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Robert Sietsema
Victoria Bekiempis is shown at a Chinese restaurant in New York City collecting her takeout. She prefers to remain somewhat discreet as she continues to do her food writing.
We all know the stereotypes about Chinese takeout: It’s cheap, fast and often full of palate pleasing, blood-pressure accelerating MSG.
But the actual quality of dishes that come from a vast, diverse country that boasts a variety of regional cuisines is a discussion that doesn’t typically happen. For New York City journalist Victoria Bekiempis, that was reason enough to send her on a mission.
“I wanted to cover something that gets ignored,” said the 24-year-old writer. “Chinese takeout is a culinary institution that needs to be discussed – it gets pushed aside because attention is given to ritzier places and food that seems more out of the ordinary.”
To that end, Bekiempis has been eating Chinese takeout one meal a day, every day, since January 1 and chronicling her experience in a Village Voice series titled “Year of the Takeout.” She plans to have hit 365 New York City Chinese eateries by the end of the year.
Almost six weeks into the project, Bekiempis says the experience has been both tedious and inspiring.
Story: What wine goes with Chinese takeout?
“It’s had its ups and downs, however, there are definitely more ups than down,” she said. “There were a few days when I kept getting exceedingly mediocre plates, and it was difficult to power through that. Sometimes you get particular dish and all you want is cheeseburger. My expectation is that I’m going to get a lot of run-of-the-mill stuff, but it’s the diamonds in the rough make this project worthwhile.”
Bekiempis says that some of the best dishes she’s had have come from the most affordable places, like the Sichuan Pork from Wai Lee on Manhattan's Upper West Side, which she described dreamily as having “strips of meat that were moist, rich flesh, perfectly julienned peppers and a savory sauce that exceeded my expectations and blew me out of the water.”
She’s gotten takeout from both high-end and low-end restaurants, and says that often, the more expensive eats “are not that different from the $4.99 pint that you can get anywhere in the country.” Another such dish that astounded her was a Lobster Chow Fun that cost her $5.95. “It totally threw me for a loop how masterfully it was carried off – and it wasn’t ‘krab with a k’ or some other imitation – it had actual lobster! I’ve had the same dish at more chichi noodle houses, served with a similar approach for far more money,” she explained.
We asked Bekiempis what tips she could share for how to spot a takeout location that would serve up the most delicious fare, and she responded that, well, there’s really no way to know until you try it. “It’s a total toss up!” she said. “It’s not like, oh, if the restaurant is clean it’ll have good food. Some places seemed a little dodgy in terms of cleanliness, but I never got sick from any of them and some of them had really high quality food.”
With another 10 and half months to go, it remains to be seen what jewels of knowledge Bekiempis will unearth. Her ultimate goal is to see New York City through a whole new lens, and share that with her readers.
“It’s just about understanding my culinary surroundings as much as possible,” she said. “As cheesy as it sounds, I sincerely mean it. I’m going to see a side of New York that perhaps I wouldn’t have been able to see had I not engaged in this project.”
And that, she hopes, will serve up some interesting conversation.
“It’s superfluous food knowledge that I can talk about at a cocktail party,” she laughed. “I’m excited to have that random expertise. Where this will take me, I don’t know, but I’m along for the long ride!”
Tell us, in the comments below: if you had to eat one type of takeout every day for a year, what would it be?
Vidya Rao is a TODAY.com food editor who would eat pizza every day for the rest of her life if she had magical pants to accommodate the growing waistline that would result from such an endeavor.
Leave a Comment:
pretty stupid idea...She will need blood pressure medicine at the end of this "experiment" from all of the excessive salt in Chinese food. :(
Not unless she's one of the 10% of people who are sodium sensitive. Otherwise, she'll be fine.
