Thursday, April 15, 2010

A-Z Munchin' Monday M - Way Early

I'm gonna likely be off-grid for a while, so here is my M post well in advance of Monday.
My M entry is: Moo goo gai pan. This mild chicken dish was my initiation to CHinese Food, The family used to travel down into downtown Baltimore to Jimmy Wu's (long since gone) for a Chinese meal. I got to really enjoy the Moo Goo with its creamy sauce and chicken and vegetables like bamboo shoots and those crunchy discs that I am having a total mental relapse over here. Um...water chestnuts. So says my wife who knows these things. And a piping hot bowl of egg drop soup.

Eventually I adopted a preference for more spicy Hunan or Szechuan treats. Just this week I had "two delicacies" for lunch one day - chicken and shrimp. It was with people from work. For some reason we didn't play the little racy game we usually play with the fortune cookies. Too bad - I had a funny one.

Perhaps the best Chinese meal I ever had was at a place called House of Hunan wight on Michigan Ave. in Chicago. I believe it was "empress chicken". Something like that. Man, it was good! The guys I was with had something that made their foreheads sweat profusely. They loved it! The empress chicken was not that extreme.

I like to get the chopsticks for a Chinese meal. I am not super excellent at manipulating the sticks, but I get by, and it slows me down, which is a good thing, as Linda will tell you I eat too quickly. I knew a guy once who got out a knife and whittled points on his chopsticks so he could stab at the food. Probably more effective.

Still like a big dish of Chinese food. I could go for one right now. And then again two hours from now, so they say.

8 comments:

Connie said...

Looks and sounds delicious, Ben. I like to have a good Chinese meal every once in a while too. Happy early Monday/have a great weekend!

Gordon said...

Ahh Jimmy Woo's. Sue and I would make a special night of it and go there after work before we had the kids. It was great. You brought back some good memories Ben.

Dorothy said...

I've never eaten this, but it looks good! Happy Weekend and Happy Monday!

Unknown said...

There ya go, Ben...jumping to the front of the food line!

I thought of all the contributors that you would go with meat because of your love of beef.

I'm pleasantly surprised by your Munchin' Monday M word, Moo goo gai pan! Now that's something I have to put on my list to try.

Happy Sunday before Monday!!

Loui♥ said...

Hi Ben..
I too enjoy Chinese food..
love the Szechuan Chicken.. very spicy..along with special fried rice..yummy!
warmest hugs..literally!
laughing smiles..
Loui♥

Minerva said...

Yes, I remember Jimmy Wu's fondly. Loved that place. Jimmy himself used to come by the table to see that we were happy with the food. I always got Moo Goo back then, too.

Trivia: What photo was on the cover of the menus?

Answer: Jimmy and his children coloring Easter eggs.

Jen said...

I think I know that fortune cookie game!! LOL
Hope you are having a great week.

Unknown said...

This made me really hungry. mmmmmm