariaconcierge.com. and then click products and dried fruits. A small sweet dried fruit ball cost about $1. In the photo above right is Blanca Lilla Narvaez of Tropisec Products and Alicia Salvio of 24/7 Impressaria, LLC - the company which markets and sells the Tropisec products online.

Queens Taste 2012 Judges - Photo

The Queens Taste 2012 judges are shown in the photo to your right.

They are [from left to right] Julian Lesser of Boro Mag, Amanda Sidman of the Daily News, Veronica Levin of the Queens Tribune, Rocco Vertuccio of NY1 and Jeffrey Orlick of I Want More Food Walking Tours.

There were between 800 and 1,000 people in attendance at the Taste of Queens 2012 event, and between 60 and 90 food and beverage vendors.

QEDC Entrepreneur Awards

The QEDC and Citibank also gave three cash awards to entrepreneurs who won in: 1) a food-based business [Itizi Gourmet Food Truck – all natural ice cream & sorbet], 2) innovative business [Addicks Enterprises – purse organizer] and social enterprise [Better Speech Now – foreign language accent reduction].

From left to right City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer, QEDC Executive Director Seth Bornstein, and the three award winners Itzi Gourmet, Addicks Enterprises and Better Speech Now.

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Festival of Herbal Tonic Soup

Asian Cooking In Flushing Queens

February 11, 2012 / Food & Wine / Flushing / Queens Buzz. I attended an herbal tonic soup class arranged by Dr. Hsing-Lih Chou at Flushing Town Hall. Dr. Chou presents one Asian cooking class each year at the same location, featuring some aspect of traditional Asian home cooking. This year he introduced us to two Asian cooking aficionados: Madame Hwei-Yun Hsieh and Mr. Kelby Leow.

Ms. Hsieh was to treat us to a lesson on how to cook her famous Chinese Sesame Oil Ginger Chicken Soup, while Mr. Leow would introduce us to his famous Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup. Dr. Chou explained that he had selected these two soups in order to ‘balance’ each other, as one had a robust flavor and the other had a more subtle flavoring.

Click here to read more about how to cook Chinese and Korean herbal chicken soups - Asian cooking in Flushing Queens.

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Festival of Herbal Tonic Soup In Queens

Asian Cooking In Flushing

Continued. February 11, 2012 / Food & Wine / Flushing / Queens Buzz. There were about a dozen of us in attendance at the Flushing Town Hall cultural center on an overcast Saturday in February. Hanging on the room walls were the antique Chinese windows and doors collection of Thomas Chen of Crystal Windows. Flushing Town Hall was a perfect setting for such a class and there were seven Asians and six non-Asians in attendance of the class.

 

Chinese Cooking Theory & Chinese Healing Theory

Dr. Chou opened up the session by talking about traditional Chinese cooking theory, which is closely aligned with traditional Chinese healing theory, which is aligned with the five ancient Chinese elements. The five Chinese elements are fire, wood, earth, metal and water.

In the Chinese tradition the five tastes: bitter, sour, sweet, spicy and salty are aligned not only with the elements encountered in life, but also with the five organs of ancient Chinese medicine. The five organs in relative order of the tastes mentioned above are: heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney.

Yin Yang - The Positive And Negative Elements Bring Balance

Dr. Chou went on to explain that these organs are part of the yin and yang duality of life. Yin and yang in eastern thought represent the positive and negative charges in life. In the modern western world, the analogy would be the positive and negative charges of the proton and electron of an atom. Hence corresponding to these positively charged organs there were five hollow organs [negatively charged] which in corresponding order to the positive organs mentioned above are: small intestine, gall bladder, stomach, large intestine and bladder.

Ancient Chinese medicine treated health and the body as a whole system. Generally it was believed that ill health was a manifestation of a system out of balance in its energy. I had read long ago that the Chinese definition for pain was the 'interruption of the body's energy flow'.

Hungering Tastes Signal Body Needs

The tastes, and one’s hankering for them, generally was an indication of what ailed a patient. Hence a hankering for sweets might indicate something was wrong with the spleen or stomach, which are the organs corresponding to that taste / element. The goal in Chinese health maintenance was to keep the system in general balance.

