St. Louis Native Celebrates Area's Beloved Chinese Eateries

For his latest documentary Half Order, Eric "Remrod" Mayes visited more than two dozen St. Louis-area Chinese restaurants.

Many residents proudly consider the city's local fare to be the best Chinese food in the world. Remrod banked a grant from the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission (RAC) for the project and is currently in post-production.

Artwork by Marquis Terrell

"Half Order is basically my whole life," Remrod told Today in St. Louis co-host Michelle Li. "Growing up in [the suburb] Jennings, Missouri, walking with the family, my cousins, to the chop suey [place] every day almost. My order growing up was chicken fried rice, half order, crab rangoons and a Vess soda."

"It's the flavors, it's the process, it's the coloring," he continued. "You've got the soy sauce, then you've got the soy sauce that has the coloring in it. So it's two different soy sauces used in a lot of places around St. Louis. They call the fried rice without the second soy sauce in it the "light-skinned rice.""

Many St. Louis Chinese establishments are run by immigrants, now in the later stages of life, with children who are not so interested in taking over the family business. Still, few of the places have closed.

Remrod will touch on that dynamic, as well as the need for more connection between the Black and Chinese communities in the city. There will also be a look at the longstanding use in the Black community of the word "Chinaman," which African-Americans do not consider derogatory.

The St. Louis International Film Festival, after hearing buzz around the city about the filming of Half Order, contacted Remrod and invited him to premiere the documentary, which will run around 40 minutes, at the event's next edition this fall. A screening date is already locked in: November 7th. Meanwhile, the soundtrack for the film, featuring local artists such as Kyjuan and Jai Dubose, will be released much earlier on July 3rd. (It's easy to imagine customers this summer munching and bumping to that music at various Chinese joints.)

At the end of the KDSK interview, Li invited Remrod to sample some chicken fried rice ordered in from one of the local restaurants. But the filmmaker threw her for a loop, revealing that he could not because he is now vegetarian!

[Remrod: Official website]