SF: House of Nanking

[hzrt8w]

Nanking (present name: Nanjing) used to be China's capital. I have been to Nanking a couple of times. The Observatory, The Yangtze River Bridge, Mr. Sun Yatsen's Memorial, etc.. My most memorial moment in Nanking was that one day I rented a bicycle from the hotel for RMB$5.00 (roughly US$0.80) for a day, and I rode around the ancient city and blended in with the locals.

I don't recall a whole lot about the local cuisine, except that I remember drinking some local beer, which they sold by the bowl, at room temperature. Sweet and sour dishes were quite common, and mostly on fish, chicken and pork.

I visited a Chinese restaurant named "House of Nanking" in China Town, San Francisco last week. (Kearny and Columbus) I remember passing by this "hole in the wall" restaurant for many years ever since they were a small restaurant with very limited seats and long lines. They have expanded to twice as big now, but still have very limited seats and long lines. I must say that I was very skeptical when we first walked in to this restaurant. We were the only "non round-eye" customer there. The menu was printed in English and scribbled with hand-written Chinese translations. A gentleman, who looked like the manager there, came over and prepared to take our order. I wasn't quite sure what to get so I asked for some recommendations.

"First time here?" he asked.

"Yes..." I said gingerly.

"I am the main chef. Okay, I'll take care of you..." he said as he scribbled something on the bill and walked away. (Wait... why is the main chef not cooking in the kitchen?)

Unsure of what we were going to get, my wife and I just traded anxious looks for the next 10 minutes.

And this night, we had a pleasant surprise... The owner ordered 2 items for us, and we ended up ordering a third item (the chicken) since the food tasted really good!

See if you recognize these as Nanking specialities:

Dumpling Soup. The dumpling was filled with minced chicken. There were also chunks of fish, pork, and shrimp in the soup. The broth tasted fairly close to Vietnamese Pho soup, and the taste leaned heavily to Thai Basil. Very delicious. US$8.95.

Pea shoots stir-fried with minced dried shrimp and minced pork. This was the first time we had tasted something like this. Very interesting. The way they made this dish was a bit overly salty. But overall it's good. US$9.00 (something like that?)

Nanking Sesame Chicken. This one we really liked. It's sweet and sour sauce with boneless chicken breast. The sweet and sour taste was just perfect, - not overly sweet, not overly sour, and definitely not something like a big blob of bright and artificially red-color sweet and sour sauce that you see in many Americanized Chinese restaurants. In fact you wouldn't even find any bell pepper, onion or pineapple that you might be accustomed to. Right in the middle were some shredded cucumber (not pickled). On the right: deep-fried yam (sweet potato) slices coated with the same sweet and sour sauce. US$8.95. This dish was perfectly done.

We had really good experience, food-wise, with House of Nanking. The only drawback was that the place was too small. Customers were rubbing elbows with each other (I am not kidding). Not a place for total relaxation. We will definitely look forward to going back to sample more Nanking specialties.

Edited March 8, 2006 by hzrt8w (log)

[Pan]

Were the items you were served all on the menu?

[hzrt8w]

The Nanking Sesame Chicken and Dumpling Soup were definitely on the menu. I am not sure about the minced dried shrimp/minced pork with pea shoots. Maybe it is but I have a tendency to skip over something that I didn't think it's interesting just by the name.

I usually ask restaurants for a take out version of their menus to take home so I can review the offers later. But House of Nanking is one of the fews who do not believe in take out menus.

Edited March 8, 2006 by hzrt8w (log)

[Ben Hong]

Ah Leung, you sure the second picture is "young bean sprouts"?

[Seitch]

Ah Leung, you sure the second picture is "young bean sprouts"?

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Probably meant young pea shoots.

[annachan]

We were there several years ago and really didn't care to go back. One of the problem is that my dad is very much a traditionalist when it comes to Chinese food. So, when he couldn't really find any Nanking specialties at the House of Nanking, he was very disappointed. He actually asked the owner what style (what province) of food he specialized in and the owner's answer was "his style". I remember ordering the "ant climbing on tree" dish and was not happy. I understand that the chef may want to make the dish his own, but I would imagine that he would try to make a dish that somewhat resembles its name. Instead, I got a dish with minced meat and vegetables in a pool of sauce on the bottom of the dish and topped with tiny pieces of broken fried rice noodle. Nothing looked like ant or tree....

Anyway, we went there because it's supposed to be a very good cheap eats place. I didn't find it to be cheap, even thought the taste of the food was decent.

I'm glad somebody has a much better experience than I did.

[hzrt8w]

Ben Sook: Thanks for pointing that out. I mis-translated it. It is pea shoot.

In Cantonese, it is "dou miu". Dou usually translates to "bean". It can be "pea" too. Miu is the young growth of any vegetation. It could be sprout, or shoot by translation.

Anyway, pea shoot is the ingredient for that dish. I have corrected the original post.

Bean sprout means the sprout for mung bean or soya bean.

[hzrt8w]

We were there several years ago and really didn't care to go back. One of the problem is that my dad is very much a traditionalist when it comes to Chinese food. So, when he couldn't really find any Nanking specialties at the House of Nanking, he was very disappointed. [...]

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The problem with eating Chinese food in San Francisco, I found, is that most of the restaurants are actually run by cooks from Hong Kong. That included the restaurants I tried during this trip: Spice!, Shanghai Dumpling King and House of Nanking. (How do I know that? The waiters/waitress all speak fluent Cantonese (not Mandarin-based Chinese trying to speak Cantonese). And I overheard them relaying the orders to the cooks in the kitchen, who also speak fluent Cantonese. If a Cantonese/Hong Konger cook can make decent (hopefully authentic) regional style such as Sichuan, Shanghai or Nanking, no issue there. But something it's hard for us who are non-native to those tyles to tell.

But overall I have happy experience with House of Nanking and Shanghai Dumpling King. Spice! or Spice!II need to be seen in future trips.

[jo-mel]

Looks great!! What are the floating vegetables in the soup? Scallions? I can almost taste that broth.

Nanjing is the only place in the whole wide world where I had a dish with bean sprouts, and the sprouts were trimmed -- heads and tails!!

[gmi3804]

I had a very memorable birthday dinner at House of Nanking in 1994. We'd eaten at several high-end places, and had a reservation at Masa's for my birthday dinner. I just couldn't stomach another four-hour dinner, so the Concierge at the Sherman House took me aside and whispered that we might enjoy House of Nanking. The line stretched halfway down the block, and we were seated at a long communal table. The owner did the "let me cook for you" thing. I honestly don't remember everything we had, but there wasn't a dud among the offerings; we even shared with our neighbors! Everyone in the restaurant sang "Happy Birthday" to me, and we left sated and happy. Upon walking out, everyone in line also sang "Happy Birthday" to me, as they all wanted to know who this George character was!

[hzrt8w]

Pea shoots stir-fried with minced dried shrimp and minced pork.  This was the first time we had tasted something like this.  Very interesting.  The way they made this dish was a bit overly salty.  But overall it's good.  US$9.00 (something like that?)

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I have tried reproducing this dish at home. I think I came very close. I like my version as it is less salty than the one in the restaurant. This is a very simple dish, but delicious!

(Recipe here)