Vol. 6, No. 20
Panama City, R.P.
October 6 - October 19, 2000

Chinese red deception?
by Eric Jackson

Looking for those Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers who run the canal? You’ll have to ingest some sort of hallucinogen to find them. But if any Chinese red deception will do, you might check out the menu at Madame Chang and look for the red spots.

Since my previous visit to this venerated upscale restaurant, they have added a page of Thai cuisine to the menu. That will have to wait for another day. I was in search of hot and spicy seafood this time. The Madame Chang menu includes a few Chinese regional entrees, including some recipes from Szechuan, the west central province renowned for its fiery fare. Items that are supposed to be spicy hot are marked with a little red fan. My friend and I ordered two of these, the Szechuan-style langostinos and the seafood platter.

The langostinos came in hoisin sauce with shredded ginger, imparting a spicy zing, but nothing picante. The seafood platter — langostinos, oysters, squid, fish balls, clams, corvina and a mixture of Chinese vegetables — came in a tasty but mild sauce. It would seem that Madame Chang has toned things down for the standard Panamanian palate.

Never fear, however. I discussed this with the waiter, who confessed that he, too, likes it hot, and who served our meals with a tiny dish of Chinese hot sauce, with a tiny spoon, warning that this stuff was "bravo." A few drops gave me all the heat I sought. The food was, as usual, excellent. Guess I’ll have to look elsewhere for red deceptions.