Another passage I had read long ago was that in ancient China, doctors were paid as long as the patient remained healthy. Payments to the physician stopped if the patient became ill because the doctor had not done his job, and patients would not resume payments until they became healthy again.

Chinese Sesame Oil Ginger Chicken Soup - Flushing

Madame Hwei-Yun Hsieh came to the forefront and began preparing her famous herbal soup. Dr. Chou did some translating, talking about the ingredients which consisted of four de-skinned chicken thighs and legs, a sliced chunk of ginger about 4 – 5 inches long, rice wine [she used about 2/3 of a 1.5 liter bottle of Japanese sake which has 16.5% alcohol so the amount of this should be managed if you are feeding children] and about a half cup of sesame oil.

Into the wok went the oil, which was heated with a high flame. Once you can smell the sesame, insert the sliced ginger and gently stir until you can smell the ginger. Put in the chicken and cook until the outside of the chicken has been cooked. Then pour in the sake and cook at a medium heat until the de-skinned chicken easily comes off the bone or to your own tastes.

The prep and the cooking together may take about 30 minutes, and then perhaps another 20 – 30 minutes of simmering time. We were then served the Chinese herbal soup.

The soup consisted of a strong flavorful broth and a hearty meal of chicken and noodles. The ginger spiced up the entire mix, while the succulent chicken fell right off the bone. And the broth of the sesame oil and the sake was a delicious mix of an enthralling pungent flavor.

As I finished the dish, I quietly thought to myself that “our next cooking aficionado is going to have a very hard time even keeping up with this … the Madame just knocked it out of the park”.

Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup - Flushing Queens

Mr. Kelby Leow started talking about Korean cooking. He introduced us to the various ingredients for his favorite recipe for a Ginseng Chicken Soup which is a Korean favorite and classic. The recipe includes ginseng which he informed us is grown in Wisconsin and a major export to distant parts of Asia. Other ingredients included about a 1/3 cup of sweet rice, which he informed us is different from the packaged American rice such as Uncle Ben’s. He also included a couple of three year old ginseng roots, a couple of chestnuts, a few jujubes [these taste like dates], green onion sliced to taste and add few garlic cloves again to your taste. Garlic, we were told, is a Korean favorite and Korea consumes more garlic per capita than any other nation in the world. Lastly, of course, is six cups of chicken stock and the 1.5 lb Cornish game hen.

Unlike the Sesame recipe, which called for skinning the chicken, this recipe did not. All of the ingredients are stuffed into the cavity of the hen, which is then needled or tied closed. He recommended starting with the rice, which should be inserted into the chicken cavity all balled up [like stuffing a Thanksgiving turkey]. Then insert the chicken into a crock pot, add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and let cook for an hour and a half.

Great Cooking Class At Flushing Town Hall

As I sat down to sample this soup, I was admittedly skeptical. I soon learned that the chicken added to my soup was intended more to flavor it, than to satiate my appetite for it as had done in the prior soup. Once I understood this, I found the light subtle soup to be very charming and delicious.

The chicken broth was lightly seasoned with onions and garlic. And it provided some delightful surprises as I came upon the texture and taste of the chestnut and the sweet flavor of the jujube. I soon dispensed with the chicken and began drinking the soup, spooning in the rice as it became available.

The two plus hours flew by and soon the class was over. I had been introduced to a couple of healthy herbal Asian soups to enhance health, happiness and balance in the year of the lucky dragon. I asked Dr. Chou if he had considered doing more classes. He remarked that others had asked the same, but left no indication of his intentions in this regard.

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Joe's Shanghai Restaurant - Flushing

Chinese Restaurants In Flushing Queens NY

Flushing Neighborhood / Flushing Restaurants / Queens Restaurants / Queens Buzz.

I’ve passed by Joe’s Shanghai in Flushing on many occasions. Without a miss, every time I walk by there’s a good crowd inside, and sometimes a few groups waiting outside the door. I reckon, as they say, that that is about as good advertising as one can get. But that kind of trade doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t happen without a lot of hard work.

