On New Year's Day, I spent a few hours touring Flushing, Queens, which is home to the largest and fastest growing Chinatown in the world. Eating all the incredible food that Flushing had to offer was one of the greatest culinary endeavors of my life, and I want to share it with you.
I had a few must-haves on my list, and I successfully ate all of them. And after much research, I think I hit some of the best places that Flushing had to offer. My first stop was at a restaurant called White Bear, which is known for their dumplings and wontons in chili oil. The restaurant itself is just a sliding plexiglass window that you order and receive your food through. Although I wanted to order everything, I knew I had much more to eat that day, so I stuck with an order of wontons in chili oil.
These wontons came in an order of 12 for just $10 which was a great value. They had a juicy pork filling and were drowned in a spicy chili oil with lots of garlic and green onion. I topped them with some additional black vinegar that they had available, which in my opinion is an absolute necessity. I wouldn’t have changed a single thing about these wontons. They were perfectly cooked and seasoned with a great level of heat from the chili oil and absolutely packed with flavor. I could’ve eaten many more, but I’m glad I didn’t because my next stops were equally as great.
For my next stop, I walked a few blocks away to another restaurant called Eight Jane, another tiny restaurant which is known for their jianbing. If you aren’t familiar, jianbing are egg crepes that are filled with different fillings depending on where you get it, then wrapped and eaten like a sandwich and are a Chinese breakfast staple.
This jianbing was filled with baocui, which is a crispy fried cracker, lots of scallion and cilantro, and a spicy, salty anise flavored sauce. This jianbing was $5 and the piece pictured was only half of the entire thing. The jianbing was such a great combination of soft, crispy, salty, sweet and spicy and was a very satisfying thing to eat. For only $5, this was pretty hard to beat.
Next, I entered the New World Mall, which is a huge, multi-leveled mall with shops, a grocery store, and most importantly, a massive food court. I was with a group of people, and we got plenty of food such as noodles and dumplings which I was able to try. But, one thing trumped it all, and was maybe one of the best things I have ever eaten. One stall in the food court named Xian Noodles Food, serves rou jia mo which is a Xian classic. Rou jia mo are essentially sandwiches with crispy, flaky buns and are usually filled with meat. The rou jia mo I got was titled Flushing Burger on the menu, and had a stewed pork and onion filling with lots of spices.
For how simple this may seem, it was truly incredible. The contrast of the crispy exterior and the super tender and fatty pork inside made for a perfect combination. The last bite was by far the best as all of the juices settled to the bottom and absorbed into the bun. A trip back to New York would almost be worth it just to get this again, truly one of my favorite things I have ever eaten.
I hope this inspires you to go on a food crawl of your own. It really is one of my all-time favorite activities, and besides New York City, Chicago is a perfect place to do it as well. If you are a fan of Chinese food, check our Magic of Mushrooms Class on Tuesday, February 8 at 6pm at Lincoln Square. There are a couple of awesome Chinese-inspired dishes on the menu such as Maitake Mushroom Mapo Tofu.
