{"id":1778,"date":"2005-01-30T05:09:00","date_gmt":"2005-01-30T05:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2005\/01\/30\/relearning-chinese"},"modified":"2015-09-24T03:54:31","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T03:54:31","slug":"relearning-chinese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/","title":{"rendered":"(Re)learning Chinese"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve never been a fan of Chinese food, or at least not the stuff that generally goes by that name in the U.S. When I was little, my family often went to our nearby Hunan Chinese Restaurant, but I remember it less for the food than for the d\u00e9cor: the goldfish in the fountain at the center of the room; the tinkly click-click of the beaded curtains<\/strong> in the hallway to the bathroom; and Shawn, the ma\u00eetre d\u2019 with tight, shiny skin and starchy chinos with cavernous front pleats. As for the food, I\u2019ll admit to a pre-teen\u2019s weakness for crispy egg rolls, sweet-and-sour chicken, and beef with snow peas, but I drew the line there. What I knew as Chinese food always seemed to taste the same\u2014lightly salty, greasy, and slimy with cornstarch<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But in recent years, I\u2019ve found myself enjoying many things I\u2019d previously relegated to the \u201cno, thank you\u201d category, and I realized that I had to give Chinese food another shot. After all, my condescension was based almost solely on those childhood experiences in Oklahoma, a state much better known for chicken-fried steak than for Peking duck<\/strong>. For the sake of fairness, I had to give it another go.<\/p>\n

Still, it wasn\u2019t a priority. In fact, I managed to live in Seattle for two years without ever venturing into the International District, although I often thought longingly of things I\u2019d likely find there: bahn mi, rice noodles, knobby vegetables, musty-smelling teas<\/strong>. Note, however, that Chinese food didn\u2019t make the list.<\/p>\n

But all that changed last Sunday, when Kate and I strolled from her apartment down to the \u201cI.D.\u201d (as it\u2019s called around here) on a scouting mission for a cocktail party<\/a> we\u2019re scheming. Dear reader, we both know that I\u2019m prone to exaggeration, but believe me when I say this: I was in heaven<\/em>. We gazed through windows at menus; we stroked bagfuls of wiry greens; and I dragged Kate into all the Chinese bakeries, where I ogled the soft, round buns and brioche-like breads filled with coconut or taro<\/strong>. I could have stared into the bakery cases for hours, singing along dreamily with the easy-listening music (ahh, the sound of my childhood!) that seemed to follow us from storefront to storefront. Even Kate, half-Chinese and something of a regular in the neighborhood, was entranced by the brightly colored, eerily perfect cakes, although she was less impressed with my lip-synching.<\/p>\n

Somewhere along the way, after the fortune-cookie factory and before the Chinese grocery, we passed a restaurant called Shanghai Garden<\/a><\/strong>. Grabbing my arm as though a bolt of lightning had surged through her body, Kate panted something about vines. From what I could understand, Shanghai Garden is apparently known for its stir-fried pea vines, a dish that Kate likens to catnip for humans<\/strong>. Recalling an exchange I\u2019d read on eGullet<\/a>, I asked if they served hand-shaved noodles. Kate nodded. It was a date.<\/p>\n

So last night we two descended on a very full Shanghai Garden, its glass tabletops gleaming and requisite fish tank glowing. We were seated by the window, at a table bathed in surprisingly flattering neon pink light<\/strong>. Warming our hands against white ceramic teacups, we sized up the extensive menu. The pea vines were a must, and after some discussion and more panting, we settled on barley-green hand-shaved noodle chow mein with pork, as well as an order of vegetable steamed dumplings to start.<\/p>\n

The dumplings arrived quickly, little doughy purses gathered into the shape of waves<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Their deep orange skin was a bit unsettling, but we didn\u2019t ask questions. Pinching them with our chopsticks, we dipped them into a sauce of soy and sesame oil with shavings of ginger and, slurping up errant drips, bit into them gently to reveal their verdant spinach filling.<\/p>\n

