Anne Fishbein

Hainan chicken is a ubiquitous dish with roots in Wenchang City in Hainan, a Southeastern province in China. It has, however, spread well past its Chinese sphere of influence and is famous all throughout Southeast Asia -- particularly in Singapore, where it's the national dish.

Hainanese chicken over rice is an expert take on steamed free-range chicken with scallions, fresh ginger and sesame oil as the base. The long-grain rice, which is cooked with chicken broth, is just as aromatic as the chicken. It comes out with a glossy sheen and has a hint of peanut oil and shallots in the mix. As for the sauces, there are different variations depending on the restaurant. Most commonly is a dark, sweet soy sauce, a minced garlic with scallions dip and in some places, a garlic-soy sauce with chili oil.

Even if you're reading this in China or Singapore, for most of us the SGV -- also Hollywood and Downtown L.A. -- is a bit easier to get to, so we've rounded up our 10 local favorites. Turn the page.

More »

Clarissa Wei

XLB at Din Tai Fung

And here now is a video of Tom Cruise making soup dumplings, in exactly the same way you'd imagine Tom Cruise would make soup dumplings: With determination. Cruise was in Taiwan earlier this month to promote his latest film, Oblivion, and stopped by Din Tai Fung's Taipei 101 branch to learn how to make the restaurant's famed xiaolongbao.

The visit wasn't as strange as, say, Dennis Rodman going to North Korea, but it nonetheless was still wonderfully awkward: Cruise carefully greets the restaurant's staff in Chinese (does he have them at hello? Hard to tell), waves to the crowd a few times and then gets to work. He concentrates, really intensely concentrates, as he's taught how to pinch and fold the dough. It takes him but a minute to nail all the folds in the classic Din Tai Fung dumpling, and he goes on to complete an entire steam basket's worth of XLB. Then he bursts into laughter, because he is Tom Cruise. Turn the page for the video.

More »

Empress Pavilion

Shrimp har gow at Empress Pavilion

Chinatown was a main hub for dim sum before San Gabriel Valley earned its destination status. Now, the Chinatown Business Improvement District is about to reintroduce the neighborhood's eats with a crawl designed strictly for grownups.

This Thursday, April 18, the non-profit organization will host a nighttime dim sum crawl with beer pairings from local and regional breweries.

More »

Clarissa Wei

Mr. Lin and his team

Ocean Star in Monterey Park has been in service since 1982. They're a classic dim sum joint in every sense of the word: rolling carts, Cantonese servers, dim sum operation during the day and extraordinary seafood at night.

The restaurant is one of the largest of its kind in Los Angeles, and has an impressive capacity that can hold a crowd of almost a thousand. It was first opened by a Hong Kong native and, since then, has been divided among a team of five different shareholders.

Mr. Lin, who has been the head dim sum chef at Ocean Star for about four years, manages a team of 12 people who work solely on the dim sum. "I started off in Guangdong and then when I moved to the States, a chef from Hong Kong taught me how to make these dishes," Lin says.

More »

Jim Thurman

"Chinese Calzone": Fried stuffed dumpling at Qingdao Bread Food

You're probably familiar with dumplings and potstickers: Dumplings are likely the first Chinese food item that comes to mind for non-Chinese, while potstickers turn up in the frozen-food sections of markets and menus of Chinese restaurants even on the Westside. But have you heard of a Chinese calzone? Neither had we until a poster at Chowhound referred to an item by that term.

A Chinese calzone is a filled bread, steamed and then pan-fried instead of baked in a wood-fired brick oven. What type of filling do you think would be in a Chinese version of a calzone? Meat? Yes, and, of course, that means pork. There is no cheese, as dairy is rather uncommon in Chinese cuisine. But for all the dissimilarities, the name fits, as these "dumplings" are filled baos.

