Fried chicken wings and fried rice
There’s probably a fantastic, recession friendly meal just a few blocks from where you’re sitting now. These type of places are usually generic Chinese take-out places. You know the ones, the first item on the menu is fried half chicken with french fries. When I first encountered these type of restaurants, I scoffed at their misrepresentation of real Chinese food. But during those first few post college years, surviving on cheap food was a necessity. So if you can find one of those generic Chinese take-out places, and you see ‘Fried chicken wings and fried rice’ on the menu, you should try it out. It’s a super simple thing that’s very delicious. It’s fried chicken, how can it be bad?
You can usually get this dish for under $5 dollars. Why is it so cheap? Well, look at the picture at the top. Do you see anything green in there? Anything that resembles fiber? Or vitamins? I know fried chicken makes you strong, but it’s probably not a very balanced meal. This is definitely not a dish that you want to start eating on a regular basis, unless you really have to. Just make sure you supplement with some leafy greens or something.
When you order fried chicken wings and fried rice from your local Chinese joint, you have to be sure to ask for hot sauce. Make sure it’s not hot sauce from a packet though. This is very important. Unless you really like the watery hot sauce from a packet… you should always ask for something that resembles chili oil. Even if the Chinese dude behind the counter doesn’t offer it at first, he has it. They all have chili oil or the ‘real’ hot sauce. It’ll make the chicken eating experience much better.
If you wanna get all sophisticated and shit, and you want to pair your meal with some alcohol, I suggest beer. Nothing like some ice cold beer to cut through the grease of the fried chicken wings. Plus, when the hot sauce burns your tongue, it feels damn good to have the cold beer to soothe your taste buds.
Maybe you’re not sure why kind of generic Chinese places I’m talking about. Here are a few clues to let you know if you’re on the right track. If the menu has fried half chicken and french fries, along with pork fried rice somewhere else on the menu? You’re on the right track. If you walk into the restaurant and you can see straight into the kitchen? You’re on the right track. If in the kitchen you see a basket of chicken pieces already fried, sitting by the deep fryer? You’re in the right place. This last part is key because if you get fried chicken from a steam table place then it’s not going to be as good. When you see a load of chicken wings by the fryolator, it usually looks like it’s fried and ready. But they actually drop it back into the fryer to make it crispy and hot. That’s the good stuff. You want a place that does that.
Also, the other day I was in a Chinese grocery store, and they were selling sea turtles! For $8 dollars per pound! I’m not sure how you cook a sea turtle… my guess is soup. But is turtle even any good in a soup? Or do you stir fry turtle? Do you deep fry sea turtles? Do you make turtle nuggets? Sprinkle ground turtle on your breakfast omelets? People seriously eat so me weird shit. Has anyone tried turtle before?
Posted by Danny on March 30, 2009 at 3:01 am
(I invite you to follow me on Twitter so you can get more updates.)
One of the things that is really new about being a parent is the little things that make you geek out and have a positive reaction. I can imagine this… [more]
1 comments
April 30, 2016 at 11:30 am 
After two months of being a parent, I can say that it doesn’t get any easier! The food blogging pretty much has stopped but it’s nice to take… [more]
1 comments
March 30, 2016 at 11:30 am 
I am a dad now! It’s only been about a month, and it’s as surreal to write that now was it was when my son first came into the world. Being… [more]
3 comments
February 29, 2016 at 2:27 am 
For the food loving couple that’s hobbled by the exclamation of, “I’m getting too old for this,” there’s some usefulness in food courts…. [more]
0 comments
January 10, 2016 at 1:12 am 
When the semester cycles to an end, my brain basically cannot fit everything all in, and that’s why the blog has really suffered. My plan for the… [more]
0 comments
December 31, 2015 at 8:39 pm