Where to go in Chinatown (Part 2)

Finally, the sequel to my previous Chinatown article! Here are a few more places that are definitely worth a visit when you are in the area... 

Peking Duck:
Peking duck is a very special dish in Chinese cooking. It consists of a roasted duck that is especially praised for the golden crispiness of the skin and the juiciness of the meat. In fact, in order to achieve this especially crispy skin, it must be loosened from the duck before cooking, in some cases with an air pump. The preparation of Peking duck is a laborious process, and therefore must be ordered in advance in most restaurants. It also normally entails a high price tag because of this.


Generally, having Peking Duck involves eating several dishes made with the different parts of the bird. The most sought after is the dish with the skin and outer duck meat served with steamed pancakes. These Chinese-style tortillas are assembled by placing the duck meat on a pancake with hoisin sauce, green scallions and some pickled vegetables or cucumbers. Once all wrapped up, all these flavors blended together create this perfectly balanced sweet, sour, and salty crisp bite. It is absolutely delicious! The rest of the duck meat is carved off of the duck and usually served in a stir-fry. Finally the carcass is used to make a flavorful soup.

Peking duck with pancakes

Mon-Nan is a great restaurant in Chinatown to try this dish because they actually make it everyday, no pre-ordering required! You can order either a half-duck or a full duck for approximately 30 $. The cost includes three courses. The first is a simple but very tasty soup, the second is the Peking duck with the pancakes, and the final dish is a nice duck stir-fry with vegetables. All in all, it is a delicious meal!


Average cost for two people: 45 $


Mon-Nan Village (make sure to go to the upstairs Mon-Nan, not the one on the ground floor)
1098, Clark street
Montreal, H2Z 1K2


Noodles and dumplings:
I'm a huge fan of fried noodles, and Noodle Factory in Chinatown is my favorite spot. It is a small, extremely affordable restaurant where noodles and dumplings are made fresh everyday. The chef actually rolls out the dough on a widowed counter allowing the customers to watch and admire his skill and speed. The shrimp fried noodles are so good with large juicy shrimp cooked to perfection. The noodles themselves are so tender and fresh, you can really tell that they were just made.

Noodle Factory

Their menu is small but everything I've tried is good. The spring rolls, the shallot pancakes, and of course, the noodle soups. Their dumplings are also excellent. This place is a must!!

Average cost for two people: 20 $


Noodle Factory
1018 St-Urbain


Pastries:
Harmonie Bakery is a wonderful little bakery located diagonally from the Noodle Factory, at the corner of St-Urbain and de la Gauchetière, and this is another fun place in Chinatown. As you walk by, the wonderful aromas emanating from the bakery fill the air and lure you in. Their top seller seems to be the egg custard tarts, but they make a variety of sweet and savory items. Their raisin twists, coconut custard buns, and chocolate shortbread cookies are just a few of my favorites. Again the prices here can't be beaten, most of them being between 1 and 3 $.

                                           

Egg custard tarts (or Dan ta)

Pâtisserie Harmonie
85 Rue de la Gauchetiere Ouest

Montreal, QC H2Z 1C2

Bubble Tea:
Finally, for anyone curious about the Taiwanese drink called bubble tea (warning: it is addictive!) L2 is the place to go. L2 was the first location to serve bubble tea in Chinatown many years ago, and if you don't go for the drink, go to gawk at the youth of today. If I was younger I would have loved to hang out at this place! There are loads of tables, board games, a jukebox and a section of computers available to play online games at an affordable price. The place is always packed with young teenagers.


Bubble tea is basically iced tea made with or without milk, according to your order, in which small chewy tapioca balls are added. These sink to the bottom of your glass and with the extra large straw that you are given, you can have fun slurping them up and chewing on them. The tea can be made in a variety of flavors with all types of fruits, and with either black or green tea. I personally love the passion fruit black tea, but my husband swears by the coffee taste of the taro milk tea. Either way, they make drinks to suit any palate, and they also makes delicious smoothies. Also, in case you are not feeling too adventurous, you can always have the tea without the bubbles as well!

 Bubble tea

Average cost for two people: 10 $

L2
71A Rue de la Gauchetiere Ouest
Montreal, QC H2Z 1C2

Tip: The many uses of yogurt

In the last couple of years, I have grown to really enjoy plain low-fat yogurt in the morning mixed with granola and fruit. Not only is it filling, but it's a nutritional breakfast that is low in fat and filled with protein. Recently, I attempted to use plain yogurt in other ways and I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

I first used it as a base in salad dressings replacing mayonnaise, such as in the case for coleslaws and creamy dressings for greens, and it worked wonderfully. I then decided to expand its use in dips. I'm a huge fan of onion dip with potato chips and I was very pleased when I realized that yogurt could easily replace most of the sour cream, if not all, in my dips. I was amazed that yogurt could actually turn my guilty pleasure into something that is actually nutritious - if you ignore the potato chips of course....

Finally, I discovered yogurt cheese, or what is referred to as labneh in the Middle East. Yogurt cheese is extremely versatile and easy to make. All you need to do is place a large sieve over a bowl, into which you place either cheese cloth or a large paper coffee filter. Next, you fill the filter with yogurt, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

The yogurt will drain off all its moisture and what will be left behind is a very thick and creamy yogurt that rivals cream cheese! You can then mix in all types of herbs or seasonings to add flavor. I used dried Herbes de Provence for one batch, and garlic and herbs for another. Both spreads were delicious on crackers and bagels. After reading a little more about it, it even seems that yogurt cheese can also be used in low fat desserts as a substitute for cream cheese, such as in light cheesecake recipes.

So to sum up, yogurt can easily replace mayonnaise, sour cream and cream cheese, while being more nutritious, higher in protein and lower in fat. I recommend it's many uses to anyone... whether you are on a diet or not!