Then came the pea vines, hot and sleek with oil from the wok. They were sweet, barely wilted, and astoundingly green-tasting, as though they\u2019d just been picked<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The hand-shaved noodles were less photogenic, thick green ribbons stir-fried<\/strong> with egg, Napa cabbage, ruffly carrot coins, and thin strips of pork and piled onto the plate like debris from an explosion.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But they made up in texture (soft, almost melting under the tooth, yet not at all gummy or slippery) and flavor (mild, earthy, comforting) what they lacked in visual sophistication. We had two servings of everything and picked our plates clean, working our chopsticks like long, graceful fingers. We also carried on as usual, howling and slapping the table, making faces and talking microfinance and modern capitalism, but that’s old news by now.
\n
Our fortunes were a bit vague and vanilla,<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

but between the table\u2019s rosy pink glow and our full bellies, we were too happy to care. And anyway, now that I’ve learned my lesson, there\u2019s always next time.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve never been a fan of Chinese food, or at least not the stuff that generally goes by that name in the U.S. When I was little, my family often went to our nearby Hunan Chinese Restaurant, but I remember it less for the food than for the d\u00e9cor: the goldfish in the fountain at the center of the room; the tinkly click-click of the beaded curtains in the hallway to the bathroom; and Shawn, the ma\u00eetre d\u2019 with tight, shiny skin and starchy chinos with cavernous front pleats. As for the food, I\u2019ll admit to a pre-teen\u2019s weakness for crispy egg rolls, sweet-and-sour chicken, and beef with snow peas, but I drew the line there. What I knew as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n(Re)learning Chinese | Orangette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"(Re)learning Chinese | Orangette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019ve never been a fan of Chinese food, or at least not the stuff that generally goes by that name in the U.S. When I was little, my family often went to our nearby Hunan Chinese Restaurant, but I remember it less for the food than for the d\u00e9cor: the goldfish in the fountain at the center of the room; the tinkly click-click of the beaded curtains in the hallway to the bathroom; and Shawn, the ma\u00eetre d\u2019 with tight, shiny skin and starchy chinos with cavernous front pleats. As for the food, I\u2019ll admit to a pre-teen\u2019s weakness for crispy egg rolls, sweet-and-sour chicken, and beef with snow peas, but I drew the line there. What I knew as…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orangette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/molly.wizenberg\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2005-01-30T05:09:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-09-24T03:54:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/01\/Steamed-vegetable-dumplings.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mollyorangette\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@mollyorangette\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Molly\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/\",\"name\":\"Orangette\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/01\/Steamed-vegetable-dumplings.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/01\/Steamed-vegetable-dumplings.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/\",\"name\":\"(Re)learning Chinese | Orangette\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2005-01-30T05:09:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-24T03:54:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/#\/schema\/person\/72d7c362f82fa0578c635d88a69d07fe\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"(Re)learning Chinese\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/#\/schema\/person\/72d7c362f82fa0578c635d88a69d07fe\",\"name\":\"Molly\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/orangette.net\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/orangette.net\/author\/molly\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"(Re)learning Chinese | Orangette","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"(Re)learning Chinese | Orangette","og_description":"I\u2019ve never been a fan of Chinese food, or at least not the stuff that generally goes by that name in the U.S. When I was little, my family often went to our nearby Hunan Chinese Restaurant, but I remember it less for the food than for the d\u00e9cor: the goldfish in the fountain at the center of the room; the tinkly click-click of the beaded curtains in the hallway to the bathroom; and Shawn, the ma\u00eetre d\u2019 with tight, shiny skin and starchy chinos with cavernous front pleats. As for the food, I\u2019ll admit to a pre-teen\u2019s weakness for crispy egg rolls, sweet-and-sour chicken, and beef with snow peas, but I drew the line there. What I knew as…","og_url":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/","og_site_name":"Orangette","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/molly.wizenberg","article_published_time":"2005-01-30T05:09:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-09-24T03:54:31+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/01\/Steamed-vegetable-dumplings.jpg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@mollyorangette","twitter_site":"@mollyorangette","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Molly","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/orangette.net\/#website","url":"http:\/\/orangette.net\/","name":"Orangette","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/orangette.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"http:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/01\/Steamed-vegetable-dumplings.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/01\/Steamed-vegetable-dumplings.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/","name":"(Re)learning Chinese | Orangette","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/orangette.net\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2005-01-30T05:09:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-24T03:54:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/orangette.net\/#\/schema\/person\/72d7c362f82fa0578c635d88a69d07fe"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/relearning-chinese\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/orangette.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"(Re)learning Chinese"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/orangette.net\/#\/schema\/person\/72d7c362f82fa0578c635d88a69d07fe","name":"Molly","sameAs":["http:\/\/orangette.net"],"url":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/author\/molly\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2371,"href":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions\/2371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}