Fun Playing With Authentic Chinese Food In Solon

A few days ago, our old Magic Chef glass-covered gas cooktop gave it's all:

This led us to a series of take-outs and eat outs (and now that we've cleaned up the mess, to some crock pot and oven cookery). 

I've known that our local Hunan Solon has an authentic Chinese menu on their website, but honestly had never thought that highly about the food there. We hadn't eaten there in several years, but it was too cold to go far and it was dinnertime, so we tried it. And I'm so glad we did!

We started with a variation on one of my favorite dishes - Fish Maw and Crab Meat Chowder (usually, this soup has dried conpoy [scallop] rather than crab). This version had little cubes of tofu in it, and this "small" bowl is meant to serve at least 4 diners:

The only flaw in the dish was that some of the crab was dangerously close to the end of its time. The good news was that there were no chemical smells or nasty textures to the meat, but some of it was not at its freshest. Not a bad start for Solon.

Our next two choices also came off the Chinese Menu, which has characters and English translations for the dishes (I can't figure out how to link directly to the Chinese Menu, so just go the website and navigate to it):

Beef Ribs Strips in a Black Pepper Sauce

There is a Black Pepper Chicken on the regular menu, but leaving these marrow-filled bones in the dish definitely enhances the flavor. We gave this an "A."

Dou Mieu - pea leaves in Garlic Sauce

These were some big, heavy, pea leaves - but cooked perfectly with a light garlicky sauce that contrasted well against the peppery beef. A great choice.

We next selected item #57, "Stewed Side Pork, Preserved Vegetables, in Hot Pot." But our server insisted she had a dish we'd like even better (though we really wanted a "hot pot" or casserole dish because it was so cold). She brought over a menu all in characters, and said that if we loved real Chinese food, we had to try dish #CS9. How could we refuse?

Our reward for taking her recommendation was on this plate:

Luscious slabs of tender pork belly dredged in gentle seasonings, then finished with dried chilies sat regally atop more stir-fried green vegetables. We expected it to have a more spicy flavor than it did, but it didn't need a lot of heat. This dish will bring us back to Hunan Solon for sure. Our server insisted on our next visit we must try the whole fried Tilapia (swimming in a tank at the back of the house) with minced vegetables. That is now on the list, though the live lobsters in the tank situated in the freezing restaurant entryway also tempt. 

We had more than enough leftovers for a second dinner. Now, it will be on to the Crock Pots. But we'll be back to play with tasty Chinese morsels from Hunan of Solon, especially as we remain stoveless. Also of note is their annual celebration of the Lunar New Year with lion dancing and probably special menus or items, on February 21 and 28. Call the restaurant for further info or reservations, and you can have fun playing with your food among the lions! 440.248.8836.

樂趣演奏用食物 for Chinese New Year 2009

As the two week Lunar New Year holiday comes to a close, we were pleased to be invited to a Chinese New Year Banquet at our Cleveland favorite, Wonton Gourmet (3211 Payne Avenue, 216-875-7000, no website). They managed to squeeze almost 50 people into the small restaurant. We were delighted to see the progress being made on the conversion of the wall menu banners to photographs with English descriptions - all of this wonderful food will be that much more accessible to everyone once the project is complete.

Dinner commenced with soup:


Fish Maw and Mixed Seafood Soup





Soup with Red Vinegar Added


Turnip Cake

Thomas, the owner, shared part of the secret to the deliciousness of this dish - the dough is steamed for three hours!


Stuffed Crab Claw



This was crisp and tasty.

Edited to add: How Did I Leave Out the Potstickers?





All meat, and delicious! And - with dipping sauce:




Assorted Cold Appetizers

Some of our tablemates were completely unaware of the place of cold dishes in Chinese Cuisine. Some of us had tasted the Braised Beef and pickles on this plate two weeks ago. This time, instead of pig intestine, we had braised roast pork as the second meat, and in the center, the pickles were topped by braised jellyfish, which is not my favorite preparation (I prefer my jellyfish crispy). The meats were redolent of star anise and very fresh and tender, and the pickled vegetables were delicious.


Sea Cucumber with Braised Mushrooms, Baby Bok Choy and Gravy

Sea Cucumber has never been my favorite; mushrooms are on my "ick" list. Neverthess, I tasted it. The braise of the dried Chinese Mushrooms infused the Bok Choy and gravy with lovely flavors, which I enjoyed very much. My small nibble of the sea cucumber was a sufficient portion of that delicacy for me, however.


Lobster Stir Fried With Ginger



This dish was fabulous - from the fresh and tender lobster meat to the velvety sauce. This plate was cleaned!


Steak with Black Pepper Sauce

I remain a perpetual sucker for Black Pepper Sauce, and Wonton Gourmet does it well.




Mixed Seafood with XO Sauce

XO Sauce is made from conpoy, or dried scallop; it infuses the entire dish with a seafoody glow. The squid was exceptionally tender and tasty, and the bittermelon was a great contrast to the seafood flavors.


Hong Kong Style Fried Chicken

These were communal plates, folks, so I didn't feel right moving the shrimp chips out of the way so I could photograph. It was pretty funny - there were three of us photographing this set of dishes, and at least one more food photographer at the second table doing the same. Anyway, this chicken was superb - the skin was thin and crisp, and the flesh moist and juicy.




Dipping Salt (aka MSG) For Chicken


Tai Pan Mai Fun



The stars of this dish were the house-made fish cake and the strips of melt-in-your-mouth lap cheong sausage. Mai Fun is, of course, thin rice noodles - and a noodle dish is traditional at Chinese New Year.


Fried Pork Chop with Sweet Sauce

This meat melted off the bone and melted in the mouth. Yum.


Fried Grouper with Hot and Sour

This dish apparently took the place of the more traditional steamed whole fish course - and that was fine with me! I don't know where Tom gets it - but his fish is always amazingly fresh and this grouper was no exception. The deep fried morsels were stir fried with pickled vegetables (hence the "sour") and chili sauce. I think this was my favorite dish of the evening.





There was a long pause after the fish course (which is traditionally last or next to last at a Chinese Banquet) and we thought we were done (everyone in my earshot sounded very full). Then, a last savory plate came to the table:


Chinese Eggplant with Chicken and Fresh Basil



Another perfect combination of flavors and textures.

After another pause - dessert was served:


Hot Sweet Soup with Mango and White Fungus



I enjoyed the taste of this - but could only manage a few bites. I was FULL.

I swear that I am not a shill for Wonton Gourmet - but I guarantee you'll have fun with the treats being served there!