Saturday, February 25, 2012

Chinese fast-food takeout!

Formosa Restaurant
5832 North Dixie Drive
Dayton, Oh 45414
Phone: 937.278.6006
Open: Mon-Sun 10am-7:30pm. 







Appetizers  
Egg Rolls 
Very popular in the west although not eaten in China, egg rolls are a larger, bulkier version of Spring rolls.  They are normally filled with barbecued pork or shrimp - vegetables can include cabbage, celery, suey choy, and/or bean sprouts.
Spring Rolls
 A lighter, more delicate version of egg rolls, made with a flour and water wrapper (no egg).  Like egg rolls, spring rolls are deep-fried.



Deep Fried Wontons
 Wonton wrappers filled with ground pork and a variety of vegetables and seasonings before deep-frying.  

Soup

Egg Drop Soup 
A classic dish -  flavored chicken broth or stock topped with silken threads of egg. It usually includes a green onion garnish, and sometimes frozen peas are added to the stock. 
Hot and Sour Soup
 Regional variations of this soup are found throughout China.  All contain bean curd, Chinese black mushrooms and usually pork, but the remaining ingredients can vary. I think it tastes best when chicken stock is added.   
Wonton Soup
 The word wonton translates into "swallowing a cloud" and in this dish the wontons floating in the soup do resemble tiny clouds.  The wontons are filled with a mixture of meat (usually pork) and seasonings and boiled, and then added to a stock. 




Main Dishes 
Beef in Oyster Sauce
 The savory flavor of oyster sauce works well with beef. In this recipe beef is thinly sliced and then marinated with several ingredients that generally include sherry, soy sauce, cornstarch and perhaps sugar. The beef is stir-fried or deep-fried and then a "gravy" or sauce that includes oyster sauce is added. 
Beef with Broccoli 
Marinated beef is stir-fried and then mixed with stir-fried vegetables - the whole is covered with a thickish brown sauce or gravy that may include oyster sauce.  

Fried Rice
 Cold, previously cooked rice is combined with scrambled egg and other ingredients to add texture and flavor.  Restaurants offer a number of fried rice dishes, from beef, chicken or shrimp to mushroom or popular dishes such as Yangchow Fried Rice. 
General Tsao's Chicken 
Chicken cubes coated in cornstarch and deep-fried, cooked with a sauce that includes hoisin sauce, dark soy sauce and chili peppers.
Lo Mein 
Tossed Noodles - unlike chow mein, where the noodles are stir-fried separately, the noodles are tossed and blended with the stir-fry mixture.  They have more of a sauce than chow mein noodles.
Ma Po Tou Fu (Marpoo Dofu)
Spicy pork with aromatic bean curd.
Moo Goo Gai Pan
 Stir-fried chicken and mushrooms.
Sweet and Sour Pork Marinated pork deep-fried in batter (some versions use less batter than others), with a sweet and sour sauce.