GASTRONAUTS AT THE GOLDEN MALL

Curated by Joe DiStefano See reverse for his comments.

Zhu’s Snacks #16: Pork Bone Soup Zhu’s Snacks #16 Tianjin Dumpling House: Beef Tendon 4 Duck Heads Pig Ears Lamb Dumplings with Green Squash #1 Handu BBQ

Tianjin Xi’an Famous Xi’an Famous Foods: Dumpling Foods Lamb Offal Soup House Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger 3 Lamb Face Salad Tianjin 2 Dumpling House

Chen Du Tian Fu: Lan Zhou: #14 Ox Tongue and Tripe #10 Chicken Heart Lucky #15 Ma La Rabbit #11 Squid Stick Wenzhou Snacks

Lan Zhou Sushi Famous Noodles, etc. Chen Du 5 Tian Fu 1 Chen Du Tian Fu Seating

Main Street Entrance GASTRONAUTS AT THE GOLDEN MALL

by Joe DiStefano

A night at Flushing’s Golden Shopping Mall curated by Joe DiStefano, culinary tour guide, enabler of gluttons, and founder of the food blog Chopsticksandmarrow.com. Chefs from to Fuchsia Dunlop have said that the ramshackle Golden Shopping Mall in Flushing, Queens, is “just like being in .” With food from Tianjin in the country’s Northeast to in the South it’s an underground wonderland of regional . And it’s also paradise for adventurous eaters.

1 Chen Du Tian Fu 3 Xi’an Famous Foods This stall at the bottom of the stairs is a favorite of Danny The Golden Shopping Mall’s 36th Chamber specializing in Bowien of Mission Chinese Food and offers all manner of the Silk Road-inflected fare of Xi’an has become quite street food from Sichuan’s capital, . famous indeed since it opened back in 2005.

#14 Ox Tongue and Tripe Lamb Offal Soup Fu qi fei pian, or husband and wife offal slices, takes its Everything but the bleat—liver, stomach, heart, and name from a couple who invented the dish back home. It’s lungs—goes into this rich soup. a mountain of creamy bits of tongue along with chewy ribbons of tripe awash in chili oil and shot through with Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger peanuts, cilantro and Chinese celery. Singing with the flavors of cumin,chili peppers, and red onion this “burger,” really a sandwich on griddled flat #15 Ma La Rabbit bread, is a can’t miss item. Bits of bunny in a fiery chili sauce amped up with the tingling flavor and Sichuan peppercorns tossed with Lamb Face Salad peanuts and cilantro. What’s not to like? Play amateur ovine anatomist as you pluck out bits of eye, palate, and more out of this heap of chilled facial offal 2 Tianjin Dumpling House tossed in a fiery mix of chilies, onions and cilantro.

Beef Tendon 4 Zhu’s Snacks #16 These ribbons of translucent offal bathed in chili oil are absolutely exquisite. They practically melt in your mouth. Pork Bone Soup Order up a bowl of pork bone wheat noodle or pork bone Duck Heads jiang fun (sweet potato) noodle and the friendly folks at Watch in wonder as the gal behind the counter will split this stall will present you with a straw and a single glove. these in half with her cleaver. All the better to get at the You’ll need both to slurp the marrow out of the pair pork lovely bits of meat that surround the craniofacial nooks shank bones that loom out of the bowl like bonehenge. and crannies. Flavored with five spice and chili, don’t be surprised if you find yourself licking the bones clean. And 5 Lan Zhou Pulled Noodles by all means be sure to eat the brain. Noodles might be the mainstay at this stall but the chicken heart and squid skewers are fun to eat on the run Pig Ears as you explore the inner recesses of the labyrinth like These bits of porcine wonder slicked with chili oil and Golden Mall. Sichuan peppercorn have just the right amount of crunch and pleasantly building ma la (spicy tingly) flavor. #10 Chicken Heart

Lamb Dumplings with Green Squash #11 Squid Stick Yáng ròu shui jiao, are fragrant little packages of minced lamb with minced summer squash and scallion. Whip up a dipping sauce of black vinegar and chili paste, or ask for the house-made fresh garlic sauce.