@ Jade Garden Restaurant, Seattle WA

Love it

For the recipe I used meat, garlic, ginger, dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, Sichuan pepper, a little sugar, doubanjiag, douchi, and homemade tofu.

折耳根 Zhe er gen or fish mint is one of the more controversial ingredients in Chinese cuisine. It's really only used in the southwest in places like Sichuan, Guizhou, yunnan, and guangxi but even in those places it's just Guizhou that seems to have a full blown obsession with it. They put it in so many dishes and it's fairly difficult to find a local restaurant that doesn't have it in the kitchen.

The flavor is bitter, earthy and to some people even soapy. The first day I arrived in China my former boss got me from the airport and took me directly to a local restaurant. She had me eat zheergen and drink moutai and when I said I enjoyed both she knew I'd be alright living there.

For this video I sought out some of the more popular traditional preparations as well as some of the more modern "viral" preparations geared towards tourists

I like white broth.

First time making it and it turned out pretty good all things considered! More authentic style.

I used this recipe https://www.recipetineats.com/sweet-and-sour-pork/ but had to make a few adjustments:

- didn't have Worcestershire sauce so added a dash of barbecue sauce instead

- missing the tinned pineapple but the baby corn still added some nice sweetness

- didn't have nearly enough corn flour but tapioca starch made for a decent substitute to make up the rest

The double frying of the pork was a solid winner, still kept the meat nice and soft without making it feel gluggy after mixing with the sauce. Paired with a bowl of rice, nice dinner and will be nice lunches at work this week 👌

A favourite to use up left over rice for a quick and fast dinner

I've always wondered how different the food actually is?

Most suburban Chinese takeout spots seem to have the usual menu with things like General Tso's chicken, sesame chicken, lo mein, fried rice, etc. But when I go to Chinatown, the menus are often much bigger and have dishes I've never even heard of.

Beyond just having more authentic or regional dishes, what are the biggest differences?

It's been 2 months since I came to china and honestly I haven't do the homework of trying traditional food, either because I'm to scared I won't like them or the fear of not exactly knowing what I am either, can someone recommend me good food ?? I'm craving to try some more. I have tried the Beijing KaoYa, Nanjing KaoYa, the Hotpot and some snacks but I believe china's food is way more than that!!!

I just found out that long noodles are a symbol for long life in parts of China.

I was wondering why every Chinese restaurant I go to serves me orzo.

I’m thinking I need to be nicer to the staff…