Friends and Kitties!
Sheebie here.
The one only thing Scott and I miss about living in the Chicago area is the wonderful wide variety of hole-in-the-wall Mom and Pop restaurants, especially a good Chinese food joint. But we have high hopes for the new place that opened down the street from us a week ago--a menu came in the mail so we ordered--and the food was great! There were a few puzzling items that we'd never seen before; such as eel sauce, but a quick Google search revealed the ingredients (no eel!) which solved that mystery. The one thing that stumped us both was several dishes that came with "Brown Sauce".
Really.
BROWN?
This begs the question: where does brown come from? A plant? A creature--Browntasuarus perhaps? A factory in new Jersey? And how does a chef make a sauce out of a color?
An elusively concocted elixir, indeed. But tasty! We have decided further investigation is necessary, stay tuned...
Happy Sunday!
XX Sheebie XX
We have marveled at how Chinese food makes it everywhere in the world, almost everywhere. My grandmother used to deep fry the eels that we caught in the monsoon drains when I was young. She stripped the skins off them and then we ate them hot and crispy. YUM!
ReplyDeleteThis too, will require a great deal more research. Did you kittehz score any chick-hen out of this? We hope so!
ReplyDeleteThank you for purring and checking in on our Prancer Pie. We appreciate so much!
I've come across "brown sauce" a few times. As best I can tell, it is cornstarch fried a bit ( for color) and some soysauce added. I think there is usually some garlic and ginger added for flavor. Maybe some "chinese 5 spice" but I think that is a US invention.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to remember with chinese sauces is that they are usually (but not always) named for the stuff they go ON, not the flavorings in them. ~ TBT
Eel sauce may well be like lobster sauce - not containing said but rather used to commonly sauce said.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I make a brown sauce, but it is totally unintentional.
ReplyDeleteWe sure hope it's not like the brown sauce we get here from Seppo, hehehehe. King P.
ReplyDeleteWell done on scoring a good Chinese. When I moved here to the frozen north I was overjoyed to find 2 Indian restaurants here. The next nearest were over 150miles away! Now there are 4, and many chinese places - including one Mongolian buffet. Äiti.
I think it might be made from UPS drivers?
ReplyDeleteSome Chinese restaurants around here have that mysterious "brown sauce," but the humans seem to like it. Sadly, I've never had the chance to taste - my human says it probably has ingredients that aren't good for kitties.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it's anything like the brown gravy sauce LaChoy used to make? It was a thick substance that we used to add a nicer color to things like hamburg gravy. They stopped making it so we had to resort to kitchen bouquet, which can be bitter if you use even an eighth of a teaspoon too much.. We have recently found some by other makers, but it's hard to find in out of the way stores.. What's nice about the brown gravy sauce is that it has little if any flavor and doesnt alter what you put it in. I guess I'm saying, all I know of brown gravy is coloring, lol!
ReplyDeleteIt's a very good queation...Maybe from brownies...?
ReplyDeleteThere's a Chinese food restaurant in Halifax that I LOVED, they had the best egg rolls...mmmm. Sometimes Mom will mention they're ordering take-out from them and I still drool. :-)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your further investigations!
My mom is Asian. and for sure She love Chinese Food too. About the brown sauce, she think you can find the answer here :
ReplyDeletehttp://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/do-you-know-your-soy-sauces-japanese-chinese-indonesian-differences.html
Happy Sunday Mom Trish : )
xoxo
Mom definitely love Chinese food. She's Chinese-Filipino. The brown sauce could be a mixture of soy sauce and other spices. We have that ready in a bottle Mom usually calls lee-kum-kee.
ReplyDeleteI left Massachusetts for Florida in April of 1975. I have yet to find any good Chinese food in the south.
ReplyDeletePeriod.
I make it a point to go to my favorite dive of a Chinese restaurant at least once! I call it a dive because it's practically frozen in time since they have not upgraded or remodeled in decades! Thanks to Facebook, every year I get to meet up with a bunch of my high school alumni at The Jade and we eat, drink and revist the 60's and 70's. Awesomeness!
The Jade serve Cantonese & Szechwan Cusines, GREAT hot tea and a killer Mai Tai! Srsly. KILLER. Although, not as killer as we remember it from our youth. hehe.
Enjoy!!
If you're ever in Massacgusetts... http://jadeeastrestaurant.com/Lunch.html
ReplyDeleteWell that is exciting for you to have a restaurant right down the road from you. I love Chinese food. Good eating to ya.
ReplyDeleteBrown sauce? Was UPS involved????
ReplyDeleteI say beware of brown and green food!
ReplyDeleteMom is not fond of blue food either local cafeteria serves blue jello!
Hugs
Madi your bfff
Mum loves chinese food but she's never seen brown sauce.
ReplyDeleteLuv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
We think we've heard of brown sauce with boneless chicken.
ReplyDeleteYou have to tell me the name of the place for hubby. I love a brown sauce!
ReplyDeleteWe are sorely lacking a good Chinese food here. In CA, there are many good ones. Yes, I've seen dishes described with brown sauce too and always wonder what it tastes like. I think like some of the others mentioned it could be a soy sauce blend (from a factory in New Jersey, lol!).