To Cy Brown: Excessive salt, coloring, chemicals and preservatives + imitation foods are used in ALL food items in American plus ethnic restaurants (Italian, Japanese, French, etc., etc.). Don't just re-iterate what you've heard in the mass media or by word of mouth and blame the Chinese. For your information - in case you don't already know: Oriental restaurants have replaced MSG with oodles of sugar + salt to please taste buds, in general, many years ago. Even Sweet Tomatoes, or any of the (advertised) "healthy" or "organic" restaurants serve foods that contain more sodium + chemicals + sugar than the human body can handle. Victoria Bekiempis will not know what hit her till she's older, when her body organs cannot accommodate or tolerate her abuse of eating wrong food items for such an extended length of time. The human body is forgiving and accommodates all sorts of abuse until it can no longer help it to survive in a normal way. Then, when it's too late, all the "over-loading" will show up in the body as a disease (diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, adrenal failure, kidney failure, cancer, etc.) .... and the body will be screaming for help, which is the way the human body tells the person it has had enough. It cannot accommodate any more. However, at that time, it is too late. Also, at that time, doctors of western practice mode will only give the patient "band-aid"-ing help or medicines to quell the symptoms. They won't go to the cause of the disease nor will they educate patients on nutritional healing.
General advice on well-being: Don't go gung-ho on modern society's latch on food conveniences. Take health/nutrition/chemistry courses at the local community college or university. Research for facts. Know your own body and family history. Learn what foods are natural. Learn what is good.
By the way - after all the learning (and continuously learn), you'll discover that restaurants, in general, will try their best to accommodate the patron by cooking without salt, not deep-frying, etc. However, also know that many waiters and waitresses do not know what ingredients are used in prepackaged food items. Many don't know how to pronounce some of the chemicals that are within a sauce or re-engineered food item.
Be aware, for your own well-being.
Just a thought. The Chinese eat this diet regularly don't they? How are they doing? Just curious.
I love Chinese food. And Thai food. And Italian. And Mexican. And German. But I don't think I could do any one of them for 365 days in a row.
Question here is which version of chinese food is she going to eat?
Chinese-American or the hard-to-find authentic Chinese?
The latter will most likely improve her health and nobody should care. The former will send her to the ER within a month.
That's great, i love a concept blog.
check out mine:
Agreed! Looks like someone has done gone and run out of creative things to write about. Oh, and didn't Morgan Spurlock do this already?
she'll gain 400 pounds at the end of the experiment.
Well, if when she "ends" the experiment, she then chooses to eat nothing but the typical steroid-filled meat that one buys at the grocery store, she might then gain 400 pounds.
But, if you mean that because of this experiment, she will gain 400 pounds--not likely. She is living in NYC, and will have to go further afield than usual to get her one meal a day--she will probably have to stand (on the subway) and/or walk (to the eatery). So, she will get exercise. Also, she is only having one meal, and not necessarily more than one item--there's no reason to assume these will be of additional calories.
Why is it that people say such silly things? Is it just to post for the sake of posting?
obviously, which is why chinese people are notoriously obese huh???
She'll get BPA poisoning.
Next year try Indian food for a year, so then we can laugh while you have severe digestive problems.
LOL
Don't people have better things to write about? Man my generation sucks.
Apparently not...
Why is it always New York yuppies that try to do stuff like this?
Because a chinese person eating chinese food all year long seems natural and does not make headlines..........
That's so cool...
Livin' the dream! I've loved Chinese takeout since I was a little kid, especially fried rice. I wish I could join her in her quest, but alas, I live on the West coast.
She'll be a lot healthier at the end than she would by eating just two McD's meals a week....
Really exactally where do you get your facts
They make them up.
You think the facts are made up. Watch Morgan Spurlock's movie 'Super Size Me' about McDonalds. You'll never eat there again.
78% of all statistics are fake.
@John, I watched it. I'm eating McD's right now.
@SuperJon, I have a feeling only 37% of readers will get that. And that 42% are so anal they will check ur number for accuracy.
I'm eating a double quarterpounder w/ cheese with large fries and a large coke (AKA leftover cattle meat, plastic fries and carbonated corn syrup)!!
I think I'd get that Lobster Fun Chow once a week! Yum!
Maybe I'm slow, but I don't really see a point to the experiment. She's rating places? Mkay.
I like Mexican food the most.
I like mexican women the most. MMMMMM!!! Hairy and Spiceyyyy!
Who wants a hairy woman? Unless ur a lesbian, I mean?
she will need a truckload of breath mints for her funky breath !!! and don't eat the white rice it is very sugary
She will end up with very good fortune, due to all the fortune cookies she will consume in a year!
I'm a bit sleepy reading this article and already hungry again.
I like Mexican food
At least with Mexican food, it will go out as fast as she puts it in so there will be a neutral weight gain for her. However, her expenses for Pepto Bismol or Imodium will rise dramatically.
