Food represents celebration, warmth, and unity to me. At its core, food brings people together, whether it’s an excuse to catch up with old friends or just enjoying a meal with the people you love. Food helps us get through tough times, but makes the happy times even sweeter. There’s more about how I got into cooking and food on my About Me page, but today, I’m here to share the memories attached to my favorite foods!
Gon chow ngau huo, or beef chow fun, is a popular Cantonese dish that’s pretty much just fresh rice noodles, which are sticky if not constantly tossed in the wok, soy sauce, thin steak, mung bean sprouts, scallions, but packs a punch of flavor in every bite. I’ve been eating this dish for as long as I can remember, yet I was not always a fan of it. My dad absolutely loves this dish, though, so it’s grown on me a ton. It tastes great with other roast meats, as seen in the char siu above too. Char siu is Cantonese honey-barbecued pork, which tastes great with plain rice or chopped in a fried rice. There are plenty of roast shops in Chinatown to buy both char siu + gon chow ngau huo, so I’ll try to compile a list of shops for the future. It’s such a cheap meal, and there’s no better food deals than Chinatowns!
The “Shanghainese Trio”, the nickname I gave these three dishes, consists of chong you bing, or scallion pancakes, fried dumplings, and sheng jian bao, or pan-fried baos. I love these three dishes from Shanghai 21 (formerly Shanghai Asian Manor). I haven’t been there since it was known as the former, but their scallion pancakes are extremely crunchy and fluffy, and these baos and dumplings are stuffed with so much flavor. I can’t vouch for how these taste now, but regardless of if these dishes are made by my Grandma or at Shanghai 21, I will always keep these dishes on my favorites list.
I praised the glorious okonomiyaki on my Los Angeles post, so explore it over there!
Cheese tea, the drink phenomenon from China, is as interesting as it sounds. I hadn’t been to China since I was around 8 years old, but on my first trip to China in 2017, Antonia and I became obsessed after our first introduction to it. The “cheese” is a sweet cream cheese foam sprinkled with salt, which adds a perfect savory note to the drink. I urge you to try this should the opportunity arise, and not to let the daunting title scare you away! HeyCha, originally from Guangdong and pictured above, is the pioneer of cheese tea in Asia, and people wait hours upon hours to grab a cup of it. It is very, very worth it.
Gai dan jai, or egg waffles, are an absolute contender for favorite dessert (excluding boba or cheese tea). The egg whites folded into the batter differentiate gai dan jai from standard Belgian waffles, along with a little custard powder and tapioca starch that create a slight chewiness. I had my first traditional HK egg waffle from Lee Keung Kee North Point Egg Waffles in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, and it definitely met my expectations. Wowfulls has changed the egg waffle game in NYC, as they make egg waffle sundaes and have created pizza egg waffles in the past, so I encourage you to catch them at any upcoming popups!
I don’t have a specific memory attached to these rice cakes, other than that the first time I had them, I devoured them. Korean rice cakes smothered in gochujang (chili paste) sauce and covered in gooey mozzarella cheese. Enough said ~
These ribs, burnt ends, and brisket are from Mighty Quinn’s. I just love burnt ends, there’s not really another explanation 😂 The steak and salad are from Arthur’s Steakhouse in Hoboken. Before my dad made the full time switch to working from home (like over 14 years ago), he used to eat here for coworker meals and bring leftovers home for me and my sister. We became obsessed with their garlic bread, and eventually, got to eat in the restaurant. Arthur’s makes an incredible chicken caesar salad and “Our Steak”, a 24oz marbled Rib Eye, served with Arthur’s Potatoes. This is another restaurant I remember eating at for years, so I can’t wait to return one day and bite into their sometimes burnt, nonetheless tasty, potatoes.
This beautiful bacon, egg, and cheese bagel from Celebrity Bagels, a Tenafly staple, is one heck of special Sunday morning treat. I get mine with salt, pepper, and ketchup on an everything bagel, since I enjoy the variety of seasonings on top.
I really got into dou fu hua, or tofu pudding, this year, when my dad and I went to Chinatown in February. This was not my first time trying it, but I was not as obsessed with it until then. Its primary ingredient is tofu, and although it may just seem like a bowl of soft tofu, it is really an extraordinary canvas for any condiments you like. The flavor itself is very neutral, meaning you can go either sweet or savory with it. Sweet dou fu hua is topped with a brown sugar syrup, which is how I typically eat it and is as seen above. Savory dou fu hua is topped with soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil, and scallions. I don’t think I’ve ever had the savory one, but it’s certainly one I’d love to try. My family likes it too, but I could eat the whole quart this pudding comes in!
I figured I could finish this list off by tying it back to my roots. Bao zai fan, or claypot rice, and cheese-baked rice are two popular Hong Kong café items. Claypot rice is typically topped with lap cheong, or Chinese sausage, and choi sum, or Chinese broccoli, but this one is topped with lamb chops and fried egg. We have a claypot at home, and it really makes meals special, since it sustains high temperatures. The pot browns the cooked rice, creating a nutty, toasty flavor unable to be replicated by just putting it in the oven.
The cheese-baked rice sounds a little odd, but everything about it works. It’s almost like a cheese pizza with a rice base. I’ve noticed a lot of Asian tomato sauces are a lot sweeter than their Italian counterparts, and the sauce on this one has a light bell pepper note as well. I’m not a fan of peppers at all, but I will eat them if they’re in this rice. The cheese is almost a nod to Hong Kong’s “East Meets West” background, when HK was a Crown Colony of the British empire. My parents lived in Guangzhou, and much of my maternal extended family lives in Hong Kong today, so eating these dishes is a taste of my Hong Kong memories.
This is by no means an exclusive list - I have far too many foods I would consider a 20 on a 1 to 10 scale of strongly dislike to absolutely devour, so I’ll likely be updating the list in the future. I hope you enjoyed reading some of the reasons why I appreciate (and dream of) these foods a little extra.
See you soon,
Carissa 😊