Some of my fondest food memories from my first year of university involve sitting around the residence common room with friends, talking about life, and eating take-out Chinese food. Specifically from a place called New Ho King.
New Ho was delivering to our building every night - several times a night. Everyone seemed to order from New Ho. People would go hall to hall seeing if anyone wanted to go in on an order together. Might have also had to do with the fact that they had a 'Late Night Menu' with some seriously cheap but quality fare.
There were two main dishes that I ordered from NHK: Shanghai Noodles & General Tso Chicken - two dishes that I had never experienced before in my small town Chinese food experience. But I fell in love. And they were on the Late Night Menu, which was a bonus.
Being back in the city, and looking for some late night take-out after a long day of seminars. I went online to see if I could see if they still had a late night menu. Their website didn't have a copy, but I found one searching the net (however, since ordering a couple of weeks ago, they have a new website with both menus). The only difference from then and now is that you have to order $20 minimum. So I found myself ordering a lot of food that I had for days later.
#1
Shanghai Noodles. I love this dish. Udon noodles, my favourite. Cabbage, strips of pork, shrimps. And then I add a lot of hot sauce.
#2
General Tso Chicken. Crispy battered tender pieces of deep fried chicken, tossed in a spicy and sweet sauce, nestled in a bed of rice. This was the first place I tried it and no other place does it the same.
I love this dish. The sauce really makes the dish. As I said, its spicy with a little bit of sweet. This isn't your North American red sauce that comes with chicken balls. But I have no idea how to recreate it. And tossed with the chicken . . . heaven.
#3
So I still needed to order another dish. And I don't think I had ever had their chicken wings, so I ordered some. These were pretty standard Cantonese style wings. Dusted in a little flour and cornstarch (I think), then deep fried.
These were some really big wings. They were crispy, meaty wings. A little salty.
But I got bored with the plain wings, so I ended up adding some hot sauce. The wings changed from crispy to soggy very fast. They were still good mind you, but not as crispy.
So the food was as good as I remembered it. I know that I can still get decent Shanghai Noodles and General Tso chicken. And big crispy wings. It may not be 'authentic' Chinese food, but it is authentically good.
New Ho King
416 Spadina Ave, Toronto ON
newhoking.ca
So what is your favourite dish from your local North American Chinese?
Being back in the city, and looking for some late night take-out after a long day of seminars. I went online to see if I could see if they still had a late night menu. Their website didn't have a copy, but I found one searching the net (however, since ordering a couple of weeks ago, they have a new website with both menus). The only difference from then and now is that you have to order $20 minimum. So I found myself ordering a lot of food that I had for days later.
#1
Shanghai Noodles. I love this dish. Udon noodles, my favourite. Cabbage, strips of pork, shrimps. And then I add a lot of hot sauce.
This is a big tin of food. Udon noodles rock because of they are big, chewy and go well in stirfrys. Overall this is a mild offering, but with my added hot sauce, its just a very satisfying dish.
#2
General Tso Chicken. Crispy battered tender pieces of deep fried chicken, tossed in a spicy and sweet sauce, nestled in a bed of rice. This was the first place I tried it and no other place does it the same.
I love this dish. The sauce really makes the dish. As I said, its spicy with a little bit of sweet. This isn't your North American red sauce that comes with chicken balls. But I have no idea how to recreate it. And tossed with the chicken . . . heaven.
#3
So I still needed to order another dish. And I don't think I had ever had their chicken wings, so I ordered some. These were pretty standard Cantonese style wings. Dusted in a little flour and cornstarch (I think), then deep fried.
These were some really big wings. They were crispy, meaty wings. A little salty.
But I got bored with the plain wings, so I ended up adding some hot sauce. The wings changed from crispy to soggy very fast. They were still good mind you, but not as crispy.
So the food was as good as I remembered it. I know that I can still get decent Shanghai Noodles and General Tso chicken. And big crispy wings. It may not be 'authentic' Chinese food, but it is authentically good.
New Ho King
416 Spadina Ave, Toronto ON
newhoking.ca
So what is your favourite dish from your local North American Chinese?
6 comments:
Yes! Hi! Make sure to stay away from Jaysun Son at the Lucky Panda (even if he has the Beach Chicken Special). The Kum Jug has the very good pork and is the big portion. It is on the Spadina across from the Ho King!
Love me some General Tso's chicken but I've never made it either. It's on my list to try.
general tso chicken is alot easier to make then you think.
you can make it just as quick as they do at a chinese spots, with only a few ingredients necessary. sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce, corn starch, siracha for taste, and thats about it. YUM. longest part is actually frying the chicken. its easy. you can do it!
i actually did it recently and put it up on my blog
http://createtwodestroy.blogspot.com/2010/08/food-life-vol-29-general-tso.html
check it out, try it out. yum yum yum. long live fried chicken!
@indianguy - I've heard good things about Kum Jug but have never been . . . going to have to try it now.
@Chris - I would love to see Gneral Tso done on the BGE!
@Curtis - awesome post and looks really tasty!
There I stood, staring at the menu in one of those small town Chinese food joints that every little town across this country has. There was no tables, just a take out place, and by the number of people waiting in the cue, It was a busy night. A few items caught my eye, and I remembered that I had not only read about them, but I had had some of those famed dishes. My order was a identical copy, and while it was prepared slightly different, it was delicious!
@Ricky P - Good story. I think you should write for J. Peterman.
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