But does anyone out there agree with me that this dish is a bit one-note? It's reliance on the salt/sweet/spicy combo seems a bit insipid to my tongue and reminiscent of snacks that come wrapped in plastic for .99c. Additionally, I think the problem was that the chunks of chicken were so small and/or flavorless that there was no savory element to balance the coating. In short, it tasted like something KFC would offer. That's not what I expect when I go to a place like Lao Sze Schuan.

I think the 3-chili chicken is chicken crack, and a memorable dish that I crave. I have not had a bad version, so I crave it alot.

Habibi wrote:But does anyone out there agree with me that this dish is a bit one-note? It's reliance on the salt/sweet/spicy combo....

I'd call that three notes.

eatchicago wrote:I'd call that three notes.

Four if you go with salt, sweet, spicy and crisp. I love the dish, but am happy when someone makes a reasoned argument in the other direction.

LTHForum is a discussion board, it would be boring if we all agreed on everything.

Enjoy,
Gary

but it would be delusional to recall to Tony's Three Chile Chicken in synchronicity with a piece of well-fried, juicy, flavorful, marinated chicken that tastes, and feels, and looks like chicken.

You know I'm with you. This isn't my dish. To be fair, I just don't have the biggest sweet tooth. I like the heat and pepperiness of the dish, but for that I could lose the sweet and go for dry-chilli chicken. However- and I think this is symptomatic of both of these dishes- the main event is the seasoned thickish breading rather than the actual meat contained inside, which is usually scant and cooked to a dried out, leathery consistency. I've had a meatier version at Spring World, but in general, as a bird loving eater, this dish is not about juicy, flavorful meat like many of my other favorite fried chicken preps- its about junk food-esque sweet and spicy chunks of deep fried breading.

"Junk food-esque" is exactly the description I was looking for. Thank you. When all is said and done, I suppose, you can't blame people for loving junk food. I sure as hell do.

Habibi wrote:"Junk food-esque" is exactly the description I was looking for. Thank you. When all is said and done, I suppose, you can't blame people for loving junk food. I sure as hell do.

I believe I'm responsible for naming this dish "chicken crack" some years ago, and I think I also compared it to KFC's Popcorn Chicken.

I do think that the dish has gotten sweeter over the past couple years, and it's not as good as the 3CC of my memories..

Habibi wrote:"Junk food-esque" is exactly the description I was looking for. Thank you. When all is said and done, I suppose, you can't blame people for loving junk food. I sure as hell do.

To your original point, I can see what you mean in that 3CC is not an "entree". I have no taste for 3CC on it's own. I only want it as a foil to ma po tofu, boiled beef in szechuan sauce, or some other fiery/oily/soupy thing. 3CC is an element of a whole meal, not a meal unto itself. It's a tasty, sweet side dish for me.

Best,
Michael

Had a disappointing semi-meal/snack at LSC this week. Ma Po Tofu was terrific per usual. The problem was Tony's Chicken and Mayo Shrimp. The chicken crack was not its normal multi-dimensional self. It was as if they changed the way it was seasoned. Neither sweet or hot. The shrimp had a mealy mouth feel, not from the shrimp but from the sauce. The tendon and blood cake was as intended.

I wouldnt otherwise make mention of this because at the time i felt it was just an off night. In light of other people comments about the decline of the quality of the chicken, it is notable.

Had the mayo shrimp at gorge fest last weekend at LSC and it was fantastic. It was the first time I had it but everything to me seemed to be perfect. The shrimp were big and plump and the breading was crispy and perfect. Although there wasn't as much sauce that I have seen in pics. But it was still sweet and great. These off nights people speak of, are they due to different chefs? Or a busy night? I have only been a few times so just wondering.

thepld wrote:These off nights people speak of, are they due to different chefs? Or a busy night? I have only been a few times so just wondering.

Tues. Night

Has anyone figured out what's in the mayo for the mayo shrimp? I was thinking mayo, honey and condensed milk.

Blown Z wrote:Has anyone figured out what's in the mayo for the mayo shrimp? I was thinking mayo, honey and condensed milk.

I think there's a citrus element (orange?), too. Maybe it's part of the honey (if that is one of the ingredients).

=R=

Blown Z wrote:Has anyone figured out what's in the mayo for the mayo shrimp? I was thinking mayo, honey and condensed milk.

