New Year's Day Fun at Wonton Gourmet, Asiatown, Cleveland Ohio

New Year's Day can be a strange time for us. My husband's mother celebrates her birthday on that day (this year was her 94th - and she's still sharp as a tack!). So, family doings sometimes get in the way of other social plans. This year, however, it was snow, more than commitments, that bollixed up the day a bit!

Thank goodness we scheduled a NYD meal with friends at Wonton Gourmet (Wonton Gourmet (3211 Payne Avenue, 216-875-7000, no website)(each of the last 8 words has a link to a different FPWF WG post) for the afternoon (and even with that, it was a struggle to get home in one piece). Among the new friends at our table were Greg and Sunny from Tremont's Ty Fun restaurant, which we have yet to sample, but which we have put on our list of New Year's Resolutions (which consists, BTW, of just that one).

We began with appetizers, which I've posted about many times before: turnip cake, chive potstickers, fish maw and conpoy soup. We also ordered the Cilantro Rice Rolls, which I decided to include in this post because they looked so good!

Also, with the first round of our order, we continued working our way through the newer Sichuan (or Szechuan) dishes depicted on the wall, a cold plate:

Hot Spicy Beef Two Ways 

 

This was a classic Chinese cold dish, and a time-honored way to use every bit of the animal. Tough, gristly meat and tripe were slow cooked for many hours, with spice and seasonings, then chilled and topped with an incendiary sauce featuring chilies and Sichuan Peppercorns. The result was tender and delicious and the plate was cleaned, even though neither Bob nor I would have listed tripe as a desired food before we tasted this.

We ordered 4 mains for 8 people and we still had a few leftovers!

Sichuan (or Szechuan) Hot & Spicy Fish

This dish brought the heat and the vinegar, as always. Fresh, crispy fish sat atop cabbage and below the chilies and delighted all of us.

Ma Lai Pork Chop

Given the name of this dish (Mai Lai means numbing and hot -- from Sichuan pepper and chilies), I expected a lot more heat than we got. Oh but the Umami of it all! I can't really describe it - but it was a taste and fragrance that made you want to just keep eating it. With a savory crunch and tender texture, to boot.

We determined to have a noodle dish for New Year's, an Asian tradition that reaches around the entire continent - we asked our server to recommend a good NYD choice, and having narrowed it down to three, we asked Sunny to decide. We were all delighted with his selection!

 Tai Pan Chow Mai

This rice noodle-seafood stir fry paired perfectly with the firestorm of spice on our palates from the Sichuan dishes.

 Finally, in recognition of both our need for vegetable input, and the resemblance of green leafy vegetables to money (another New Year's good luck food):

Sauteed Snow Pea Leaves with Garlic

Our server had recommended these - they  had a fresh-picked taste and texture, and  tasted delicious with the gentle garlic sauce treatment.

The snow was totally out of control by the time we headed home - after slipping and sliding on the highways and our local streets almost all of the way, we decided to wait until the next day to see Bob's Mom. We were also so stuffed from this feast that we put our traditional pork roast and sauerkraut dinner off for a day as well.

Wonton Gourmet continues to consistently deliver truly authentic and tasty Chinese food, and we enjoyed playing with every dish! I again encourage you to pay them a visit, and to venture, as least a little bit, into the world beyond your usual Chinese restaurant fare. It's fun!

New Food to Play With at Wonton Gourmet, Cleveland, OH

When I first started dating my husband Bob in 1991, I told him that the only way I'd consider moving from New Jersey to Cleveland was if Cleveland had a good brewpub and a Chinatown. The fact that I moved to Cleveland four years later is a testament to both Great Lakes Brewing Company and Cleveland Asiatown. I have posted numerous times about Cleveland Asiantown's best Chinese restaurant, Wonton Gourmet, which provides authentic food, mostly Cantonese.

My primary complaint about the state of Asian food in Cleveland has been the lack of authentic Sichuan (or Szechuan) cuisine. Well, based on what I saw and tasted while recently celebrating a good friend's birthday at Wonton, that situation is being remedied.

