Here to fulfill all your Nonny needs!

Happy Birthday, Willy Wonka!

Instructions for Commenting

YOU CAN COMMENT EVEN WITHOUT REGISTERING!

1) Make up a name--don't use your real name.
2) Click the "Post a Comment" link at the bottom of the blog post and then type your comment in the "Leave your comment" textbox.
3) If you have a Google or Blogger account, then click the "Google/Blogger" button in the "Choose and identity" section.
4) Otherwise, click the "Name/URL" button, and then put in your fake name in the "Name" textbox. You can leave the URL blank.
5) Or, you can chose Anonymous. In that case, put your fake name in your comment.
3) Make sure to put your fake name in your comment somewhere. Repeat commentors will be entered on Nonny's Hall of Fame!
4) Use the same fake name each time so we all know who's saying what.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

MPBSFA Day 1: Dynasty Turned Out To Be Just MMD.

You might be asking yourself, "Hm. Did she just say, 'MMD?' Or, am I imagining things?" No, you are not imagining things. I did indeed say that Dynasty was just "MMD." For those of you who are not one of my sisters, I will explain. MMD is short for "ma ma day." That's Cantonese for "just so-so," or "meh *shrug*."

After dining at Dynasty this evening, both MonkeyPig and I have judged Dynasty to be merely MMD. It could be that we are spoiled rotten from Monterey Park Chinese food, what with its Sam Woos and Ocean Stars, but we really weren't blown away by Dynasty.

After hanging around at the Nu residence for a while, MonkeyPig and Nonny Nu went to dinner with Freelance Midget and her studmuffin. Sorry, I forgot to bring my camera so I can't personally document any of this, so I'm providing pics from the Net. We had the Fish Maw and Crab Soup (MonkeyPig's choice), Stir Fried Chinese Spinach (mandatory), Scallops and Shrimp in Szechuan Sauce (studmuffin's choice), and Chicken in Dynasty Sauce (Freelance Midget's choice). Now, I thought that the soup and scallops/shrimp were okay, and I actually really liked the chicken because they used thigh meat instead of breast meat, which made the chicken dish very moist. But, MonkeyPig, the guest of honor, was unimpressed by it. She thought the chicken too fatty because it was thigh meat. But, that's what I loved about it! Anyhow, we also had hot and sour soup at the end because we were still hungry. That included a strange ingredient that is not traditionally in hot and sour soup, and it caught us by surprise (and not in a good way).

But, the veggies were the worst. Growing up, the number one most beloved kind in my family was Chinese spinach. (It still is.) The stem is hollow, so I used to use it like a straw to drink soup, which thrilled my mother. (She was also charmed when I lost one of my front teeth and routinely pulled noodles through the hole it created.) Anyhow, Chinese spinach is easy to stir fry. You just cut it into manageable lengths, put them into a heated wok with garlic and oil, toss them around, and you're set. Whether stir fried in garlic, or stir fried in garlic and chili, or stir fried in garlic, chili, and preserved tofu. No matter what other flavors we put in it, it will look something like this or this. But, when the Chinese Spinach showed up, we were awed by its hue. It wasn't green like what we had all expected and grown accustomed to. Instead it was almost turqoise.

But that is what did Dynasty in for me. If you can't do a decent Chinese spinach stir fry, then you're in trouble.

3 comments:

Man from U.N.C.L.E. said...

Well, I'm sorry the spinich stir fry didn't meet your expectations. On the other hand, I can say that Cl. Panic definitiely takes better sea creature photos than the Laurin A. photographed shots featured in the Dynasty link!

Cl. Panic said...

Well, thank you MFU!

I have a feeling I might be able to take better rice pictures as well, though I've never had the inclination to do so. Someone ought to show Laurin how the auto focus works!

Nonny Nu said...

Until Cl. Panic explained to me that I'm supposed to hold the button until the blue rectangle shows up and then click all the way, I didn't know that that was how to use it. I guess a lot of people get too excited to read the instructions before using their camera. Or, in my case, I didn't have any instructions since I am using a hand-me-down one. Laurin A., however, should know better--she has 269 reviews on Yelp!