DUCK INTO CORNER 28 FOR ROAST AND DIM SUM

Slabs of pork, as well as chickens and ducks with their heads still on, hang inside a window looking all so juicy and appetizing.   A piece of Peking Duck with scallion and hoisin sauce gets placed in a folded bun for $1.  Purchase portions of some of the best roast pig, roast pork, roast duck or soy sauce chicken.  Skins have a little crunch and the meats are a “melt in the mouth” experience.  This is all about Chinese cuisine. 

 

Step further into Corner 28, located at 131-46 40^th Rd, and you’ll see the long steam table of various Chinese choices.  Choose 4 items with rice and either soy milk or bottled water for a mere price of $5.50.  Don’t worry about the food being out too long as there is a constant turnover due to the amount of knowledgeable and hungry Asians in downtown Flushing that keep the lines going.  Now, the secret is out!!!

This eatery is not quite on the corner as it sits between Main and Prince Street. There is a separate area just for drinks.  If you don’t want the food and drinks to go, head on upstairs with your meal to the table and chairs.  Eat, drink and watch one of three tvs.  

A second option is simply ordering larger portions of those as well as other dishes. The counter and cashier is on the right side just before the steam table.  You will get a numbered receipt. Go upstairs. When the food is ready a staff member will bring it up to you.

 
You will find that few of the staff speaks English. This should not detract from enjoying the food. Dim sum is basically prepared for the morning to very early afternoon.  It’s not a dim sum restaurant where the waitstaff walk around with carts.   You can get items such as: pork shu mai, shrimp dumplings and my favorite…..braised chicken feet. 

I took my niece Dawn with me.  She had never been to a “Chinatown” and this part of Flushing is beyond that due to the numerous Asian cuisines.  This was also the first time that she had the chance to eat authentic Chinese food.  

Start off with a drink.  Get something different. Dawn took a chance on a Jasmine Green Tea with Nata Jelly while I went for the Passion Fruit Tea. Both of us were satisfied. We used the big round straw so that the ingredients were sucked up into our mouth along with the liquid.  Most of the drinks are cold….coffee, teas and of course, bubble tea. 

Soup anyone?  Two great dumping soups were sampled.  One had shrimp and pork and the other had vegetables.  I love cilantro; Dawn does not.  She skipped the veggie one.  I tasted both and equally satisfying to my taste buds. We actually ate the dumplings and saved the soup “to go”.  You never know what you have at home to use the broth.  By the way, these soups are served in a large bowl.

Let’s get into the dishes which looked like they were all meant to be shared.  Steak Cantonese Style.  The steak is pounded before cooking.  It is made with onions in a sweet bbq sauce and topped with slices of fresh tomatoes.  I don’t mind the onions. Dawn seemed to indulge in just the meat.  Many of the items, such as this have cilantro vs parsley to give that extra presentation. 

Honeyed Walnut Shrimp.  Large shrimp coated lightly and fried rest on broccoli florets, topped with the sesame seed and honey coated walnuts in a sweet and savory sauce. This was Dawn’s favorite.  Beef Chow Fun is fun to scoop the tender beef with thick long rice noodles and some veggies.  I always enjoy chow fun. 

Three seafood dishes were then sampled.  Dried Scallop with Egg White Fried Rice.  I think there was baby shrimp in this.  Vermicelli Noodles with squid, and other savvy seafood.  Pan Fried noodles with scallop, shrimp and vegetables.  These are on the drier side rather than “saucy”.  

Even before this last sampling, we were full.  Take it back to my house, park ourselves into a corner and indulge the next day.  We were definitely NOT hungry an hour later. 

Xin Nian Kuai Le (Sheen Nyan Kwai Luh) is Chinese for “Happy New Year” as we approach the Year of the Monkey.  Lunar New Year, the most important East and South East Asian holiday, is the longest Asian holiday, celebrated for 15 days beginning this year on February 8^th.  This holiday extends to Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Malaysians, Japanese, and Mongolians.

February 8th is the actual holiday when “Gong Hei Fat Choi”, basically wishing one “good luck”, is exchanged as well as the commemorated Firecracker Ceremony. The color of red represents “luck” with envelopes of cash and lanterns.  Join in celebrating with the Lunar New Year Parade, which will be held on Saturday, February 13^th starting at 11 a.m.

AND HERE’S THE LATEST

Do children really look at the face of their snuggle toys?  One toy company has come out with Ugly Snuglies, “So ugly, they’re cute” or as they continue to say, “You don’t have to be perfect to be loved. It’s what’s inside that counts.”  Each of the extremely soft oversized “pets” has a built in surprise allowing kids to do more than simply snuggle.

