Saber Forum

Just tried to keep myself entertained while I wait 30 more minutes to order chinese food so my sister in law will get home to eat some before it's cold. I'm starving!

Do you guys like chinese food? (It's my favorite comfort food.) My husband and I trade of Friday nights when he's home, Pizza or Chinese food. :)

Sesame chicken or House(chicken, pork, beef, and shrimp) Lo Mein are always welcome on my plate! ;D

Pizza and Chinese - both awful for you, both absolutely delicious!

For Chinese I like a variety of things - Sesame Chicken is pretty standard for me, but I also love Won Ton Soup as well.  Hunan chicken is another fave.

Sweet & Sour Chicken for me.

Yes, Every Tuesday is Chinese food day. ;D

General Tso Chicken, white rice, fried cheese wontons, and sweet and sour chicken (for my brother in law) are on the way. :) Omnomnom!

Sesame chicken, sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken, general tso's chicken, moo goo guy pan, wonton soup, egg rolls.


EGG ROLLS!

So... full... Yeah I like egg rolls, but I have to be in the mood for them... Mmm lo mien though.

Most of the characters on Bones used to be obsessed with Chinese food.... but that was before that show went downhill :(

I love me some Chinese food in general, especially fried rice of any sort ;D

I had Chinese buffet for lunch today. . .ugh!  I always leave that place hating myself because I eat so much.  General Tso's with steamed rice is my kryptonite.  Add in some fried dumplins, an egg roll, and some crab rangoon and I am on the road to ruination.  I spend the rest of my day at my desk, with my head in my hands telling myself "never again. . .never again. . .".  Knowing full well I am lying. 

I enjoy my chinese food with my official Mace Windu lightsaber chopsticks.  ;D

I love pizza and Chinese! I end up getting pizza almost every sunday night, and Chinese every time that I go to the nearest town with a Chinese restaurant. I get my #8 every time :) sweet and sour chicken balls, chicken fried rice, beef and broccoli, and egg rolls. Sometimes dumplings too :)

I hate the buffet. I have to pig out, or I don't feel as though I got my money's worth....

I do prefer Thai or Vietnamese though...mmmm   ;D

Mmmm Crab Rangoons and Pork Steamed Dumplings! The problem with where I live is everything delivers.... plus if I order over $20 at the chinese place, I get a free two liter. haha.

This is making me want Chinese food......

Do it... you'll only regret it a little after you eat it. lol

Feel like I got tranqued half way through and then finish the rest 20 mins later.

Fried Wonton, Chow Mein, Honey Chicken, Shanghai Steak, Black Pepper Chicken, Mushroom CHicken...... whatever else the vacuum sucks up.  ;D

It helps that the Hot Wok and Panda Express are both within a block of where I work, and that they address me by name when I walk in. lol

I like Chinese food... I LOVE sush.... I can eat my weight in Sushi... I won't eat it without my luke skywalker lightsaber chopsticks though.

Good man. Master Chopsticks.... and you can master the Force. :D

M.J. has her own set of ROTS Obi sticks. ;D

Sushi...my first experience with sushi was in a traditional Japanese Teppanyaki House that also served sashimi and zushi.

Years ago.

I went with a group of friends, we had saki...a fair amount of the same...and then the sashimi and zushi started rolling out of the kitchen...we had opted for the house special which was basically one of everything for each person ($225 per person, saki was separate)...as each piece came out I would use my chops sticks to hold the piece up to the full color poster of possible zushi options and then pop it in the mouth...move on...repeat...

Then my life changed in one mouthful...it was as if I had licked the great Cthulhu's backside...but I am getting ahead of myself...

A long ceramic plate came out with a series of gelatinous bright green sections...I snatched up a full piece, leaned over to the poster, and looked to place just what it was...I did not find it, and then I noticed the staff looking intently at me...my first clue, one that I did not catch until much later...so I stood up and walked to the main board that had at least twice as many example pictures...still nothing...the server closest to me covered her mouth and tittered, that would be clue number two...this one did not get by without me noticing, but still I moved forward.

Since I could not find out what it was, instead of asking, I sat down at the table...all eyes on me (no one else had touched any of it, that should have been clue number three, alas...)...and popped it into my mouth.

Instantly my world crashed around me...a metallic taste mixed with the flavor of bile and what I would imagine whale vomit to taste like...I tried to swallow but my body violently disagreed, and it popped out of my mouth (whole by the way, it looked the same as it had going in)...I was scraping my tongue and swallowing down bowls of saki to get that foul taste of...yes just what was it?

