Great China

Connie, Quressa, and I had dinner last night at The Great China restaurant on Kittredge in Berkeley. It's like the only Chinese food place I'll eat at in Berkeley. Growing up with a Chinese mom who was (and still is) an awesome cook and cooked on a makeshift outdoor propane-propelled-gas-ring-of-fire that my dad rigged up for her out of mutual zaniness, I'm picky about where I'll eat Chinese food. I know good Chinese food and, with it, I know bad.

[Short diversion on Connie: She saved me from a pool of vomit once, years back, when I was much younger and couldn't handle my drink. I owe her, big time.]

We wiggled our way through the tight space and ordered the Mongolian beef, spicy eggplant with garlic sauce, and kung po three combo. The waitress commented that we ordered all spicy food. Yes, yes, we did.

The Mongolian beef was riddled with little dried red chilis and chili flakes. It came on a bed of crispy noodles over a leaf of lettuce. The beef was tender and just melted on the tongue. I don't know what they do to make beef so soft and tender but whatever it is, it's awesome. The kung po three combo was a stir-fry of chicken, beef, shrimp, waterchestnuts, peanuts, and zuchinni all tossed in some brown sauce. The shrimp were tender and just perfectly cooked. The waterchestnuts added a fresh crispy crunch and was a great texture compliment to the cool smushiness of the zuchinni. The eggplant was a different sort of spicy from the other dishes. Whereas the heat came primarily from the red chilis in the Mongolian beef and three combo, the spiciness came from the eggplant itself, which was then intensified with the chilis. The eggplant was bit oily and I couldn't really figure out where the garlic flavor went in the garlic sauce, but it wasn't bad.

During dinner, Connie asked if I ever cooked Chinese food. I thought about it for a moment and wondered, "Isn't everything I make Chinese food?"