Notices by Adrianna Tan (skinnylatte@hachyderm.io), page 12

@jbaggs @goorzhel oh the place I mentioned is in Oakland

SF Chinatown has a handful of Vietnamese Chinese spots too, like San Sun

@kkarhan i know all the right places everywhere. I’m speaking specifically to the industrialization of modern Chinese food that means that not many places in the world do that type of thing that very specific way.

@jbaggs oh yeah there is an amazing chicken pho place over there. It’s super good

One of my favorite new businesses in SF Chinatown: Rice Roll Express.

It’s so ridiculous: they stone mill rice. To make rice roll flour. That is then steamed and layered with delicious things. They then steam it, to order.

They do a type of ‘cheung fun’ with a standard and quality of care I don’t even expect in East Asia anymore.

@jlin I can’t eat and live like that all the time anymore, but it was very nice when I prioritized that sort of thing.

Today; I think any community that cooks with care and for others, does the same for me no matter how skilled or nice they are.

@jlin I was very much in that world. It’s pretty glorious.

I don’t think I appreciated the history and continued existence and thriving of SF Chinatown until I went to other west coast city Chinatowns and saw how bleak they can be.

The one here fought the City’s attempt to gentrify and absorb them into the financial district (accusations of blight and filth, as always); and found a way to lean into its identity as one of the oldest Chinatowns in the world, while still continuing to provide a landing pad to current day newcomers.

I also like that SF Chinatown has super specialized stores for some things I want. For example, SF Poultry on Grant has the different types of chicken that you would use in specific Chinese dishes. There used to be a hyper specialized hotpot supplies plus food store, but I’m trying to find out if they moved or closed.

At Yummy Bakery, I like the paper soufflé cupcake, coconut tart, egg white tart, and all of the buns (hot dog bun, cream bun, pineapple bun). I think it’s one of my favorite Chinese bakeries anywhere (I also like Napoleon Super in Oakland Chinatown).

I think that for most people, the Chinese food at 606 is widely accessible, just order anything on the menu and it’ll be good, it’s affordable and people speak English and it’s very, very clean. It’s also near City Lights the bookstore, so it’s a great tourist spot.

There are some more old school places which are a bit less accessible unless you go with a local, but for most people I would say just go to 606, to start with.

Trans-America should become the HQ for trans people everywhere.

#SanFrancisco #Photography#Chinatown

I also like Oakland Chinatown a lot, which has more of a Vietnamese Chinese identity as well (especially near Lake Merritt). Between these two Chinatowns which are easily accessible for me, I get almost all of the food and goods I want, including my coffee from Malaysia, noodles from Taiwan, rice balls, hundreds of different Chinese soy sauce types. I always say the only thing I can’t get here is fresh pandan leaf (I get that frozen) and maybe very specialized Indonesian things (like candlenut), but other than that, I can get just about anything between the Chinese, Cambodian and Vietnamese stores. Even fresh Vietnamese herbs like perilla, and laksa leaves.

I think the food scene in SF Chinatown should get more accolades than it does. There’s been so much growth in good new stuff, younger people taking over family businesses (like at 606); doing trendy new things (Four Kings). There’s the high end Chinese food I love (Empress Boom, Mister Jiu) and the super low key local Chinese bakeries (Yummy Bakery, Garden Bakery, etc).

There are the good grocery stores (Sun Kau Shing) and amazing snack shops where you can get different instant noodles in single packs (Pang Kee). There’s a great tea store (Red Blossom); a good matcha place (Maiko). There’s locally made tofu (Wo Chong. You get this at grocery stores but they have more types here); 150+ yr old artisanal Chinese sausage and cured meats businesses (Mow Lee Shing Kee). Good quality dried goods that I need for my soups and congees (Chung Chou).

Personally I prefer rthe *type* and density of Chinese foods in Chinatown vs the west side Chinese spots that people like. I also just much prefer the urban density here.

#SanFrancisco #Food #Chinatown

When I was last in Surabaya, my best friend asked me what I wanted to eat. I gave her a list of 20 things. When I arrived, 15 of those were on the dining table. I forgot to say, 20 things over 5 days, not all at once..

I had a good friend who was married to one of the best French chefs there. I have relatives who have street food businesses that are now widely and internationally recognized. I love that people love feeding me!

I used to be part of one. My friend Ivan in Singapore was one of the most knowledgeable food writers I know anywhere. As an aspiring young food eater / writer, he loved nothing more than to invite me to his meals with his friends. They were all in the 50s and 60s and had such refined taste across all global cuisines. I had more good wine than I need to have tried in a lifetime with those generous uncles and aunties. Even today when I go home, I love eating with Ivan. Last time we met we went to a secret Peranakan supper club in someone’s home.. that had super traditional food you don’t get outside of old people’s homes.

@NilaJones bit of both. Eating out and cooking well for others are both things that people tend to like doing

@JessTheUnstill probably a ‘interrupt them while they’re having dimsum and hope to be adopted’ kind of thing

Or go through someone with an in haha

There are local San Francisco eating clubs hosted by elderly Chinese men and women, and my life goal is to be accepted by one of them

#Food #SanFrancisco

@sindarina if the Antichrist emerges as a snake in China, we will probably eat it. :)