Saturday, August 2, 2008

Holy crap: Asian food is sold in Flushing!

I was getting concerned that the papers hadn't written about the Asian food of Flushing recently. But the NY Times has put my mind at ease:

Everything tastes different in Flushing, Queens, the best neighborhood in New York for tasting the true and dazzling flavors of China. The dumplings are juicier here, the noodles springier, the butter cookies flavored with a bit of salty green seaweed, as a cookie at a French bakery might be sprinkled with fleur de sel. The perfume of roasted Sichuan peppercorns and the sound of dough slapping against countertops lures visitors down to the neighborhood’s subterranean food malls, where each stall consists of little more than a stove and a specialty: slow-cooked Cantonese healing soups; fragrant, meaty Sichuanese dan dan noodles; or Fujianese wontons, no bigger than a nickel, that spread their fronds in clear broth.

Finding Beijing in Flushing

When I read the title "Finding Beijing in Flushing" I thought they might speak to residents who came from Beijing to find out what they thought about eminent domain abuse and reports of forced labor being used for the Olympics in China. Or maybe why they left home to come here; what are the conditions back in China? But they gave us a dim sum report instead for the hundredth time (Which actually has a funny follow-up). Later this month my money will be on a report about soccer players at Flushing Meadows and how the vibrant mosaic is happy selling food from pushcarts in the shadow of the U.S. Open.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! The NY Times managed to write an article about Queens without hitting the following keys on their keyboard:

F1 - "vibrant"
F2 - "diversity"
F3 - "multicultural"
F4 - "mosaic"

How come they never profile any of those other exotic Chinese foods? Like that caged furry creature that looked like a raccoon I saw for sale when I took a tour of Guangzhou? Or how about a restaurant selling civet meat?

Those stories would appeal to the upper west side brunch crowd!

Anonymous said...

Wow can the blogger and his/her readers be more xenophobic?

You expected to read all of that, eminent domain abuse etc., in a piece in the DINING section?

This just follows the many immigrant bashing posts to form a disturbing pattern, i used to come here to get news about the great neighborhood i live in, not any more.

Mr. Nichols, i have followed your racist posts as well. Are you serious about the furry animal in Guangzhou or the selling of a civet? Why don't you open the seminal american culinary masterpiece, Joy of Cooking. Page 515 in my edition, how to cook...Raccoon, Squirrel, Opossum, and Porcupine.

Get over yourself and don't bother telling me about how you manage your portfolio to beat the market so your epeen is bigger than mine, irrelevant.

Queens Crapper said...

What the hell was "xenophobic" about what I wrote? I asked for more substance from the times with regards to Flushing, not food reports, which is what they most frequently write about the place.

Anonymous said...

"This just follows the many immigrant bashing posts to form a disturbing pattern"

Where were immigrants bashed here? If anything, Crappy bashed the NY Times. Get a grip, pal.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Anonymous obviously doesn't know what the word xenophobic is, and doesn't know what criticism of newspaper coverage reads like. Shame how our schools fail our children these days.

Anonymous said...

How fucking funny...the place was shut down after the Times did their story! That's classic.

Anonymous said...

Be willing to bet that these Chinese came from Taiwan and not the PRC.
But then the NYTs always did prefer the color red.

Queens Crapper said...

It does say this:

“From the 1970s until recently, the Taiwanese dominated Flushing, along with Koreans,” he said. “Now it is people from all over mainland China.” Fujian, on the southeast coast, is still the primary source of immigrants to New York, he said, but many who arrive from there actually have roots in the north, center and west of China.

Beijing’s cooks are preparing to feed the world when the Olympics begin next week, but Flushing can provide New Yorkers with a local taste of China’s most diverse food city. The cuisine traditionally associated with Beijing is the Mandarin style of the capital’s aristocrats, but today every part of China is represented there, and that is also the case in Flushing.

Anonymous said...

Funny how the commenters on that site all want to come back to visit Flushing for the food, but none of them have said they want to live there. Wonder why? Some of them left Flushing decades ago. They should see what it looks like now.

