[1] The most popular Chinese dish in America, per GrubHub results: General Tso’s Chicken (here’s the recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen).

[2] Crab Rangoon, a made-in-america concoction of cream cheese and imitation crab. Here’s the recipe (photo © Rasa Malaysia).

[3] Check out this baked egg rolls recipe from Chef Martin Yan (photo © National Pork Board).

[4] Wonton soup. Here’s the easy recipe (photo © Recipe Tin Eats).

[5] Check out your Chinese horoscope here.

[6] The original 1894 container was solid white. The red decorations were added in the 1970s (photo © Fold Pak Store | Amazon).

It’s Chinese New Year, more properly called the Lunar New Year, celebrated in Asia far beyond China.

The celebrations will start today and continue through February 2nd.

It’s the Year of the Rooster, the animal sign for those born in 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, and 2017 (the next Rooster year is 2029).

We’re not much into horoscopes, but we are into food and celebrating. Numerous Chinese restaurants feature special dishes or menus, if you don’t want to celebrate at home.

We find this a good occasion to take a look at the most popular everyday Chinese dishes in America.

GrubHub analyzed a year’s worth of ordering data from its 30,000 participating restaurants in more than 800 cities, serving 172,000 take-out orders and 4.57 million diners (survey data from 2015).

The most popular Chinese dish, General Tso’s Chicken, is also the fourth most popular dish among all the cuisines ordered on GrubHub. And the first and second aren’t even based in China: They are Chinese-American creations.

> The year of Chinese food holidays is below.

> So is the history of Chinese food takeout container.
 
 
THE MOST POPULAR CHINESE DISHES IN AMERICA

1. General Tso’s Chicken (deep-fried chicken chunks with hot chiles and sweet and sour sauce—photo #1)

2. Crab Rangoon (fried wontons stuffed with cream cheese and [usually imitation]—photo #2)

3. Egg Roll (photo #3)

4. Sesame Chicken

5. Wonton Soup (photo #4)

6. Fried Rice

7. Sweet and Sour Chicken

8. Orange Chicken (made with orange peel)

9. Hot And Sour Soup

10. Potstickers (leftover steamed dumplings that are fried)

Are your favorites on the list?
 
 
HOW REPRESENTATIVE IS THE LIST?

While you can’t argue with the data, note that the results may be skewed.

 
 
OUR TOP 10 FAVORITE CHINESE DISHES

In alphabetical order, we hunger for:

 
We very much like Hot And Sour Soup, Orange Chicken, a good egg roll and fried rice, but kept our list to 10 to match GrubHub’s.

This has made us so hungry, we can’t wait until dinner. We’ll be calling GrubHub to deliver lunch!
 
 
CHINESE FOOD HOLIDAYS

Not surprisingly, the Chinese food takeout container was invented in the U.S. More surprisingly is how far back it appeared.

Frederick Weeks Wilcox, an inventor from Chicago, patented the Chinese takeout container on November 13, 1894. He called his invention a “paper pail.” It was made from a single piece of paper folded into a leak-proof container with a wire handle.

The design was inspired by Japanese origami and oyster pails, which were wooden containers used to transport raw oysters.

The red pagoda and the words “Thank you” and “Enjoy” were added to the boxes in the 1970s (photo #6) by a graphic designer at Fold-Pak, whose name has been lost to history.

Most people don’t realize that the container unfolds into a plate.

The Chinese takeout container is not used in China [source: Google AI 2024-11-13].

Chinese food came to California in the mid-1800s with an influx of Chinese immigrants during the Gold Rush (1848–1855). It didn’t become mainstream in the U.S. until after World War II [source: Google A.I. 2024-11-13].