Chinese Food

[markk]

When I was a kid (we're talking the early 1950's to 60's) we ate Chinese food out at least once a week. We had the traditional Chinese-American dinner of wonton soup, egg rolls, spare ribs, shrimp and lobster sauce, and pork fried rice (as so brilliantly capture some time ago in a photo-essay on eGullet by Jason Perlow at the King Yum restaurant, in Queens, NY, which is indicentally the same restaurant my family used to go to all those years ago)...

But we never, ever, had leftovers to take home. And we never took-out Chinese food, and we never had delivery (although I don't think that even existed then). And so I never knew what it was like to have Chinese food leftovers in the regrigerator, or of course the joys of having them cold for a late night snack, or breakfast. It wasn't till I was out of college and on my own that I discovered this.

Did anybody grow up with a similar experience? Did you have Chinese food takeout, or leftovers in your fridge as a kid?

[bookluvingbabe]

When I was a kid (we're talking the early 1950's to 60's) we ate Chinese food out at least once a week.  We had the traditional Chinese-American dinner of wonton soup, egg rolls, spare ribs, shrimp and lobster sauce, and pork fried rice (as so brilliantly capture some time ago in a photo-essay on eGullet by Jason Perlow at the King Yum restaurant, in Queens, NY, which is indicentally the same restaurant my family used to go to all those years ago)...

But we never, ever, had leftovers to take home.  And we never took-out Chinese food, and we never had delivery (although I don't think that even existed then).  And so I never knew what it was like to have Chinese food leftovers in the regrigerator, or of course the joys of having them cold for a late night snack, or breakfast.  It wasn't till I was out of college and on my own that I discovered this.

Did anybody grow up with a similar experience?  Did you have Chinese food takeout, or leftovers in your fridge as a kid?

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I had a similar experience in St. Louis in the 1970s. We always ate in and there was never leftovers taken home.

I think it was college where I discovered the joys of cold fried rice for breakfast!

Jennifer

[Jason Perlow]

My guess is that the invention and mass marketing of the microwave oven changed all this.

[markk]

But don't you think it strange that my parents, for example, who were obviously major Chinese food lovers, never knew the joys of cold fried rice for breakfast? Why did they never think of this or crave it, is what I'm puzzled over.

[Jason Perlow]

I'm guessing that the introduction of the microwave co-incided with the mass consumption of marijuana as well.

[markk]

Why do you say that??? Does marijuana have anything to do with standing at the refrigerator with the door open at 4 in the morning and shoveling cold Chinese food and pizza into your mouth as fast as you can, eating some things cold while others are nuking-up?

I wouldn't know anything about that.

[touaregsand]

I was a kid during the 70's to 80's but the family Chinese dining experiences you mention happened more in the 70's for me. During the 80's in LA hole in the wall Americanized mom and pop Chinese restaurants that were scattered throughout LA began shutting down because of the Panda whatever chain. (Of course at the same time the SFG began to boom with new immigrants).

During the 70's I 'd say my experiences were similar to Mark's. But with some Chinese-Korean food and dim sum in Chinatown included.

I agree with Jason about microwaves and marijuana. Not that I know much about either.

[markk]

This may be somewhat O.T. (am I allowed to do that in a thread I started?) but sometime in the 60's, I remember vividly that my father came home from work, all excited, acting like a man who had met an alien. He was having lunch at the "luncheonette" local to where he worked, where the owner was a friend, when a salesman came in to demonstrate a brand-new appliance: the Radar Range. Oh, I remember his eyes wide and excited as he told how they placed a mug of cold coffee in there, and 30 seconds later it was piping hot! I'll never forget that description.

Of course, it was then another 20 years or so before kids started giving microwave ovens to their parents for them not to use and give every excuse imaginable why.

[Rachel Perlow]

I think this goes partially in hand with the current over ordering thread. My parents were obsessive non-over orderers. We were a family of five, but they would typically order the dinner for 4 (two from column A, two from column B) when we'd go to dinner on Sunday night at China Sky. Around the time I was a teenager, you could get take out, but no delivery, in my area. But we usually didn't have much left over then either.

[markk]

My mother under-ordered Chinese food as well (which is strange on two counts at least - one, they always took out deli, as in tounge, pastrami, and corned beef to have at home), and second because we were very well to do, and certainly did not have to order dinner for one less person than we were, and regularly went out for very expensive dinners. But no matter if we were 4 she'd order dinner for 3, and when we were 8 with company she'd order dinner for 7 - of course, some from Column A and some from Column B. I never had a-la-carte Chinese food my whole growing up.

But she'd also do something that got my father furious. She'd do some quick math, and make a production out of cutting up and apportioning the eggrolls, since you only got as many as you ordered dinner for. So while the dinner for 3 amounts of food in the bowls and dishes was probably enough for 4 (I could have eaten more), you still only got 3 egg rolls (I say this for those people not familiar with this style of ordering Chinese-American food). So everybody would get 3/4 of an egg roll, including the person who got the three 1/4 egg roll pieces. And honest to God, she would even do the 7/8 eggroll. My father got spitting mad, and with language I can't use here, would scream at her "for crying out loud, why don't you just order another effing eggroll !!! We can afford it !"

I really enjoyed hearing that other people did the dinner for 4 for 5 bit too.

