Sherman's Food Adventures: Chun Hing

Chun Hing

After attending the Chinese Restaurant Awards in Richmond, I was about to head home for dinner. Wait. I had not planned on cooking and I was too tired to go out to eat (shocking, I know). So there I was. In the land of endless Chinese food. What to do? Duh. Rhetorical question. So I headed over to the nearest spot that I could get Chinese takeout. I pulled into the Yaohan parking lot with immense trepidation because fighting through traffic and parking was not something I was looking forward to. Imagine my surprise when not only did I find a parking spot right away, people stopped for me as I crossed the street. When I waved a black Mercedes by, they actually gave a "thanks". Huh? I am in Richmond right?

From the many choices within the Yaohan food court, I decided to go with a place that I've tried before, which was Chun Hing. With food piled high and a 4 for 3 special, it seemed like a good bet. The Honey Garlic Chicken was the most impressively stacked item (is this an unintentional pun???), so I decided to give it a try. Turns out that it was all drumsticks cut into two. They were fried up crisp while being juicy and moist inside. There was lots of sweet honey flavour without a gooey mess. Being Chinese doesn't prevent me from eating the so-called "North American" items, so I went ahead with the Sweet & Sour Pork. At the very least, this was not the North American radioactive-coloured version. As you can see, the pieces of pork were meaty and easy on the batter. There was just enough sauce that it didn't turn it into sweet & sour sauce with pork. I would've preferred more zing since the sauce was predominantly sweet. Furthermore, despite our disdain for fillers, this dish would've benefited from more pineapple and peppers.

For my obligatory offal selection, I got the Brisket, Tendon and Daikon Stew. I really liked this one. The brisket was super moist exhibiting none of the stringiness sometimes found in these stews. The tendon was perfectly soft while not falling apart. I loved how I could taste the flavours of the soy and star anise without a huge amount of saltiness. Moreover, the daikon was nicely cooked where it still had texture. To up the veggie content, I went for the Stir-Fried Eggplant. In actuality, it looked more like an eggplant hot pot without the hot pot. We weren't a hug fan of this dish. It was a tad too mushy (and that is taking into account that it was eggplant and had been sitting around for awhile) and was a little mild in the seasoning department. I mean, there was enough sodium, yet little in distinguishing flavours. Lastly, much like any eggplant dish, it was quite greasy (maybe even more greasy than usual as evidenced by the oil slick at the bottom of the plate).

Lastly, to go with all the food, I got an order of their Fried Rice. It was pretty plain with some egg and frozen veggies. I would say the rice had a decent chewy texture but it lacked some of the nutty caramelization typically found in a commercial wok-prepared dish. I liked how it wasn't greasy though. As a whole, the food was a fantastic value, considering the amount they crammed into each container. Was the food outstanding? Well no, but with reasonable expectations for a food stand, this did the job for dinner that didn't empty out my wallet.

The Good:
- Good portions
- Well-priced

The Bad:
- Food is a bit hit and miss
- Like anything in Richmond, parking is always unpredictable

Chun Hing (Yaohan Centre) on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

LotusRapper said...

IMHO, dishes from these vendors all taste the same from each other after awhile.

Ever notice they sneakily scoop up portions from the bottom of each "pile" to put on your plate ? That way the newest-cooked, best-looking portions remain on the top, glistening under the heat lamps ?

Sherman Chan said...

@LR Yah, they look very similar eh? Grease and MSG right? Cheaper than North Burnaby Wonton House though. But then again, it's quite a drive.

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