ReplyDeleteYes, Chicago is quite the melting pot of restaurants! Many, many kinds of foods our mom has never tried. She is a great fan of Chinese food.
ReplyDeleteThere's no eel in the eel sauce? Maybe there's nothing brown in the brown sauce....
ReplyDeleteI am dying to see llewyn Davis....
Glad you found a good place you enjoy and they deliver??
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'd ask what it is. That could be a scary answer!
ReplyDeleteWe love eating in Chicago--there are so many ethnicities here--each with a corresponding neighborhood and community. It's fun to explore new cuisines and cultures.
We eat unagi (eel) when we go for sushi. We have the cooked unagi and it is very delicious!
It's great you found a place that serves food you like and is close to home :)
ReplyDeleteHowever, maybe it is best to not inspect food too closely :o
Just enjoy the taste!
Wow, you got so many helpful hints on the ingredients of the mysterious sauce. Any one of them could be correct.
ReplyDeleteGood point! I've seen brown sauce in the menu but never questioned what it really was before.. Never heard of eel sauce. How strange there is no eel in eel sauce :-)
ReplyDeleteThe "brown sauce" sounds like oyster sauce as the base and then other stuff added to make the gravy. Oyster sauce is pretty staple in Chinese food (as far as I know!). :)
ReplyDeletewe can't stop laughing at Mr. Black's comment.
ReplyDeleteOTOH: Here in sunny So Cal we are tooooooo spoiled with Asian food eateries on every corner (and many in between those corners) and only minutes away from Little Saigon in one direction & several authentic Japanese shopping centers in another. Spoiled for choice certainly.
We have one place we love and conveniently when they moved locations they moved into a shop that is drive thru. FABULOUS! Me & The Gurl used to frequent there so often we got cards that have tick marks so every 10th meal you get one free. SCORE!
We went there recently (last time being before she moved to LV & then moved back- so 7 mo's ago) we had borrowed a friends car for errands and went there for lunch. They give you so much food I still have leftovers!
xoxo
Mr. Black made me laugh too!
ReplyDeleteI can't I've seen brown or eel sauce on the menu of any Asian restaurants here in Saskatchewan. Since I used to travel for work, I've learned that every community, whatever the size has at least one Asian restaurant and the less updated the decor, the better the food.
Unfortunately, our favorite place redecorated a year or so ago...and now the food sucks!
Have a great week!
I have never seen brown sauce on a Chinese menu, but we have brown sauce we can buy by the bottle in the supermarkets. I doubt it is the same type of thing though. This is Daddy's, OK, Steak sauce etc.
ReplyDeleteLike Flynn says we have brown sauce over here in the bottle but I don't think it will be the same as the Chinese one. I will be interested to see what it is.
ReplyDeleteBrown sauce is indeed a staple of Asian cooking!
ReplyDeleteI, to this day, have not acquired a taste for this food...yet! I suppose it remains to be seen or, should I say eaten!! Whatever...
ReplyDeletePurrs...
We can't stop MOL'ing at Mr. Black's comment.
ReplyDeleteYou can buy Brown Sauce in a bottle in the super market. M used to use that when she made chop suey. She hasn't made that in years, so she's not sure if it's still available or not, but she guesses it is. It just helped give things a nice warm brown color.
ReplyDeleteAhh, I just happened to catch Andrea's comment and I guess they don't make it anymore. Hmmm, wonder why!
ReplyDeleteOur Boy lives in Chicago. When he comes home he tells about all the little eateries he goes to with his girlfriend. They love to explore & find new ones.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we wouldn't trust the brown sauce too much!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a winner. We're spoiled in the restaurant dept. in NYC area but have never heard of eel sauce with our without eels but the cats would love to catch a eel.
ReplyDeleteWell I guess it is just as weird as Oranges being named after its color sometimes the peeps have unique ideas with some names.
ReplyDeleteWe've eaten lots of brown sauce and never thought to look up the ingredients. The mom can be squeemish so maybe sometimes its better not to know what you are eating?
ReplyDeleteA new restaurant is always exciting! We could use a new one or two here in Swift Current too.
ReplyDeletexo Catherine
Yay for a good Chinese restaurant! Isn't brown sauce made from soy sauce and some spices?
ReplyDeleteGosh! Chinese Food! I really miss good Chinese Food and a decent pizza out here in the boonies. Actually ANY kind of takeout...
ReplyDeleteSoy sauce? Gravy?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for considering a donation. We didn't realize it was going to charge a fee for it. Unfortunately chipin is not in business any more. We will delete that account and look for a different option. Thanks for looking :)
ReplyDeleteOf course, there is always the ever popular Duck sauce, which is not made from duck, and which Mom has never seen served with duck. Then the Italians have red sauce… As long as it tastes good…SCORE! Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette
ReplyDeleteLuaghing my whiskers of at Spitty´s comment :)
ReplyDeleteXOXO
Well, I am used to "brown sauce" as the tangy HP sauce I grew up eating with the greasy English fry-up breakfasts my parents used to make! :) I still always have a bottle of HP in the fridge.
ReplyDelete