I actually did a comic sort of covering this previously, but I was in the neighborhood of this area again and saw more Asian fusion restaurants and the ideas resurfaced. Plus I think this could be a good stand up comedy bit. Has anyone who has eaten good Chinese, Japanese or Thai food ever NOT felt ripped off when eating at an Asian fusion restaurant?
When the average person hears “brown eggs” they think about brown shelled eggs at the supermarket as opposed to white shelled. When I hear “brown eggs,” I think of these flavored hard boiled eggs from Asian cuisine. My mom made them since I was a kid and at first I was hesitant, but eventually I learned they’re absolutely delicious.
What prompted this comic was our biweekly trip to Minca (link has photo of ramen with a brown egg). Every time we go to Minca we see people who aren’t eating their brown eggs presumably because they’re afraid of it. As they liked to say in X-Men: “People fear what they cannot understand.” When I see people not eating it I always want to take this delicious ball of goodness away from their unworthy taste buds.If you think about how long it takes to prepare these things it’s extra tragic! Seriously, do they think the restaurant is trying to trick them into eating something disgusting?
“We’ll trick the non-Asian people into eating this one gross thing in an otherwise delicious meal. BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!”
I remember when I was little and my 2nd grade teacher was reading The Witches during story time there was a bit about a kid who got turned into a chicken who laid brown eggs. Since I was used to flavored brown eggs I thought those were the kind of eggs this chicken was laying and that sounded like the awesomest thing in the world.
Not all brown eggs are created equal. The ones at Minca are probably the brownest and most flavorful I’ve seen next to my mom’s own. Some ramen places will have them and you can tell they didn’t stew for very long. There are some alternate ones like tea eggs and soy eggs but those have entirely different flavors.
I know at the very least this is pretty typical to the New York area that all Chinese takeout places seem to have some sort of variant on “Happy Kitchen” or “Joy Kitchen” as their name. I’m not sure most people would realize the reference if one was brave enough to call itself “Angry Kitchen.” Or who knows? Maybe people would go for the curiosity factor? I guess it would have to be good enough food for people to overcome their fear of the place actually being angry.
I had heard the reason they put numbers on Chinese takeout menus is so that it’s easier to order over the phone for the customer and for the receiver to understand. I was at a Chinatown drink place which had lots of different permutations of drinks with the same fruit flavors so I thought I’d order with the numbers to make sure there was no mistaking it. Lo and behold they didn’t know their own number system.
I’m pretty much of the opinion that Chinese takeout isn’t good past the hour or so after you bought it. I think maybe the MSG’s strength intensifies or something that makes it disagree with your innards more. Last night I got Chinese takeout for the first time in a while (chicken lo mein) and ate the entire thing. We’ll see if by the time you’re reading this whether my stomach hates me or not.
There are a few things you can count on during Christmas: Chinese food, movies, and bootleg merchandise sellers in Chinatown (the knishes I’m just conjecturing about). Not sure I’ll be doing any of these but they are all viable options. Maybe the Chinese food.
That’s right, they’re clinging to their mention in a New York Times Article from nearly ten years ago. The best part is that you can still read the article online. My favorite part is how the first sentence: “As the gentrification of Park Slope in Brooklyn continues…” Yeah, clearly this was a while ago if the gentrification was being described as in progress.
Did I not look Chinese enough or something? I was with my girlfriend who is Japanese and another friend who is white, so were they just assuming we weren’t the type of people who would tolerate this amount of bones?
I never did get my fish neck with stomach sauce, but they almost charged us for it. In reality it would’ve been too much food since we ordered a bunch of other things too. I still wonder, maybe if I had ordered in Chinese or something? Or maybe if I was clearly not born in the United States? Maybe I should go there with my parents next time…
I went to a Chinese restaurant around my apartment which I had never been to (despite living here for four years). I think it’s because I went to another local Chinese restaurant and decided it wasn’t worth it to try the rest, plus there never seems to be many people inside the restaurant. But my girlfriend and I were looking for a place to eat so we decided to just give it a chance. I found out that despite having very few people in there, their phones are constantly ringing. Yes I do mean phones, there were no less than four phones visible on their wall.
The food was about what I expected, I got a bit of a headache and stomachache afterwords which told me the food was indeed greasier than normal. I wouldn’t say as bad as that first Chinese place I went to, but I won’t be knocking their doors down to get some food.
Anyway, this is the fortune my girlfriend got in her cookie. Admittedly in this day and age of cookies being more sayings or advice it is a real “fortune,” but a touch on the mundane side, no?
Remember Wok N’ Roll which I wasn’t sure if it existed or not and then subsequently googled to find dozens of results? Well this Thanksgiving weekend I got to see one in person.
