China 46

[Curlz]

You guys are killing me this morning.

[jo-mel]

MK - What is the 'varigated green'??

[markk]

I don't know its name. It's a green leaf, but the "ribs" are red. Cecil describes it as "like Swiss Chard, but not Swiss Chard". Tommy of course was eating it the other night, and he may, might know what it is. I myself am crazy for dark, leafy greens, and am astounded at the variety of them that the Chinese people eat. (The eGullet thread, elsewhere, on Ung Choy, (Tong Choy) is just fascinating beyond belief, by the way - worth looking for!

[tommy]

the green was certainly like swiss chard. and the ribs are red. cecil told me that whatever process they use to cook it brings out the red, and leaves the greens in a pool of red liquid. very pretty. kinda spinach like. i wasn't blown away, but we were full.

[Rachel Perlow]

We've had that before. I always assumed it was Ruby Swiss Chard.

[jo-mel]

Got it!! I've had both the red and the green Swiss Chard. On my own -- not in a Chinese restaurant.

Mark - You are right about all the Chinese greens. More and more are in the markets now. It used to be just Chinese broccoli and Yu Choy (aside from the bok choy varieties), but more and more are being seen. I use/order the regular snow pea top with the whole leaf and no stem, but I also now see another snow pea top with smaller leaves and very thin stems. At Joe's Shanghai in C'Town, on Sunday, I saw some but had already ordered. Anyone know what it is like?

[jhlurie]

I've made the red swiss chard myself. It's in (surprise!) my local chinese produce market. But also, in my normal supermarket too, for a bit more money.

[tommy]

i just saw a thread on zongzi.

i think i saw someone order something that looked just like this at C46 the other day. is this a seasonal item of some sort? does anyone know if what i saw is zongzi? i suppose i should order it?

Edited June 18, 2004 by tommy (log)

[MaomaoCW]

zongzi,

yes they are seasonal...in Shanghai (some other providences eat them year-round)

As a matter of fact tomorrow (May 5th for lunar calendar) is the holiday to eat zongzi. (Holiday name is pronounced kind of like Duan-Woo) It is a day to remember a Chinese poet (name is pronounced kind of like Chue-Yuan), who was also a very political figure in the government. Unfortunately, though, a few government officials from the rival party tried to make things difficult for him, which eventually led him to commit suicide by jumping into a river.

Since the community liked him very much, the local people immediately threw food into the river, as a symbol of giving food to him, but the fish in the river would eat the food right away. So they thought of a way to prevent the fish from eating the food, and thus they took lotus leaf and wrapped it around rice and other ingredients…leading to the zongzi.

Ok now the main reason why I wanted to post here.....

*inserting plug*

China 46 has a lot of zongzi for tomorrow's holiday so why won't everyone come on down to China 46 and have a zongzi to celebrate the holiday and remember Chue-Yuan

[babyluck]

Is anyone interested in meeting Mr. Babyluck & myself at China 46 any weeknight M-Th between now and next Thursday, July 1?

I've been working in Ridgefield for over a year now and haven't gone there yet. Seems the group dinners are always on a weekend night and it is much more convenient for me to do after work. I haven't gone there for lunch because (1) someone mentioned it is much better for dinner, and (2) I don't want anyone from the office to go with me except for one Chinese woman who probably wouldn't want to go with me. I have held myself over with trips to Han ah Reum, where the food court is much more lunch-hour friendly.

We are moving to Manhattan on July 2. I will miss Han ah Reum terribly and feel awful that I haven't been to C46. Please help me assuage my guilt. I would love to have some of you join us to guide us through the menu if you can make it. (Fridays are no good for me because we get out early during the summer.)

P.S. Don't feel too bad for me. We are moving to an office 2 blocks away from Kalustyan's. How lucky can one girl get?

