beXnlog

Chopsticks or Forks?

Saturday night Ishle, P, be and i met up for dinner at our beloved Village Mingala. I've been eating at this Burmese restaurant since i moved to New York 7 years ago; it was only 1 block from the old Workshop in the East Village. The food has always been consistently delicious: the vegetables are crisp, the sauces are light and the flavors are clear. I love the Indian, Thai and Chinese influences, which create original and refreshing combinations and flavors.

My favorite dishes:

Golden Triangles (Arloo Samusa), which are little fried appetizers of spiced potato filling wrapped in a won ton-like skin, served with a sweet chile sauce.

Tofu Thoke, a salad with fried Burmese bean curd, lettuce and seasonings in a light sauce. I suspect the bean curd is made with chickpeas instead of soybeans since it has a different taste and texture.

Ginger Salad (Gin Thoke), a refreshing salad with fresh ginger, roasted chickpeas, sesame seeds, peanuts and fried onion in a light sauce.

Mohinga Thoke, thin rice noodles with peanuts and vegetables in a tamarind sauce.

Arloo Curry, saucy spiced potatoes served with a Thousand Layered Pancake - a flaky, buttery flatbread.

Basil Soybean, a stir fry with fake meat, fresh basil leaves and crisp vegetables.

I'm happy that Village Mingala was doing good business that night. As for lunch, if you're in the area their lunch special is yummy and affordable. The corn soup is merely okay (it's like watered-down creamed corn) but the main dish choices are numerous and delicious.

I passed by a big table where each person was using (requested) wooden chopsticks. I consulted my group about this - do people use chopsticks in Burma/Myanmar? - the owner answered "no." I always see people at Thai restaurants eating with chopsticks, too. From what i hear, people in Thailand eat with forks and spoons, sometimes breaking out the chopsticks only with Chinese-style noodle dishes. As someone who grew up using chopsticks, not only is it totally offensive to use them as "drumsticks," "hair picks" and as gimmicks for "Shanghai Chicken McNuggets*," it's also really stupid to assume all of Asia uses them. I just imagine dumb people asking the waitstaff, "Could i have some chopsticks?" with an air of "I'm so amazing because i can use chopsticks to enjoy this exotic food in its purest, zen form," when in reality they're only showing their true, ignorant selves. AND it's also painful to see some people trying to use them - if you can't study the pictures on the wrapper, then you're a dumbass for sure! Why is it that the people who can't even use chopsticks right, are also the ones who insist on using them?

*Does anyone remember these things? It was a 20-piece box of McNuggets, served with teriyaki, sweet & sour and hot mustard dipping sauces, a fortune cookie and a pair of chopsticks. I'm not sure if this was a regional thing, but we sure had it in the DC area circa 1985-1987, although i'm not 100% sure of the dates.

posted by beXn @ 1:56 AM