Fu Run in Flushing

Cumin-crusted lamb makes me weak in the knees. I developed an obsession for it years ago when living in Beijing. From lunchtime through late night hours, it was easy to find street vendors selling cumin-crusted lamb kebabs, which they would cook up right in front of you on a charcoal grill. I also made a point of eating out often at Xinjiang restaurants (run by the minority Uighurs), where you could satisfy your lamb cravings with even bigger lamb kebabs on 18-inch metal skewers.

So when I saw Robyn's post on Fu Run last month and her photos of the restaurant's famous "Muslim lamb chops", the restaurant seemed like a good excuse to not cook for one lunch out of the week, and instead head out to Flushing. Fortunately, Kian from Red Cook was also eager to try it, so we made an afternoon of it.

Last summer one of my go-to cheap light meals was the liang pi noodles ("cold skin noodles") at Xian Famous Foods, spicy noodle bliss for $4 a plate. This spicy bean noodle salad was about 10 times better, which is saying a lot. These chewy glass noodles made with mung bean and tossed with peanuts, cabbage, cilantro, cucumbers, and an amazing chili sauce were so light and refreshing that we both wanted to lick the plate. Yes, spicy food that as actually cooling and refreshing is a rare feat, but this salad definitely fit those qualities.

BlogDiana KuanAugust 14, 2011New York, Queens, Restaurants Comments

Soupy Dumplings and Pan-fried Bao at Nan Xiang

Since coming back to the US, I have had a hard time finding pan-fried pork buns, called shenjian bao in Chinese.

In Shanghai, they were available on practically every street corner. Like the more widely known xiaolong bao (called "soup dumplings" in English), sheng jian bao is also filled with ground pork and piping hot soup. But unlike its steamed counterpart, sheng jian bao is panfried until crispy on the bottom, then topped with sesame seeds and chives. They're so juicy that you have to bite into them carefully, or risk having hot broth spray out onto your shirt or at your dining companion across the table, neither of which are good ways to begin a meal.

A couple weeks ago I headed out to Flushing with Kian to try Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao. Fortunately, this place has no relation to the overrated and overly touristy Nan Xiang mini-chain in Shanghai. This Nan Xiang is a plainly adorned, two-room restaurant that draws a huge lunch crowd. We ordered a handful of dishes, one of my favorites being stir-fried glutinous rice cakes with seafood. If you like your starch dishes chewy, this is one to try, and even better topped with shrimp and fish. The texture of the rice cakes is similar to that of knife-cut noodles, or maybe even gnocchi.

BlogDiana KuanDecember 1, 2010Queens, Restaurants Comments

3 Taiwanese Dishes Worth the Trip into Flushing

Getting my friends to come on food adventures in Flushing is like pulling teeth. Most of them live in Manhattan or Brooklyn, and are very proud of the fact.

"I don't do outer boroughs," says one.

"I don't leave the Upper West Side," says another.

"Why take the train for Chinese food when you can just get it delivered?" asks a third.

Since my life revolves around food, I probably have a distorted view of how far the average person should go for an ideal bowl of noodles or enlightening dim sum. (Queens residents, you're lucky.) Most of my trips on the 7 train are spent all by my lonesome, catching up on the New Yorker or, in the absence of reading material, fastidiously checking email on my phone. So I was pretty excited when Kian of Red Cook suggested we head out to Flushing in search of some restaurant a Taiwanese friend recommended that may or may not have an English name. Sold!

BlogDiana KuanMay 25, 2010Flushing, Queens, Restaurants Comments

Why is Chinese food in San Francisco so disappointing? Also, thank you, Xi'an Famous Foods

This $4 plate of liang pi noodles ("cold skin noodles") single-handedly made up for all the bad Chinese food I have eaten in the past eight months.

First, a tangent. I spent eight months living and working in San Francisco. Apologies in advance to those in the Bay Area, but really, it seemed impossible to find great Chinese food there. Decent? Yes. Good? Occasionally. Downright atrocious? Far too common.

With such a big Chinese population, San Francisco should theoretically have Chinese food to rival Vancouver and New York. But what I found was mostly watered-down cooking, and too many restaurants advertising themselves as Chinese-Thai-Vietnamese-Sushi (what's up with that?) And yes, I also visited the purely Chinese restaurants, and quite popular ones at that.

BlogDiana KuanMay 14, 2010Flushing, Manhattan, Queens, Restaurants, San Francisco Comments