All stories about "Chinese"

This week marks the release of Jennifer 8. Lee's first book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. On a mission to uncover a number of mysteries, The New York Times' Metro reporter and Gawker object of obsession flies around the world (Peru, Mauritius, Dubai) in search of enlightening meals and stories about Chinese cuisine. New Yorkers who share Lee's curiosity, but lack her book advance to cover the airfare, only need a Metrocard to get the job done.

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Barbecue shouldn't be expensive, and neither should Chinese food. There may be gourmet pork buns at Momofoku and other upscale Asian restaurants in New York, but Chinatown is home to the genuine article. Cha siu baau, better known as pork buns, have got to be the best way to eat barbecue meats in your hand. The dough not only protects your greedy fingers from grease and sauce, it's also sweet and delicious in its own right. Pork buns can generally be purchased in Chinatown's bakeries and dim sum parlors for less than a dollar. Cha siu baau come in two varieties: roast with a brown glazed shell, or steamed and chewy. Either way, they're one of the most filling cheap snacks in the city.

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Once spread out over nine city blocks, Washington DC's Chinatown now comprises a minuscule area that laugh-it-up hipsters refer to as "Chinablock." Even though the community dates back to the 1850s, the most recent census only counted 700 Chinese residents in the neighborhood, making DC the smallest Chinatown in all America. Gentrification happens, right? In 2006, the city of Washington DC spent $200 million to make Chinatown safe and nice for tourists and Virginians. Subsequent side effects included Chinatown becoming much more expensive, really cheesy, and a lot less Chinese. Now it's that place by the metro to grab lunch before the game at the Verizon Center or a way to break up a day of shopping. It's also the place to buy a condo if you happen to be a millionaire who wants a room without a view. It's all quite tragic really, but even more worrisome is the thought that DC Chinatown is the proverbial sparrow in the mineshaft. Will our want of safety and shopping erase the ethnic hoods we love? Let's discuss!

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In 2005, the International Labour Organisation estimated that 50,000 illegal Chinese immigrants lived in misery in Paris, many having been smuggled into France by criminal gangs and basically sold into slavery upon arrival to pay off the up to €15,000 for passage to the promised land. While many Chinese have become integrated and successful in France, the plight of these economic refugees was revealed last year when an undocumented Chinese woman jumped from the window of her squalid Parisian apartment to escape what she thought was a police raid.

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In most of the country, you must travel towards the ocean to find the best seafood. This being Los Angeles, we don't do things like the rest of the country, which is why we have two streets named Santa Monica Boulevard and why people looking for great seafood will actually travel inland to a magical place called the 626. It has places like San Gabriel and Monterey Park, where you'll find some of the best seafood in town (plus a wide range of Asian influences). Many people avoid this area east of Los Angeles because you must battle the 10 to get there, but the reward is worth it. Follow this list, and I promise you'll never regret seeing the words "market price" on a menu. If we've missed some of your favorites, feel free to let us know in the comments or tips.

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Today's Times includes a 1,674 word piece by Jennifer 8. Lee on the history of the fortune cookie. Basically, she just uses those precious column inches and minutes of your life to say the fortune cookie actually comes from Japan not China, and that it first appeared on American tables in San Francisco in the 1950's. Lee's ponderous story isn't so much an article as a preview for The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, her upcoming book on Chinese food. If the Times story somehow still leaves you hungry for more 8-o-liciousness, don't despair! Lee also posted a 841 word companion piece to the article on her blog. [NYT]

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Last week we satisfied the heathens in Los Angeles . This week New Yorkers get their fair share. Our list from last year catered to the outer boroughs, this time we're sticking with Manhattan, more specifically the streets in and around Chinatown. Why be ripped off in Midtown when you can be only moderately ripped off below Canal?

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Listen up, heathens! If you're not spending the entirety of December 25th in church, you better at least be creating your own wintry traditions. Enter Chinese restaurants, which are infamously open all day Christmas, to the delight of non-Christians and non-traditionalist Christians alike. The LA area obviously has a ton of Chinese restaurants, so here we present a smattering of options, encompassing a range of regional cuisines and restaurant styles, all open on the 25th, and beyond, for your dining pleasure. If your favorite isn't listed, feel free to add it below or via tipline.

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As hard as it is to believe this time of year, Christians are actually a minority of the world's population. Despite the cloying carols, coniferous carnage, and energy-wasting twinkling, the silent majority expects the 25th of December to be just another Tuesday. But for those of us stranded in the lands of the observant, it can be difficult to enjoy our legally enforced leisure time due to the odd holiday hours of traditional entertainment establishments. Thus that time honored way of spending X-mas for those Zarathustrians, Wiccans, Jews, Muslims, Scientologists, Satanists, and Secularists among us -- Chinese and a movie!

