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Is there a Decent Gai in Dallas?

Posted on September 8th, 2009 11:00am by Evan Grant
Filed under Ethnic Food, Neighborhood restaurants, Rants

Nancy is away and so like a fat little gnome, I’m seizing her keyboard, making stupid puns and trying to quench my own food cravings.

About a year ago, I started to read the book, the United States of Arugula, the first sentence of which included a reference to author David Kamp having a “rapturous food memory” of some “Cantonese lobster dish unveiled from beneath a dome in some dimly lit place with a name like Jade Pagoda.”

I never made it all the way through the book, but the sentence stays with me to this day. It has conjured a craving that I can’t seem to quence in Dallas. Mainly it is this: I want to revisit the ’70s and relive a “rapturous food memory,” by having a waiter in some dimly lit place with a name like Won Ton, Lotus Garden or Lai Lai (actual names of Chinese restaurants from my youth in Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale) unveil a plate of Wor Su Gai.

Or, as you may know it: Almond Fried Chicken.

That’s how I knew my fried fowl friend when it was the staple of every Chinese dinner we had. It usually followed some Won Ton soup the color of chicken bullion cube, an order of spare ribs and some giant egg rolls with bits of roast pork and bay shrimp inside, not just cabbage. Those were the days, man. Column A, Column B, Family Dinners.

I’ve been in Dallas nearly 13 years now and have lived in four different neighborhoods. Every time I move, I set up my utilities and then set out in search of two things in the new ‘hood: The girl of my dreams and the gai of my desires. No luck on either. Actually, I’ve come closer to finding the girl than the chicken.

It’s not like I’m looking for something exotic; Wor Su Gai only sounds that way. IFirst of all, it’s about as Chinese as me. It is basically this: Fried chicken – similar to that you’d find in Lemon Chicken or Sweet and Sour Chicken. Add a little brown gravy, similar to what you’d receive with Egg Fu Yong. And some almonds. That’s it. When I see Almond Chicken on a menu, I get a hint of excitement, only to have it dashed when I’m told the chicken is cubed, not breaded and served with lots of celery. I’ve even gone so far as to ask folks to make it, describing it exactly as I just did. I’ve received Sweet and Sour Chicken with Egg Fu Yong gravy, which, by the way, is not appetizing in the least. It’s also not the dish. I can’t seem to get them to leave the sweet and sour sauce off. Or the Lemon sauce. No. No. No. No.

I’ve been on Chinese food crawls with New York-reared Chinese-food freaks, who like me, want the stuff of their childhood. We got the same stares in Richardson that I’ve gotten in Las Colinas and on McKinney Avenue.

I’ve searched the web and there are numerous recipes for the dish. There also appear to be lots of other folks like me: Too lazy to cook and desperate for a fix of the Chinese food with which they grew up.  It’s apparently still popular in the Midwest. And when I go visit my folks in Atlanta, there are still a couple of places serving it.

Does anybody out there know this dish? Does anybody out there know a place that serves this dish? Does anybody out there know a Chinese restaurant owner who ows them a favor and would add it to the menu? Will somebody cook it for me?

Help!

Is there some comfort food from your past that you crave and can’t find here anywhere. Anything you’ve been dying for, but can’t find. Consider this your clearing house for old-school comfort food tips. Dishers, I plead with you. Help me and one another.

13 comments

  1. For some reason I think I have seen it on the menu at Caravelle on Greenville Ave between Arapaho and Beltline in Richardson.

    @ 1:42 pm on September 8, 2009

  2. @rob: I think I’ve been to Caravelle; I’ve been somewhere in that complex of large Chinese restaurants in Richardson and I came away sorely disappointed. I think that’s the place I got lemon chicken with brown sauce mixed in. It was as bad as you can probably imagine.

    @ 3:59 pm on September 8, 2009

  3. Mr. Wok in Plano (14th Street, just East of Jupiter) has “Cashew or Almond Chicken” on the menu. I haven’t tried it, and the menu doesn’t specify how the chicken is cooked, but it does sound more like a stir fried “cubed” presentation than what you remember.

    That said, I’d bet Jack Kang (the owner/chef) would be willing and able to create exactly what you’re looking for if it’s not already in his repertoire. I mean it . . . my wife has asked him for some seriously odd non-menu combinations on many occasions, and been happy every time.

    @ 4:29 pm on September 8, 2009

  4. No guarantee of course, but go to 1st Chinese BBQ in Richardson and explain to them what you are looking for and I bet they can make it as good as anyone. Their stuff is always very authentic. Though it is in the complex you mention of course…

    @ 5:11 pm on September 8, 2009

  5. @Scottus: Tried it, too. Was very impressed by the whole head of a pig in the window. Had some good Cantonese dishes there, but not Wor Su Gai or Almond Fried Chicken. I don’t think I asked them though. We did have some great pan fried chow mein noodles with roast pork and gravy. That did stand out.

    @ 5:17 pm on September 8, 2009

  6. Can’t help you on the Gai front, but this puts me in the mood to reread ‘The Last Chinese Chef’. If you ever get the chance to read it, the cooking descriptions will make you drool..

    @ 5:51 pm on September 8, 2009

  7. If there is one, I’d like to meet him. A decent gui that is.

    @ 6:19 pm on September 8, 2009

  8. May’s Ice Cream on Greenville in Richardson has some awesome Fried Chicken and Fried Pork Chops on rice, but sans gravy.. I’m not sure if they have anything similar to what you mention either, but thought i’d mention it. This is definitely a go to place for comfort food for me..

    @ 7:08 pm on September 8, 2009

  9. no specific gai reccomendations, but as great as the vietnamese/japanese/thai influx has been its hard to find good chinese!

    we like royal china @ preston royal (homemade dumpling bar = yum).

    anyone remember Schezuan (sp?) Garden @ Preston & Northwest Highway? that place was fantastic.

    @ 8:04 pm on September 8, 2009

  10. Why Dallas no have Chinatown?

    @ 9:14 pm on September 8, 2009

  11. @Jon: Jenny Ho’s Szechwan Pavillion has moved to Plano. North Plano. I got a half-way decent facsimilie of the Wor Su Gai at Jenny Ho’s.

    I like Royal China, too. Their dumpling bar is spectacular. But they also are without Gai.

    @ 9:30 pm on September 8, 2009

  12. Almond chicken may be a bit pedestrian for first chinese bbq (which is fabulous). It’s not on the menu but i bet Joe will take care of you at May Dragon.

    @DB — I keep waiting for Richardson’s china town to be celebrated more. Unfortunately it is small and is a bit defocused so it can’t hit the vibe of Boston or San Francisco.

    @ 8:24 am on September 9, 2009

  13. I’m alittle late here but the craving for wor su gai just sent me to the computer for a google search. I was happy to read that there’s someone else in Dallas in search of this fine fried dish…I first had it in Youngstown, Ohio and have never been able to find it anywhere else. Please please please let me know if you find it somewhere in Dallas. Most people look at me like I’m crazy when I talk about this dish…good to know I’m not alone!

    @ 5:07 pm on December 17, 2009