LMJ
Senior Cook
Yeah, I know the reason... So many cultures, so many styles in China... Plus all the different ways it's been Americanized...
I'm just getting more and more bummed realizing that if I move any further away from home, I'll no longer be able to get the Chinese food that I've been eating since before I could walk.
There are only 4 restaurants I've ever found that make what I'm used to and enjoy. And they're all within 20 minutes of each other in Cleveland. And the owners of three of them all used to be cooks at the fourth (or rather, the first).
At least once a week, I've always gotten a quart of won ton soup, and a quart of chicken chop suey, and spent hours savoring the goodness. Now that's been cut to once a month... And probably, in another 14 months, once a year.
Oh sure, I've tried it plenty of other places... But it's never the same. Just at the 4 places here in Kent... Well, at one, the soup is very dark and just impossible to eat... I sent that down the drain. Another is greasy and bitter. A third is sharp, bright yellow, and has no vegetables in it... That's palatable, at least. And the fourth... Well, they don't serve soup in the summer, so they can just go to hell. I didn't even try the chop suey. :?
Anybody know enough about Americanized Chinese cuisine to help me figure out how to make those for myself? I suppose I should just ask them, but... I dunno, I feel wrong asking someone for the secret to their livelyhood.
I'm just getting more and more bummed realizing that if I move any further away from home, I'll no longer be able to get the Chinese food that I've been eating since before I could walk.
There are only 4 restaurants I've ever found that make what I'm used to and enjoy. And they're all within 20 minutes of each other in Cleveland. And the owners of three of them all used to be cooks at the fourth (or rather, the first).
At least once a week, I've always gotten a quart of won ton soup, and a quart of chicken chop suey, and spent hours savoring the goodness. Now that's been cut to once a month... And probably, in another 14 months, once a year.
Oh sure, I've tried it plenty of other places... But it's never the same. Just at the 4 places here in Kent... Well, at one, the soup is very dark and just impossible to eat... I sent that down the drain. Another is greasy and bitter. A third is sharp, bright yellow, and has no vegetables in it... That's palatable, at least. And the fourth... Well, they don't serve soup in the summer, so they can just go to hell. I didn't even try the chop suey. :?
Anybody know enough about Americanized Chinese cuisine to help me figure out how to make those for myself? I suppose I should just ask them, but... I dunno, I feel wrong asking someone for the secret to their livelyhood.