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A Wei Wei Asian Express Xmas

Chinese take-out owes holiday color to red chili flakes, green onions... strawberry, and basil?

A take out holiday feast of strawberry chicken, vegetable chow fun, steamed pork dumplings, and basil beef
A take out holiday feast of strawberry chicken, vegetable chow fun, steamed pork dumplings, and basil beef

If there’s a fine line between tradition and cliché, no action straddles it better than ordering Chinese take-out on December 25th. Noodles, dumplings, mistletoe — all swirl together in whichever part of the brain nostalgia and hunger meet to cook up seasonal cravings.

Place

Wei Wei Express

6465 University Ave., San Diego

At my house, I was tasked with checking ahead to make sure a close-by restaurant would be open to fuel a two-day binge of takeout and leftovers. And I’m glad I did, because though it would prove to be open, it turned out the place I had in mind streamlines its Christmas Day operation to limited hours.

Only recently did I realize this shop I had been driving past for ages is not a Pei Wei Asian kitchen — the nationwide, fast-casual offshoot of P.F. Chang’s, which has one location here, in the Mission Valley mall. The sign I’d been misreading actually says: Wei Wei Asian Express. an independent, local outfit, operating two counter shop locations: one in Rolando, another in outer La Mesa.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Wei Wei Asian Express in Rolando

Most days, each location offers take-out and delivery from lunch through dinner — its own free delivery service too, not merely third-party apps. But on Christmas, their hours were shortened, from 11 am til 4pm only. Online ordering was turned off, but an efficient Wei Wei machine was turned on.

When I walked into the small shop to retrieve my food, a team of young adults kept busy behind a counter to produce a consistent output of wrapped up take-out orders. White plastic bags filled the counter, packed tightly with the likes of orange chicken, kung pao shrimp, chow mein noodles, and a passably good ramen for under ten bucks.

Wei Wei Asian Express in La Mesa

For those in the know, I would bet most orders included Wei Wei’s crispy salt and pepper wings ($15/dozen, $8/half). All things considered, the breaded and fried wings may be the best menu item, dressed simply with garlic, green onions, and chili pepper flakes, plus a “secret seasoning.” If that secret doesn’t involve the MSG-word, then I’m entirely at a loss for why I can’t get enough of them.

Overall, Wei Wei can be a little hit or miss. I’ve found the noodle dishes mostly forgettable, the best being the vegetable and wide rice noodles chow fun ($10.50). The steamed pork “dragon buns” ($7.25/half-dozen) are fairly standard, comparable to a good grocery store brand. And it’s tough to go wrong with the assortment of Chinese-American restaurant favorites, breaded-and-fried entrees such as walnut shrimp, orange chicken, lemon chicken, or sweet and sour anything.

Salt and pepper wings with red chili flakes, green onions, and a "secret" seasoning

For a holiday twist, I decided to try a similar dish, somewhat unique to Wei Wei: strawberry chicken ($12.20). Yes, it’s basically orange or lemon chicken, but switch the fruit. Rather than a citrus glaze, the fried chicken pieces are coated in, basically, strawberry jelly. It’s a sweeter dish than the others, which I found better with the help of Wei Wei’s red chili paste.

The most interesting dish may be the signature Wei Wei chicken ($12.20), also available as a beef ($13.20) or shrimp ($14.20) dish. It’s a sort of stir fry dish, only coated with basil sauce. I haven’t found basil in many Chinese dishes in my life — or in my research. It’s a pretty interesting dish — I detect a background of more-to-be-expected garlic, ginger, and soy, but the basil clearly wins out. Maybe there’s a bit of Taiwanese influence here? Or Thai?

Whatever the idea or tradition behind the dish, it tastes like Christmas to me now.

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A take out holiday feast of strawberry chicken, vegetable chow fun, steamed pork dumplings, and basil beef
A take out holiday feast of strawberry chicken, vegetable chow fun, steamed pork dumplings, and basil beef

If there’s a fine line between tradition and cliché, no action straddles it better than ordering Chinese take-out on December 25th. Noodles, dumplings, mistletoe — all swirl together in whichever part of the brain nostalgia and hunger meet to cook up seasonal cravings.

Place

Wei Wei Express

6465 University Ave., San Diego

At my house, I was tasked with checking ahead to make sure a close-by restaurant would be open to fuel a two-day binge of takeout and leftovers. And I’m glad I did, because though it would prove to be open, it turned out the place I had in mind streamlines its Christmas Day operation to limited hours.

Only recently did I realize this shop I had been driving past for ages is not a Pei Wei Asian kitchen — the nationwide, fast-casual offshoot of P.F. Chang’s, which has one location here, in the Mission Valley mall. The sign I’d been misreading actually says: Wei Wei Asian Express. an independent, local outfit, operating two counter shop locations: one in Rolando, another in outer La Mesa.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Wei Wei Asian Express in Rolando

Most days, each location offers take-out and delivery from lunch through dinner — its own free delivery service too, not merely third-party apps. But on Christmas, their hours were shortened, from 11 am til 4pm only. Online ordering was turned off, but an efficient Wei Wei machine was turned on.

When I walked into the small shop to retrieve my food, a team of young adults kept busy behind a counter to produce a consistent output of wrapped up take-out orders. White plastic bags filled the counter, packed tightly with the likes of orange chicken, kung pao shrimp, chow mein noodles, and a passably good ramen for under ten bucks.

Wei Wei Asian Express in La Mesa

For those in the know, I would bet most orders included Wei Wei’s crispy salt and pepper wings ($15/dozen, $8/half). All things considered, the breaded and fried wings may be the best menu item, dressed simply with garlic, green onions, and chili pepper flakes, plus a “secret seasoning.” If that secret doesn’t involve the MSG-word, then I’m entirely at a loss for why I can’t get enough of them.

Overall, Wei Wei can be a little hit or miss. I’ve found the noodle dishes mostly forgettable, the best being the vegetable and wide rice noodles chow fun ($10.50). The steamed pork “dragon buns” ($7.25/half-dozen) are fairly standard, comparable to a good grocery store brand. And it’s tough to go wrong with the assortment of Chinese-American restaurant favorites, breaded-and-fried entrees such as walnut shrimp, orange chicken, lemon chicken, or sweet and sour anything.

Salt and pepper wings with red chili flakes, green onions, and a "secret" seasoning

For a holiday twist, I decided to try a similar dish, somewhat unique to Wei Wei: strawberry chicken ($12.20). Yes, it’s basically orange or lemon chicken, but switch the fruit. Rather than a citrus glaze, the fried chicken pieces are coated in, basically, strawberry jelly. It’s a sweeter dish than the others, which I found better with the help of Wei Wei’s red chili paste.

The most interesting dish may be the signature Wei Wei chicken ($12.20), also available as a beef ($13.20) or shrimp ($14.20) dish. It’s a sort of stir fry dish, only coated with basil sauce. I haven’t found basil in many Chinese dishes in my life — or in my research. It’s a pretty interesting dish — I detect a background of more-to-be-expected garlic, ginger, and soy, but the basil clearly wins out. Maybe there’s a bit of Taiwanese influence here? Or Thai?

Whatever the idea or tradition behind the dish, it tastes like Christmas to me now.

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The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
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Extended family dynamics

Many of our neighbors live in the house they grew up in
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