Szechwan slurpings in Oakland Chinatown
What would you prefer to order, something whose name you don’t understand, or something whose name you do understand but the combination of ingredients is strange to you? The biggest problem we face at Chinese restaurants in Chinatown is that the waitresses don’t know much English, and we know zero Chinese. We can’t ask about the dishes and have to rely solely on the English description, if it is written, which leads to the second problem: all the descriptions are the same.
Not just that. If you are not Chinese and have spent many years eating $7 Chinese buffets like me, you probably know that there’s hardly any difference between Szechwan chicken, orange chicken, sweet and sour chicken, and whatever chicken. Same goes for fried rice, chow mein, vegetables, and other edibles, which appear identical everywhere (unless it’s really bad). So imagine my excitement of spotting “tai lou mein” and “pickle and pork rice noodle soup” as I flipped through the menu at Szechwan Restaurant on 8th Street. We’ve never heard of those things.
The tai lou mein is, unexpectedly, a bowl of noodle soup. (We thought we’re in for stir fried noodles.) It’s the same thick round egg noodle in chow mein, drenched in a very slightly corn-starchy sweet broth with fresh bamboo shoots, shrimp, pork, chicken, mushroom, carrots, and a cracked egg (which the waitress called “scrambled egg”), topped with green onions. It turns out a safe good bet. From a reliable source we learn that perhaps the pinyin transcription of the name should be da lou mein instead of “tai lou mein”.
The pickle and pork noodle soup (榨菜肉絲麵 zha chai rou si mein) is my new love. Compared to da lou mein, it has far fewer visible ingredients, but the balancing of flavors and healthiness are superb. I’ve never had pickles in noodle soup, but the idea is not too far stretched from Vietnamese sour soups with pickled bokchoy (canh dưa chua), so why worry? The pickle (zha chai) in zha chai rou si mein is made from knobby stems of a type of mustard green. Sliced into short strips, zha cai resembles stir fried bitter melon in texture (solid and crunchy with a soft core). Eaten alone, zha chai has a salty zing to keep your tongue on its toes (and Mudpie away from the bowl). Meddled with shredded pork and noodle, the zing diminishes almost completely. Its sourness clears and freshens the broth like white paint on old walls. Rice noodle makes an even better match. On a sick or cold day, I’d rank zha chai rou si mein right up there with phở and bún mộc.
The two giant bowls cost under $6 each, and unless you have a whale stomach it’s unlikely that you would have room for dessert. Now, if you do want to order dessert (soybean curd, almond jelly, and some two other things), it’s best to get a menu and point it out to the waitress, or speak Chinese. The waitresses do not know the word “dessert”. And be patient, because they are very cordial to you. 🙂
Address: Szechwan Restaurant (Oakland Chinatown)
366 8th Street
Oakland, CA 94607-4241
(510) 832-7878
I’d forever want to be update on new content on this internet site, saved to fav! .
1I am just writing to make you be aware of of the terrific experience my princess enjoyed going through your site. She came to understand such a lot of details, most notably what it’s like to have a marvelous helping mindset to make many others easily learn about a variety of hard to do subject areas. You really did more than visitors’ desires. I appreciate you for supplying these effective, safe, informative and even unique tips about that topic to Evelyn.
2Thanx for the effort, keep up the good work Great work, I am going to start a small Blog Engine course work using your site I hope you enjoy blogging with the popular BlogEngine.net.Thethoughts you express are really awesome. Hope you will right some more posts.
3Thank you for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research about this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I’m very glad to see such fantastic information being shared freely out there.
4That is the best blog for anyone who wants to seek out out about this topic. You understand so much its almost onerous to argue with you (not that I truly would need…HaHa). You positively put a brand new spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Nice stuff, simply nice!
5Hi my friend! I want to say that this post is awesome, nice written and include almost all significant infos. I’d like to see more posts like this.
6Hello there, just turned into aware of your weblog thru Google, and located that it is really informative. I’m gonna be careful for brussels. I’ll be grateful if you happen to proceed this in future. Lots of other folks will likely be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
7Nice read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing some research on that. And he actually bought me lunch since I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch! “Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.” by Aristotle.
8I like this blog very much, Its a rattling nice situation to read and find info .
9I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…
10I’d always want to be update on new blog posts on this web site, saved to bookmarks! .
11Keep working ,terrific job!
12When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a remark is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any method you may remove me from that service? Thanks!
13Some really nice and useful information on this internet site, too I think the pattern contains superb features.
14Hi, i feel that i saw you visited my weblog thus i came to “return the prefer”.I’m trying to find issues to enhance my web site!I suppose its ok to make use of some of your ideas!!
15Today, I went to the beach with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!
16Thanks , I have recently been looking for information about this subject for a while and yours is the greatest I’ve found out till now. However, what concerning the conclusion? Are you certain concerning the source?
17I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what all is required to get setup? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very web smart so I’m not 100 sure. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Appreciate it
18After study a few of the blog posts on your website now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Pls check out my web site as well and let me know what you think.
19I’m not sure why but this weblog is loading incredibly slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
20excellent put up, very informative. I ponder why the other specialists of this sector don’t understand this. You should proceed your writing. I’m confident, you’ve a great readers’ base already!
21You are my inspiration , I have few blogs and sometimes run out from to post : (.
22Great line up. We will be linking to this great article on our site. Keep up the good writing.
23Some genuinely interesting information, well written and generally user pleasant.
24Oh my goodness! an amazing article dude. Thanks Nonetheless I am experiencing problem with ur rss . Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting similar rss downside? Anybody who is aware of kindly respond. Thnkx
25Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this site. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s challenging to get that “perfect balance” between superb usability and appearance. I must say that you’ve done a fantastic job with this. Additionally, the blog loads super quick for me on Safari. Exceptional Blog!
26You really make it seem really easy along with your presentation however I find this topic to be actually something that I feel I’d never understand. It sort of feels too complex and very extensive for me. I’m having a look forward to your next put up, I will attempt to get the grasp of it!
27I dugg some of you post as I cerebrated they were extremely helpful very beneficial
28You are a very clever person!
29Some genuinely interesting points you have written.Aided me a lot, just what I was looking for :D.
30I believe this site contains very good indited subject matter content.
31An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
32Hello very nice web site!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…I am satisfied to seek out a lot of useful information right here within the put up, we need work out more techniques on this regard, thanks for sharing.
33I just like the helpful information you supply for your articles. I’ll bookmark your blog and check once more here frequently. I am moderately certain I’ll be told many new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!
34This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
35After study a few of the blog posts on your website now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Pls check out my web site as well and let me know what you think.
36Great site you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics discussed here? I’d really love to be a part of online community where I can get opinions from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Kudos!
37Thanks so much for posting this interesting information. I love your web page. Thanks again for allowing me to comment on your web page. I hope more interesting posts from you in the coming days.
38Saved as a favorite, I really like your blog!
39Thank you for providing this great information. I absolutely love your web page. Thank you for allowing me to comment on your blog post. I hope more engaging articles from you in the future.
40Hello my loved one! I want to say that this article is amazing, nice written and come with almost all vital infos. I would like to see extra posts like this.
41I’ve recently started a site, the info you provide on this website has helped me tremendously. Thanks for all of your time & work.
42This is a topic close to my heart cheers, where are your contact details though?
43I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thx again
44