SubscribeI have found the source of the five pounds I am going to gain in the next two weeks. And I don’t know what to call it. My dad calls it breakfast.
And before you go turning your nose up at this concoction, you must hear me out. A note, you ought to like either one or both of the following to imagine what this might taste like: hot and sour soup and fried rice. And not just any bowl of either, but my dad’s — which are phenomenally better than some of the crap I’ve sampled around the country.
Hear me out, before you go turning your nose up at this bowl of goodness.
So here’s what it is: fried rice with some hot and sour soup poured over-top. And that’s it. Amazing.
I think I know why I like it so much. When I was a kid, I’d go wait tables on Saturdays with my dad at our first restaurant, Kwan’s Chinese Cuisine (54th and Penn Ave. in Minneapolis — still there, same owners we sold to 14 years ago), all I would eat was fried rice with my dad’s homemade warm sweet and sour sauce on top. This new deal is the grown-up version — with some spice, a little tofu and all the other hot and sour soup fixings.
I love the spiciness, the bite from the vinegar and the tinge of sweetness that my dad adds to his hot and sour. Super addicting. Come try it sometime.
But the real question is, could I sell it? If I did, how might I come up with a name for it?
And since I plan on eating more tonight… I made sure to workout today. I’m trying a Gold’s Gym and I managed a two-mile run around Shakopee.
Ben … this sounds INCREDIBLE. If I’m ever in Minnesota, I will make it a point to try to go to your family’s restaurant. Everything you talk about always sounds so good!
again, my mouth is watering after reading your blog. stop teasing me! I’ve gotta try this concoction…its like ‘zhou’ (pronounced joe) or porridge, the rice-water based breakfast for about 1.3 billion (chinese) people, but with flavor! And that brings up another point you should write about; Chinese breakfast. How can they have such great dishes and thousands to chose from but such horrible, tasteless breakfast? I like your version of zhou better already
I’d eat this every morning if I could. Cool site, dude!
A better congee?
This is totally not zhou/jook/congee – the texture of the rice is too rice-like! But man, this sounds like The Best Thing for the morning after the night before, if you know what I mean.
I’m sold. I’m marching my ass to the nearest chinese food joint and mixing this up for myself. I’ll let you know how it goes (probably won’t be as good as Uncle Tat’s).