re: What's your favorite Chinese dish?

Basic American Chinese? Orange chicken. Sweet, fried, rich, and delicious. I also like the depth of flavor the orange provides.

But we have a few more “authentic” Chinese joints in Birmingham, so I’m going to add a few from there.

Taiwanese Pork Belly (Lu Rou Fan)



These aren’t the pics from Mr Chen’s, but they work well enough. Lu Rou Fan is braised pork belly with a rich brown sauce served with bok choy. It’s velvety, deep, and salty with a bright vinegar punch.

Shan City Chicken:



Absurdly spicy, this is a sichuan pepper chicken dish that is pretty much 1/2 peppers and 1/2 chicken. It has a peppery sauce and is best with lots of green onions and cilantro.

Salty crispy shrimp:



Get it with the tails on. Very crispy shrimp covered in cilantro and green onions. They have sweet pea leaves as a vegetable side, and it’s a perfect complement.

Now I want Chinese.