Restaurants: Su Xing House: Philadelphia, PA

lest you believe that everything in philadelphia is totally gross, let me quickly tell you about a wonderful place mr benjamin picante rhine turned me onto during my aforementioned visit: su xing house! su xing is an adorable all-vegetarian chinese joint in center city. i was in such a daze that i neglected to notice exactly where, but menupages says 15th and sansom, so let's go with that.

i'm broke as a joke that isn't particularly funny, so i'm all about LUNCH SPECIALS!

we got miso soup! tough to mess up, wonderful to eat.


ben ordered this gorgeous shredded soy protein in garlic sauce, with a side of braised mushrooms. OM NOM NOM NOM


i had general tso's tofu with a side of seaweed - the best general tso's tofu i've ever had! crispy, light, and the perfect mix of sweet and spicy - and the ginormous chilis lurking between the tofu cubes made me really happy.

congratulations, philadelphia - you have ONE THING that doesn't suck.

Wok Like A Zombie

FOWYGET? (Friend of Were You Gonna Eat That?) Hilary is OBSESSED with everything Asian - mostly Asian men, but also Asian food sometimes. She taught us how to make this INCREDIBLE, super spicy stir fry that may actually be eating my stomach lining, but is totally wonderful.



INGREDIENTS:
- olive oil
- 1/2 clove garlic, chopped
- chilis
- one block extra firm tofu, cubed
- broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
- baby bok choy, slightly steamed
- 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 package white mushrooms, sliced
- rice vinegar
-apple cider vinegar
- soy sauce

Hila taught me how to make this first as a sauce for vegetables, and then we turned it into a stir fry - so this is largely improv. We started out by frying the tofu in olive oil with a little garlic and a few crushed chilis, so it would be firmer on the sides and also spicy and delicious. Hilary is very patient and i am not.


When the little cubes were brown on the sides and lookin' fine, Hila put them in a separate bowl so they could sit and wait for the glorious bed of vegetables that awaited! We started up another pan with olive oil, generous chopped garlic and what Hilary helpfully describes as "enough" chilis. Then we added mushrooms and the pulp from the tomatoes. Those cooked until they smelled so good we just about died.

Um, that keeps posting sideways. Not sure why. Okay! Hila steamed the bok choy just a little bit to soften it up, while I added the broccoli. When both of these things were starting to soften, we combined them with the diced tomato and finally the tofu.


The next part is critical! Sprinkle the stir fry with a light coating of rice vinegar, followed by a splash of apple vinegar. Let that simmer for a bit, and then when you're absolutely sure everything is almost done cooking, add a generous helping of soy sauce. This will change the chemical composition of what's happening, so you have to take the stir fry off the heat shortly thereafter - I don't know; it's science. Do what the nice lady tells you. The resulting sauce will be SPICY AS FUCK, but amazing.

Enjoy over brown rice! I am about to go make some right now.