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San Francisco has an abundance of fantastic, authentic Chinese food restaurants. These are not them. No, this post is about awesome ghetto Chinese delivery joints. These comfortingly predictable holes are where the stoned, the lazy, the too-tired-to-cook, the fatties and the singles get 76% of their sustenance. Why do we love them so? You never need a menu to order because they all have the same, delicious shit! They're cheap! They bring the food right to your door! Uh, they're cheap! This list compares the best of the mediocre (the good doesn't deliver) with helpful categories including greasiness, best dish, delivery speed and MSG. Just for fun, I've also included their health department scores. But don't let a low number throw you off. That's where the flavor comes from!

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Dim sum literally translates to "dot the heart" in Mandarin Chinese, but it means "little snacks." Dim sum is supposed to accompany a leisurely morning gathering of elders sipping on tea. But now it's an urbanite's hangover oasis. Warm tea full of antioxidants, steamed buns of goodness -- what else is better to settle that stomach and get rid of that headache? Can't read the menu? There's no need to call your Asian friend. There are two types, Cantonese and Northern (Shanghai). Cantonese style is more common and probably the one you know: steamed shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, basically lots of tasty morsels wrapped up in dough. Northern style includes things like beef stew noodles and little steamed juicy buns. The rule of thumb is, if you can't understand the conversation around you and you're the only blonde in the room, you're probably at the right spot. Ironically, there are more Irish pubs in DC's Chinatown than Dim Sum places. Thus, grab your keys (or metro card) and let's go for a ride.

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If you take the long ride on the 7 train, past the Unisphere to the end of the line in Queens, you'll come to New York's other great Chinatown: Flushing. If you love authentic Asian food, visiting Flushing is worth the long trip; imagine a Chinatown minus the slack-jawed tourists, plus even cheaper food and booze. To many New Yorkers, Prince Street and Main Street present wall-to-wall uncharted culinary playlands. Don't limit yourself to just the restaurants. The availability of hard to find Asian goods also rewards those visiting the grocery stores and open-air markets, which have so much fresh aquatic life that at times they seem more like aquariums. Here are just a few of the great eateries that Flushing has to offer.

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Unlike most of the other tourist traps in New York, Chinatown is actually worth visiting. Out of towners usually stick to Canal Street and haggle over counterfeit purses and perfumes, but those in the know steer clear of that mob scene and head to the surrounding blocks to shop and feast on the unique brand of Chinese food that New York has become famous for. Chinatown is open late, and it's easy on the wallet. Best of all, it's one of the last neighborhoods in the city that hasn't been completely gentrified and overrun by "hipster" hordes living off of the monthly checks their parents send from the suburbs. Better enjoy the cheap dim sum and chow mein now before the ever-expanding Lower East Side creeps southward, leaving Mott Street covered in condos, indie bars, and American Apparel outlets.

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Yum cha is a term in Cantonese which literally means "drinking tea." It refers to the custom of eating small servings of different foods while sipping Chinese tea. With the exception of a few yum cha staples (fried tripe, chicken feet, etc.), it's a fantastic way to soothe an alcohol-ravaged body. In Sydney, you can find a few good options, but be careful. Not so long ago in one of Sydney's most famous yum cha eateries, a woman was covered in sticky bean sauce when a trolley waitress "lost her load" while texting on her mobile phone. In a separate incident in a different restaurant, a waiter lost control of her cart (full of steamed dumplings) which careered into the street, almost killing someone.

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It's hard to find good Chinese food in Los Angeles, and even harder to find places that will bring a quality mu shu fix right to your door. We're blessed with some of the most authentic Thai and Japanese restaurants in the country, but sometimes there's nothing more satisfying than a heaping plate of Americanized Chinese food just like Mom used to order. To that end, we've sought out some Chinese restaurants that really deliver. (Get it?) LA's a big city, so if you've got a favorite place that delivers to a part of town we've neglected, let us know in the comments or the tipline.

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Over six months in Madrid, and I was disappointed I hadn't found a cheap and cheerful Chinese takeout place in Spain's capital city. It's Chinese food -- how can there only be large sit-down restaurants!? Then, to my utmost joy, I was taken to the best, greasiest, cheapest and most popular Chinese place in central Madrid located in a parking lot.

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Take your bacon and eggs and shove 'em. To me, there's no greater breakfast than that served up by Chinese ladies wheeling carts of steaming dumplings around a grand banquet hall. Los Angeles dim sum restaurants dot the map from Alhambra to the beach, and each one promises to have you hollering har gow, char siu bow, and cheung fun with the best of 'em.

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In Manhattan, from Herald Square to Columbus Circle, thousands of working stiffs spend their days sitting in front of computer screens. Never seeing the sun is bad enough, but in most cases, eating in the company cafeteria is a fate worse than death. If you're missing another lunch hour or stuck on a late night at the office, the speedy delivery service at these restaurants will save you from the vending machines and stale sandwiches at your job.

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