To wonder if bog-standard British Chinese takeways have secret menus?

[SherleenDionne]

I've heard that a lot of Chinese restaurants have 'secret', more authentic menus that you can order from. Is this maybe just an American thing or does your bog-standard British Chinese takeaway have this too?

My favourite Chinese restaurant is above a real Chinese supermarket and we're often the only non-Chinese people there. They have congee, chickens feet and tripe on the menu, so I think it's authentic.

@funkypickle I've always wanted to know what egg rolls are, I imagine them as being like spring rolls but filled entirely with egg??

Peking duck (not the same as crispy duck) chop suey, lo mein, char sui, egg fooyung, plum sauce, wontons

These should be available in most UK Chinese's I've certainly had all of them on several occasions and are known by the same names.

gong bao, moo goo gai pan and General Tso's chicken, egg rolls

These are not readily available in the UK.

[quote namechangeforadvicepls]@funkypickle I've always wanted to know what egg rolls are, I imagine them as being like spring rolls but filled entirely with egg??[/quote]
They have the same filling as spring rolls but the outer 'wrapper' is thicker and dipped in egg before deep frying.

They have the same filling as spring rolls but the outer 'wrapper' is thicker and dipped in egg before deep frying

That would be a pancake roll then.

funkypickle and finally, goang bao is known as Kung Po chicken in the UK, but also tastes slightly different to American stuff I've had - possibly due to some of the sweeteners they use are different

That would be a pancake roll then.

No. A pancake roll is where the outer wrapper is made of a pancake. The pancake is made first, then filled and rolled. With an egg roll, it is wrapped in a non-pancake wrapper then dipped in egg. Subtle difference!

Thanks @toffeebutterpopcorn

Eggs rolls I belive are wonton wrappers and dipped in beaten egg then fried. Similar fillings to spring rolls but more bamboo shoots and bean sprouts. Then dipped in hot plum sauce.

I'm definitely going to be having a closer look t the menu the next I order to see if I can find any of my favourites hidden away.

The duck I have had here has different seasonings/spices/marinade or glaze. It's not the same at all.

Definitely getting a Chinese take out this
weekend.

Also missing Moo Shu pork!!! I keep remembering so many missed calories.

Fab thread op. Learning lots.

dotdashdashdash

My favourite Chinese restaurant is above a real Chinese supermarket and we're often the only non-Chinese people there. They have congee, chickens feet and tripe on the menu, so I think it's authenti

You might live in the same University city I do. We have a lot of Chinese students and more authentic restaurants are opening all the time packed with Chinese students eating really interesting food.

And thank you re: gung bao will try kung po.

Dunno about Chinese but this isn't true of Indian restaurants. My ex was an Indian immigrant and he was never given any secret menus.

But if you want something that's not on a menu, most places will do it for you if they have the ingredients. The chef probably loves the chance to do something different.

My favourite dishes (other than any of the dim sum options) are paper wrapped chicken, (this can sometimes be found on the westernised menu too), Sichuan pork, pak choi and hot pot. Then coconut slice for pudding, or fried custard buns!

To be honest, the 'secret menu' is just full of stuff british people would typically not touch, but that's changing now due to our ability to travel, a lot of restaurants now make it available for all or are at least starting to. When we go to an 'authentic' Chinese restaurant, we just order what we want and if it's not on the menu they know what we are talking about, although saying that most restaurants in the UK are Cantonese based, they wouldn't be able to make 'water cooked fish' which is from the Szechuan region of China, but can make 'pig intestines stuff with prawns' (if they sell intestines already)

For those saying Indian restaurants have different menus for natives, please can you say more? How do o go about asking them for a more authentic dish?

I appear to be terribly British at first glance, but speak native standard Cantonese. When I go into proper restaurants where I'm not known I always ask if they have particular dishes such as chicken feet, and as often as not the Western menu is taken off me and the secret one is brought out.

But do you want to eat chicken feet? I cant imagine...

@toffeebutterpopcorn you have no idea how much you're missing out.

I love chicken feet ( fung zaau ). One of my favorite dishes.

Also just realised the question was actually about takeaways. Unfortunately I couldn't tell you - I have never stepped foot in one in the 36 years I've been here.

There’s not a secret menu as such. You just ask them to prepare the traditional dishes that you fancy and they will if they cater to Chinese customers. Sometimes though you can get an angry Cantonese man shouting at you that ‘I can’t cook that. This is only food for foreigners!’

@allNesski - I'm vegetarian - not sure f that makes it worse but... feet! Are they crunchy or chewy? Do you take off the skin/flesh or suck them like a chicken drumstick? So many questions...

My sister (another one) was working abroad and staying in a swanky hotel. Won't say where - see if anyone can guess!

She noticed at breakfast there was a table to one side where the locals would go, open up a large Tupperware box and take some food out and close it up again. She was a curious and asked a colleague who said 'oh that's not for you - its an acquired taste. Foreigners wont eat it'.

So of course she did go over for a nosey - and said it contained the worst smelling food she has ever come across (and she has worked all over the world).

Acquired taste usually means - we don't even like it much but it must be good for you.

You suck the meat from the chicken feet and then spit out the bones. The meat is very tender usually!
Dim sum is usually served for breakfast. Char Sui buns being a favourite. If you stay at the Shangri La hotel in the Shard they serve it there alongside the English breakfast options
My best friend from Uni is Chinese and I have lovely memories of her mum waking us up with fresh dim sum for breakfast when I stayed over in the holidays. Good times. Now we’re grown up and she has her own house, it’s cereal or toast which is nowhere near as much fun!

Yes. The Chinese restaurants/takeaways we have are absolutely inauthentic and you would never find that food in China. I used to go to a Chinese buffet quite often and whenever Chinese people came in they would go upstairs - presumably they served the real stuff up there whilst us Brits had the sweet and sour etc!

A colleague had a Chinese lodger and his granny used to send moon cakes over - my god they were lovely!

I was a bit obsessed by them (I had read about them in books and they sounded like ambrosia) and I found a store that sold them (it was an expat store - they were supposedly fresh too) and they were bloody awful (all dry and yukky tasting).

I was so happy when the message got back to granny that someone in London really loved her cakes (she did send me some every so and often).

I hate "secret" menus like these. Smacks of racism. Fine if someone wants to customise their order, but a whole secret menu only for people who speak a particular language or are a certain ethnicity is just wrong

I don't think it's discriminatory that you can't read Chinese

Having read above: kung pao (gong bao) chicken should never be sweet! It's best served dry (no thick sauce at all) with all ingredients chopped to about the size of the peanuts. In Chinese the name means 'government official chicken' because it was invented for an old and toothless government official.