[Jason Perlow]

I'm not sure how this applies mark, but I think some of this can be attributed to what some people in my family used to refer to my grandparents on my father's side as having a "depression-era" mentality. Its sort of a weird scrimp-and-saving thing that goes on, even if the person is particularly well off. They used to do this weird sort of portioning and under-ordering thing with take-out and sit down Chinese food (and they didn't call it "chinese food", they called it something else, using a phrase that horrifies me to this day) very similar as to how you describe. I think it can be applied to the way they behaved with all food, but since Chinese food is 'family style' in its approach and is meant to be divvied up and shared, the behavior is more readily apparent.

Which seems to me why my parents over ordered Chinese food as a means of compensation, and it's carried over to newer generations.

[markk]

I know the word you mean, Jason, and although I can probably best you one with a story about my paternal grandmother, (and horrify you all the more) I get the feeling that I shouldn't tell it here.

I do know about "depression-era" mentality, for sure, and it's not something that I meant to make fun of. But my mother didn't have it, actually. She loved to enjoy her money, and loved to go out and order gigantic lobsters and steaks, and since she hated to cook, my parents both loved to invite our friends out to restaurants and treat them on a regular basis. As far as the dinner for one less person in the Chinese restaurant, in her case I honestly think that she thought that she had discovered this trick and was just so proud of it, becuase she always pointed out to people that she was doing it.

And if they actually made you order for as many people as you were, and we did have leftovers to take home, I could have discovered cold Chinese food for breakfast so many years earlier!

Edited May 4, 2005 by markk (log)

[jo-mel]

I was born just barely post-depression, but it sure didn't rub off on me. Last night I over-ordered take-out for 2 of us and now, very happily, have breakfast for the week ---all to myself! (DH is a cereal/toast guy)

[Allura]

I'm only 30, so my childhood is a bit more recent, but we did the "order one less" thing, too. As far as I can tell, we were comfortable, but certainly not rich. We almost never ate out, but we did somewhat frequently get take out Italian or Chinese. Italian would be a pizza & a large eggplant parm sub, and Chinese was two dishes and spareribs to be shared by the three of us (3 dishes once my sister came along). My big thing was that I adored fried rice, but my father thought it was a waste of money when "they give you rice for free," so I made my own version: a tiny bit of each dish that we had (including meat torn from the spareribs), and soy & duck sauce, all mixed together. Now that I'm a grown up, I get to order fried rice for myself! In fact, when I was in college, I would routinely order "10 ingredients" fried rice for dinner. :)

[emmapeel]

Ironically, I was born in Flushing, and we moved from there in the mid-60s before it was a Chinatown. I don't believe I ate chinese food until I was about 11 or so, and it was a cuisine my siblings and I discovered sans parents. I think I remember King Yum, (was it on Union Turnpike?) We always ordered combinations and never had leftovers. What I do remember is, Chinese food was really good in Queens, and upon moving to Manhattan as a young adult, I found it often was hit and miss. There was one place I frequented which is the current location of Carmine's on the Upper West Side. It was so huge and often empty, with room after room of fabulous Chinese decor of silk walls, lacquered woods, and murals of China. The food was good, and it was at that time my then boyfriend and I learned the pleasures of over-ordering, which we did so we wouldn't have to hit the streets for a day or so.

[Pan]

[...] There was one place I frequented which is the current location of Carmine's on the Upper West Side.[...]

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Chun Cha Foo. A place of many happy childhood memories for me.

[emmapeel]

[...] There was one place I frequented which is the current location of Carmine's on the Upper West Side.[...]

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Chun Cha Foo. A place of many happy childhood memories for me.

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Thanks Michael, Was it as good as I remember?

[Pan]

[...] There was one place I frequented which is the current location of Carmine's on the Upper West Side.[...]

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Chun Cha Foo. A place of many happy childhood memories for me.

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Thanks Michael, Was it as good as I remember?

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Sometimes. For a few years, the good chef was gone, and it became mediocre during that period.

[WHT]

I'm guessing that the introduction of the microwave co-incided with the mass consumption of marijuana as well.

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Funny but it make sense in a strange sort of way. 1968 was when Amana started heavey pushes to home users.

[hzrt8w]

When my wife and I eat out in our favorite Chinese restaurants, we always - purposedly - order the dinner for 3 or 4 or 5. And in fact many people do it like us. We sample every dish when they are served fresh and warm. Then we take the rest home. The left overs will be our lunches/dinners in the next 2 days. Especially when restaurants offer family packaged dinner for a US $5 to $6 a dish on average, who can resist? Hell beat cooking at home!

Chinese food is always meant to be eaten hot. With the advent of Microwave ovens, this is pretty easy to achieve. I don't eat left overs cold. Especially rice. When it is cold, it's hard and powder-like. I will never appreciate the joy of having cold fried rice, especially for breakfast. I resist anything *cold* for breakfast.

[jo-mel]

Cold rice, mixed with scallions and enough egg to hold the rice together ---- then fried in little pancakes. Yum!

[mudbug]

Cold rice, mixed with scallions and enough egg to hold the rice together ---- then fried in little pancakes. Yum!

That does sound good! Will have to try it.... A good breakfast is a bowl of rice topped with a quick deep-fried egg made in just a couple of inches of hot peanut oil (bubbly, blistered, crispy edges and sunny side up center) and then topped with good quarter-inch diced ham.