I’d been very curious about David Chang’s praise of Wu’s Garden since I read this piece over a year ago. I think I’d been here once before, and had no special memories of the restaurant.
I ordered a dish Chang raved about – Koh Tah Tofu ($11.95), a Shandong dish that’s as simple as it could be: braised tofu, in sauce, with steamed rice on the side.
(Naturally, since I ordered it as carryout, I dumped everything on top of the steamed rice.)
This dish, to me, was compelling despite its simplicity. I’ve thought back on it several times, and it literally makes me salivate. Â Why is it so good? Two reasons: the texture of the tofu which is braised, not stir-fried, is like custard despite the curd being in rectangular prisms – it almost literally melts in your mouth – and the saucing, deceptively Americanized-looking and brownish, which has just the right amount of salt and tang (and yes, probably MSG) to make this dish have an endless finish on the palate.
As I type this, there is not a single dish that I crave more than this one. Right. Now. And according to Chang, the boneless, braised chicken is just as good.