I stumbled upon a Cantonese restaurant this summer when I was waiting for my friend to finish up work in Beijing. I had just had the worst “soup dumplings” of my life a few shops over where they were more steamed buns with juice inside that had long since leaked out. In desperation for a good meal, I saw a few people eating something delicious through the large glass windows of this restaurant and decided to give it a whirl.

There is something intensely comforting and yes, American, about Cantonese food since that’s the root of the USA’s rendition of the cuisine. I ordered a pork congee – soothing, fragrant, and creamy. Then a platter of this chicken dish which had a tensile crunch in each bite from the soft cartilage inside. I definitely skew more Chinese in this respect, since I love have some extra texture in the meat. The peppers were a gorgeous bright red, crispy, and fried until all the heat had abandoned their mean-looking flesh. Even the rice came nicely presented in a white ceramic pot. It seemed like a good photo, so I took one.

Fried, cartilage-laden chicken with fried peppers, pork congee on the side. Ancient cellphone mine.

Related posts:

1. See my GoodEater.org post on crayfish + chicken hearts on a stick
2. Ma Po Tofu
3. A Boston Epicure’s Photo Dispatch from Shanghai, China
4. Lingbo cooks: General Tso’s Chicken
5. Myers + Chang in Boston – Dim Sum Review