Here is the lowdown on what’s in the Velcro pockets.  “Inside Porky Panda is a super soft blanket that’s perfect for sleepovers. Krazy Kitty has a light in its tail, so you can read at night, or in the car. Bizarre Bear has 5 secret pockets so you can hide all of your favorite stuff. Unusual Unicorn has an alarm clock, so you can wake up for school every morning by yourself. Rowdy Rabbit has a hidden FM radio, so you can listen to all your favorite music. Pouty Pig has a secret piggy bank inside…It’s the perfect place to save all your money.”  I guess it depends upon the age of the child as to whether they have money to put in there. 

I was able to sample three of the products with help from 3-year-old Quinn.  She was given Krazy Kitty and loved it.  Here dad told me, “She kept on insisting on putting it in the garbage can because I think it reminded her of Oscar the grouch and believed that it lived in the garbage.” After explaining that it’s not a character from Sesame Street, Quinn took it with her to bed.  

Unusual Unicorn is for an older child who needs to wake up for school.  It does take some manipulating to set a timer.   Of the three, Rowdy Rabbit would also work best for an even older child as the FM stations can be changed as well as the volume.   Then again, these days I have to ask a 6-year-old how to use my Smart TV.  Instructions come with the toy or you can go to their website of www.uglysnuglies.com

On the food scene…it appears that Joe’s Shanghai is not the only soup dumpling in town.  Flushing restaurants have added this delicious delicacy to their menu.  I’m just giving you a sneak peek at one that recently opened “softly”.  It’s called Shanghai You Garden, located at 133-33 40^th Rd. Unfortunately I popped in without my camera as I love taking food photos. 

My friend and I sampled a few of the items beginning with the dumplings.  One had pork, the other had crab (the real thing) and pork.  The skins are paper-thin with a good amount of “stuffing”. It comes with a vinegar-soy sauce-ginger dipping sauce although you don’t really need it as the soup is soooooo good! 

That would have been enough for lunch (6 dumplings per serving) but we became curious.  Laurie wanted to check out a cold dish, vegetarian appetizer, Braised Bean Curd.  Fortunately for me, Laurie does not like mushrooms so I was able to chow down on those and another fungus-like vegetable. 

We had a dessert called Sweet Rice Bowl.  In was warm and looked like gummy rice dumplings in an egg drop soup.  Different and pretty good. 

I got word that the owners of Shanghai You Garden own a few other restaurants in downtown Flushing.  One is a fast food eatery where you can get the more typical dim sum such as chicken feet and Peking duck in a bun.  Another has Szechuan cuisine and the other is a bakery!  Stay tuned for further articles.

On the movie scene.  I’ll simply give you a statement from Daniel Dromm.  "In Jackson Heights is a wonderful depiction of many communities within the community of Jackson Heights," said NYC Council Member Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights, Elmhurst).  "With the film already being three hours long, obviously not every community could get equal time on screen.  The Jackson Heights depicted in the film is a large part of the Jackson Heights that I know and love, and is the Jackson Heights that people travel from around the world to visit.  Jackson Heights is hot."

"I was extremely honored to be asked by In Jackson Heights Filmmaker Fred Wiseman to accept the New York Film Critics Circle Award for this documentary at an event held at Tao Downtown.  I had never been in a room full of so many movie stars, directors and other movers and shakers in the film industry.  I was very pleased to receive the award from Susan Sarandon who grew up in Jackson Heights.  As Ms. Sarandon and I both stated at the event, In Jackson Heights has a lesson of tolerance and acceptance to teach to the rest of the world.  What an honor it was to be among so many important people." 

Interested in seeing the movie?  Not sure if and when it will be shown at “the theatre nearest you” and expected to come out on DVD this year.  MOMI has it scheduled from January 15-21^st.   I hope there is an inter-pish-ion. 

CARNIVAL MADE MY STOMACH TURN

There is a Chinese Restaurant on Jamaica Avenue in Woodhaven called Carnival House.  They've been around for a long time.  I tend to get something there if I want it delivered, although I haven't placed an order in quite a while. I didn't have a menu, concluding that I must have thrown it out.  I guess there was a reason.

I was simply in the mood for some boneless spare ribs and fried chicken wings.  One thing that I remembered about this restaurant was that when you buy chicken wings they are not wing parts, but whole wings.  The last time the price was about $3 for 4 wings and they were not small sized wings.

Was it a change in management or simply not caring about quality?   The boneless ribs had a bit of a weird taste.  Considering the size of the take-out restaurant that has a few tables, I believe that the rib slabs are already marinated when they receive them and they simply brush the slabs with a packaged bbq sauce and place it under the broiler.  When done, they slice it up.

The wings were an even bigger....or should I say "smaller" disappointment.  I received 4 regular sized wings and certainly not worth a buck a wing.

If you place an order that's $10, they give you a choice of a free can of soda, egg roll or soup.  They didn't ask me and delivered a can of just about un-fizzled Coca Cola.  I don't drink carbonated beverages, let alone Coca Cola.

So I wound up costing me over $10 (tax and tip) for an "Un-happy Meal".   For that price I could go to the Genting Palace and get a lunch of all you can eat dim sum!

Oy, I don't feel too well. I think the restaurant made my stomach turn.