 

I arrived a bit past the rush hours, which generally run from about 7 to 9 pm. I was greeted and seated by Keith Yip [see photo to left], who is the restaurant manager and also a relation to Joe. Like the customers around me, I was instantly waited on and served tea. I perused the menu and decided to try the signature dishes recommended by Keith. You might want to take this review with you next time you head into Flushing, because everyone of these dishes was a hit.

Joe's Shanghai Restaurant - Flushing

Chinese Restaurants In Flushing Queens NY

Flushing Neighborhood / Flushing Restaurants / Queens Restaurants / Queens Buzz. Continued.

Pork And Jellyfish - At Joe's Shanghai Restaurant

We started with the pork and jellyfish – not something I would order myself, but which, as it turns out, was a most pleasant surprise. The light dangling white jellyfish were crunchy like the multi-colored worm candy and had a very neutral taste to them. They happen to be a high source of protein and are low in calories, but they didn’t become a favorite of mine this evening. It was the pork that came with the jellyfish that turned out to be the most pleasant of surprises.

The pork was served in a cubed shape with what at first looked like fat to me. It looked like it would be heavy and dense and rich in choleterol. But as I bit in, it crumbled away, in a light, moist texture with light seaworthy flavors from the east. Keith had told me that the pork had been marinated in a soup, cooked and then frozen. It was cut while still frozen and then thawed and served. All of this takes place in the course of about three hours. MMMmmm, it was surprisingly good.

 

Black Mushrooms & Cabbage - Chinese Restaurants In Queens

The next dish was a vegan specialty, that didn’t taste like what one would anticipate a vegan dish to taste like. It was the cabbage hearts and black Shanghai mushroom dish. The cabbage hearts had a clean oily taste to it, and it was perfectly cooked al dente. That was the yin of the dish, while the yang was the black mushrooms, with a pure sweet layer covering the dark black mushrooms which has a nice manly bite to them compared to lighter mushrooms like the shitake - kind of like a Guinness compares to a regular beer. I liked ‘em, but I also like Guinness.

 

Good Chinese Restaurants In Queens - Joe's Shanghai Restaurant

This was followed up on with the crab pork dumplings bun. These are served in a round wooden [cottage – like the stuff they made in Denmark] tin atop a few leaves of lettuce. The crab sits at the kiss of the dumpling and adds a sea salty flavor as I bit into the doughy moist dumpling. Hot pork soup spilled out and inside was soft, moist ground pork. I could have eaten these all day and you’d have had to roll me out of there. These are dangerously delicious.

Aaaahhh. I was beginning to become satiated, only to be treated to even more Shanghai cuisine. Keith explained to me that Shanghai has its own cuisine. That sometimes get lost as most Americans, including myself, are used to Cantonese or Szechuan style Chinese cuisine that is so prevalent around the country. In San Francisco they seem to favor Hunan, which differs from what most of us are used to. Szechuan is generally spicy, Cantonese fairly bland and Hunan, like Shanghai has a light, flavorful oily taste.

 

Pork, Noodles, Spinach & Cabbage At Joe's Shanghai Restaurant Flushing

So then came the pork noodles with spinach and cabbage. The noodles were a tender soft doughy texture and lightly sweet. The pork was still tender, juicy and warm; the spinach lightly cooked and the cabbage still had a nice crunch to it. Another savory treat that made me wish I had a larger stomach. Joe's was batting 1.000.

 

 

Chinese Scallion Pancakes - Chinese Restaurants In Flushing Queens NY

Done? Not quite. The last treat were the scallion pancakes. These were also freshly baked and tasted like a very good pizza crust with scallion flavoring. These were served with vinegar and soy sauce on the side.

Joe's Shanghai began to thin out around 10 pm and by 11 pm, right on schedule, they closed. Courteous, efficient and oh so good at what they do. They seat approximately 100, all in the same room. Cash only and beers only [Chingtao, Heineken and Bud]. Open 11 am to 11 pm every day. It’s definitely worth a visit. Check it out next time you’re in Flushing or in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

Joe's Shanghai Restaurant Flushing NY - Related Links

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