Breakfast Sandwiches #155 & #156 - Lab Report Or Perhaps A Love Letter

Sandwich: Lab Sandwich #155 - English Muffin, Egg, Bacon, American Cheese, Spicy Chili Crisp.
Date: February 13, 2020

Sandwich: Lab Sandwich #156 - Sourdough, Eggs, Bacon, American Cheese, Deli Deluxe Sharp Cheddar, Avocado, Spicy Chili Crisp
Date: February 27, 2020

I guess I'm late to the party for the Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp Cult. I'm no fan of cults but I enjoy a nice party and the party is here, right here on my taste buds. The party rages and shows no signs of abetting. The neighbors can call the cops, who cares? We'll greet them on the front lawn and fling forkfuls of Spicy Chili Crisp in their direction and soon they'll join us and we'll make them a breakfast sandwich laden with Spicy Chili Crisp and after one big bite they'll let me take their guns and blast holes in the ceiling while we dance about and yell like idiots.

I don't know why I'm blasting holes in the ceiling of my kitchen. I guess this is cultish behavior after all.


This review was meant to be a love letter to Spicy Chili Crisp and it was easier to post it here than to actually mail it to:

Guiyang Nanming Laoganma Special Flavour Foodstuffs Co., LTD.
138-15 Jianlong Road, Longdongbao
Guiyang City, Guizhou 550012

I may still send them a postcard. My original plan for this review was to take one of the all-time great love letters and alter it to be about Spicy Chili Crisp but it seemed too (A) difficult, (B) confusing and (C) creepy (somehow):

‘My Own Condiment, Your flavour is quite lovely, and it is a marvel that those red-rose chili flakes of yours should be made no less for the madness of noodles and broccoli than for the madness of sandwiches. Your slim gilt soul is the flavour between passion and poetry.’

See what I mean? (Stolen from the letter of Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas). Honestly, I like it, but it's still kind of weird.

Also, "Foodstuffs" is my new favorite word and I may start adding it to the end of every restaurant I mention. "OK, cool, I'll meet you at Los Gamelos Foodstuffs at 7".

This is what we're talking about. I'm getting Lao Gan Ma's face and apron tattoed on my neck next week.

Here is a little background on this sauce. The formatting of that page is horrific but it'll give you a good history of this foodstuff, if you care about that. From what I can tell she is the Chinese equivalent of Aunt Jemima and the Quaker Oats guy and Uncle Ben and Tony The Tiger all wrapped into one.

But you probably don't care about any of that.

You just want to know how it tastes and nothing I say here will truly elucidate the matter. But that won't stop me from saying it's oily, garlicky, crispy, spicy (but not overly so) and rich. My favorite word to describe it though is "earthy". Yeah, earthy. I'm not even going to try to explain that, you'll just have to try it for yourself. Rather than read about my sandwiches you should already be on your way to the Asian Market (or for my Asian readers, "The Market") to get some of this stuff.

So, what's all this about? It's about how this condiment pairs so perfectly with chicken egg. That's what we set out to research with these sandwiches and you can already tell how well it went.

It's so cute.

Overcooked the egg a bit but you can see that spicy chili crisp creeping out and that is VERY exciting.

The Sandwich - English Muffin, Egg, Bacon, American Cheese, Spicy Chili Crisp. A classic breakfast sandwich combination now enhanced by Spicy Chili Crisp. It's a full, wide flavor (which sounds like I'm describing some new kind of Marlboro, but I'm not.) The egg was not as runny as I would have liked it but I wasn't worried about it on this day. The sandwich was fantastic but I knew I had to try it in a different configuration.

 You can see the Spicy Chili Crisp lurking beneath the perfectly ripe avocado. The top piece of bread holds my last slice of Deli Deluxe Cheddar Kraft Single and a slice of Kraft American Cheese.

Terrible photo of yolky deliciousness.

 The Sandwich - Sourdough Bread, Egg, Bacon, American Cheese, Deli Deluxe Sharp Cheddar, Avocado, Spicy Chili Crisp. I had one slice of the Deli Deluxe Cheddar left but I didn't think that was enough so I added an American Single. This was my only misstep on this sandwich, I think when it combined with the sourdough it made it just a bit gummy on the palate. Otherwise, this might be the best breakfast sandwich I've ever made. The Spicy Chili Crisp and the avocado paired perfectly with the chicken eggs, cheese and bacon and I don't have anything else to say about this sandwich other than when I took the first big bite I loudly proclaimed "Holy Fuck That Is Tasty". Can I get a witness?

I remember it fondly.
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Breakfast Sandwich #154 - Eagle Crest Bar aka Snowy and Toasty

Sandwich: Egg Sandwich
Location: Eagle Crest Bar
Date: February 9, 2020
Cost: $7.25

I'd been to Eagle Crest before, but never for breakfast. In fact, I didn't know they served breakfast, but it was a windy and snowy Sunday morning that was ripe for adventure so I headed to Eagle Crest with a backup plan in place should breakfast not be an option. I didn't even look it up on my phone, I just drove. That's what passes for adventure in the 21st century.

They are well known for their giant burgers and I knew if they had a breakfast sandwich I'd be in for a heapin' helpin'. On a day like this when you're staring down a solid 75 minutes of shoveling snow, you may as well carbo-load early and let the day sort itself out. 

It was a solid plan. 

A rare photo of the entire menu

Were the hash browns necessary? No, they were not.

It practically defied stacking.

The Sandwich - Egg Sandwich. Bacon, Texas Toast, chicken eggs over-medium, pepper jack cheese. The cheese and the Texas Toast were the only shifts from my standard sandwich order but I felt the need to take advantage of the options provided. Importantly, they ask you how you would like your eggs cooked.

The sandwich arrives open face, resplendent in its overindulgence. That's a lot of damn bacon for one sandwich! We haven't been keeping track but that may be the most bacony sandwich to date. The cheese had a melty slump, just barely containing the shimmering yolks beneath.

I carefully assembled the bacon onto the egg half of the sandwich, tapping deep into my renowned Pick-Up Sticks skills, but in reverse. I didn't want to burst the yolk until the sandwich was fully constructed. Honestly, the bacon was overly crisped so it stacked more upright than I would have liked. Crowned with the Texas Toast, also a bit toastier than I care for, it stood up straight and tall, proud sandwich that it was. With a little pressure from the crown the yolks gave way and released the golden nectar of the bird. There we go. 

The sandwich had to be cut in half, it was simply unwieldy in its full state. Things became messy at this point and a few good napkins were sacrificed, but no photographic evidence exists of this disaster. 

The Result - 3.8 Snowy Sandwich Adventures out of 5 Snowy Sandwich Adventures. The sandwich was good but not great. The overly crisped (for my tastes) bacon and the overly toasted, slightly dry, Texas Toast were the knock on this sandwich. The double oozy yolks tried to make up for that and provided ample moisture mopping opportunities, but it wasn't quite enough. That sounds a bit more negative than intended because this was a good sandwich that could have been great with a few adjustments. And it was hearty! So hearty. But not heart-healthy. (I am not a doctor. Please consult with a physician before taking sandwich and/or heart advice from a blog.) You don't get breakfast sandwiches of this heft very often. 

Overall, Eagle Crest is a comfy Sunday morning spot that I recommend without hesitation. As noted here many times, part of the sandwich experience is about setting your day on the right track and that was accomplished here.

Also, the hash browns were perfectly crisped and that's worthy of praise.

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