Tony who? I hear you ask. He's the chef and founder of five successful restaurants in Chicago's Chinatown: Lao Sze Chuan, Lao Beijing, Lao Shanghai, Lao You Ju, and Lao Hunan. "Lao" means "old" (though I suppose it also could mean "our chef is from" or "I <3").
I used to think that Lao Sze Chuan was my favorite of Hu's Laos.* But last time I went there, the food seemed more painfully spicy than usual and despite ordering a never-before-Aubergeniussed eggplant dish (as a much needed update to this fallow blog), they brought me the wrong thing. In fact, they brought me this dish that I not only featured previously, but that also gave me horrible indigestion. It was so greasy I felt like I was sweating oil. So despite the addictive spicy cabbage and vast menu and cute decor, Lao Sze Chuan has gotten on my bad side.
Lao Beijing, however, is my new favorite spot. This time I ordered the Chef's Special Crispy Eggplant, which is a more steamy and fragrant version of this:
While not the healthiest item on the menu, this dish is pretty phenomenal: sticks of eggplant are battered and deep fried, then coated in a spicy-sweet-garlicky sauce. The chef was kind enough to add a bit of tofu for nutritional balance. (... As if health were even an issue here.)
The eggplant has an amazing texture -- crunchy-sticky on the outside, creamy on the inside. Even as leftovers (which I am presently devouring), the fried coating doesn't lose its crunch. One may argue that anything deep-fried is automatically delicious, and is therefore no culinary accomplishment... to that I say, hell yes, deep fried things are omnom AND SO WHAT OMNOMNOM.
Though my comrades' dishes were slightly less vegetarian than mine, I couldn't help admiring the beautiful presentation, which seems somewhat upscale for a casual eatery. Here are two whole fish on a long slender plate:
Also, non-vegetarian report: apparently the cumin-spiced lamb is so tender that one doesn't need teeth to chew it. Good news for my elderly readership -- at Lao Beijing, you can go denture commando! (Future ad campaign?)
After lunch, we stopped at Joy Yee for the best smoothies/boba/fruity beverages in Chinatown.
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| You know smoothies are getting serious when there are special shelves just for fruit. |
One member of our excursion got the passion fruit juice with lychee jelly, which I'm totally ordering next time.
Finally, the afternoon came to an epic close as I had the following adventure in the bowels of the Library's Recordings Collection:
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| Yep, it's a theremin. |
*As in, "Hu's Laosing now?"
GROAN
That crispy eggplant looks amazing. We used to order a similar one at a restaurant in Rockville, MD, that had fried orange peel too.
ReplyDeleteI think Lao means old though taste of does make more sense!
ReplyDeleteOh whoops, thanks for correcting me! I should have run it by you first before putting it up there. I think someone told me it meant "taste of" and I just believed them without confirming it with a Chinese speaker.
ReplyDelete