Eating Well at Wang Xing Ji - San Gabriel

Foodies are the lepers of the culinary world. We are the nightmares of chefs, the yellers of yelp, and the scapegoats of common cooks. It seems like everyone has their own misconceptions about us and I’m as over being misunderstood as I am over this California foie gras foolishness. With a single post, I hope to put all these rumors to rest.

Misconception #1: Foodies only do fine dining.

Not true. The authentic experiences we seek take us to every corner of the earth, and they're not always the best of places. The most authentic ethnic foods, for example, always come with some form of norovirus. Wang Xing Ji, with its generic Asian décor in the middle of an aesthetically unappealing strip mall centered around a 99 Ranch is hardly Chinese Laundry, but the Juicy Pork and Crab Bun is the stuff of legends. Bread-bowl soup with a touch of Asian, this juicy bun is the size of your head and requires you to sip a cup of soup with a straw before biting into the thinly-wrapped bun. We don’t just do fine dining, we do dining at its finest.

Misconception #2: Foodies only eat at famous restaurants.

Din Tai Fung created quite a name and a whole lot of hype, but the way foodies flock for their juicy pork dumplings, you’d think they were larger than life. I was not the first foodie to make a special trip just for DTF because if it’s famous enough to have an acronym, it’s probably worth a visit for anyone with a mouth. But just because we’ve never heard of WXJ doesn’t mean it can’t trump DTF a thousand times over. And it does. The Juicy Pork Dumplings are better, and the Juicy Pork and Crab Dumplings are out of this world.

Misconception #3:  Foodies only eat expensive food.

Sometimes good food IS expensive. You pay a little extra for the prime ingredients, especially things that are harder to acquire and prepare. But some of the best pad thai comes from the street carts of Thailand at only a dollar-a-pop. And while these inexpensive Sesame Noodles didn’t blow my mind, the cold noodles with a savory-yet-unspecial peanut sauce were a cold, welcome contrast to the dumplings.

The Bean Sprout Seedlings were cheap, but they really hit the spot. Simple stir-fried greens with garlic and a touch of oil, but they were also the first dish to go. We scarfed that stuff down the minute it hit the table, and we fought over that last crisp, leafy shoot while half the dumplings just sat there and chilled.

There’s also something to be said about a spin on staple dish. Asian foodies still love our grandma’s flied lice, and this salty, savory Pork Belly Fried Rice was one of the best I've had.

Misconception #4: Foodies are picky eaters.

Just the opposite. We eat anything, we eat everything. We eat the offal, we eat the awful, and we'll put just about anything into our mouths at least once just to say we tried.

“You’re a foodie. I’m NEVER cooking for YOU…” is the most obnoxious thing you can say. Home cooking is a gift for a foodie – what could possibly be more unique than something you put together in the irreproducible environment that is your home? You could make me mac n’ cheese from a bag and forget to add the water, and I would still say thanks and mean it. I’m a blogger, not a bee with an itch. All I ask is that you put your assumptions aside when eating with me and stop judging me when I take a photo of my food…with flash.