So a few weeks ago, NW from Wei Ningqi Does China invited me to eat at this amazing restaurant in Flushing, Queens called Fu Run, but I was unable to make it due to a last minute conflict. But NW reported back that the restaurant was amazing, and the lamb was incredible so I rounded up my friend JS and he rounded up his friend from Serious Eats and we all trekked up to Flushing yesterday afternoon for some authentic Chinese food.
Our first stop was this little wonton place next to Fu Run. JS and Max both split an order of pork wontons and decided they were okay but not nothing too special. We then ducked into Fu Run and ordered Eggplant in Garlic Sauce, Muslim Lamb Ribs, and Tiger Vegetables. The Muslim Lamb Ribs were nothing short of spectacular. I'm very particular about lamb since I don't eat it that often and when I do, I insist that it be tender. The meat on these just came right off the bone. It was juicy, and tender, and had a little crunch with the roasted fennel on top. The Eggplant in Garlic Sauce was unfortunately sub-par. The eggplants were too bitter and too young and cut too thick. Good eggplant in garlic sauce is a staple in any authentic good Chinese restaurant, so it was kind of sad to see that this one didn't really make the cut in my book. The best eggplant in garlic sauce I've had outside of China is still at Mágico Oriental (the original location) in Quito - the one you order off the Chinese Menu and not their normal Spanish one. That one was fantastic - with each slice of eggplant cut to the perfect thickness and grilled to perfection. It wasn't dripping in oil, but was still plenty flavorful with the fish sauce and garlic sauce. Fu Run missing the mark on that dish was a little disconcerting regarding what other dishes might be like. But that particular concern set aside, those lamb ribs are worth the 1.25 hour subway ride up there alone.
Muslim Lamb Ribs
After finishing off the lamb ribs and a good amount of tea, we walked down a few blocks, and through a wig shop to Fang Gourmet Tea (135-25 Roosevelt Avenue), a little hidden treasure, for a tea sampling. This was admittedly one of my favorite parts of the day. For $3 a person, we sat and drank some really fantastic Alishan Oolong (picked out by JS whose knowledge of tea is amazingly impressive) while Therese (one of the teamasters at Fang Gourmet) and JS discussed the many varieties of tea found in Taiwan and China with Max and I occasionally piping in (Max to comment on something related to food, and I contributing with some bits and pieces of knowledge I picked up while traveling through mainland China including the two pounds of green Laoshan tea my host family sent me back home with). I learned a lot about tea just by listening to Therese and JS's discussions. One of the most interesting things I discovered is how truly intricate and complex the process of making tea really is and how every factor - from the kind of fertilizer, to the way the leaves are picked, to when they are picked, to whether it is roasted or not, to what climate and altitude it is grown at, to what pot is used to infuse it, to what kind of water is boiled to make it - affects the way a tea can taste at any given time. The way Therese and JS talked about tea reminded me very much of how many people approach the art of enology. As an amateur enologist myself, many of the terminology discussed by Therese and JS was uncannily familiar to me and I found it really really interesting that it could be applied to tea as well. The experience at Fang yesterday gave me a little more of an interesting perspective about how to approach drinking tea - how to pay more attention to the depths of the flavors in each cup and each infusion and how to recognize the aromas in each variety. Yesterday's Alishan Ju Shang tea was described as a buttery aroma, almost like a flaky pastry. While I certainly agreed that it had that buttery, flaky smell, it reminded me of something very specific that I couldn't remember at the moment. What that reminded me of exactly came to me this morning as I sautéed spinach for an egg scramble. The tea smelled like good, freshly made Spanakopita. The buttery flakiness is the first thing that hits you but it is followed by a very earthy, leafy, slightly bitter smell that is very spinach-like. It seems odd to think about drinking a tea that smells like Spanakopita, but I assure you it was really very nice. It was very smooth and the bitterness level was not that high (although it did fluctuate slightly with every infusion), which was lovely. However, while I enjoy a good Green Tea or Oolong, at the end of the day I'm always partial to a good Pu'er. I find pu'er's smooth but deep earthiness really calming. Also, that Alishan tea left me feeling REALLY wired.
So after an hour and a half of drinking tea with Therese at Fang tea, we left and ventured down to a food court named Savoy Fusion (4201 Main Street) for more eating. There, we bought an assortment of different morsels from different stalls and tried them all. My favorites were the Salt and Pepper Chicken from the Taiwanese food stall and the Lamb Dumplings stall. My least favorite was the tripe dish.
Salt and Pepper Chicken
Xiao Long Bao (Soupy Dumplings)
Filled with pork so I couldn't eat them, and reported to be too salty and not soupy enough by both Max and JS. They also mentioned the wrapper was too thick. They were so beautifully wrapped though and I couldn't resist taking a few pictures!
We also had some very good Cumin Lamb Pancake and Oil pancake which were more on the snacky side than really constituting any real meal. After hiding out at Savoy Fusion waiting for the rain to clear, we ventured back onto Main street to end our long day of eating our way through Flushing with some truly spectacular Egg Custard Pies and Iced Watermelon drink (incredibly refreshing in yesterday's muggy and humid hot weather). Unfortunately, much to my chagrin, I neglected to take note of the name of the bakery. I only know that it is right next to one of the Main Street subway stops and across from a ridiculously huge billboard advertising the need for American products to export to China).
So with our stomachs full, and a promise to never eat every again (ha!) we boarded the 7 back to Court Square and then transferred to the G with JS as Max headed into Manhattan for an ice-cream tasting party. Full of good food and an a slowly growing need for a nap, JS and I wondered how Max was going to fit ice cream into his system. JS hopped off the G at Williamsburg and I hung out on the G another thirty minutes all the way back to my apartment near prospect park. I caught the sunset over the statue of liberty as the G barreled over the Gowanus in between the Carroll street and 7th Ave stations (both Smith-9th and 4th Ave - 9th are above ground) which is one of my favorite sights in the city. I feel very lucky that I often catch it on my evening commute home, but yesterday's sunset was especially beautiful with the clouds gently breaking up after the afternoon storm scattering the sunset sunlight into rays ranging from deep cyans to flamingo pinks to deep oranges. The picture below hardly catches its breathtaking complexity, but an iphone 4 camera has its limits unfortunately.
The evening had its perfect ending when I caught Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back on cable and sat around the couch repeating the lines with the characters as I watched it with a couple of Blue Moons. Here are some pictures of one of my favorite scenes in film history. Honestly, it still gets me every time. Darth Vader is Luke's father? WHAT?!?!? NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Seriously brilliant.
Also:
Leia: I love you.
Han: I know.
* Vader freezes Han in carbonite*
Absolute cinematic gold.
Vader: Luke, join me and we will rule the galaxy as father and son!
Vader: Search your feelings Luke, you know it to be true.
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