soup | Chopsticks and Marrow

Dish O' The Day

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by Joe DiStefano

04/04/18 9:33pm

An Early Spring Warmup with Dhaulaghiri’s Goat Soup

by Joe DiStefano

When winter ain’t playin’, it’s time for Himalayan!

It’s been two years since Kamala Gauchan, my adopted Nepalese mother, decamped from Queens’ Himalayan Heights to Manhattan’s Curry Hill. Back when she held court in her shoebox of a restaurant carved out of a corner of Tawa Roti I ate her food weekly. These days I trek to her roomier spot on Lexington Avenue whenever I have a dental appointment. Which happened to be the case during Monday’s snow storm.
After a filling, it was time to fill my belly. When I entered Dhaulaghiri Kitchen, Gauchan and her crew had just opened for the day and a mantra to Ganesh—Om Gan Ganapataye Namo Namah—played over and over on the flat screen next to a signed photo of Andrew Zimmern. For a moment I considered jhol momo—dumplings in a spicy broth—but I knew soup was the ticket for a wintry spring morning. (more…)

Curry Hill, Dhaulaghiri Kitchen, goat, jerky, Kamala Gauchan, Nepalese, noodles, soup, sukuti, thentuk

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by Joe DiStefano

03/08/18 9:49pm

A Beefy Winter Warmup at Flushing’s Newest Noodle Bar

by Joe DiStefano

I walked into Old Tang—a new spot just off the bustling corner of Main and Roosevelt in downtown Flushing—at least three times before finally trying the noodles. The first time they were under construction, but the other times I eyed the mise en place and upon seeing minced pickled green beans and fried soybeans asked the same question in my fractured Mandarin Chinese “Giulin ren ma?” And each time the kids behind the counter would patiently respond, “No we’re from Sichuan.” “Ah so, the workers are from Sichuan, but surely the food is from Giulin,” I thought to myself. “I’ll have to come back and try it when I’m not already full from leading a food tour.”

beef noodle soup, Chinatown, Chinese, downtown Flushing, food tours, noodles, Old Tang, Sichuan, soup

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by Joe DiStefano

01/25/18 1:13pm

A Tale of Two Thai Soups Via Queensbridge & Elmhurst

by Joe DiStefano

Whose ramen is this? It’s mine, it’s mine, it’s mine . . .

Winter’s cold and the attendant coughing and sniffling always call for a good bowl of spicy soup, and Thai noodle soup always fits the bill. Today a look at two of my new favorites: one a Japanese take on Thai green curry and the other an everything but the kitchen sink Thai pork soup.

First up the Queensmatic Green Curry ($17) from Keizo Shimamoto’s Ramen Shack, which is an ajitama’s throw away from where Nas came up in the Queensbridge houses. Shimamoto learned to make a similar green curry ramen while working at Tokyo’s Bassanova Ramen. His curry paste hums with the flavors of lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime and bird’s eye chilies. At first I considered adding some chili oil, but as the heat pleasantly mounted I decided against it. (more…)

Elmhurst, Japanese, Keizo Shimamoto, Khao Nom, Little Bangkok, Long Island City, Nas, noodles, Queensbridge, ramen, Ramen Shack, soup, Thai

Dish O' The Day

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by Joe DiStefano

01/15/18 10:47am

Sifu Chio’s Dumpling Trio’s a Truly Happy HK Meal

by Joe DiStefano

Dumplings for days, well almost.

I’m not sure why, but it’s taken four decades of eating Chinese food for me to discover the wonders of HK noodles. My introduction to the wiry Hong Kong style yellow noodles began with HK lo mein combo at Shun Wong in Elmhurst. The massive portion of dumplings and lo mein comes with a sidecar of chicken broth as does an equally massive feed I tried at Flushing’s Shifu Chio.

I’ve passed Shifu Chio by hundreds of times, but had only eaten there once before. I scarcely ever look up at the faded red awning, which reads “Prince Noodle & Cafe, when I’m leading tours through the neighborhood. One day last week after perusing such whimsical menu categories as “Golden Oldies,” which includes fried fish cake lo mein, and “The Conservatives,” a septet of congees, including pig’s belly and liver I zeroed in on HK noodles. (more…)

Cantonese, Chinese, dumplings, Flushing, HK lo mein, noodles, Sifu Chio, soup, wontons

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by Joe DiStefano

12/28/17 5:24pm

Xin Taste Brings Hand-pulled Noodles to Forest Hills

by Joe DiStefano

In the 20 plus years that I’ve been living in Queens the strip of Austin Street that runs through Forest Hills has never been known as a hotbed of authentic Asian cuisine. In the past few years though, that’s been gradually changing. First came Violet’s Bake Shoppe, which brought top-notch bánh mì to the area and then Pink Forest Cafe, a Chinese-run coffee shop with a sideline in jian bing. The latest entrant, Xin Taste Lan Zhou Hand Pull Noodle opened a few weeks ago, just as winter was beginning to sink its icy claws into New York City. (more…)

Chinese, Forest Hills, noodles, openings, soup, Xin Taste Lan Zhou Hand Pull Noodle

Food for Thought

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by Joe DiStefano

12/06/17 12:02am

Please Stop Putting Bone Marrow in Pho

by Joe DiStefano

Roasted marrow bones have no place in pho!