Thomas, the proprietor and head chef at Wonton, is adding a selection of Sichuan dishes to the menu! I foolishly neglected to photograph the listings on the wall, so I can only show you the one Sichuan dish we enjoyed at the birthday lunch - but since Thomas asked me if he could keep the extra copy of the Asian Bistro menu I had with me (from my last post on Chicago eats), I think we can expect the Wonton Gourmet selection to expand!

And so - we enjoyed another Chinese feast at Wonton Gourmet! First - mostly the usual suspects for appetizers, but a couple of twists:


Cold Jellyfish with Pickled Vegetables and Seasame Seeds

I've never been a huge fan of gooey jellyfish - I've always preferred this delicacy served hot and crispy. But this time - I realized the secret to enjoying this dish - getting some of the pickled vegetables in your mouth together with the jellyfish strands. You know what? It's darn tasty that way! Even Janbo, who was very shy about letting jellyfish past her lips - enjoyed her taste.


Steamed Rice Rolls With Shrimp


Chive Potstickers


Turnip Cake


Steamed Rice Rolls with Green Onion and Cilantro

I much prefer these rolls to their stuffed cousins.

These nibbles were followed by a soup course:


Fish Maw and Seafood Soup with Conpoy (Dried Scallop)

Delicious, as always. The maw adds texture more than flavor, and the conpoy gives a huge hit of the sea!


Oysters with Black Bean Sauce


Golden Tofu Coins with Seafood, Fish and Vegetables

Our server passed our table while delivering a plate similar to this to the table next to us; he said that we had to try this dish today. As always, he was right! I don't know how they get silken tofu to be so firm and crunchy on the outide, while it remains pudding-like on the inside.


Sichuan Spicy Fish

Several folks in our group had already tried this dish on a recent visit, but I hadn't been to Wonton since they started serving the Sichuan dishes.



Exquisitely fresh filet was married with both chiles and Sichuan Peppercorn for a blazing, mouth-numbing experience. I can't wait to try the other Sichuan dishes listed on the wall!


Sauteed Snowpea Leaf with Garlic


Ningko With Shredded Pork

These toothy house-made rice noodle ovals make me swoon with delight every time I eat them!



The contrast of toothy noodle and crisp vegetable is irresistible!


Mai La Ong Choy

This item was also one of the "new" dishes. The Ong Choy was stir fried with a light yet assertive sauce, and lots of ginger - though it looks a lot like the garlic pea leaf dish we'd had earlier - the taste was completely different.

We completed our meal with a birthday cake one of our friends bought at the bakery at the West Side Market. It was a marvelous repast - and I hope a harbinger of spicy fun to come!

More Fun Lunching With Jo-Mel (and Friends) at Chengdu 1

I first blogged about Lunching with Jo-Mel at Chengdu 1 last year. Jo-Mel is the EGullet.org handle for the wonderful lady who first immersed me in Chinese food and culture. This year, we convened at Chengdu 1 in Cedar Grove NJ on May 29, together with Duke Geological Laboratories friend Steve and several EGullet friends - Tracy and Kurt, and Rachel and her mom. The restaurant is located at Pilgrim Shopping Center, 89 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove NJ 07009, (973-239-7726). Although Cleveland has a respectable Asiatown, one thing we still do not have is a genuine Sichuan restaurant, so I greatly enjoy a meal at Chengdu.

To aggravate me further- I'd had a rather emotional discussion with my mom right before we left for New Jersey - so I left my camera there. Thank you to Tracey Zisa Dutschmann for the use of your photos - the balance of the photos are from my cell phone camera, which I don't even know how to use!

Though the servers initially brought us the standard fried wontons and duck sauce, once they realized who we were (lovers of the "real deal") spicy broccoli and peanuts appeared on the table.



We started with the amazing Baby Wontons - this photo is from 2007:



Next up - spicy lamb:






Tracey Zisa Dutschmann

My favorite dish of the day - from the "specials" menu - Ma Po Tofu with Fried Fish - perfect!




Tracey Zisa Dutschmann

Shredded potatoes with chili. Yum.


Tracey Zisa Dutschmann

Stir Fried pea leaves with garlic. Delicious.




