Saturday, June 16, 2012

Chinatown Food Tour by Jim of Boston Food Tours

The most difficult thing about writing this review was finding the balance between information-sharing and spoiler alert! Jim shared an extensive amount of personal knowledge (from his travels through and residency in and around Asia) to a vast amount of history about the cultures and Boston's Chinatown. So much so that I am challenged with not over-sharing all of the fascinating facts I learned over the few hours spent with him!

After a mad dash in a one of my favorite cabby's cars from Brookline to Chinatown (against Pride weekend traffic...I was determined!), I was all ears the minute I sat amongst the other tour attendees at the Zen Garden near The Gate! Jim was captivating as any tour guide with genuine affection toward the topic being presented would be! It truly did not feel like a job for him, but a beloved hobby! You can tell he has a true passion for sharing knowledge.

The Chinatown Gate at Beach Street. The origin of the street name? Beach (nee Beech ) St, now surrounded by urban landscape, was once flanked by actual water (The ocean actually, before the 1806 landfill!) Jim also discussed the history behind the Boston Chinatown NY street names...


There are two of these statues (Foo Dogs AKA Chinese Guardian Dogs AKA 石獅; Shishi) with their backs to the neighborhood. They are said to be guarding the neighborhood. There were two others, perching upon now empty pedestals, facing the opposite direction. They were said to have been stolen by a "Big Dig" contractor as payment for debt the City of Boston owed. It has been said that they reside on his property in Lexington, MA and Mayor Menino has been negotiating to get them back!

When all of the city-created chess park with tables are full early in the morning through afternoon....

...you may find gentlemen playing a game on the empty pedestals...

Best Restaurant on Hudson Street is known for their roast squab...a no frills place where lots of restaurant chefs go late night for meals. Here, we saw a traditional ancestor alter.

We then traveled next door over the lucky pictographs (e.g. prosperity) to...

Our First Food Stop...

Great BBQ ( a Jim favorite):

15 Hudson Street

Here, we were able to sample lovely roast pork strips (from the shoulder of the pig). They were absolutely amazing! Tender, sweet meat that was juicy and flavorful!
In the bad restaurants, these are bright pink due to food coloring. At Great BBQ, they are flavored with 5 spice.
It is sold by the pound. You can order as little as 1/4 lb.

You can also get a whole roasted pig here for special occasions (feeds up to 70 people for $200).

The chickens are prepped and cooked whole...

Whole roasted chickens

Both the chickens and ducks can be order by the whole or the half.

Below is a picture of chicken feet ( AKA Phoenix talons, left), pigs' tripe (top right), snouts, intestines etc.:

Below are dumplings (Jong,糉子) eaten for dragon boat festival. The sweet ones can be made with sweet, mashed red beans and sticky rice. The savory ones with rice, pork, chicken, or salted duck egg, etc.
The bamboo leaf must be folded with precision, then steamed.

Dumplings

糉子

Chinese bacon..very salty, smoky, and chewy. It's typically put into stir fried veggies or fried rice.
It's not for eating with eggs for breakfast!

Chinese Bacon

We went on to learn about the New Shanghai Restaurant (a Jim favorite, where he says you should not entertain the Americanized/Westernized menu. Order from the delicious Schezuan appetizers for sure), the Golden Leaf building and the only restaurant in Chinatown to never take on an American name.

The Traditional Chinese Bakery:

54 Beach St
(between Harrison Ave & Oxford St)

Mooncakes are prepared and eaten on the Autumn Moon Festival occuring on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month (similar to our Thanksgiving). Mooncakes have different fillings. Some are filled with sweet lotus paste, mixed nuts and fruits (e.g. almonds, fruits, and sesame seeds), some with salted duck eggs (single or double) which is a classic Chinese delicacy trend in which sweet and savory dishes co-mingle.


Jim's Mooncake mold.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake

Egg custard tarts, pigs in blanket, etc.

We sampled:

Mixed fruit/nut Mooncake with almond, sesame seeds, candied fruit, and a salty duck egg. It also had rose petal liqueur. It was really good, but unfortunately, I was not lucky enough to get a portion of the duck egg.
Red bean sesame balls made with sticky rice and mashed, sweetened red beans rolled in sesame seeds and deep fried. I loved the outer crunch of the sesame seeds and the soft center of sweetness from the sticky rice and bean mash!

Cocktail bun: Coconut bun filled with sesame, coconut, egg yolk and sugar. Similar to Portuguese sweet bread. Very light and mildly sweet.

We then stopped in front of a poultry butcher shop (originally a Kosher butcher shop later sold to a Cantonese family) where you can request various chicken breeds, guinea hen, or squab (pigeon) to be prepped fresh.
Only after my last snapshot, did I notice the "Do not take pictures sign"...Whoops! I'm almost certain they were referring to pictures of the inside.

We had the opportunity to see the Silkie black chicken (black skin and bones) up close and personal in the C-Mart Chinese Grocery store. We were informed that these chickens are terrible for meat production, but are great for making soup/broths.

Next, The Pharmacy:

75 Harrison Ave (between Beach St & Knapp St)

Nam Bac Hong Chinese Herbs boasted hundreds if not thousands of herbal remedies, some of which were formulated based on the pharmacist's orders, others over-the-counter.

Prescription filling!

There is a gentleman in the back of the establishment that will perform a physical examination on you should a description of your ailments up front not suffice.
Could it be possible that I am actually looking forward to my next migraine, just for an excuse to head over to Harrison Avenue for some healing??? By the way, Jim recommends a white flower oil for headaches.

Jim demonstrates the archaic, yet practical and functional scale used to portion our the herbal prescriptions.

One ginseng root. Price $490.00 US! Benefits? Priceless.

The Modern Chinese Bakery, 77 Harrison Ave
(between Beach St & Knapp St)

Bao Bao Bakery Creations

Bubble tea @ Bao Bao

Creating tasty Egg Puffs!

Chinese Supermarket, C-Mart, 50 Herald St

Interesting finds at the Chinese Supermarket:

Dragonfruit-Center

Bitter melon

Shrimp at the fish section

Live eel at the fish section


Smelly Durian fruit

An open durian fruit..we, of course, didn't dare do this! Source: http://munfitnessblog.com/does-durian-have-any-cholesterol-and-fat/

We ended the tour with a traditional Dim Sum lunch complete with all pomp and circumstance as taught to us by Jim! The food was phenomenal and the information gained at lunch and all morning was spectacular! I cannot wait to join Jim on the North End Food tour and any other venture he decides upon. Overall, it was a great day of good palate-pleasers and historic exposure!