Then the tittering server told me..."Oh, you don't like shiokara konowata?"

It looked a bit like this, but with more width to the threads

(http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/bedolaga/bedolaga1102/bedolaga110200055/8875073-japanese-fresh-maki-sushi-with-green-seaweed.jpg)


Fermented rice, heavily salted, sea cucumber viscera...cured and minced sea cucumber internal organs...


So nasty that it is a challenge food for hearty Japanese eaters who would normally not even bat an eye.

My life was never the same...for that day forward my hair was peppered with pure white strands...I think I may have aged prematurely...I highly highly recommend that if you see anything like this, do not eat it.

Or eat it...it will make a great story...if you survive...or still have the ability to speak.

As soon as I saw the mention of Cthulhu's backside, I knew that story was going downhill fast....

I love the Star Wars chopsticks!  The gf got me a pair of Vader ones (because I love red) back in college, and I absolutely love using them.  I'll have to get the Luke ROTJ pair sometime...

That story made me laugh so hard, I think I almost cried.

That is a good one.

But it pales next to my first authentic Thai food experience...things went South quickly that day   ::)

Oh, please, elaborate for us Rel. lol I almost had Thai the other day as part of a college thing, but I skipped out after the exam. You make it sound like that may have been a smart move. XD

Thai is DELICIOUS!!!  It's my most recent food addiction...

I just had Chinese food last night.

I wanna hear the story too!

Ok the first Thai food experience.

And remember, you asked for it.

I should say that this was early on in life and I have experienced nothing but wonderful food from all of my post Thai food experiences...Thai and Vietnamese food is distinctive, most often all the ingredients are fresh and the flavors are quite wonderful...if you have not tried then you must!

This story is one of heat and not flavor.  

(certain details which are best described with my animated body movements and facial expressions will be omitted for the sake of forum restrictions...so add a bit on your end for full effect)

So I was a guest artist at GENCON in Wisconsin, 1991, for Chaosium and FASA game companies.  While I was there I was exploring the local food scene which included a great old German restaurant where we closed the place by reserving all the seats for a massive dinner.

On one day a small group of game designers and I went out for something exotic, authentic Thai food.

Now I had eaten loads of Chinese food, how different could it be?

So armed with my prior knowledge and the confidence that comes from youthful ignorance I joined this band of brothers for our excursion.

Now it show be noted this was long before I knew about my brain and at times I could be, difficult.  It was hard for me to relate to other people due to my hyperactive brain not allowing me to focus on mundane conversations and the frustration could easily lead me down an aggressive path...so I could be a bit of an ass...regrettably so, it is what it is...or rather it was what it was.

We get there and it is beautiful...truly splendid with gold, tapestries, and theme embellishments...really stunning place, and big...easily 200 seats.

I am excited now!

We order drinks...I was cold so I ordered hot tea, because I loved Chinese hot teas...and how different could it be?

My tea arrived and I let it steep while reading the menu...baffled by the names and descriptions...imagine you just left French class at school and then was handed a test in Spanish...it was a bit like that.

So I took a deep draft of the tea and suddenly (this is years before the zushi experience by the way) I was experiencing some of the most bitter flavor I have ever had to endure...what I wanted to do was spue it all out but I choked it down...now I was a bit perturbed...and when Mr Biggles gets angry...

I asked the waiter to bring me an iced tea instead.

Trying to stay calm, as one does not want to be an ass...when one has the opportunity to prevent such behavior.

We order the food...I went with the closest thing I make out...a roasted chicken dish with various vegis and wide noodles.

The waiter then asked that question that will forever be burned into my brain with a red light and klaxson siren..."how spicy would you like your food?"

Now up to that moment I had had the hottest that the Chinese restaurants I had attended could offer...later I realized that this really meant as hot as they were willing to make it...so I asked what the options were.

Mild
Medium
Hot
Very Hot

and wait for it

Thai Hot

So of course, I ordered it Thai Hot as did two other members...the other guy, curiously ordered it Medium.

I say curiously because he was the one who brought us here with storied of Thai food being wonderful, spicy, and full of flavor.

Then my iced tea arrives.

I slurp it down and then spit it back into the glass...it was the same type of tea over ice...so bitter I think my lower GI O ring tightened a full degree tighter.