[tommy]

babyluck, in the event that you can't hook up with anyone, don't let that stop you from visiting. cecil is almost always there, he'll guide you through some choices. i'm at the point where i just ask him what i should eat. i'm sure he'd be more than happy to make some excellent suggestions. and he knows what we all eat, so if the dishes that you've read about sound good, he'll steer you in the right direction.

[babyluck]

Does that mean you're not coming?

[irongut]

Count me in babyluck. I've lived in that area almost all my life and I've never tried C46. Next Tuesday or Thursday are good nights for me.

Pat

[babyluck]

Great!

Let's say Tuesday. Thursday is our actual moving day so that might be rough.

7:00 good?

[irongut]

7:00 is good for me on Tuesday.

-Pat

[allister]

I don't know its name. It's a green leaf, but the "ribs" are red. Cecil describes it as "like Swiss Chard, but not Swiss Chard". Tommy of course was eating it the other night, and he may, might know what it is. I myself am crazy for dark, leafy greens, and am astounded at the variety of them that the Chinese people eat. (The eGullet thread, elsewhere, on Ung Choy, (Tong Choy) is just fascinating beyond belief, by the way - worth looking for!

Is this vegetable extremely leafy, almost looks like a maple or marijuana leaf? In it's raw state, is the red in the center of the leaf? Was it stir fried with garlic perhaps?

I believe that this is a seasonal vegetable. I believe the chinese/mandarin name for it is dung (pronouced as mandarin homonym for east) han (like the dynasty) tsai.

[Rachel Perlow]

I don't think any of the people commenting on this dish at C46 have seen the raw vegetable. Cooked, it looks like most other cooked leafy greans, only with a red jus.

[MaomaoCW]

The red vegetabe is called meashi (something like that...hard to translate over to English). Yes it is seasonal (around May/June). It is cooked with garlic and for a longer time then most other vegetables. It is a popular dish in the Shanghai region.

Also, we now can buy sichuan peppercorn oil, and it is quite good (an it is also original from Hanyuan, Sichuan)...it tastes exactly like the pepercorns we used to have. Unfortunately, there is no English on the bottle (the bottle is about 5-6oz and around $2 per bottle) so i cannot tell you the name of it so you guys can go out and buy it yourselves, so i will try to take a pic of it and post it here...but connie, my wife, took the digital camera from me so she could take pics in Shanghai...so it might be a week or two before i get a pic up...but if anyone feels like coming over i'll gladly show you the bottle and where to buy it.

[Jason Perlow]

Cecil, thats cool. I'll be sure to take a picture of it on Sunday.

[Jason Perlow]

Stuff from today's Sunday Dim Sum Buffet:

Cold Appetizers

Vegetarian "Duck"

Wonton Skin Pork Dumplings, Being Pan Fried

Same dumplings plated

Pan Fried Shanghai Buns

Chive Box Dumplings

Spare Ribs

Shanghai-Style Zongzi

Zongzi Filling

[markk]

I took a slew of photos at China 46 last night, too many to post here...

but there's one of them. There's a whole bunch more at the link below, and you're all invited to look - and I hope you enjoy. This comes with a gigantic "Thank You" to eGullet and Jason, without whom I never would have found this wonderful place.

China 46 photos from July 10, 2004

[tommy]

excellent photos, as always mark. the stuff looks amazing.

here's one i took:

just kidding. that's jason's.

Edited July 11, 2004 by tommy (log)

[Jason Perlow]

new Dim Sum item at China 46:

FRIED SOUPY SHRIMP SPHERES.

Basically, these are large, racquetball-sized fried shrimp balls that are filled with a wonderful seafood broth in the center. So like, the outside part is like Shrimp Toast, with little cubes of fried bread as a crust, the middle is a really good shrimp paste thats nice and springy, and the center that really nice burst of savory soup.

Best. Shrimp. Balls. EVER.

[Fat Guy]

I must concur with the Perlow assessment. These were surely among the best dim sum items I've ever had.

[Curlz]

From all of us in northern NJ, thanks for the invite!!! Y'all just get on here and torture us late in the day...is that nice? It is not.