A chef recently told me he got bawled out by somebody who couldn’t believe his Thai restaurant didn’t offer take-out. “She was like, ‘You don’t deliver? You don’t do take-out?’ I told her that we didn’t even have take-out containers. It’s very ethnocentric,” he said.

What many Americans — myself included – are accustomed to when it comes to Asian food, Chinese cuisine especially, comes in cardboard boxes with wire handles. There’s always sushi — which is typically made well and ornately arranged —but the finer side of Asian cuisine often gets overshadowed by that which comes with sauce packets and disposable chopsticks.

An upcoming series of meals at Harvest Moon Chinese Cuisine – which itself is an exception to fast Chinese food – will showcase the finer side of Chinese cuisine. It’s called the Man Han Imperial Feast and each meal is three-hours long with a total of 11 wine-paired courses crafted by master noodle chef YongDong “Tony” Wu. Wu is known for his knowledge of ancient hand-pulled noodle-making techniques.

The dinners aren’t cheap — $80 to $100 per person — but I did mention there are 11 wine-paired courses, right? They take place between Tuesday, Sept. 6, and Monday, Sept. 12. Reservations are required; 825-5351.

And if you really want to see some gourmet Chinese cooking, the restaurant is offering a $150-a-plate dinner by author and chef Martin Yan of the show Yan Can Cook on Saturday, Sept. 10. $100 is tax-deductible, and reservations are required; 292-6900.

Also, just in case you have like 10 minutes to waste watching a guy swing dough around, here’s a video of Chef Wu doing his noodle magic. It gets pretty amazing around the eight-minute mark.

Chef Tony Wu’s pulled noodles, with Chef Martin Yan from C J Phillips on Vimeo.

This article appears in Aug 11-17, 2011.

16 replies on “Do You Like Chinese Food? Do You Really Like Chinese Food?”

  1. Everything had a snazzy feel to it until talk of Chef Wu’s ancient Hand-Pulled Noodle technique was mentioned! Is this for real? I’ll skip the noodle magic and head out for some Chow Mein, Pork Fried Rice, and Barbecued Spare Ribs. Now were talking 😉

  2. Yuck – this is not Chinese. Why do i have to tell these .?,>/ people again. There’s got to be a reason why TW reviewers are brain dead about Chinese food – and it is ???

    So – There’s not 11 drinkable wines in China – so – pasta and wine = Italian with a Chinese cook?

    What’s the learning problem here in Tucson – get on a plane – go to SF, Vanc, HK, Taiwan, Shang … eat … learn … stop writing dumb reviews.

  3. When I lived in Japan, a friend of mine went to China. There she dined on fried scorpions… and they didn’t cost $80 per person.
    The vast majority of Chinese cannot dine on gourmet. Therefore, Chinese food to me is not gourmet. Granted, it’s far from the sweet and sour pork.. but closer than fine wines and “Imperial Feasts.”

  5. Hey there, Sweatin’ Gravy! The learning problem isn’t just Tucson, it’s a part of the massive Dumbing Down of America. “Idiocracy” is a comedy movie that is fast becoming a documentary. If we don’t wake up, we’ll all be laid down. Wise up, America…both literally and figuratively. “Get Smart” was a T.V. show, now, it’s a rallying cry.

    Dave T.

  6. I’d love to see someone mention the names of 4 drinkable wines in china..or more. lol!

  8. Sounds good. BUT

    …wanting take out boxes is not ethnocentric – its is the fact that they make us feel shitty when they make us ask for forks (and nooo pasta spoons) so eating noodles (and fried rice!?) in house is way too messy and chopsticks are awkward and prevent us from slurping the yummy goodness it down as fast as we want to. Sorry I didn’t grow up asian and I can navigate chopsticks for sushi but that’s about it. I am thinking of building a model airplane with all my unused disposable chopsticks.

  9. I know. “They” are so bad for adhering to “their” cultural traditions. Why can’t “they” just form the fried rice into burger patties so “we” can eat it “our” way. This melting pot seems like more or a crack-pot to “me” at times.

  11. Goodness adam you’re sure testy. Its a good thing “they” are more understanding of customer needs than “you” are because if “you” were “their” representative I wouldn’t eat there at all. Sorry I am not getting lobster sauce all over my clothes to keep from offending a food blogger with no sense of humor.

  12. I really don’t get this place. Your reviewers can hurt a restaurants reputation and call it journalistic integrity when it very well may be personal preference, yet I can’t poke fun at my own inability to use chopsticks on certain foods and I am an ethno centric crackpot? Adam I am more ethnos wrapped in one package than food trucks you’ve reviewed in the last month.

    Its a really good thing y’all are not the subjects of the stories and blogs you write because a couple of you have very thin skins and by “you” I mean you. And danehy.

  14. Ok then how about I just tell you I am a frickin melting pot and maybe a little cracked too but that is as close as you got to the truth.

  15. And here we find common ground! Let us both revel in our imperfect crackedness and move forward. Flying off the handle when it comes to what I perceive as cultural insensitivity has long been my short fuse. I’m that guy who got in the fight on the school bus defending the kid getting picked on. Sorry if I didn’t pick up on your sense of humor.

  16. hey that’s cool. sometimes i forget people don’t know me personally and i joke around a lot. i was only trying to convey that i love love love chinese food and that i’ve suffered more than one embarrassment in public using chopsticks.

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