The Fried Dough Ho

The California-based Fried Dough Ho is off to visit the far-off land of Texas; Austin, to be exact. But getting to the strange and wonderful involved stopping in Dallas for a connector flight. I love wandering around airports. There is always interesting sites indicative of a locale and many airports have some really exceptional art structures. In the Dallas Terminal D hub, for example, is The Crystal Mountain by New York artist Dennis Oppenheim, an aluminum structure measuring 45 x 30 feet. It is cold and menacing with its harsh and upward-point shards, but also approachable in that you can enter its structure and be engulfed in warm, blue light.

But this is supposed to be about doughnuts and what gave me great joy in my 45-minute wandering, was stumbling upon three people in the market. T-shirts ironically proclaiming, “On A Mission,” I watched from a distance as they entered into a great debate on which Krispy Kreme to try. It was getting somewhat humorous and I finally asked if I could snap their picture. “This one has like that yellow cream inside!” “But you are a chocolate person!” “Wait, what about this one?” This debate went on for at least five minutes. Three people couldn’t decide which Krispy Kreme to try.

And so I offer for your amusement, just a moment in time with fellow devotees. They were gracious and enthusiastic and thought it was sort of funny that I wanted to take their picture. I never did inquire why the decision was so hard; are there no Krispy Kreme where they were from? It was just a moment in time, but one so enjoyed and savored.

Yes, this is food from Panda Express; I suppose the dirge of Americanized Chinese food. Perhaps that is a stretch; they DO use fresh ingredients and DO NOT add MSG. But their best-selling dish is Orange Chicken with a serving size of 5.4 ounces comes in at 400 calories with 640 mg of sodium. Add fried rice with that and a 5 ounce serving comes in at 450 mg of sodium. And there is a Panda Express about fifty steps from my apartment which makes it all that much harder when I get jonesing for some fried dough.

The Crab Rangoon is not Chinese. It is a won-ton skin (essentially an eggroll wrapper which is an egg- and flour-based dough, rolled out very thin to contain a variety of ingredients). Some reports Crab Rangoon to have been developed in the 1950s for Trader Vic’s, possibly having come via Burma. For it is certain isn’t Chinese since its main filling is cream cheese studded with crab meat and scallions. Honestly, I don’t think I have ever detected a bit of crab — or even fake krab, known as surimi — within the Panda Express versions. But they ARE fried dough and along with their Spring Rolls, occasionally help me get over those cravings I get for fried dough.

It is bad and I admit it. The Crab Rangoon order contains three pouches at 190 calories with 180 mg of sodium. The Spring Rolls (vegetarian, ostensibly!), where you get two, are 160 calories but a whopping 540 mg of sodium. And then there is their sweet-and-sour sauce. Horrific, glowing orange-red sauce mostly based on corn syrup, that is 80 calories all on its own, with 180 mg of sodium. Perhaps by confessing this addiction, it will help me break from it. I know it is bad and I know it is fake and I know how detrimental it is to my overall well-being.

My name is Carrie and I am a Fried Dough Ho.