I like Mexican women! MMM!!! Hot, Wet, Hairy & Spiceyyyyy!!!
hairy? yeah, nothing says hot like a chick with hairy armpits, legs and thick eyebrows.
My Step mother ate Chinese for 35 years and has had 2 colon surgeries in less than one year...ummm yeah not a good idea at ALL!!
So you can say with certainty there was cause and effect? Realllly is that what her doctor said that Chinese food causes cancer? dmaz stpid
It wasn't what she ate so much as how much she ate that caused her colon problems, unless she had some sort of genetic time bomb inside her just waiting to go off.
Living in Seattle, I have the opportunity to experience a plethora of diverse cuisines, all of which I love. However, it asks in the article if we had to eat one type of takeout for a year what would it be. My favorites are Filipino, Thai and Indian. If I had to choose one for a year, I would pick Thai. I only wish I had the time to travel to a different Thai restaurant in the greater Seattle area every day for a year! Unfortunately for me, I do not have that luxury. Perhaps a career change to a journalist is in order? lol
exactly my thoughts... since when is eating delicious food for 1 year an accomplishment?? sounds like a dream to me
OMG Thai yum! :) And there is so much variety to be found.
Think about it, some people in Thailand only get Thai food. They beat her at her own "experiment" of which I still know not what the purpose is.
With all the articial preservatives they put in that stuff, she might just be trying to replace her blood with mono sodium glutamate and live forever! On the other hand, how bad can it be? 3 billion Chinese eat it every day for their entire life.
Artificial preservatives in Chinese food? Hello, have you seen what McD's chicken nugget is made of? If nothing else a $5.95 lunch special is probably better for you than any $5.95 fast food burger joint.
Chinese people do not eat the Chinese food you buy at the restaurants.
I have Asian friends that have taught me a lot of traditional cooking. And I tell ya, you should check an Asian market sometime.
Yeah!! I've been to one. They ROCK!! They don't kill the kittens, lizards or crickets until you pick them out!! Some places, for a few extra $$ on the side will let you take them home alives and to the butcherin urself!! Totally traditional!!
Haven been overseas I have had true Asian food and it's not what most place here serve that said I do eat at Asian restaurant's here and love the food just be careful of what you order,best thing is it can be faster that McD's or any pizza place and a good one gives you a lot for your money.
Americans don't even know what real chinese food consists of... Chinese are very adventurous eaters... Care for some congealed yak blood?
Or... goat balls anyone?
Or fried cockroaches....?
I am glad msn can find such compelling and vital news to share in todays upside-down, wrecked world...
Oh for crying out loud, it's one story amongst many, and it's in the food section to boot! Lighten up! If you expect food critics to solve the world's problems or write a scathing commentary on the evils of human trafficking in the Balkans, you really need therapy!
Wonder how much this will cost for an entire year? How many thousands?
Shouldn't be too tough to do the math - figure a high average of $10 bucks X 365 days in the year is $3650.00 for the whole "experiment."
Did you know places like Applebees,TGIF,Olive Garden,and those other restaurant's have more MSG than Chinese food.And another thing the Chinese that cook your food don't even eat their own food.They my eat the plain rice but nothing fried.A lot of the food is Americanize.Like the egg roll,fried rice,anything fried and the fortune cookie.They eat a lot of fish,but you really don't see fish on the menu.Why?I Will eat Chinese food before i eat at Applebees,etc,etc.
I could do Chinese once a day from my favorite Chinese place. The thing is now, a nice #14 from the lunch menu is about the same price as what eating at a burger joint costs. For sure, you get a better tasting meal. I measure how good a restaurant's food is by the quality of their pork egg rolls. If you fail the egg roll test, you pretty much fail the rest of the meal. I live in a smallish city. We have five or six chinese restaurants. Funny thing is that they thrive, but other restaurants that open fail quickly. Hmmmmmm.....
If it is chinese food - then I'd choose from cashew nut chicken and mongolian beef (not to spicy) and/or honey walnut prawns. I also love the filipino lumpia and/or chinese vegetable/spring rolls. Who ever says any kind of food is bad for you doesn't eat in moderation. I know quite a few who are doing well and approaching their 80's and 100's. They obviously know what they are doing?