So I was a bit mad...the waiter smiled a bit too much...my brain was churning a bit too fast...my friends reacted a bit too slowly...and in the end I was upset...and I ordered a Coke instead.

Calmed down and mollified by the soda...familiar taste to combat the overwhelming bitter of the tea (later on I became a fan of the strong tea because I drank it correctly...it requires the heavy sweetened cream that was provided that not use at the time...making it look like this)

(http://cdn.indulgy.com/Mt/Oy/Ck/232709505715608747ElpWOH28c.jpg)


Moving on...we got our appetizers...pork satay with peanut sauce...100% wonderful...all anger gone...filled with peanuty and fish sauce yumminess!

(fish sauce...do not be afraid of the fish sauce...it sounds terrible...fermented seafood bits, garlic, salt, vinegar, spices...and it smells, well it smells like fish sauce which is to say "OMG!" but it is one of those things that sounds bad, smells bad, and wakes up your taste buds making everything taste better...almost in a magical way)

The entries arrive...on high serving dishes all shiny and bright...with lids on them.

I pulled my lid off and well the best way to describe it would be steamed by pepper spray...my breath was gone, I literally choked from my throat closing up...my eyes instantly watered to blurred vision state and I almost had a panic attack.

But I turned away and cleared my airway and regained my composure...because that burning steam smelled so good...the flavor was bathing my face with essence of yum.

So I was left with one of those choices in life...did I mention that the entree cost me $30?, well at the time that was my daily food allowance for the day...do I bypass the 6 alarm fire chicken or go hungry...Mr Bitter tea waiter is standing there...with this wide grin...taunting me with his calm knowing...so of course I ate it.

It was so delicious 8)...and I mean to say wonderfully flavorful and exotic...tasty and aromatic...and...and...and oh my firetrucking good damn the river cause it is going to flood HOT!

So hot...so tasty.

Did I mention hot?

Yes it was hot...but so tasty.

I swallowed it down in a rush, put my money on the table, did not wait for the group, I do not think I even looked up during the whole process, and walked out...scanning the street I saw a Dairy Queen about a full city block away...i bolted at full speed for the same.

Ran in the door...with hot food tears and sweat coating my skin...put a handful of money on the counter and croaked out something like "large cone"...but truthfully I suspect it was more like "lllaaaarrr kkakak  ooooonnn".

(in retrospect I most likely looked like a pepper spray victim or attacker gone wrong/right?)

I ate the whole thing in a second or two...calmed down for a moment...ordered another, like a human being this time...tipped them and left...lapping at my cone like a 5yr old.

And so the story ends...or so I thought.

A night filled with churning, burping, and other gas releases of less than positive natures...and by less than I mean to say a balance of "hey what is that?" and "OMG wha tis that!"/

The morning comes quickly and I have to get to the convention hall early, artists and other exhibitors go in an hour or two before the doors open to prep the booths, and I was building an 18" Cthulhu model so I needed to get busy with my work table.

I got to the Milwaukee Convention Center and start setting up...midway laying out my tools I experienced the gut wrenching pain followed by the drano effect that was a warning that something wicked this way was coming...and most likely it would be one of those, you only get one warning moments...the convention bathrooms were several hundred feet away...yes, I had a moment of concern.

So with my best US Marine Corps trained focus, all of my martial training being called into action, with my ass cheeks pressed so hard together that my waistline reduced by two full sizes...I made that sure and determined walk...ok I will allow the word waddle to be used here...a straight and concentrate bee line for the bathroom.

Now you know where this is going, so continue reading at your own peril.

The bathroom was immense...with 40-50 stalls and three entrance doors to the throne room...I was near the middle door so I took the closest closet of hope, with a sigh of relief...the jeans were not going to have to thrown away.

I made it...whew.

Then the reality of the situation struck home.

If it was that hot going in...oh no...ohhhh noooooo (all in slow motion)

Now you miss out on facial expressions and crazy poses that I provide in person...but we continue.

I ended up standing up a bit due to the excessive, ummm...heat of the moment?...a hot wire brush on the end of power drill is pretty close to the experience...then it gets funny.

While suffering through the moment, trying not to puke from the effort to control my breathing (and you would want to not breathe by the way), the center access door opens and two guys walk in talking...certainly in no rush...followed by a "Holy crap what the hell is that smell!" and then a bit of stumbling as they ran back out the door.

