quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
8 miles...Fantastic Chinese food w/ Zero MSG!

/Uncle Roger/ What wrong w/ MSG?

It takes about 10 minutes to drive down the hill and I can find pretty much anything I want.

I must be lucky. I've got good Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants all within 5 miles of me.

My Chinese S-I-L's house is about 36 miles away.

I don't ever drive for Chinese, I have it delivered.

To me, the best Chinese food I have is what I make and I can make several different dishes. If I want it from a restaurant, I have an excellent local one about 5 miles from my house and absolutely everything I have had there is great.

I prefer what I make because I know how it was made. The one thing I wish I could make is a good hot and sour soup, but I imagine that would take way to long to do right for one meal.

With your skills, no doubt you could make it stuff better than some restaurants.

I'm not sure H&S soup take a long time. I think finding good quality (and not grown in chicom) of the right ingredients would be the challenge if anything. Like, I'm not even sure what the mushroom is called in english. And finding fresh bamboo shoots may be difficult. Black vinegar should be easier to find at a chinese supermarket.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
With your skills, no doubt you could make it stuff better than some restaurants.

I'm not sure H&S soup take a long time. I think finding good quality (and not grown in chicom) of the right ingredients would be the challenge if anything. Like, I'm not even sure what the mushroom is called in english. And finding fresh bamboo shoots may be difficult. Black vinegar should be easier to find at a chinese supermarket.

Aww thanks Konata88! I usually judge a restaurant on their HS soup and it varies so much from place to place. The restaurant I thought was absolutely the best ever for so long in Austin, TX named Suzi’s Kitchen and had two locations eventually closed down due to the owner retiring. I miss that place. The place I go to currently also has great HS soup. I should dissect it next time I get it to see all of the ingredients.

From looking at recipes, the ingredients vary a lot. THIS one looks pretty good. About 10 miles from me is an area that has lots of oriental markets and is where I used to get most of my ingredients until my local grocery store actually started carrying the exact brands of black vinegar, Shaoxing Wine, dark and light soy sauce, etc.

100 miles or more. Some illegals working here but not in restaurants. I grew up in Chicago which has plenty of diversity. Seafood,steaks and Mexican is about it in my current community.

Less than 10 minutes & I can be at Pagoda in North Pole, Alaska. It's really good. Was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives a few years back. For a small community Fairbanks area has a ton of good Asian cuisine. Several excellent Thai places, several excellent sushi spots, Vietnamese, Chinese, and a pretty good Japanese hibachi style restaurant. It's kind of weird honestly, but I like it.

quote:

good Chinese food

For me that term is an oxy-moron.

The only one near us is 2.1 miles away I checked, there is a new one about to open only 1.3 miles away and we are eager to try it.