In 2004, someone I worked with at Fidelity Investments and had lived in China recommended Chau Chow City in Chinatown. He loved dim sum. I'm not into all the pork buns and stuff, but surely they could make some decent American-Chinese food.
I passed several restaurants on my way to Chau Chow, most filled with tourists. A ha! I won't go where the tourists go... I have the inside scoop!
I entered Chau Chow and saw I would be one of three tables full in the whole joint. The other two were Asian groups, one of which I think were employees. Ah well, I was there, might as well order up and see what happens.
It's pretty tough to screw up chicken egg foo yung. I make it at home! I ordered and it was brought out almost immediately... hmm... old foo yung, perhaps? I cut into the Chinese omelet and didn't see any chicken. I looked harder. What is that pink thing? That translucent thing, is that an onion, or...
Raw chicken.
I called the waiter over. "It's not cooked", I said. "Does the chef cook the chicken before adding it to the omelet?" Blank stare. I suddenly felt like I was back in Cairo. Keep the language simple, Beck. "Raw chicken".
"You don't like?"
"Meat is not cooked."
"Want something else from menu?" He rushed to grab a menu.
"Chicken. Pink. Cook longer."
"Ok we cook longer."
The second order took twice as long to come out as the first, so was hopeful. It was definitely cooked longer. Pretty much burnt on the edges. I sliced in and even the egg was cooked longer, so I continued. About halfway through the first omelet, I saw the raw chicken again. I went for the second omelet stacked in the middle, thinking just being sandwiched between two hot omelets would allow more time for internal cooking. It was better, but it still just wasn't tasty and the fear of food poisoning kind of ruined my appetite.
I asked for the bill and got my fortune cookie. The message: "Never give up".
I guess I'll try chicken egg foo yung in Chinatown another time. But I think I'll skip Chau Chow City.
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