Tracey Zisa Dutschmann

This is a dish that Jo Mel taught me to make - steamed spare ribs coated with rice powder (which can be purchased in the Asian grocery, or simply made from rice with a food processor). This version was so tender that the meat fell off the bone - fantastic!



It was served with chunks of potato.

Tracey Zisa Dutschmann

This dish was from a wall special - "baby" eels with yellow chives.



The taste of this dish was incredibly good - but I just could not get over the visual of the little eels and only ate a couple of them.

Jo Mel recommended a "new" book for use in deciphering Chinese menus and getting the best food at any American-Chinese restaurant:



This is on my list to get.

Since we had eight people at the table, we actually avoided having a huge bag of leftovers to take back to East Northport - in fact, other than a few eels, we pretty much demolished everything on the table. We look forward to returning, to play with great spicy food with good friends.

Fun Playing with Sichuan Food in NJ

In my earliest years, I had no interest in cooking or international cuisine. Sometime in the late 1980's, my then-fiance took me to see Juzo Itami's Tampopo, which is a film about food and sex (mostly food), and is subtitled "a noodle western." Tampopo not only whet my appetite for Asian food, but for Asian culture.

After I moved to Montclair (sans fiance) I took Chinese cooking classes with the Montclair Adult School, offered at the teacher's home. She took me to my first Chinese film, The Story of Qui Ju, and I got hooked on Chinese cinema as well as the food and culture. Jo-Mel, as she is known on EGullet, and I became friends, and I try to get to Jersey to dine with her whenever we are out that way. She has taught me all of the little Mandarin I know (she is quite fluent, having studied both at home and in China in the language, cuisine and culture), and is a joy to spend time with.

So what better way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day - we met Jo-Mel at Chengdu 1, Pilgrim Shopping Center, 89 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove NJ 07009, (973-239-7726). Although Cleveland has a respectable Asiatown, one thing we still do not have is a genuine Sichuan restaurant.

Two friends were supposed to join us, but they had to cancel out - so it was left to the three of us to try to dent the 6 page menu, plus the "new specials" page, plus all the items posted on the walls. We'd lunched here with Jo-Mel once before, and she's been a few times - but it was still a large task. References to item numbers below correspond to the menu, which unfortunately does not seem to be online yet.

For starters, we decided to pass on the delicious Sichuan Wonton with Red Oil ("regular" Appetizers #81)



in favor of a handwritten special - Spicy Vegetable Dumpling (Handwritten Special under "Appetizer Szechuan Style"):



The dumplings were awash in a lightly spicy bath. Though they were good - we liked the Sichuan ones better.





We also decided to try the "home made" Sichuan Style Sausage (Wall Poster):








I especially liked the sausage (which was a little too fatty for me) dipped in the Dumpling Bath.

We then proceeded to share five entrees among the three of us - and yes, an ample supply of leftovers was packed up for my mom to try:


Braised Lamb Fillet w/Chili Sauce (House Special #64)



This dish was positively fiery! And the lamb was exquisitely tender and tasty.


Spicy Volcano Chicken (House Special #61a)





This was also quite fiery and most delicious. The final dish was dry fried - and the meat tasted and melted like it had been poached in hot oil and allowed to cook through that way rather than just velvetized.


Sauteed Noodle with Pork and Yellow Chive (Handwritten Special)



We all really liked this - tender noodles, sweet pork and a light sauce that complimented the spicy dishes perfectly.


Scallion Fish Fillet (Fish Szechuan Style #25)





This mild fish dish also complimented the spicy foods well - we had considered a spicy fish dish, but were glad that we reconsidered. The fish was very fresh and the light brown sauce mated well with the scallions.


Pickled Cabbage with Minced Pork (Szechuan Home Style Vegetables #NV1)

This was our least favorite dish. The "pickle" part was very strong, and overwhelmed the other flavors. Despite the visible chilies, to our palates, the sourness overpowered any heat that might have been in the dish. Ironically, my mom, who hates strong flavors and spice, loved these leftovers. Go figure.

We had a marvelous lunch and look forward to dining at Chengdu 1 again!