soup | Chopsticks and Marrow

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by Joe DiStefano

04/28/20 9:44pm

Lagman & Plov at Rego Park’s Chaikhana Sem Sorok

by Joe DiStefano

Chaikhana Sem Sorok’s lovely lagman soup.

“Is Bella Roza open?” my pal Rocky asked about two weeks ago about the Uzbek bakery/restaurant in Rego Park, where many restaurants have shut down due to COVID-19. “Pretty sure they are just closed for Passover,” I replied. Like me, Rocky’s a good—and single-minded eater—so a few days ago he messaged me that Bella Roza was open.

“Samsa, plov, and lagman,” he responded when asked what he was ordering. The samsa—meat pies filled with either beef or lamb—are cooked in a tiled tandoor that sits behind the counter. Time it just right, and you can score one fresh out of the furnace.

So the other morning I strolled over to Bella Roza to mimic my pal’s order. The bakery was most definitely open, but it’s now under new ownership and has a new name: Chaikhana Sem Sorok. Other than that things looked pretty much the same, rows of samsa were arrayed in the glass case, and a giant pot of plov sat on the stove. (more…)

Chaikhana Sem Sorok, comfort food, lagman, noodles, plov, Rego Park, samsa, soup, Uzbek

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by Joe DiStefano

05/27/19 8:42pm

What’s Your Favorite Blood Sausage?

by Joe DiStefano

Korean blood sausage soup at Tang.

The other day I was quoted in a Wall Street Journal piece on the staggering diversity of Asian fried chicken now available in New York City. Besides Korean, there’s now Filipino, Taiwanese, and Thai, to name just a few. The reporter and I talked about how most everybody loves fried chicken, but how their are other Asian dishes that aren’t as easily accepted by Western palates.

“Korean Fried chicken is an easier sell than Korean blood sausage,” I quipped. You don’t have to try too hard to sell me on soondae though. I like the Korean blood sausage shot through with dangmyeon or glass noodles plain with salt and red pepper as it’s served at many Korean takeout spots in Murray Hill. I also like it in the hearty pork bone soup soon dae gook, which I enjoyed for dinner last night at Tang.

Like fried chicken though, in Queens there’s a blood sausage for almost every culture: Argentine morcilla, Irish black pudding, and Tibetan gyuma are among my favorites. So here’s what I’d like to know what’s your favorite way to enjoy this delicacy?

Argentine, black pudding, blood sausage, gyuma, Irish, Korean, morcilla, offal, soup, Tang, Tibetan

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by Joe DiStefano

01/21/19 10:57am

Flushing’s Yummy Tummy is a Singaporean Stunner

by Joe DiStefano

Top-flight Hainanese chicken has landed in a neighborhood better known for bulgogi.

I first noticed Yummy Tummy Asian Bistro back in the fall. I was slightly bemused to see such Singaporean classics as chili crab and Hainanese chicken alongside seafood pasta in butter lemon sauce and kimchi fried rice with bacon and Polska kielbasa on the menu of a restaurant in the heart of a neighborhood better known for Korean food than Southeast Asian cuisine.

I forgot all about Yummy Tummy until a friend raved to me about the Hainanese chicken last month. “It’s the best in New York City,” he crowed. “They do it the right way, the skin is so supple.”

So just after New Year’s I trekked down Northern Boulevard to try the chicken and a few other dishes with a friend. The bird was lovely, silky of skin, the tender meat was full of flavor. The accompanying chili sauce and pesto were great, but the bird was better on its own. That’s because Singaporean Chef Richard Chan takes great care and pride in its preparation, starting with the fact that the fresh killed bird doesn’t get chilled until an hour-long ice bath, which is preceded by a leisurely 45-minute simmer in chicken broth whilst stuffed with ginger, garlic, and spring onion. There are also two massages involved, one with salt before cooking and another with salt and sesame oil after the ice bath. (more…)

bah kut teh, Flushing, Hainese chicken, otah otah, oysters, Richard Chan, seafood, Singapore chili crab, Singaporean, soup, Yummy Tummy Asian Bistro

Sandwich Wednesday

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by Joe DiStefano

01/09/19 7:36pm

Soup & A Sandwich Tibetan Style at Lhasa Fresh Food

by Joe DiStefano

Soup and a sandwich via Lhasa, Elmhurst, and Instagram.

There are some who say Instagram—with its over the top milkshakes, noodle pulls, and levitating food—along with Yelp and the other usual suspects—is just another sword in the slowly dying animal that is food writing. I am of the opposite opinion, if you know where to look Instagram is actually quite inspiring. Which brings me to the subject of this post, a beefy soup and sandwich combo inspired by Tibet and one of my favorite places to look: self-proclaimed prolific eater @nigelsie. (more…)

Elmhurst, Lhasa Fresh Food, Nigel Sielegar, noodles, sandwiches, soup, thentuk, tingmo

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!

PLEASE NOTE THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED

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…)

closed, 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

PLEASE NOTE THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED

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, closed, 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 . . .

PLEASE NOTE THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED

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…)

closed, 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