In one of the first articles on Chinese food I wrote for the old Menuism website, I described how certain regional Chinese American specialties were unique to a particular geographic area in the United States, such as the chow mein sandwich in Fall River, Massachusetts and fried breaded cashew chicken in Springfield, Missouri. In the same vein, there were general styles of Chinese identified with a certain locality, such as New York Chinese food, where the specific characteristics might not be completely precise. In any event, these dishes could only be experienced by visiting the specific locality involved, and while interesting, not interesting enough to justify a trip just to eat the food item.
Strangely, while by far the greatest number of requests come from former New Yorkers looking for New York style Chinese food in their current place of residence, despite all the restaurant food that gets shipped cross country via UPS wrapped in dry ice, the only Chinese food available that way is New England style Chinese food from a company called Bamboos Nation Interstate. It took me a while, but I think I figured out why you can buy New England style Chinese food online for home delivery, but not New York style. The answer is dual. First of all, the concept of New England style Chinese food is well defined. It is marked by dark fried rice, fried chicken fingers, boneless breaded fried chicken with almonds, shrimp in dark lobster sauce, boneless spare ribs, often served at restaurants with a Polynesian motif that serve pupu platters. And secondly, there are a substantial number of Chinese restaurants in New England that check all the boxes and are still operating. Consequently, Bamboos National Interstate has a core group of restaurants that they work with regularly, which is supplemented by other restaurants on a rotating basis.
Actually when I first found out about Bamboos Nation, I hesitated about ordering. For a full meal the cost was about $150 for the food and an additional amount for shipping, all for Americanized Chinese food which I wouldn't find particularly tasty. The thought of eating New England style Chinese chicken fingers was tempting, but the rest of the menu with chop suey and chow mein dishes was totally unappealing. But then I saw that one of the participating restaurants also had almond boneless chicken on the menu, and that I could do double orders of both dishes instead of single orders of unappealing dishes, then it was a no brainer, and I sent in my order.
Since Bamboos Nation only ships out once every week or two, with shipping it took almost three weeks for my shipment to arrive. How exciting when it came!
Loose items in the box. Teabags.
A can of Dole pineapple chunks?
And a flyer.
Condiments.
All the food wrapped up and kept cold.
Inside the insulated bag were all the containers of food.
Oyster pail of rice--with a metal handle. Haven't seen one of these with a handle in a long time, but apparently they are still commonly in use on the East Coast.
Hung su gai sauce.
At last! Full version of hung su gai!
Seperate order of chicken fingers.
Lastly, giant egg rolls.
Even though it's been quite a few months, I still have a few frozen chicken fingers that I haven't eaten yet.
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