Our Blog

There are few things that Chinese food can’t cure. From colds to heart-breaks to hunger, it brings moments of pure peace, especially for those whose childhood eating-out experiences pinnacled on Chinese. New Dragon, opened recently, opposite Varsha Apartment at Elamkulam, offers the typical Indian-Chinese fare. Formerly Golden Dragon, the décor is pretty much the same—heavy red curtains that let little day light in, ornate wooden partitions and an endless loop of Chinese music. Kiran V.M., the proprietor, has retained the menu more or less, with just a few additions. The Executive Lunch, is one such. Priced at Rs. 149, it includes a soup of choice, egg fried rice or noodles, Chinese chappati, crispy chilli potato or dry cauliflower chilli, chicken Manchurian or chicken Hong Kong (gravy) and lime juice. Starting with soup, picking chicken manchow over a mind-boggling variety—Thai yong kai, spicy seafood, pepper lemon, corn and crab, spinach with tofu to start with—was not easy. But it was just how one wants a soup—hot and spicy with generous quantities of shredded chicken. The combo usually offers only egg fried rice/noodles, but it could be replaced by something else on the main menu like a regular chicken fried rice, a mixed fried rice, Manchurian fried rice, dragon special fried rice or anything on the menu. The variety is exhaustive in the case of noodles too—hakka, butter garlic, plain garlic, chap-cha, or the Singapore mei-foon to begin with. The Chinese chappathi, evokes curiosity with its strange moniker, but it is nothing but fried maida roti, crunchy and ideally paired with chilli gravy. The Chicken Hong Kong gravy is thick and appears almost black, but the soya sauce flavoured curry is a dish by itself that could be savoured with the rice or noodles or just scooped up and slurped. The Manchurian gravy, the other option, is as good, only brighter in colour. The crispy vegetable (potato or cauliflower) is true value for money, complementing the non-vegetarian meal well. The lime juice, sweet and chilled, at the end of the meal is a perfect way to wash down the meal. For vegetarians, the elements in the combo meal can be replaced by vegetarian dishes. Aimed at professionals, the executive lunch has been conceived in such a way as to provide a little bit of everything, says Kiran. The portion size is small and thereby perfect for a quick lunch. It does not leave you too full, so it’s ideal for a workaday lunch, he says. Only recently launched, the combo meal is being well-received, Kiran adds. The combo meal is available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

AJI-NO-MOTO is the trade name for the company’s (Ajinomoto) original Mono sodium Glutamate (MSG) product. Aji-no-Moto means in Japanese “the essence of taste,” was the original commercial form of monosodium glutamate, and now it has become a part of our culture, however unwelcome it may be. It is associated with a set of adverse physiological symptoms generally called “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” although it is not of Chinese Origin. It is Japanese origin and migrated to Chinese restaurants and into global food supply chain. Flavor facilitates digestion is the driving force behind its discovery. A number of reports and small clinical studies of variable quality have attributed a variety of symptoms to the dietary ingestion of MSG. The general awareness started with an article that appeared in Journal of medicine in April 1968 where Robert Ho Man Kwok, a Chinese-American doctor in Maryland, who wrote that he had experienced a strange syndrome whenever he had eaten out in a Chinese restaurant, especially one that served northern Chinese food, the symptoms included numbness and palpitations. Questionnaire and laboratory studies later attributed the cause to MSG. Why to take a chance on health though there has been much controversy on the contribution of MSG towards the adverse effect. The present interest in monosodium glutamate by food manufacturers is to make taste timely and useful. It is true that taste of monosodium glutamate is unique, pleasant and is compatible with the flavor of many foods, which it enhances when used in concentrations at recommended level. The use of Mono sodium glutamate in food is a large subject, worthy of detailed scientific study till such time use no MSG and take a chance.