Anonymous said...

The problem with having sex with a Asian woman is that 20 minutes later you're horny again.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 1 is right on, Crapper and lots of the commenters here have issues with ethnic minorities living in Queens.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 1 is right on, Crapper and lots of the commenters here have issues with ethnic minorities living in Queens.

----------

I think the problem you have is that they dont need to get elected, exploit laborers, or exploit tenants.

In other words, some of the posters here do not benefit finanicially from immigrants like you, or people that talk like you do.

So if they see a stinking filthy immigrant slum (if its ok to say that about the Lower East Side of 1908, its ok to say that about Queens of 2008) noisy, overcrowded, and unsightly, it is their right to say so.

Perhaps you wish to suspend the rights of American citizens (um like freedom of speach) to protect illegal immigrants.

Why?

Anonymous said...

That is easy.

They have a ve$ted intere$t in perpetuating a fanta$y and your honesty is injecting a bit of reality into Queens that is putting a fly in the ointment.

Go Crappy!

Anonymous said...

I think the real problem is that minorities get really upset when whites refer to ANYTHING regarding their culture, lifestyle, cuisine etc. As if whites should never dare discuss what they "know nothing" about. I think minorities need to get a grip and relax. They're too sensitive.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Nichols, i have followed your racist posts as well.

Right away you've conceded that you're losing the argument. Anytime fools such as you start throwing around the word "racist" or "xenophobic", you admit that your cognitive skills are lacking, and you can't debate someone. Look up Godwin's Law and reductio ad Hitlerum for some background on yourself.

Are you serious about the furry animal in Guangzhou or the selling of a civet?

No, I just like to make stuff up to drive fools like you crazy. Hard to imagine that an "immigrant basher" such as myself has traveled all over the world, places that you've probably never heard of, nor can afford to go to either.

Get over yourself and don't bother telling me about how you manage your portfolio to beat the market so your epeen is bigger than mine, irrelevant.

You're quite irrelevant, and I've managed to get over you already. Now back to my portfolio......

Anonymous 1 is right on, Crapper and lots of the commenters here have issues with ethnic minorities living in Queens.

No, we have issues with liberal ass holes who are more interested in trolling blogs looking for evidence of "racism", than having concerns about the degradation and decline of a once great borough. Get a life creep!

Anonymous said...

hey!
some of us liberal assholes are very racist. don't assume anything.

Anonymous said...

some of us liberal assholes are very racist. don't assume anything.

Indeed.

Those on the right have their issues, but those on the left are worse - the so-called "soft" bigotry of low expectations perpetrated mostly by those on the left is far more damaging to society than those on the right who simply wish to be left alone.

Anonymous said...

"...than those on the right who simply wish to be left alone."

All the while sticking their middle finger up at the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

Check the dirty restaurant list on the NYC Department of Health web site before eating in Flushing. The NY Times didn't.

Anonymous said...

man, i can't wait 'til democrats are in charge again. i would love to see you "wade" crying when you're in that 50% tax bracket.

Anonymous said...

All the while sticking their middle finger up at the rest of us.

That's quite chav! I prefer maintaining a stiff upper lip, while holding a stiff drink in my hand, and my wife holding my stiff...oh forget it!

Anonymous said...

That's quite chav! I prefer maintaining a stiff upper lip, while holding a stiff drink in my hand, and my wife holding my stiff...oh forget it!
.......

And watching the summer squalls over the bay in Bermudah.

Anonymous said...

some of us liberal assholes are very racist. don't assume anything.
---------------------

Ever hear a politican the day after election day?

George Wallace would blush.

Anonymous said...

you have a wife? poor woman. and i doubt there's anything "stiff" about you. you're probably some middle-aged limp biscuit! go get some viagra.
HA!

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness for freedom of speech, so everyone can see out in the open how Wade Nichols is an ignorant racist. Keep posting Wade.

Anonymous said...

"Ever hear a politican the day after election day?
George Wallace would blush."

No, enlighten me.

Anonymous said...

