[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 from Rasa Malaysia).
[3] Wonton soup, fully loaded (here’s the easy recipe for this beauty from recipe Jessica Gavin).
[[4] Check out your Chinese horoscope here.
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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 MOST POPULAR CHINESE DISHES IN AMERICA
1. General Tso’s Chicken (deep-fried chicken chunks with hot chiles and sweet and sour sauce)
2. Crab Rangoon (fried wontons stuffed with cream cheese and [usually imitation] crab)
3. Egg Roll
4. Sesame Chicken
5. Wonton Soup
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.
Data from 800 cities across the country may not be the same as data from, say, the 30 cities in the U.S. that have Chinatowns, and thus a broader selection of authentic Chinese food.
Peking Duck, our favorite Chinese dish and often the priciest item on a menu, isn’t a typical take-out order.
Where are the great noodle dishes (low mein, chow fun)?
While American dietary choices may not reflect them, don’t overlook the delicious greens, such as sautéed bok choy, Chinese broccoli and napa cabbage).
Ditto for the tofu and eggplant dishes.
OUR TOP 10 FAVORITE CHINESE DISHES
In alphabetical order, we hunger for:
Chow Fun (with Chinese broccoli and lamb or pork)
Eggplant With Garlic Sauce
Mai Fun Singapore Style (angel hair pasta with curry, pork and shrimp plus shredded bell pepper, carrot, Chinese cabbage and scallions or onions )
Mapo Tofu (with spicy ground beef and chopped scallions)
Peking Duck (roasted and served with pancakes, scallions and hoisin sauce)
Salt & Pepper Squid, or Squid In Black Bean Sauce
Spicy Sichuan-Style Lamb
Steamed Dumplings
Steamed Greens With Oyster Sauce
Wonton Soup (with lots of vegetables, including bamboo shoots, bok choy, mushrooms, snow peas, and non-authentic but delightful spinach and/or watercress—and for an extra treat, add shrimp [recipe])
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!
CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.
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