Photoblog: my lunch in Chinatown

[gus_tatory]

disclaimer: i am not a professional photographer, and i had a pretty pedestrian lunch...

...but it was 7 deg c here today (about 46 deg f?) and sunny, so i went for a walk/lunch in Chinatown. hope you enjoy.

looking north on st-laurent at the corner of de la gauchetiere. Montreal's Chinatown has four of these arch sentries at its corners.

close up.

salt and pepper squid. soo tasty, with red chili flakes, hot and crisp.

i cannot endorse this restaurant, but i took this photo because i thought it had a really campy entry-way.

a facade on this nice public square at the corner of clark and de la gauchetiere.

flowers for a tea shop that opened recently.

st-urbain at rene-levesque, looking south. that building in the background (under the Canada flag) is by the guy who designed the Empire State Building.

quasi-lion guarding traffic light.

in the summer, this park is full of people playing board games, kids, etc.

detail of stone relief on st-urbain.

i love this sign so much i took two pictures of it, front and back. this place makes fortune cookies, won ton noodles, egg-roll skins, and those little packs of plum sauce, hot mustard, and chili sauce you get at food courts. if they ever close this factory, i am soo buying the sign from them.

the sign, again... it also occurred to me that Montreal is probably the only place in North America you'd see French, Chinese, and English on the same sign...

i told you i ordered boringly, but their (Beijing restaurant) "Chinese" wonton soup (not the food-court stuff) has whole shrimp in the dumplings, chinese greens, a deep broth, and a little slick of sesame oil on top...

what do the Chinatowns in your cities look like? i love the Chinatowns in both London (UK) and Toronto.

it was a fun few hours, and i came home with bags and bags of groceries including...

...about 8 kinds of ramen.

Edited April 10, 2004 by gus_tatory (log)

[Mabelline]

Thanks so much for your tour through your Chinatown! That soup looked incredible. I love the Chinoise architecture. And the building that you showcased surely shows its relation to the Empire State Building. Oh, and the squid strips...those are one of my ab. fabs. at my local China Purveyor..Right on, gus!!

[cook-em-all]

I have always refered to our Chinatown as China-Block -and-a- Half.

Those salt and pepper squid look like Beijing's?

[gus_tatory]

I have always refered to our Chinatown as China-Block-and-a-Half.

Those salt and pepper squid look like Beijing's?

cook-em-all:

right on both counts:

--Montreal's Chinatown is, what, 4 square blocks? and yet i love it anyway... the only thing that throws me off is buying cuts of beef/pork there--i don't understand Chinese butchery, and so don't know what to do with the cuts.

--yeah, i always get the salt and pepper squid at Beijing. a few friends and i were having an informal "best calamari in Montreal" contest, and i haven't tried the ones at Marven's in Parc Ex (which are supposed to be awesome), but the only salt-n-pepper squid even coming *close* to the ones at Beijing are at (*ack*, coughs) Champs, the sports bar on st-laurent south of duluth.

it was a fun afternoon...

[anil]

Very nice -

[cook-em-all]

Yes the salt and pepper squid is top notch from beijing, it is a staple when the staff go late night. The razor clams with ginger and green onion is also great.

[bigorre]

miammmm salt and pepper squid from beijing looks like a date for me zack...michel.........ohhhh its kinda o late now must go to bed...call me this week!!!

Edited April 11, 2004 by bigorre (log)

[poutine]

Loved your pictures ... you truly captured the essence of Montreal's very small but vibrant Chinatown. And Beijing's squid looks real tasty!

One of my favourite aspects of Chinatown is walking into Tong Por, Kam Fung or Lotte during Dim Sum and seeing so many pushcarts brimming with all sorts of little tasty treats being offered up to a packed room filled with large multi-generational families (mostly Asian). You know you're in for decent Chinese food when you're practically the only non-Asians in the restaurant.

[Susan in FL]

I enjoyed your photos. Thanks!

[gus_tatory]

thanks for the kind words!

and because i got groceries yesterday in chinatown, this meant i could make fried tofu and chinese greens, oyster sauce, for brunch today.

parting shot:

regards,

gus

[docsconz]

Nice photos and descriptors. I haven't been to Montreal since last fall. It ha been too long. I don't think I've ever had chinese food in Montreal

[carswell]

because i got groceries yesterday in chinatown, this meant i could make fried tofu and chinese greens, oyster sauce, for brunch today.

What a great picture. Be still my growling stomach!

Looks like you got everything right in that dish, gus. Is the brown of the greens (bok choy, what?) staining from the oyster sauce or does your stove actually generate enough heat to char/caramalize wok-fred veggies? If the latter, I'm insanely jealous.

[SteveW]

because i got groceries yesterday in chinatown, this meant i could make fried tofu and chinese greens, oyster sauce, for brunch today.

What a great picture. Be still my growling stomach!

Looks like you got everything right in that dish, gus. Is the brown of the greens (bok choy, what?) staining from the oyster sauce or does your stove actually generate enough heat to char/caramalize wok-fred veggies? If the latter, I'm insanely jealous.

Interesting observation Carswell, regarding 'the brown' of the greens.

-Steve

[jo-mel]

I've only been to Montreal's Chinatown 4 or 5 times, but I love it there! Small or not, it has the feeling and smells that I love. I collect Chinatowns and Montreal is one of my favs.

Can't remember what I ate or where, but one of my most memorable purchases from ANYWHERE was in Montreal. My sister and I were walking along, and I looked in the doorway of a small store and on the floor were huge ceramic vats. They had been used for shipping 1000 yr. old eggs. They were bare clay inside (with some straw left over from the shipping) and brown glazed outside with a raised relief Dragon with a shiny eye. They also had thick ropes around them to protect them from nearby vats that would shift in shipping. These are big thingys - 18 inches high and 18 inches across the top. I am not able to get my arms around the middle.