Anon: I think minorities need to get a grip and relax. They're too sensitive.

FYI, non-Hispanic whites are actually the minority in NYC. So, uh, get a grip y'all.

W. Nichols: No, we have issues with liberal ass holes who are more interested in trolling blogs looking for evidence of "racism", than having concerns about the degradation and decline of a once great borough.

In that case, I'd like to hear more about the Golden Era of this supposedly degraded, "once great" borough. It's easy to put on your negativity goggles and complain about all the changes each day brings, but to me Queens looks to be in pretty good shape.

Anonymous said...

you're probably some middle-aged limp biscuit! go get some viagra.

Hardly, my fat freaked flaccid friend! Anytime you want to race me around Central Park, let me know. It's 6 miles, one lap around the perimeter. How many times around shall we race, 5?

but to me Queens looks to be in pretty good shape.

You must live in Manhattan, or if you do live in Queens, Breezy Point. Too bad your waist line isn't in shape.

Anonymous said...

hey , they forgot to mention the rats they cook and serve with the fry rice and egg roll.
and the piss in the wongton soup!!!

Anonymous said...

"hey , they forgot to mention the rats they cook and serve with the fry rice and egg roll.
and the piss in the wongton soup!!!"

That's only served to the pale faces.

Anonymous said...

I don't know exactly what kind of mystery meat is being "delicately" prepared and served up to gourmands
but:

On the east side of Mulbeery Street just south of Canal Street in Manhattan's "Chinatown", there's a variety/housewares store that sells humane trapping cages (outside on the sidewalk) just about the size required to capture a rat!

Now this may be the lunar year of the rat but....ahem....the purpose of these cages puzzles me!

Happy dining you more adventurous folks, but I'll stick to tofu and vegetarian dishes!

At least I can easily identify the bok choy and bean sprouts
that are heaped upon my plate!

Anonymous said...

Hey that asian girl in the picture looks hot!

Anonymous said...

wade nichols: You must live in Manhattan, or if you do live in Queens, Breezy Point. Too bad your waist line isn't in shape.

Wow.
You're either confusing me with another Anonymous whose waist line you're more intimately familiar with, or ad abdominem attacks are the most sophisticated you're capable of.

Anyway, I live on the Northern Boulevard edge of Astoria, among a variety of the immigrant populations that seem to creep you guys out. And you know what? That's why my wife and I moved here... for the interesting colors and flavors that make up the most diverse county in America.

But I'll admit we have only lived here for four years. And my ears and mind are open, so when you're done insulting the waist lines of strangers, I'd still like to hear about the "once great" era of Queens.

Anonymous said...

And you know what? That's why my wife and I moved here... for the interesting colors and flavors that make up the most diverse county in America.
-----------------

You a social worker or something? You like a community where the services suck? Your kids in local public schools (where being white is as good as any excuse to beat the kid up.) You rent or did you buy your home?

One of the fundamental truths of housing is when 'those people' move into a community, it is no longer considered disirable.

Get real. This is not a local newspaper that accepts party ordered bullshit.

Anonymous said...

"One of the fundamental truths of housing is when 'those people' move into a community, it is no longer considered desireable."

Sad, but true.

Anonymous said...

How about the illegal immigrant chinese medical practishoners in apartment buildings. I was on 41st ave in one of the asian apartment buildings, and I went in to an apartment and there were two people streched out on cots taking IV supplements.

This is an apartment building not a medical building. How does this crap pass the dept of heatlth? After the IV bottles are finished where do the spent syringes go? You guessed it in the ordinary trash bags.

People wonder why diseases that were cured years ago are comming back ie. measles. This country is out of control. The people who live here can't get health care without forking over their lifesavings, and illegal immigrants set up shops in apartment houses catering to their own getting paid cash under the table. What a fucking country!!!

Anonymous said...

Not all Asians eat only Asian food.

Check out Macedonia AME Church
on food bank giveaway days.

Taiwanese/Chinese, maybe some Koreans, form a long line up the block for handouts.

I've seen similar lines at Ebeneezer Baptist Church.