As the creator of a web site whose very name extols the virtues of Asian food and bone marrow you might think I enjoy the latest trend in pho, the add-on of a roasted marrow bone. After all what’s more comforting than a bowl of beefy noodle soup? And what’s more sumptuous than a cross-cut roasted marrow bone, its cavity filled with meat butter?

Just because they are both good separately doesn’t mean they belong together though. Because I am at heart a gluttonous carnivore, I want to like the combination, but it’s just a ploy by restaurants to jack up the price of a humble noodle soup while feeding ravenous hordes of Instagrammers. (more…)

bone marrow, Corinne Trang, food trends, noodle soup, pho, soup, Vietnamese food

Dish O' The Day

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by Joe DiStefano

10/16/17 11:54am

Shun Wang’s HK Lo Mein Combo is Pure Cantonese Comfort

by Joe DiStefano

Can’t decide between won ton, roast pork, or noodle soup? Don’t worry Shun Wang’s got you.

I’ve been forsaking my heritage. By that I refer not to red sauce—OK fine we called it gravy—with which my father baptized me every Sunday, but rather the Cantonese food he fed me, thus beginning my lifelong love affair with Chinese cuisine. So when a friend posted a mouthwatering image of the HK lo mein at Shun Wang, I knew I had to try it.

“You know what this is?” the waiter at this Cantonese holdout in the increasingly Thai neighborhood of Elmhurst asked incredulously. “Yes,” I lied. “It’s steamed noodles,” he responded. Up until two days ago my Cantonese noodle knowledge was limited to chow fun and the thicker version of lo mein. (more…)

char siu, Chinese, dumplings, Elmhurst, HK lo mein, lo mein, noodles, Shun Wang, soup, won ton

Sandwich Wednesday

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by Joe DiStefano

05/10/17 10:00am

Soup & Simplicity: The Vietnamese French Dip

by Joe DiStefano

frenchdip1

Sometimes an average restaurant banh mi is just what you need.

“I really want to try the Vietnamese sandwich,” Chef Dave, said as we wheeled into the parking lot of Elmhurst’s Pho Bac. He was pretty excited because there were baguettes stacked in the window, an unusual sight for midevening. Not wanting to dampen his enthusiasm, I didn’t trot out my theory that restaurant banh mi are passable at best compared to those from sandwich shops and delis.

As we were looking at the menu, I remembered something I wanted to try, call it a Vietnamese French dip. (I’m sure whatever blog I cribbed the idea from does.) In no sort order Chef Dave and I had each ordered a sandwich—classic pork for him and highfalutin steak for me—and a large bowl of pho tai. The latter is the most minimalist of the 10 or so beef noodle soups offered, containing little more than noodles and rare slices of beef. (more…)

banh mi, beef, Elmhurst, French dip, noodles, pho, Pho Bac, sandwiches, soup, Vietnamese

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by Joe DiStefano

04/28/17 2:59am

Awang Kitchen Brings Jakartan Flavor to Elmhurst

by Joe DiStefano

Fried chicken marinated with coconut water.

Fried chicken marinated with coconut water.

When I first visited the Facebook page of Awang Kitchen, the newest Indonesian spot in the Southeast Asian-inflected Chinatown of Elmhurst, it displayed a vast menu, which has seen been edited down to a more manageable size. While the food was delicious, when I visited on opening weekend, the kitchen was moving at a glacial pace. Thankfully the kinks have been ironed out and Awang is fast becoming my favorite Indonesian spot in the neighborhood.

I’m a big fan of Indonesian fried chicken, so when I spied ayam goreng kalasan, a variety marinated with coconut water, I had to try it. It was some mighty fine bird and came with a sidecar of sambal terasi, a fiery red pepper concoction made with terasi, or fermented shrimp paste. It’s one of several sambals that the Jakartan chef-owner Siliwang “Awang” Nln makes in house. (more…)

Awang Kitchen, bakso, brain, bubur ayam, Elmhurst, fried chicken, goat, Indonesian, noodles, offal, sambal, Siliwang “Awang” Nln, soup, tempeh

Dish O' The Day

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by Joe DiStefano

02/23/17 9:00am

Ramen Shack’s Metta World Paitan is A-1 Chicken Ramen

by Joe DiStefano

METTA-RAMEN

The richest chicken soup in LIC or anywhere else.

Keizo Shimamoto’s Ramen Shack, a spinoff of a stand that debuted at Smorgasburg Queens, sits down the block from the Queensbridge Houses. The ramen obsessive who eats hundreds of bowls of the Japanese comfort food a year offers seven classical varieties, including shio and tonkatsu, and four specialty bowls. It’s on the specialty list that I found Metta World Paitan ($13). (more…)

chicken, Keizo Shimamoto, Long Island City, Metta World Peace, noodles, ramen, Ramen Shack, soup