Dining with some chefs last year, Tony told us "mayo" meant (paraphrasing) "made-in-house emulsion of oil, lemon and orange juice, sugar, etc., certainly nothing from a jar comes into play."

Dining with G Wiv earlier this year, Tony told us "mayo" meant "Hellman's."

YMMV. There is an occasional translation barrier, and I think what guests want to hear is often what they end up being told (or hearing).

Blown Z wrote:Has anyone figured out what's in the mayo for the mayo shrimp? I was thinking mayo, honey and condensed milk.

The closest thing I've found online is usually called "Honey Walnut Prawns"
Indeed, those are the ingredients, with a little lemon juice often added. The proportions of honey, mayo and condensed milk vary from recipe to recipe.

Habibi wrote:"Junk food-esque" is exactly the description I was looking for. Thank you. When all is said and done, I suppose, you can't blame people for loving junk food. I sure as hell do.

I love junk food a lot of the time too... but Iam with you on this one, Ive never been a fan of Tony's Three Chilli Chicken, despite all the raves on the board. Tried it several times (starting a few years ago when the raves first began), but have never been a fan.

I mis-typed about this a couple of times on this board before however - the dish I do actually like (and have switched to ordering most of the time instead of the Three Chilli Chicken for the past couple of years) is the just-plain-Chilli-Chicken. Called the "dry chilli chicken" on the menu I think. I find that a far superior dish, with a much better heat-content (which I enjoy).

The best thing on the menu, however, remains the Lamb-with-cumin IMHO.

c8w

Everything was top notch tonight - the chicken crack, the mayo shrimp, the dry chile pork, the greens, dumplings, etc. Our out of town guests were very, very impressed and full.

The best thing on the menu, however, remains the Lamb-with-cumin IMHO.

This was also the highlight of our meal this evening - just stunning, probably my single favorite dish at LSC.

The only sour note was the salt and pepper triple delight - heavy, heavy breading and no flavor at all, but everything else was so wonderful no one really minded.

I got the 3CC at lunch today and was definitely white-spiced. When I used to order this back at the old Palatine location, the ratio of chicken to peppers was probably close to 1:1. It's always seemed underspiced at the Archer location to me, but today was the wimpiest yet - the ratio was probably 50:1.... Still good, but not nearly the same.


edit:
Disregard my whining - I'm a moron. I got the Three Chili and the Dry Chili confused...

Last week, at the Mado Anniversary dinner, I defended Cemitas Pueblas to someone. I said with these kind of places, you cannot take one experience as definitive. They are just prone to hiccups. I said I've seen the same at Johnnies, Gene and Judes. I guess what I am saying is, I do not eat as much as others at LSC, so I am not attuned to its dynamics. Taking my Florida based brother-in-law there last night, we found nothing but success after success on the plate.

Of course since we do not eat at LSC that often (and in the case of one, ever), we totally over ordered:

ma po tofu
dry chili chicken
boiled beef
extremely spicy fish fillets langfei style (sp?)
cold szechuan noodles
pea leaves in garlic
dry chili prawns

Although two dishes, the chicken and the prawns had about the same prep, our order really was testament to how LSC can really mix it up with a condiment shelf that does not seem so wide. Each dish hit the hot notes in a slightly different way from the noodles hidden burn to the grab your attention boiled beef. My favorite, and I liked it all, had to have been the fish, where a good dose of sweet carried the heat to you. Nothing at LSC is extremely spicy the way some Thai or Mexican or Indian-Pakistani can be extremely spicy, but this all had us sweating in the best of ways.

Went back last Sunday, and had the 3 chili chicken for the second time. I liked it the first time, although I really wished it would pack more heat. It wasn't spicier this time, but it was better, and I now understand the meaning of chicken crack. It seemed MUCH fresher tasting, and the spicing really popped out.
Side notes:
Szechwan wontons. LOVED these. LOVED them to death.
Szechwan cold noodles...DITTO.
There was a "Dragon & Phoenix" thing for 14.95 that someone at the table ordered. It was plain out gross. Fried chicken chunks in a gloppy, cornstarchy laden "general tso's" type stuff. The Dragon part was shrimp, cut up and stir fried with a few boring vegetables in that glop that a lot of Chinese places refer to as white wine sauce or Lobster sauce. I can think of nothing more disgusting at the moment than Chinese food in white glop format. I didn't even try it.

Last time we went, we had complimentary cabbage in that spicy oil without requesting it. This time, no dice. Should you ask for it?

