I wonder if Chinese people are ashamed when they eat at Panda Express because it’s a bastardized version of real Chinese food. I know I would be if I ate at a Japanese fast food restaurant called Hello Kitty Fun Fun Chow Chow Time.
Whenever I walk into a Panda Express, I like to look at the faces of the Chinese people in the restaurant to see if they feel any shame. No, not the people working behind the counter and the gigantic woks because they shouldn’t feel shame since they have the power to mess with our food.
I look at the faces of the Chinese people who are ordering the Kung Pao Chicken, Beijing Beef and Orange Chicken to see if they grimace, close their eyes with disgust, or say under their breath “I’m sorry” to their dead ancestors who cooked real Chinese food. Unfortunately, I have yet to see shame from a Chinese person in a Panda Express. Perhaps they’re really good at hiding it when in public.
If you’re a Chinese person and enjoy Panda Express, but are ashamed when eating it, you can now have bastardized Chinese food that can be prepared in the comfort and privacy of your home with the Wanchai Ferry Sweet & Sour Chicken Frozen Meal. You’ll still feel shame, except you probably won’t have to hide it, unless you have an elderly Chinese person living in your household.
The bagged Wanchai Ferry meal is made up of battered white meat chicken, pineapples, sugar snap peas, red peppers and jasmine rice in a sweet and sour sauce. I was hoping it would be easy to make, but preparing it is just like recovery from alcohol and drug addiction because there are a lot of steps. I’d list everything I needed to do before I was able to eat it, but if I did you would be cursing me after because during that same amount of time you could’ve easily driven to a Panda Express, picked up food and driven back. All I’m going to say is that it involves a lot of skillet work, microwaving a bag of rice and the ability to read.
The Sweet & Sour Chicken tasted like something I would wait in line at Panda Express for. The sweet and sour sauce was tasty, although a bit too thick. The vegetables and pineapples were limp, but I expected that since they were frozen, and they did provide a bit more flavor, especially the pineapples. The jasmine rice was cooked perfectly. As for the chicken, I hoped there would’ve been more and despite being pan fried to be heated, their breaded coating didn’t become crispy.
The Wanchai Ferry Sweet & Sour Chicken Meal is meant for two, but I felt the serving sizes were a bit small. They were small enough that I feel ashamed of them.
(Nutrition Facts – 1/2 package prepared – 590 calories, 7 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 850 milligrams of sodium, 87 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 38 grams of sugar, 14 grams of protein, 10% vitamin A, 30% vitamin C, 8% calcium and 15% iron.)
Item: Wanchai Ferry Sweet & Sour Chicken Frozen Meal
Price: $6.99
Size: 24 ounces
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Sweet and sour sauce was tasty. No trans fats. Lots of vegetables and pineapples. Allows Chinese people, and everyone else, to prepare bastardized Chinese food in the privacy of their own home. Panda Express.
Cons: Chicken wasn’t crispy and there wasn’t a lot of it. Veggies and fruits were limp. Lots of step to prepare it. Took me longer than the 14 minutes the packaging said it would take me to prepare it. Contains no MSG, except that which naturally occurs in autolyzed yeast extract, which means it has MSG. The shame I would have from eating at Hello Kitty Fun Fun Chow Chow Time.
I actually just had this last weekend…I thought the Meal for 2 thing was a little off…well maybe I just have a bigger appetite but seriously…for $7 Panda Express 2-item combos come with more food. I did split the meal and I was wishing there was more chicken. It was tasty though…I just don’t see myself getting it again and spending the 14+ minute prep time on it.
Uggh I had horrible sweat and sour chicken at a local chinese resteraunt with limp and soggy chicken. I wonder if they just used this prepackaged meal. Next time Panda express or maybe I will try Pei Wei Asian diner out
After you eat at Hello Kitty Fun Fun Chow Chow Time do you crap glitter, stars and rainbows? Speaking about Hello Kitty, poor bitch wouldn’t even be able to enjoy food at Hello Kitty Fun Fun Chow Chow Time since she has no mouth. So sad.
I’m trying to think if I have ever seen a Chinese person eating at Panda Express. I can’t think of one.
Have you tried the new Tyson General Tso chicken? I hate to say it, but I loved it.
The funny thing is that, as an American of Japanese descent (which I assume you are based on what your wrote), you’d be embarrassed to eat at “Hello Kitty Fun Fun Chow Chow Time”, but the actual people in Japan would not be the least bit embarrassed. In fact, I think you’d have every woman under 29 squealing with delight at the notion.
In fact, I think we should look into investing in such a restaurant. It’d probably go over gangbusters, especially if you could involve edible glitter in the food, and the waitresses drew Hello Kitty on the food with condiments (preferably tinted mayonnaise, of course).
I got the Orange Chicken version for $2.50 the other day and was excited, but the steps are a pain in the behind. Put the chicken in, take the chicken out, add the sauce, put the chicken in…honestly? If I wanted to cook a meal I wouldn’t need to buy a frozen meal like this.
Of course, since it was only $2.50, I bought them out. I may be lazy, but I think my cheapness wins out everytime – even though the portions are small, if you add a salad, I can get two meals out of it.
My favorite Chinese place here just shut down, and they had DAMN good food and prices. Bad location, though. Oh well. I guess I’m stuck with Panda Express until I find somewhere else…
“Real Chinese Food,” the kind of which you can order from the “special Chinese only menu” at large Chinese sit down restaurants here in the States include ingredients foreign and possibly unpalatable to the Western population (including ABCs).
PE is just doing smart business. And one can be sure PE will never be found in mainland China
Marvo, jail time soon?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/10/bloggers-must-now-disclose-if-they-got-paid-to-write-a-review-.html
Wow, that LA Times article is crazy. I actually think its a good thing, reviews should be as unbiased as possible. I never receive anything for free anyway.
We LOVE the spicy garlic chicken version from them. You should try it. S&S items are usually pretty basic, but the one we like is actually better than what we usually get a Pei Wei.
I am not Japanese but I would love to eat at a place called Hello Kitty Fun Fun Chow Chow Time. But it would be chicks only (and super pervy guys).
This looks like a fail, it’s just funny looking, although i guess if you eat it with rice it will be okay
# Jesse Says:
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:20 AM
Wow, that LA Times article is crazy. I actually think its a good thing, reviews should be as unbiased as possible. I never receive anything for free anyway.
well what would unbiased mean then? analyze the chemical components of everything in it and determine the amount of utility different types of individuals can derive from the action potentials sent to the brain measured by electromyography?
or how about just get at least two opinions from the staff?
I feel ashamed when my roommate drags me to PF Chang’s. I’m always the only Asian in there. -_- The food’s good, but not worth the price imo. Give me greasy hole-in-the-wall Chinese food (prepared by actual Chinese people) anyday.
Wheres the picture of your meal??
Just finished making this for dinner. NASTY! If that is Sweet and Sour Chicken, then I am Fu Manchu himself!
I think the problem with this meal is how they want you to cook it…
1) The sauce should heated separately. Even add a little water to thin it out a bit.
2) The chicken should be stir fried in oil UNTIL crispy (not the 2 – 3 minutes they recommend). Remove the smaller bits first as they brown. Set chicken aside.
3) Cook veggies in oil, stirring. Add pineapple and heat till hot.
4) Mic rice and poor on to serving plate. Add veggies and pineapple. Top with chicken and poor sauce on top. Serve immediately.
This way the chicken and veggies should be crispy and the sauce will be the right consistency.
Regardless, I did not care for the flavor of the sauce.