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
of course like your web site but you need to test the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to tell the reality on the other hand I will certainly come again again.
1It’s really a cool and useful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this useful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
2Thankyou for all your efforts that you have put in this. very interesting information.
3Hello, you used to write magnificent, but the last several posts have been kinda boring… I miss your great writings. Past few posts are just a bit out of track! come on!
4It’s truly a great and helpful piece of information. I’m satisfied that you shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
5Way cool, some valid points! I appreciate you making this article available, the rest of the site is also high quality. Have a fun.
6This is so relatable! Ordering at traditional Chinatown spots definitely feels like an adventure when the descriptions are vague. Your breakdown of the zha chai rou si mein makes it sound so comforting, and now I’m super curious to try pickled mustard greens in noodle soup. Thanks for sharing this awesome Oakland hidden gem DUNIA4D
7Those are yours alright! . We at least need to get these people stealing images to start blogging! They probably just did a image search and grabbed them. They look good though!
8주소콘은 자주 찾는 사이트의 최신주소와 변경된 주소를 카테고리별로 정리한 주소모음·링크모음 플랫폼입니다. 실시간으로 업데이트되는 바로가기 링크로 원하는 사이트에 빠르게 접속하세요.
9You could certainly see your enthusiasm in the paintings you write. The sector hopes for more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid to say how they believe. At all times go after your heart. “Golf and sex are about the only things you can enjoy without being good at.” by Jimmy Demaret.
10Magnificent goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too fantastic. I actually like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what you are saying and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it smart. I can’t wait to read far more from you. This is really a great web site.
11Hey, you used to write great, but the last few posts have been kinda boring?K I miss your tremendous writings. Past several posts are just a little bit out of track! come on!
12Hi there, I found your web site via Google at the same time as looking for a similar matter, your website came up, it appears to be like good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
13Amazing! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It’s on a entirely different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Outstanding choice of colors!
14Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your blog? My blog site is in the very same niche as yours and my users would certainly benefit from a lot of the information you present here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Thank you!
15I really like your writing style, wonderful info , regards for putting up :D.
16Wow, amazing weblog format! How long have you been running a blog for? you make blogging glance easy. The entire glance of your site is great, as smartly as the content!
17Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could locate a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having problems finding one? Thanks a lot!
18I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an nervousness over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again since exactly the same nearly a lot often inside case you shield this increase.
19Rattling fantastic visual appeal on this site, I’d rate it 10 10.
20I went over this site and I conceive you have a lot of great info, saved to favorites (:.
21I dugg some of you post as I cerebrated they were extremely helpful extremely helpful
22Just wanna input on few general things, The website design is perfect, the written content is real superb : D.
23Simply wish to say your article is as astounding. The clearness for your post is simply nice and i could suppose you’re an expert on this subject. Fine along with your permission allow me to snatch your RSS feed to stay updated with drawing close post. Thanks one million and please carry on the rewarding work.
24Amazing! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a completely different subject but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Excellent choice of colors!
25You made various good points there. I did a search on the subject matter and found mainly persons will go along with with your blog.
26You have brought up a very wonderful points, thanks for the post.
27I conceive this website has very great pent content material blog posts.
28Real clean website , appreciate it for this post.
29I’ve read a few good stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how so much effort you set to create any such excellent informative site.
30Hiya! I know this is kinda off topic however , I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog post or vice-versa? My website discusses a lot of the same topics as yours and I think we could greatly benefit from each other. If you’re interested feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Wonderful blog by the way!
31great points altogether, you simply gained a brand new reader. What would you suggest about your post that you made a few days ago? Any positive?
32Great blog here! Also your site loads up very fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my site loaded up as quickly as yours lol
33Hey very cool blog!! Man .. Excellent .. Wonderful .. I’ll bookmark your website and take the feeds additionally…I’m happy to find a lot of useful information here in the put up, we need develop extra strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing.
34I love the efforts you have put in this, thank you for all the great articles.
35I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
36This blog is definitely rather handy since I’m at the moment creating an internet floral website – although I am only starting out therefore it’s really fairly small, nothing like this site. Can link to a few of the posts here as they are quite. Thanks much. Zoey Olsen
37Regards for helping out, good information.
38Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!
39I truly appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thx again!
40I believe this website has got some really wonderful information for everyone. “As we grow oldthe beauty steals inward.” by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
41wonderful post, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of this sector don’t notice this. You must continue your writing. I’m sure, you have a huge readers’ base already!
42It’s actually a nice and helpful piece of info. I am happy that you shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
43Wonderful work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the internet. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my website . Thanks =)
44Its like you learn my thoughts! You appear to understand a lot approximately this, like you wrote the e book in it or something. I think that you could do with some to force the message house a little bit, however instead of that, that is wonderful blog. A great read. I’ll certainly be back.
45I am glad for commenting to make you understand what a great discovery my friend’s child experienced checking yuor web blog. She came to understand numerous pieces, most notably what it’s like to possess a very effective helping spirit to get men and women quite simply fully grasp some hard to do things. You truly exceeded people’s expectations. Many thanks for giving those warm and friendly, trustworthy, explanatory and also unique tips on the topic to Gloria.
46Hey there! I’ve been reading your blog for some time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Huffman Tx! Just wanted to tell you keep up the good work!
47Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others like you aided me.
48I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you design this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz respond as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would like to find out where u got this from. many thanks
49Thanks for the post, can I set it up so I receive an email sent to me when you make a new post?
50