Shoulda Said

Thursday, April 01, 2004

Chinese Food Thursday

Okay, it's Chinese Food Thursday, so I have to pose a few questions:
1.) Who was General Tso, and was he some sort of Army chef who just rose through the ranks?
2.) How is it that one piece of chicken in Chinese food, when examined in a cross-section, can contain both light and dark meat?
3.) How do Chinese restaurants always find Asian workers, no matter what part of the country they are located in? You can be at a food court Chinese restaurant in downtown Oklahoma and still find an Asian person working the counter.
4.) Why do some foods taste completely different (but still good) when cold? I'm talking Chinese and pizza here.
5.) If rice is so cheap, why did the expensive potato catch on as the vegetable of choice in the US?

Any answers to the above questions would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE:

Chinese food comes in one of these

I just thought this entry needed a picture.

33 Comments:

  • You must be tired this morning, to not embark on Google research.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59302-2002Apr16

    I hope you get a better fortune this time.
    04/01/2004 10:19:10 AM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:03 AM  

  • Once I went to Mahweh in Foggy Bottom with my mom, and they gave us chicken that was RED inside. When I refused to eat it (seeing as that it is an American custom to avoid allowing parasites to start a family inside of your stomach), they told me that "it [was] supposed to be that way." Maybe I'm just a weird midwesterner, but I have never heard of chicken that is supposed to be red inside.
    04/01/2004 10:21:06 AM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:04 AM  

  • You've never had "Red Chicken Happy Family Delight"? Oh man, that's a DC specialty!
    04/01/2004 10:39:01 AM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:04 AM  

  • Another must to avoid is "Chicken Tartar" (okay, I don't remember what it was actually called, just that it was very, very, very, very pink inside). There were also four or five fish tanks inside this particular restaurant (now thankfully defunct) one of which had an eel in it. Man, that eel did NOT want to be someone's dinner. It took one guy with a net a good five minutes to fish him out of the tank.
    04/01/2004 11:14:02 AM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:04 AM  

  • Eel tastes sort of like I would envision warm cottage cheese tasting. Same consistency, at least. Not that I've ever had cottage cheese, mind you...
    04/01/2004 11:16:08 AM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:04 AM  

  • What if it was cold eel?
    04/01/2004 12:37:56 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:05 AM  

  • Hmm...that's a monkey wrench I hadn't even thought about. Let me get back to you...
    04/01/2004 01:03:33 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:05 AM  

  • I know that General Tso's chicken was chicken invented specifically for the general's private meal. He liked it so much, he shared it with the troops and it became a regular meal. I don't know why I know that...these things just come to me....
    04/01/2004 01:13:07 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:05 AM  

  • officially a shouldasaid nerd: didn't we discuss General Tso once before?

    i'm having deja vu all over again

    also, if i'm correct, is there some sort of prize?
    04/01/2004 03:14:23 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:05 AM  

  • There's a good possibility that, in my daily posting, I have mentioned the general before, especially since we have Chinese every Thursday.

    However, with all these new people, it was worth a re-mention.
    04/01/2004 03:18:57 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:06 AM  

  • Steve, are you writing from prison that you're having the same thing every Thursday?
    04/01/2004 03:26:37 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:06 AM  

  • Yep. Friday is bread and water day!
    04/01/2004 03:30:29 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:11 AM  

  • It's fine to re-mention!


    It's fine to re-mention!
    04/01/2004 03:32:28 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:15 AM  

  • I'm glad you brought up all the new people to the site. I would like to take the time and offer them an official welcome.

    I would bake you all brownies if I had more time.
    04/01/2004 03:40:57 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:15 AM  

  • No time, no time, there's never any time! I'm so excited, I'm so...scared!

    I felt that someone had to make that reference, and, well, who better to do it than me?
    04/01/2004 03:42:05 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:15 AM  

  • I never thought I'd see the day where a guy does a Jessie Spano imitation.
    04/01/2004 04:05:15 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:15 AM  

  • Too bad it's "I'm so excited, I'm so, so... Scared."

    You got it wrong buddy.
    04/01/2004 04:09:10 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:16 AM  

  • I was conserving a "so" in the name of brevity and artistic license.
    04/01/2004 04:15:41 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:16 AM  

  • The rice potato conflict is based on the weapons race begun between nations prior to WWI, accentuated during the nuclears arms race of the Cold War...

