1000yregg Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Last month, a new Chinese restaurant opened in Catonsville in the same shopping center as H Mart called Hunan Taste. I went with my folks this past weekend as my mom had seen the place advertise in the local Chinese paper. They mentioned that one of their specialty was Mao Tse-tung's Red Braised Pork Belly, a dish that was his favorite dish. Their version was delicious- large chunks of pork belly with cloves of garlic cooked in a sauce of soy sauce, wine, ginger, sugar, cinnamon, star anise and chiles. They also had a steamed chicken soup- served in a bowl with a hole/spout in the center where the steam enters to cook the dish. I had the same dish in China with black chicken, because it really makes the meat tender. Their version used free range chicken with goji berries and nagaimo/ Japanese yam. Mom said that this dish is thought to be medicinal. Regardless- it was good. We also had lily buds and celery for a vegetable dish. The manager said the chefs were from Hunan, and that their menu is still a work in progress, but they hope to have about 100 items on their final menu. It's a good sign that more authentic Chinese cuisine is returning to the area. pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 pics These pictures look fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodeats Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I had the same dish in China with black chicken, because it really makes the meat tender. Their version used free range chicken with goji berries and nagaimo/ Japanese yam. Mom said that this dish is thought to be medicinal. Beautiful pictures! I agree with your mom because this dish is what I make when I need to "repair" my body; black chicken is thought to be richer in nutrients than regular chicken, and the goji berries and nagaimo is thought to bring out the medicinal effects or add to the healing. I could use a bowl of this tonight, too. The pictures bring a piece of home, and makes me really my grandmom (外婆). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deangold Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Just back. Posted about it here: click Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1000yregg Posted May 13, 2010 Author Share Posted May 13, 2010 Went here for lunch today- a really good deal from mon-fri for the midday meal- 3 dishes and a soup for under $30. We started with a really nice soup made with amazing chicken broth, cilantro, 1000 year egg and clearly homemade, never frozen, fish balls. For out 3 dishes, we got the countryside style fish filets- which were spicy, prepared in a hunan style. We also got the Yu Tsai with garlic. My favorite of the three was the spicy pig skin. The way they cut the pig skin was in thin strips so that it looked like noodles. It was then stir fried with a spicy sauce and celery. Not heavy or oily at all. We also ordered an additional dish off the new chef's menu- mountain mushrooms with shredded pork. It reminded me of the the Mao's pork dish but with a nice variety of different mushrooms. pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deangold Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Sometimesthings just work out for the best. I still have a major jones for hot pot and with no prior kowlege, we were passing Hunan Taste and decided to stop in to find that they are offering Chendu Hotpot. We ordered half and half. Our ingredients were lamb, pork {belly}, tee tree mushrooms, cabbage, frozen tofu, cuttlefish balls and maybe one more oitem. In any case,teh broth was far more intriguing than either Bob's Sichuan style or Uncle Liu's. The meats were of high quality and the veggies fantastic. Instead of the sauce bar, you get two bowls: sa cha {or a variant of same} and a bowl with a thin dipping sauce and 4 small cubes of pungent fermented tofu. If you are a fan of the cheeses we offer marked "BAWARE OF THIS CHEESE" than this stuff is for you. Kay prefers he set up at UL, I prefer this set of sauces. The viggies are more abundent at UL,. the meat and meatballs less so, but on an AYCE adventure, this is of no matter. In all, startlingly good if a little pricier than LU or the late lamented Bobs. But Monday thru THursday, its AYCA for $25.95 and included fresh shrimp, maryland blue crab, 4 kinds of mushrooms, 6 of tofu, 6 of meatball and more. COmbine that with a platter of cold marinated meats for $15.95 and a building engineer may need to be called in to double check the foundations! Route 40 just a mile or two east of route 29 in Catonsville. The menu and reguar food look as goos or better than ever so maybe two trips are needed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deangold Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Back again last night. Very fine cooking. Spicy shredded chicken was especially good loaded with cilantro and gren onion with slivers of hot pepper. The leek and pressed tofu was comforort food. The uncle Mao's pork was ok to good, not up to the dish at Sechzuan Pavillion when we had it there {but our last trips to SP were not as good as in the past so the comparison may not still be valid}. Not worth a long drive {almost an hour for us at rush hour}, but very good for when headed up north. Worth the detour from 95 certainly. Not particularly what I think of as Hunan cuisine, but still quite good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1000yregg Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 I finally managed to get a group together for the all you can eat hot pot last night. It was a great meal for a cold night. We ordered about 4 -5 rounds of plates including lamb, beef, pork, beef tendon meatballs, fishballs, winter melon, daikon, mushrooms, yuchoy, soft tofu, fried tofu, and clear noodles. We had the half & half soup, although the table seemed to prefer the spicy side. My favorites were the fish balls, beef tendon balls, and the lamb. I wonder if they would allow you to sneak in some raw eggs to eat with the meats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericandblueboy Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 They don't provide you with raw eggs for your dipping sauce huh? Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing them at Uncle Liu's. Must be some kind of health issue. How much is the AYCE hotpot? And how spicy was the soup? The spicy stock at Uncle Liu's is so good that you basically don't need the dipping sauce. Damn, I love winter melon in soup (which was not available as an option at Uncle Liu's). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deangold Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Please be aware that althougth there is no indication in English, they only do the hot pot on 4 {I think} nights of the week. I believe it is not available Friday thru Sunday. A major dissapointment when driving 40 minutes +to get hot pot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodeats Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Now on the Travel & Leisure's top Chinese restaurants to visit! (Sorry--too lazy to provide link on tablet...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deangold Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 I would take any listing that puts Hunan Taste and not Grace Garden on their top list as suspect. Not knocking HT. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielK Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 I would take any listing that puts Hunan Taste and not Grace Garden on their top list as suspect. Not knocking HT. Seconded. I liked HT quite a bit, but didn't find it better than the better choices in Rockville and Gaithersburg. GG is worth driving across town for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deangold Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 HT has fabulous Hot Pot, Monday thru Thursday I believe, all you can eat for $26. When we get the jones for hot pot, Uncle Liu's and HT are equidistant. If its a Friday thru Sunday, UL. If not, then we call HT, verify that they will actually have it that night and go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sthitch Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Second location coming to 10120 Fairfax Blvd. in Fairfax (website says it should have opened at the end of January). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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