Things you didn't know you wanted to eat pt. 1 - Duck Tongues

We've learned to trust Ken at Ken's Seafood, and often don't even bother with a menu there, we just tell him the kind of thing we're in the mood for, and ask for suggestions.

Recently, we told him we were in the mood for something batter-dipped and deep-fried, and I have to admit that we were all surprised when he said "Duck Tongue." I'd seen them on the cold appetizer cart at Chung King Garden, but hadn't gotten around to trying them, nor had ever heard of them prepared this way, so this was going to be a new experience.

As it turns out, we liked them a lot. There's not a whole lot of meat on a duck tongue, and what there is has a slightly fatty, gelatinous texture, but when it's encased in perfectly-fried batter, the combo is very pleasing. To be fair, I think our table was evenly split about how good they were, but two of us really loved them. Someone likened them to the very tip of a chicken wing, where there's just a little bit of meat, more fat and skin and crunchy coating. Whether this is a good or bad thing is a matter of perspective.

There is a weird thing about duck tongues: they have a piece of cartilage going right down the middle that's inedible, so the crunchy treat needs to be eaten with a little care, and that little boney spine needs to be gingerly extracted from one's mouth, so this might not be a great food on the occasions that pulling bones from one's mouth wouldn't be considered polite.

On our previous visit, the same request resulted in a plate of frog. We were remembering the amazing Geoduck Clam bellies that he recommended a while back, and how good they were, especially how great the batter was. But we didn't feel like going big and getting the Geoduck sashimi this time, so we asked for something else. The frog is actually quite tasty, but each little nugget is filled with a bunch of tiny bones, making it a little tedious to eat. I'm sure one can get used to it, but we couldn't help feeling that the payoff just wasn't worth all that effort. And I couldn't get the Monty Python skit out of my mind - sure, they were talking about chocolates, but the line "Well, if we took the bones out, it wouldn't be crunchy, would it?" kept echoing in my head. So although it was in fact pretty good, we might not be revisiting the deep-fried frog for a while... at least not the chopped-up bodies. Legs?, we'll eat frog legs any day.

Any disappointment in the frog was quickly overshadowed by the vegetable we ordered. Back when Ken worked at Xiao Guan he'd recommended a dish of Chinese Broccoli with Sausage, and we decided we needed that again. This version was even more decadently pork-filled, seemingly half its volume was sweet, salty Chinese sausage. There's a great interplay between the bitter greens and the sweet fattiness of the sausage, it's a perfect combination. And, oh, OK, we're suckers for anything with Chinese Sausage...



The fresh seafood is just outstanding here at Ken's, we love the whole steamed fish, the eel in XO sauce, the fresh scallops with garlic, or XO, or black bean sauce. My dining companions go pretty crazy for the live shrimp, salt-baked is apparently the way to go when they're small. But it's funny, at this seafood-centric restaurant, we end up ordering plenty of things from the land, and are rarely disappointed.

(read earlier review>>)

Ken's Seafood Restaurant
1004 Race St
Philadelphia, PA
215-351-7811

Ken's Seafood - New Chinatown highlight

There's been a lot of activity in Chinatown lately, with a few noteworthy openings and renovations. The corner of 10th and Race is looking much better these days: the old Ho Sai Gai is finally being fixed-up, but even more exciting, a couple of doors away at 1004 Race, Ken's Seafood Restaurant has opened.

Some of us know Ken from Xiao Guan Garden, where he guided us through the best parts of that restaurant's menu. The selections available at the new place are not exactly the same, but similarly there are fresh fish, still swimming in tanks, and other traditional Cantonese dishes. The tanks hold a few different kinds of live shrimp, dungeness crabs, lobsters, eels and several species of finned fish, and there are clams, scallops and oysters on offer as well. The menu also offers such splurges as shark's fin soup, and abalone.

There's a diverse English-language menu with plenty of traditional items, and a smaller one written only in Chinese, and even better, if you can convince Ken that you're really interested, there's even more that the kitchen can do that's not on any menu. Although one can order pork, beef, chicken and duck, seafood is a good place to start here. Whole fish can be simply steamed with ginger and scallion or sauced more aggressively, I find simpler is better with such high-quality, ultra-fresh fish. Just be aware, this live seafood comes with a price: a good sized whole fish may cost between 20-30 dollars, the exact amount determined by weight. But it's worth the cost, the freshness is so evident that afterward you may only crave seafood that is still swimming when you order it.

Most seafood can be prepared various ways, ask for suggestions and pick whatever sounds best to you. Ken recommended some very large, red, live shrimp gently steamed with garlic. Prepared that way, they were sweet, tender and delicate. There are smaller, almost translucent shrimp that are good salt-baked.

There are clam dishes that one doesn't see too often at other restaurants. We sampled ribbony clam bellies, stir-fried with yellow chives.

Even better were Razor Clams, Hong Kong style. The long, thin clams were just barely cooked to an ideal tenderness, joined by crumbles of salty pork.

We were still feeling a little carnivorous, so we asked for Salt-Baked Porkchops. The chops arrived hot and juicy, a light, crispy coating carrying some salt and pepper, creating the impression of a perfect fried chicken. It was quite delicious just like that, but we were also offered a small bowl of soy spiked with hot peppers that added an interesting spin. Although this is primarily a seafood restaurant, they clearly do some good work with pork, and we saw a duck going by that caused us to contemplate distracting the waiter and claiming it for our own. There were several deep-fried dishes going to different tables, and judging from the pork chops, this chef knows his way around a frier.

To help celebrate his opening night, Ken sent us some plump, fresh oysters, and they were great, simply adorned with just the slightest drip of lemon.


Also worth noting was the house special soup, which had a deep, rich flavor, sweetened a bit by lotus root and some fruit.
If opening night is any indication, we've got another excellent choice in Chinatown, serving serious, traditional Cantonese food. Ken's is BYOB for now, expect a liquor license eventually. If you've got a large group, or are in the mood for a party, there are three private room upstairs, each fitted with a high-tech karaoke system and large flat-screen video monitors. We'll skip the off-key singing for now and concentrate on more of the pitch-perfect food emerging from this kitchen.

Ken's Seafood Restaurant
1004 Race St
Philadelphia, PA
215-351-7811