A Burrito In Every Language

I love Chinese food. Now I'm not talking Panda Express, Wok this, Wok that, Americanized-Mexican made Chinese crap. I'm talking about the real thing. The kind where few white folks dare to venture. The places where you can't read the menu, even if it is in English. That's where the good stuff's at. But I digress.

Before I wrote this post, I Googled the phrase, "history of the burrito." I was hoping to find an encyclopedia-type treatise on this little brown prize, but no. Interesting results, however. But, why the heck am I writing about it in the first place? Because, I love Chinese 'burritos' otherwise known as (in my non-Pinyin/English rendition dialect) "twin gin," or "lao bo bing." No, I'm not talking about something wierd with a Mexican tortilla and moo shoo pork in it. I'm talking about one of my favorite meals on the planet. I tried to google that too, but couldn't find any reference to them. Anyway, here's how to make them (you can buy everything you need from 99 Ranch:

1. Spring roll wrappers (steam slightly to loosen);
2. thin omellet (eggs, sugar, milk) - about 1cm thick, almost like a crepe, cut into 4" by 1/4" strips;
3. peanut powder;
4. powdered sugar;
5. boiled shrimp, sliced vertically;
6. boiled pork, sliced into 1" by 1/4" rectangles;
7. boiled or fried bean sprouts, crunchy;
8. sweet Chinese sausage, sliced thin (cook in toaster oven first - don't overcook);
9. fried cabbage, long thin sliced;
10. baked tofu, fried with thin sliced leek tops; and
11. chili sauce with black beans.

Pile it to your liking, understanding that the spring roll wrappers break easy, so maybe double them up. Wrap it like a burrito and chow down. Nothing matches the ones you can buy streetside in Taiwan, but these family style ones will do the trick.

~ Brock