Not getting the cabbage was an oversite. Everyone gets it although sometimes you need to ask/remind, but be careful Sezchuan slaw is addictive.

Let me be one of the few that feels that Tony's 3 chilli chicken is very overrated. I could barely even taste any chicken as the breading, although not heavy, dominated the tiny pieces to the point where the chicken itself was barely evident. The flavor is not hot or spicy at all, just a sweet that gets boring quickly. It reminded me of some popcorn fast food chicken honestly, nothing to write home about especially since it seems to be universally praised by most on this forum.

We dined at LSC yesterday and ordered four dishes:

[*]Sour and spicy squid (?);

[*]Kung pao kidneys (as an appetizer);

[*]Chef Tony's 3 chile chicken (a/k/a "chicken crack"); and

[*]yu shang pork (?) or some other garlic pork dish.

The kidneys came out first and were quite good. Then came the chicken and the pork. While the pork was tasty, I wasn't exactly blown-away. I agree with the prior poster about the 3-chile chicken - I could hardly taste any chicken, and the coating was overly-chewy; the dish was fairly sweet as advertised, however - I just couldn't taste what all the fuss was about.

In some kind of kitchen mix-up, the squid came out last and were inedible - the texture was way, way too rubbery and they tasted too fishy - and we couldn't eat them.

Has this place gone down in quality? Did we order the wrong dishes? I was disappointed because we went there for the "chicken crack" and were less than overwealmed.

This was our second visit (we first went to LSC about two years ago, but I cannot recall our experience).

linutink wrote: Did we order the wrong dishes?

On page 6 of this thread, Panther in the Den has an excellent summary with links to the most recommended dishes at LSC. That said, much as I like LSC, the "chicken crack" is not my thing either. Lamb with cumin and Ma Po Tofu, on the other hand, are crave-inducing. I don't think one should leave LSC without ordering those.

Kennyz wrote:

linutink wrote: Did we order the wrong dishes?

On page 6 of this thread, Panther in the Den has an excellent summary with links to the most recommended dishes at LSC. That said, much as I like LSC, the "chicken crack" is not my thing either. Lamb with cumin and Ma Po Tofu, on the other hand, are crave-inducing. I don't think one should leave LSC without ordering those.

viewtopic.php?p=187460#p187460

last week, I had a dish at the ogden (downers grove) branch of LSC that has skyrocketed to the top of my must order list - hand pulled noodles with pork and greens of the special menu - I'm not sure these are available at chinatown, and may be a reaction to katy's nearby (there are a number of such handmade noodle dishes on this additional menu)

Chewy slightly fat noodles with greens (think the shanghai noodles at either lao shanghai or mandarin kitchen) but topped with the spicy aromatic broth with ground pork of maopao dofu. Kind of halfway between a soup and a dryer noodle dish - it was served out in individual bowls for us at the table - really good stuff. On a negative note the szechwan dumplings from the same menu didn't do much for me - slightly doughy and the pork filling didn't have much flavor

I also like the version of "tasty tander tofu" at the ogden branch more so than the chinatown branch - the peanuts included in the garnish topping and the creaminess of the the tofu there are outstanding.

That sounds excellent. I wonder if he's doing them LSC in Chinatown? What he is doing in Chinatown, although @ Lao Bejing are homemade fresh pulled noodles Korean style (I usually add pork). Becoming a must have regular along w/the salt and pepper lamb. Yesterday's lunch and to borrow a word "terrific".

Jazzfood wrote:That sounds excellent. I wonder if he's doing them LSC in Chinatown? What he is doing in Chinatown, although @ Lao Bejing are homemade fresh pulled noodles Korean style (I usually add pork). Becoming a must have regular along w/the salt and pepper lamb. Yesterday's lunch and to borrow a word "terrific".

Great intel on Lao Bejing - many thanks.

It's all about sharing the knowledge. I started out fairly unenthusiastic about Lao Bejing. My first couple attempts were a bit underwhelming. I mean, no Peking duck? (possibly rectified by now but haven't tried again) But I like and respect Tony and kept going back and have been rewarded w/a few gems, the noodles and lamb among them. I find myself craving them, even more so since I'm currently reading "Sharks Fin and Sichuan Pepper".

I third/fourth the lamb w/ cumin as a must have. I'd add the Spicy Beef Tendon App. In fact, a lot of the lamb dishes (s&p Lamb is one) are fantastic.