The cost? $35 Canadian!! Of course, that was a long time ago, (30 years?) but even then the price was low at the time. They were heavy as h***, but the store man helped us get them in my car. When my husband saw mine, (we were vacationing in VT on Lake Champlain) he asked me what in the world I wanted it for!!!! (MEN!)

I have it in my living room with a big plant in it. I get lots of comments on it.

BTW - I loved your pictures, and the Tofu/veg/oyster dish looks so good I could smell it!

[gus_tatory]

because i got groceries yesterday in chinatown, this meant i could make fried tofu and chinese greens, oyster sauce, for brunch today.

What a great picture. Be still my growling stomach!

Looks like you got everything right in that dish, gus. Is the brown of the greens (bok choy, what?) staining from the oyster sauce or does your stove actually generate enough heat to char/caramalize wok-fred veggies? If the latter, I'm insanely jealous.

hey carswell and Steve W--

i am happy people seem to enjoy this--i want to do a walk through Little Italy next.

--re: the browning of the vegetables, i let my cast iron wok pre-heat on high (consumer electric stove from the 70s) for like 10-15 minutes, add oil, garlic/ginger/chilis/whatever, then "shock-fry" them. i add any sesame oil, oyster/soy sauce towards the end. so it's a bit caramelized and a bit stained from soy. like 50/50.

--re: Chinese vegetables in general, i am always buying them and have no idea what they are called. i mean, i know Napa cabbage, i know Chinese broccolli (like rapini with little yellow flowers), but most of them, i have no idea. (was it maybe pak choy?) is there some online pictorial guide to Chinese vegetables? (i should go ask this in the China forum.)

jo-mel: i'd like to hear about different Chinatowns where you've been! feel free to start new thread if necessary...

regards,

gus

[wattacetti]

...about 8 kinds of ramen. 

Is it me, or is that something like five different flavors of Nong Shim cup ramen that you're building a little fort with?

I couldn't make out the ones on the very right, but boy, do I remember this stuff when hammering out that thesis.

Been a while since I've been to China Village. I've been doing most of my shopping at the Kim Phat on the South Shore (more Taiwanese and Japanese brands).

Shoot - I've been making pot-au-peu for dinner and now I have a hankering for some duck noodles.

[identifiler]

ya those are baby pack choi, a very healthy green, (I just seeded them last week in my guarden, the smaller the better).

I am curious about the fried tofu myself, I have become a man of fried toffu and would like to make it. Which one do you take for that ? I have actually seen toffu sold as fried ? Does that make any sense...

These babies can easily get the burn with a quick broil, blanche, add to low height creuset dish, stick in the oven cut half up, light oil. I also like to do it face down on a gastrolux stripped pan.

[carswell]

I am curious about the fried tofu myself, I have become a man of fried toffu and would like to make it. Which one do you take for that ? I have actually seen toffu sold as fried ? Does that make any sense...

IMHO, firm is best for tofu you deep-fry yourself. If soft is all you have, cut it into equal-sized cubes and press it for an hour or so (I put it in a rectangular baking dish, place another, slightly smaller flat-bottomed baking dish on top and put a big rock or a water-filled saucepan in that dish). Dry the pressed tofu, then deep-fry in small batches until golden.

Packaged fried tofu is a complex subject. Without going into details (thin vs. thick, Chinese vs. Japanese, etc.), you're generally best off blanching it in boiling water to remove excess oil before incorporating it into the final dish. I don't use it very often and when I do it's usually in soups and stews, where it adds a meaty flavour.

These babies can easily get the burn with a quick broil, blanche, add to low height creuset dish, stick in the oven cut half up, light oil. I also like to do it face down on a gastrolux stripped pan.

Based on Gus's description of his range, I'd say the brown in his photo is due more to sauce absorbtion than charring. Electric ranges just don't generate the necessary BTUs. Neither do most gas ranges for that matter. A few weeks ago I tried wokking on a friend's new DCS (18K BTUs, I believe); it was better than electric but still not authentic. Have heard that some propane ring-burner setups on gas barbecues and turkey friers can achieve about double that output, which is in the range of the fire-pit burners used in Chinese restaurants. In any case, my favourite way to prepare bok choi, baby and mature, is to blanch the bunches whole, drain them, cut them in half lengthwise, brush them with olive oil and grill them on the barbie (for a more Asian flavour, substitute a blend of peanut and toasted sesame oils for the olive oil). The perfect bed for a grilled duck breast, salmon, cumin-rubbed quail, etc.

[jo-mel]

IMHO, firm is best for tofu you deep-fry yourself. If soft is all you have, cut it into equal-sized cubes and press it for an hour or so (I put it in a rectangular baking dish, place another, slightly smaller flat-bottomed baking dish on top and put a big rock or a water-filled saucepan in that dish).

An easy, quick way to get pressed bean curd is to wrap the cake in several layers of paper toweling, and nuke on high for 4 minutes. The result is a firm cake ready for use. Freezing also firms it up, but the ice crystals leave it looking like Swiss cheese when it is thawed, so I don't use that method any longer. I do like the micro-waved version, however.

Gus --- The only Chinatown's I have are: NY, Wash.DC, Montreal, Chicago, SanFrancisco, LA, London and NEWARK, NJ. Yep -- Newark!! I don't think it is there anymore, but at one time I came across several Chinese grocery stores, and someone said that at one time it was quite a busy place!

I have yet to visit Toronto or Vancouver --- Yet!