I was laughing so hard i started to cry a bit...then more pain...laughing...repeat.

So nearing the end of the moment...the worst of it past...deep into recovery time...regaining composure...the door opens again...this time the sounds of a familiar urgency filled the bathroom...he makes his way in...and for some reason, with all the options chooses a stall near mine...dropped the pants and then "OMG"...I see the feet, the pants down, and him shuffling past as he went 10-15 stalls away to continue his own special moment.

Meanwhile I have nothing left...can't cry...can't laugh...worn out.

I cleaned up...and walked out the door...into...a standing ovation...with dozens of guys clapping.

What can you do at a moment like that?

I took a bow and said in a voice about as steady as I could muster..."Do not order it Thai Hot"...

I continued to the booth and tried my best to find a way to sit, but was fairly unsuccessful...

Moral of the story...be careful what you ask for.

Chinese food is great.

Pretty much every kind of Asian food is great, but especially Korean.

One thing that I've always wondered though, and I don't mean to get off topic (oh wait,  it's appropriate to do that in this thread right?) but why don't they ever mix Chinese food with cheese?  :-\

Now, don't get me wrong, just thinking about mixing Mongolian Beef or Sweet and Sour Chicken with cheddar or pepper-jack cheese makes me hurl with disgust, for whatever reason, but why is that?  People gladly mix beef and chicken with cheese all the time but the mere thought of mixing cheese with any type of Chinese food, even something as simple as rice just makes me feel incredibly uneasy.  :-X

This almost becomes an argument as to who brought in what, in historical context and globalization.
I know tomatoes came from South America, which in the end made pasta and pizza popular. (yeah, that's right. Pizza was influenced by America, deal with it!)  :D
Did the Italians bring in pasta or did the Chinese bring the concept to the Italians, or did they develop their noodles themselves?  Didn't the Chinese have goats and cows?  Surely they used them for milk other than their beef products.  I know in Mongolia they knew how to make yogurt, so why is there never any inclusion of dairy products in Chinese films or stories, or even the slightest historical document?
Are aliens involved?  Quite frankly... we just don't know.


Oh yeah, nice story Relmeob, sounds like my cup of tea, or should I say, pint of beer?  I love spicy Thai/Chinese food, probably the only thing I like just as much as tons of Wasabi at Sushi.

Cheese and dairy as a whole are not all that common in South/East Asian food due I suspect to the extreme heat and humidity...this niche is replaced with tofu.


Korean food is a bit of yum!

Since that moment I have had Thai hot...and after a period of time I have developed a better understanding of the heat, and I know my local chefs so they understand not to kill their clients/patrons :)  so Thai hot is a measure of consideration that a smart chef knows how to balance.

Thank you so much for that. It really brightened me this afternoon. I think I might have cried at one point I was laughing so hard.

I have a similar experience to yours except there was nothing wrong with the food just the combination of what I was eating.  Tell me if you want to hear it.

Lol I was not going for the gross out factor   ;D

It actually is a much funnier story in person, the listeners are usually crying from laughing so hard...I left out all the hyperventilating, clutching the walls of the stall trying to get away from the burning, etc. lol.

I will stick to more tasty stories from this point on  :)

*****

How about on topic with favorite Chinese food in particular?

I am a sucker for a decent egg roll...pork please!
(http://www.bethecook.com/media/6/eggrollOver.jpg)

Hot and Sour soup can be wonderful depending on the cook/day
(http://verdanteats.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/hotandsoursoup.jpg)

Char siu pork and Char siu bao
(http://www.lopanchoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/219502083_d2956dcd511.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2748/4245221142_ed578274ff.jpg)

Twice cooked pork
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GhxgrlPEUTI/SGMbtjWpI7I/AAAAAAAABp0/3EdErQfez-w/s400/PICT003106252008+(4).JPG)

And sticky rice
(http://www.asiarecipe.com/images/stickyrice.jpg)

*****

I am a big fan of Szechuan and Cantonese styles for food...I am sure it is well known, so I am just saying it out loud, the style of food is named/based on the region of China is comes from...each region having a flavor base, technique, and ingredient list unique to their location.

Most of the common Chinese foods that are available are from Hunan and Canton. 

Yum.  Those is large cities or just lucky enough to have unique ethnic cultures/individuals nearby, may find other regions/styles available...Anhui, Fujian, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Zhejiang.

