Really chill owners. They hail from Maryland near the Capitol. Uncle went from cooking for…read moreDiplomats to semi-retired cooking for truckers and road trippers through the Carlisle Pennsylvania 76 Turnpike. Once he told me he was from Teochew, Guangdong China, everything became more evident. Uncles an OG Master chef. Teochew people influenced the cuisine of Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore. It is in their blood to make quality everyday food. That fried rice
.......was a masterclass on how to make fried rice; stirred together with house made Canton BBQ Pork Chasu, every rice fresh overnight, coated with just enough msg & soy sauce, and blended just right with peas, onions, garlic, scallions, carrots. If you were to order Indonesian Fried rice, what was served here today would be the unapologetic OG form factor. Masterclass fried rice. Thank you Uncle.
The Sauteed Beef with Onions is not your typical Mongolian Beef, this is how Taiwanese Uncles on the street would stir fry beef with onions. So it's got that little bit of oyster sauce, hoisin, garlic, butter, scallions, onions, and Lee Kum Kee black pepper sauce for the cheating taste....then again I tasted Taiwanese Sacha in there, but who cares, the dish tasted like a walk down memory lane, when an OG Taiwanese owner chef used to make sizzling black pepper beef back in the late 90s in Rowland Heights California down at the food hall in Pacific Plaza. And that's when I popped the question to the owner, "You Taiwanese?" And he responded "Teochew," which is close enough. The cultures are mutually intelligible with the Southern Min of Fujian. And many of uncles peers are from Taiwan, which explains his Mandarin accent.
As for the egg drop soup. Apparently Uncle doesn't like Egg Drop soup, so he intentionally fails at making egg drop soup-- too much eggs clustered together, soup base is to gelatinous because of Tapioca Starch overdose. I would increase the Green Giant Sweet Canned Corn, pop in more white pepper and msg. Uncle clearly gave up. I know he's withholding his potential.
General Tso's is almost perfect, with the breading not completely holding together for an even crunchy crispy. The dried red chillis elevated the entire dish with the intense heat. Thus far, Canaan Restaurant down in West Covina, California has the Orange Beef, General Tso's down to the tee. In my memories, the General Tso's from Grand Gardens in Billings Montana prepared by the Patriarch Chef Alice's Dad is a trip worthy meal. Miss those days living up in Billings.
Alas the Triple Delight. A mix of various vegetables, tossed in a citrus Chasu bbq pork brown sauce, but with a heavy garlic base, if you like a savory pungent throw Everytime in chop-suey style chicken, beef and shrimp dish, this would be a good option. Although taste wise, id give it a 4/5, not the best triple delight I've had, but fair enough.
I am too full. Uncle and Auntie are a gift to this community. COVID really hurt every Chinese Restaurant Owner Operator. The same issues they deal with, every other Chinese restaurant across the United States is also dealing with it. They are of a generation, that will likely take the art of American Chinese Cuisine with them into retirement and the days of Chinese American restaurants outnumbering McDonalds will become a bygone age. A lack of workers willing to step into the high octane stressful restaurant business, a lack of cooks willing to grind their skills behind a wok, the lack of young people willing to take on a server position. These are the very same troubles facing every Chinese restaurant in the United States. And so the only option is to settle, run a 2 person show, with no additional help.....where have I seen this picture? Last week in Memphis at the Hong Kong Restaurant.
My advice? Visit for Chinese American restaurants; they might all just disappear. Millennials won't step up to the plate and taking over legacy restaurants. Gen X is too busy saving for thier 401Ks...Gen Zs will never step foot into a kitchen unless you paid them 20,000 USD a month...our society is f*ckt...
