We are a nation of immigrants. Appropriately enough, our eating on the 4th of July holiday weekend, a time that celebrates our nation’s birth, illustrates why this is a good thing. We started Friday night at Lao Beijing.
Chicago’s Chinatown is rich with restaurants serving up authentic regional cuisines from many corners of that vast nation. We’ve sampled many of them and have our go-tos, depending on what we’re craving at the moment. This is not Americanized shopping mall Chinese food. This is food prepared by immigrant chefs and line cooks from traditional recipes or skills learned in the kitchen, aimed at regional Chinese palates. Occasionally when we order too adventurously, our servers will say, “No, that’s for Chinese people only.” Often, we’ll order it anyway. Sometimes, they’re right. Other times, we’ll discover something amazing.
Saturday was notable for where we didn’t eat. Errands took us to Rogers Park on the city’s the far north side, where we failed to stop at bopNgrill. This Asian fusion place is known for its Korean street food take on burgers—and for its kimchi fries. Instead, we dutifully completed our errands and ate pan-seared salmon at home.
Dinner on Sunday was Sautéed Tofu with Ginger and Garlic, a dish we’ve shared here. It reflects how Chinese cooks treat tofu not merely as a meat substitute, but as an ingredient in its own right.
The 4th of July is typically one of the holiest of grilling days. Sadly, our grill is still not assembled, and our dance card was filled with a mix of fun and practical things to get done. I think we’ve said here that our new old house is in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood. We’ve been steadily making our way through a wealth of Mexican restaurants and takeout places. On The 4th, lunch came from Raymond’s Tacos #2. I sat at the counter and ordered carryouts—a couple of burritos and a couple of tacos. It was lunchtime on a holiday, and every booth in the place was filled. So were many of the stools at the counter. When I got home and we had our lunch, we could see why.
For our 4th of July dinner, we kept things simple, just two dishes. But even these showed how each group of immigrants brings something to the table. We based the Endive Salad with Blue Cheese and Walnuts you see above on one we had at Lucien, a French bistro in New York. Owner Lucien Bahaj moved to America from the south of France more than 40 years ago.
Our main course was this Chicken Schnitzel. While this version is closest to German or Austrian cuisine, thin, breaded meat cutlets are found all over the globe.
At a time when immigration and immigrants are hot button issues, I think it’s helpful to remember that we are a nation of immigrants. Indeed, unless you’re Native American, you are here because someone immigrated here. For that matter, archeologists now tell us that ancestors of Native Americans walked here from somewhere else. As our random food weekend demonstrates, at least to us, that’s a thing to celebrate, not to fear.
Sounds like a fun food weekend! It’s interesting how eclectic our diets have become, isn’t it? Not something I’d ever have predicted when growing up, when we never had Chinese food and pizza was considered kinda exotic. Fun read. And suddenly I’m hungry for Schnitzel –haven’t had that for ages!
Really enjoyed this post, Terry. Nice reminder of who we all are, at a time when it seems far too many choose to forget. And that schnitzel brings back my own daughter-of-immigrants childhood, sans parsley or pretty much anything green.