But it is fun to mention that most of us like culture adapted Chinese food...as authentic Chinese food can be a bit daunting with exotic and difficult to relate to ingredients...bugs/insects in particular...as well as some texture issues, they do love the extremes in each bite...sweet and sour, soft and crunchy, smooth and grainy, fragrant and spicy.

Ah good times good times.

Oh Relmeob!  You shouldn't have done that!  I'm just craving Chinese Food now!

It's been awhile since I had authentic Chinese Food, Panda Express just doesn't cut it.

Oh my goodness, the Dim Sum picture is probably my favorite.  The last time I had REALLY GOOD Dim Sum was probably Summer of 2010.  Frozen Dim Sum obviously doesn't count.

My mouth is just watering.  Maybe get some Dim Sum, a couple of bean-paste rolls, a fresh cup of tea, maybe some white rice and a small soup.  Mmmmm.  :D

then make a video with all of the motions and stuff that will make us laugh even more.

That is the sort of fame that no rational man wants lol   :P

Then make it so that nobody knows it is you.  Either way if it does go viral and get a bunch of views then you could make a lot of money off of it.

I must agree, internet fame leads to a lot of flaming directed at you regardless of the reason for your fame.

Wait.... there's a topic? ;)

You could make the video private so that only people with the link can view it.

I never eat Chinese food, Wish i Could.

Why can't you?

Not to get off topic (although I am suprised that this one is still going.  LOL!) I had a similar experience as Jedi Remleob.  But mine came from eating the Atomic Wings at Quaker Steak and Lube.  Anyone else make this life-altering mistake?  Trust me, it isn't worth the crappy bumper sticker you get for eating the all the wings.  My mistake was drinking too much beer and letting a friend talk me into it and betting me $20 I couldn't do it.  Once again , it wasn't worth it.  The entire next day was fiery agony upon fiery agony.  Did I mention that it wasn't worth it?  Never again. 

I know a couple of people that have won the wing challenge at B-Dubs. (Buffalo Wild Wings) They said the next day was the worst part. They actually make you sign a health waiver before eating theirs. And Why wouldn't this one still be going who doesn't love (or hate) Chinese food?

Chinese is so varied and vast it is hard not to find something on the "menu" to like...so many choices!

Its easy if youyou are picky about what you eat.

I had their hottest sauce last time I was there... it was fairly traumatic.  And I come from a family of Italians who eat hot peppers like candy!

I miss going to Chinese buffets since the world became so broken... (to be clear I miss ALL buffet style eating experiences right now, since that is obviously the issue at hand. Nothing cultural about the avoidance.) Even Genghis Grill would be out of the question for me personally (if they are open) for the shared serving utensils and open air food portion stations not to mention moving through lines in close proximity. Not meaning to go horribly off topic, but simply saying it's the environment alone I'd find untoward. Although I'm betting there are theoretically ways to do it "safer" I'll just leave it there because I feel I'm veering away from my point. All-you-can-eat great food options, or sitting in a nice restaurant with such an awesome menu and flavor combinations, how can one not miss that? I love Chinese food, but there were also great Vietnamese, Thai, and Japanese restaurants near by that were such a taste treat. I would kill for some sushi right now... but I'm too paranoid to tempt fate eating pre-prepared things that are raw, at the moment...

That said I had some tacos the other night and was out of salsa. So I had a jar of wasabi sauce I had not had the opportunity to enjoy yet. Thus some carefully poured lines in the tacos with some taco sauce turned out to be a fantastic mix.


Oh yes, the Blazin Challenge, been there done that. I love spicy but that made my eyes water, nose run, and I couldn't taste anything but pain after a while. Also back in college, and this was all posted and done BEFORE the Ghost Pepper/Carolina Reaper advent and resulting craze. Some things are just hot for the sake of hot now, not really enjoyment. I always enjoyed Chinese food a bit spicy, of higher than lower on the spice spectrum. Same with Chili, but some things are just senseless masochistic abuse of one's palate IMO. Sense of taste obviously varies, and one can build up seemingly ridiculous tolerances, but sometimes even I am left asking "why?" My chopsticks have gone mostly unused, except on things prepared at home. Most if not all take out has been removed from my menu, unless getting heated or microwaved separately before consumption. But the few times I've gotten local chinese food takeout recently it's been a real treat. I hope the restaurant industry survives the dark times, or has a renaissance afterward. But please let it not be some tapas centric revival...