What's your favorite Chinese food dish?

A love an authentic Dim Sum - I often think in every restaurant it would be so nice to just get hors d'oeuvres. Then voila, I found Dim Sum, yum!

After that, I kinda go for more southern dishes, Curry Duck (Bebek Hijau), Martabak Telor and Rendang (looks like Sha Cha Beef) from Indonesia, Pad Thai noodles (Thai curries are great too), Pho from Viet Nam. But nothing beats Dim Sum; a real 4 hour meal!

Then there is fried rice from anywhere - and, oh yeah, sushi from Japan, raw is the best!

And, quit a few Korean and Philippine dishes - can't exactly remember their names as.they have made.by various family members!

I missed one of the rules. A lot of these foods were eaten in restaurants in country. So I would make a wild guess that, yes, the food is authentic 🤔

Food I eat in the USA is eaten in restaurants that are relatively small, no more than say, ten tables. The head management and especially the cooks are from the country the restaurant represents. I will ask them where the cooks come from (usually the father and mother, husband in-law, of the owner - no major chains. They are usually on site and active. I won't go back if I think they aren't authentic. Dim sum is special, it can't be a small restaurant. But, it doesn't take long to figure out how authentic they really are!

Or, as I said, the meals were cooked by in-laws or partners I have or had in my life. These meals are definitely authentic! The lady I lived with who cooked Indonesian was a great cook. I learned how to cook a lot of the stuff. Foods like rendang took forever to cook (it was a curry beef stew) made with many spices (I still do not know what makes it a curry), coconut milk ( the thick creamy stuff not the clear watery stuff), hot chili paste (sambal oelek) and a hunk of brisket cut upon large bite size pieces. Sauce and put in crock pot, cook all night until meat almost dissolves. Eat over rice. When empty, eat another plate full. Umm um good!

Sauce and put in crock pot...... s/b
Saute and put in crock pot, add coconut milk, cook for 2 hours, add chili paste.............

The final product is very thick!


That meat just melts in your mouth!!!! There will be more thick gravy in the pot to put over your rice, stew serving!

That looks divine.

I haven't had it in years. I am sure I would totally love a meal and would pay for that treat for the next 3 days!

You have no idea how tender, juicy and flavorful the meat is. We would also put edamame and crack a half dozen or so eggs in to the stew for the last half hour or so of cooking. Would consider the egg a treasure found when eating a plate full on rice.

Years ago when I was first starting in DoD, we worked with other very young people in the Army and Air Force who had been stationed abroad and when they came back they introduced us to many delicacies from Asia and Europe.....We worked with a Chinese native speaker who introduced us to Mongolian BBQ...I don't think that's what it's called in China but it was fantastic. The guys who were in Korea or Vietnam also came home with fabulous dishes.

Plus when I was growing up, we had access to fabulous ethnic restaurants (Greek, Italian, Polish, German) (that were pricy because our families were working folks, so they were special occasion destinations) however most of our friends all had grandmothers who spoke broken English and made delicious food and fed us until we popped. My Grandmother and mother were terrific cooks, and there was time when we had a lot of Aunts and Great Aunts who would pull together these memorable family gatherings with tables that would groan from the weight of all the food. (more later)

Indonesia, where I live for 3 years, is the Spice Islands. The 1st people to live there from way back probably came out of Central China. India was overlords starting in the year 1 and they brought Hinduism and Buddhism to the Islands. There are fabulous architectural ruins all over the western islands such as the Borubudur and Prambanan. Bali is still almost 100% Hindu.

Then around 1300's Islam started arriving, so much that today it is the most populated Islamic country in the world. About 90% of their population.

Chinese influence started coming back into the country in the 7th century and intensified more and more as India lost influence. The Dutch and British gained influence starting in the 1500's with the Dutch winning out as the island then became known as the Dutch East Indies.

What was the big influence - spices. Why were spices so important back then? It could make meat that had "turned" palatable.

Later the islands became important for rubber and oil. If Japan could have got complete control of the Islands prior to WWII, the war outcome could have been much different. I was there for the oil!

there were excellent Asian restaurants in DC. They were popular and most didnt last vry long. There was a Sichuan restaurant on a side street off Connecticut that was called the "Panda". It had excellent crispy fish nd they would do a "lazy Susan" style for larger groups. The restaurant lasted about 5 yars an was gone. Same thing with those Mongolian "Grilles" where the fire was in the center.(Even though we have a sheep farm, Im not a huge lovr of lamb parts.


Today, we no longer seek out "foodie style" any popular traditional tyle restaurants. We have settled in on eating Prawns in lemon sauce at PF Changs.
Food in Changs was always acceptable,(except now, their take-out doesnt take to the road well.)
All their dishes get somewhat GUMMY after carrying 30 miles in a car to home.
Ill wait till we are
"back to normal" and eat "sit down"in their Great Halls.
There were several great dim sum joints in Philly ,I hope they are still doing business.

NO CHINESE FOOD is worth a pinch of spit from thee frozen food section of a supermarket.

ANY CHINESE RESTAURANT WHERE YOU MUST LOOK UP AT A MENU PROBABLY SUCKS

If you make Moo Shu Pork at home, you can use Mexican soft tortillas. (They taste fine.) But the holders in Chinatown are pancakes of a sort...different from the tortillas. Recipes can be found on the Net.

I picked up a bag of P.F Chang's frozen entree (forgot which one), it was dreadful. So you are probably better off dining at the restaurant and skip the bags of sodium.

ats what I said. Theyve got good restaurant food but really sucky frozen entrees. (ALWAYS TOO GOOEY)

When I was living in Tipei during our mining work we used to live in a Hotel complex called the "Howard House" Their brekfast ideas were always unique but soups made of blackened chicken feet and jelly fish were truly acquired tastes.

We wound up eating more at sushi joints which were usually only patronized by tourists.(I dont think the Taiwanese forgave Japan for the "troubles" in the 1930-1945 era)

Yep, I was agreeing with you.

and I with you.

and, me with everyone - LET'S PARTY!!!!!!!

When I worked in a bank in the 80s there was one customer who would ship out huge amounts of duck feet to China every two months or so. Only a few years previously had they found that there was a market for something that used to get thrown out.

Duck Feet???? I think my stomach just flipped. I don't normally have a weak stomach, but animal body parts separated from the animal's body make me weak in the knees. Many years back I walked into one of those huge pet supply stores and a young man greeted me and asked if he could help. I told him I needed some chew toys for my dogs and he lit up like a candle and said he had just the thing. I followed him to a display case, he picked up two items and held them up and said 'dogs love these pigs ears and pig snouts'....I actually got light headed and apparently went chalk white....the poor kid was alarmed......I just didn't know that they were making snacks out of animal parts that were readily recognizable as ears and snouts....took me a minute to get my legs back, and I decided my dogs would have to do without. Those things had a terrible odor as well, and the dogs already found too many repulsive 'things' and either ate them or brought them home as gifts.

I apologize for going off topic, but duck feet thru me into a tizzy. It's all Izzy's fault. Well, not really his fault, he didn't know I get lightheaded even thinking about animal parts that are no longer on an animal.

Like a chicken wing?

raw or fried?