Spicy and Tasty (Redux)

Chinese food is incredibly comforting to me!  If I’m stressed out, feeling out of sorts, or just looking for a quick pick-me-up, nothing does the job better than some really good Chinese.  This is no doubt the product of our regular Sunday Night Cantonese food dinners when I was growing up.  We’d typically go to a local favorite restaurant in NJ where we’d have wonton soup, spareribs, moo shu pork, fried chicken with vegetables, and some chow fun.  Periodically, we’d venture into Chinatown and go to Wo Hop where the eating would get kicked up bit with a wor suey kow soup, fried dumplings, and a butterfly shrimp.  My tastes have changed a bit over the years, and I now prefer the more incendiary szechwan offerings. My son is in from college for Spring break, and when asked what food he wanted to go out for last night--- his quick response was Chinese, and we all agreed a trip to Spicy and Tasty Restaurant on 39-07 Prince Street was in order.

 

A trip to Spicy and Tasty is always great, but there’s always a bit of mystery to the meal in that you’re never exactly sure that the items you order are exactly what you were planning to eat.  It’s hard to know whether that’s due to communication that gets lost in translation, or whether the dishes served there simply have different names.  In any case, the food is almost always excellent!

 

Last night we all pigged out, but went traditional, with no risk taking on spicy beef tendon or stinky tofu.

• Hot and Sour Soup
• Dan Dan Noodles
• Mild Spicy Chicken Szechuan Style
• Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce
• Shrimp and Green Hot Pepper in Black Bean Sauce
• Dried Sauteed String Beans

 

It was a feast!  Everything was excellent, and while the heat got a sweat going for me (I don’t know what it is, but the red Chinese peppers, even the tiny ones that you cannot extricate from the food), cause me to start perspiring.  You know you’re in trouble when the waitress brings you a few napkins, unsolicited!  (Of course this doesn’t impact my appetite or the ability to enjoy the dishes, just gives my dinner companions a good laugh.)

 

The best dish of the night was the “mild spicy” chicken.  We had the “deboned.”  The chicken is dusted in spices, including szechwan peppers which make your mouth tingle, then deep fried with green pepper, garlic, and spicy dried red peppers. The taste is amazing, but you may want a bit of rice to cut the “mild spicy”.  

 

The dried sautéed string beans here are the best we’ve had anywhere.  The ongoing challenge is to order the right dish, as the Chinese String Bean with Dried Pepper is actually minced green beans in a slightly sour sauce, the Chinese String Beans with Minced Pork is made with the long Chinese string beans (also good), but the real winner is the Dried Sauteed String Bean, which is in the vegetables section and not “starred” as spicy.  These bean are so good that my “meat only” son loves em’.

 

Of course, a meal in Flushing is quite reasonable, with the tab here coming out to under $75 for four. 

 

After dinner we headed to Ten Ren, for some bubble tea.  If you haven’t had bubble tea, you’re missing a great drink which is made with tea (e.g. black, green), tapioca balls, and fruit flavors (e.g. mango, green apple, lychee).  The drink is served either hot or cold, with or without milk.  I usually keep it simple, preferring the iced green tea with milk.  The drinks come with oversized diameter straws that are used to suck up the round chewy tapioca balls.  After the Szechwan food at Spicy and Tasty, the sweet drinks are a great finish!

Well sated, we came home and relaxed further by enjoying the March Madness!