    America didn't like communism... in our narrowminded way, we associated RICE with the Orient which was CHINA which was COMMUNIST.. Therefore, rice was the communist staple.. I bet Mccarthy cracked down big on Rice importers.. rice vendors, people who made strange art with rice, underground rice patties, (basement, sandbox sized patty and six heat lamps and you be cookin!)...

    the potato was Irish. AND it was bigger. We liked bigger things, big was power back then. Just cause weapons now are small and fairly elite and high tech and can sail through windows doens't mean they were all that way.
    Once, bigger, better, meatier bombs was all the rage. In the race to outICBM the USSR... we outSTARCHED rice... the potato was big... from it we could derive the AMERICAN CAPITALIST STAPE.... FREEDOM FRIES... SO, in recap...

    Rice= communist
    Potato= good ol american melting pot staple

    Plus Americans always love to spend huge amounts of money on things that they can get for cheaper.. Bombs... Cars... potatos...

    The potato is an integral part of the American life... the AMERICAN DREAM...

    (insert dramatic patriotic theme here...

    and possibly a Kellogs add, or Mckee Dees...

    or a presidential candidate saying... "Hi, I'm so and so, wouldn't you rather have a potato in the White House.")






    in afterthought... any snide comments about rice crispies will not be tolerated.... and no... I don't think Dubyah is a potato...
    04/01/2004 04:32:32 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:16 AM  

  • Wow, that clears up a lot. Thanks man!
    04/01/2004 04:39:11 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:17 AM  

  • Jessie Spano (or the Elizabeth Berkeley formerly known as Jessie Spano) went to my high school and so did her cousins. The theme of her cousin Ben's bar mitzvah was "me with pictures of Jessie Spano." It was cool.
    04/01/2004 04:53:06 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:17 AM  

  • That is by far one of the coolest things I have ever heard of.

    Either that, or I am a huge loser.
    04/01/2004 05:09:45 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:17 AM  

  • You know, Jamie, I remember you bragging about that back in ninth grade. How about you find some new celebrities from your hometown?
    04/01/2004 06:40:39 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:18 AM  

  • Well, I HAD something funny to say, but ... 23 comments?! Fuck that noise. I can't possibly compete. I just wanted to see my name on the board again. GooooOOOOOO JESS!
    04/01/2004 07:29:25 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:18 AM  

  • steve -- come get your ass kicked at literati tonight! (and anyone else for that matter.) IM/MSN. it's important you are initiated to the Official Tribe of Literati Losers
    04/01/2004 07:35:45 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:18 AM  

  • by the way, why do your stupid comments links for everyone all direct back here? is this some sort of ploy?
    04/01/2004 07:40:00 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:18 AM  

  • literati?... sounds like an opera... or a zesty italian dish... if you know what it is steve and it doens't involve eating some savory pasta... skip it... let the little girls have their fun...
    04/01/2004 07:51:05 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:18 AM  

  • My links link to other sites, they just redirect you. I'm not really sure what that means, though.

    Also, I would totally play Literati and win, but I'm actually going out. Maybe another night?
    04/01/2004 08:41:57 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:19 AM  

  • Fine, Steve, damnit! If my Elizabeth Berkeley stories aren't enough for you...Pam Dawber (of Mork and Mindy fame) was also from my city. She lived in my neighborhood, in fact, and her parents still do! So there, oh spiteful one.
    04/02/2004 10:57:14 AM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:19 AM  

  • Not Pam! I LOVE Pam!
    04/02/2004 11:14:21 AM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:19 AM  

  • I don't think there are any Chinese people running the Chinese resturant at the Hedonism III in Jamaica. I've been researching this resort for a possible vacation. They have a Chinese restaurant run all by Jamaican folk.

    Wait a minute...

    ...it's actually a JAPANESE restaurant run by Jamaican folk. Well that makes sense, nevermind.


    P.S.: All the reviews of the place say the food is awesome. I wonder if they have "jerk chicken terriaki" on the menu...
    04/02/2004 12:01:25 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:19 AM  

  • That actually sounds kind of good. I'd buy jerk chicken teriyaki from anywhere BUT Hedonism, but I think anything with the "jerk" prefix would scare me at that place.
    04/02/2004 12:22:42 PM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:20 AM  

  • 1. General Tso was the Chinese version of Col. Sanders.

    2. You really, really don't want to know. Really.

    3. It's either A)part of China's plan for a bloodless world takeover coup, with the added bonus of having everyone used to Chinese food or B) Ever since Bruce Lee's "Return of the Dragon", the Chinese are trying to live up to his vision of the traditional Chinese restaurant.

    4. It's all a factor of what time of day it is, because the later in the day, the more tongue coatings that are interacting with the food. Since most people order Chinese and pizza at night, then eat the remainder for breakfast, voila!

    5. Because Americans instinctively knew the potato would play an important role in american entertainment - they just knew "Mr. Ricehead" wasn't going to work.

    Hope that helps.
    04/03/2004 02:34:53 AM

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:20 AM  

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