More »

Clarissa Wei

Authentic XLB from De Xing Guan in Shanghai: Skin is thicker, Less soup

When it comes to soup dumplings in Los Angeles, many opt to flock over to Din Tai Fung over in Arcadia. Hundreds of people make the pilgrimage from the Westside to the Far East just for their holy grail menu item: the xiaolongbao 小籠包 (XLB), which when translated literally, means "little caged bun." But what most don't know is that technically, the Taiwanese chain isn't serving a XLB at all. It's a Nanjing tangbao 南京湯包.

Believe it or not, there is a classification of soup dumplings. A true xiaolongbao, which originates from Shanghai, has a thicker skin and not that much soup. A Nanjing tangbao, like the ones over at Din Tai Fung, are soup-filled dumplings with a very thin skin. And if you're lucky, you might stumble upon a giant variety of dumpling with a leathery exterior that's larger than the average fist and requires a straw to get to the soup inside. That's your crab soup dumpling, or xiehuangtangbao 蟹黃湯包.

All three classifications of soup dumplings originate from the Jiangsu Province, with the exception of Shanghai, which was technically classified under the Jiangsu before it was granted independent municipality status in 1927. It's an eastern coastal province and champion of huaiyang 淮揚菜 cuisine -- a Chinese cooking tradition focused on light flavors, the liberal use of vinegar and utilizes pork, freshwater fish and other seafood such as crab as primary ingredients.

Fortunately for Angelenos, the specifics don't matter much in the States: They all fall under the broad category of soup dumplings. Though Din Tai Fung admittedly still tops our list, we've rounded up some other places so you don't always have battle the long queue to get your soup dumpling fix. Turn the page.

More »

Guzzle & Nosh

Xiao Long Bao, Dean Sin World

The first U.S. city with an Asian population majority, Monterey Park has been referred to as "the Chinese Beverly Hills" and "the first suburban Chinatown." When it comes to doing a food crawl, it will obviously skew heavily to Chinese cuisine. Indeed, a top 10 could consist solely of Chinese restaurants, but that would be missing excellent representatives of other Asian cuisines, and so much more.

Eateries dot the city thoroughfares of Atlantic, Garfield and Garvey. While the clusters around the intersections with Garvey are easily walkable, you'll probably want to take a car for outposts further east on Garvey or over the hill on Atlantic. Portions are large and prices low. Because of this, you'll probably want to bring friends and get a bit more walking in. For that, the Atlantic Times Square provides a strollable city centerpiece with additional dining options, shops and a place to see first-run Chinese movies. From dim sum palaces to late night Hong Kong cafés to tiny dumpling houses and everything in-between, you can find it in Monterey Park. Here are our picks for Top 10 eats. Turn the page.

More »

Anne Fishbein

JTYH Heavy Noodle II

Our 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants issue came out last week, and we're highlighting a few categories drawing from the list. Today: Chinese restaurants.

This is not a definitive list of the best Chinese restaurants in L.A., but it is a sampling of five that we think are each essential in their own way.

More »

Clarissa Wei

Tianjin buns from Tianjin Bistro

Nestled comfortably next to Beijing, Tianjin is a northern Chinese province famous for their expertly crafted baos, the doughy equivalent of soup dumplings. At the core is a ball of pork, simmered in its own juices and enveloped by a pillow of soft, downy bread. The bread isn't overpowering at all; in fact, compared to other classes of buns, they're an ideal ratio of gluten and meat. It's the quintessential take-out dish.

Each bun fits perfectly in the palm of the hand, but make use of chopsticks for the first bite -- these miniature balls of steamed bread can burn. Regulars will casually dip them in a dash of black vinegar for an extra zing, but rest assured, they're quite perfect just the way they are.

We rounded up four of our favorite places for Tianjin-style buns in Los Angeles. Turn the page.

More »

Flickr/Muy Yum

Chinese New Year feast

Deciphering the meanings of the items around the Chinese New Year table is a lot like a treasure hunt. Each individual dish is steeped in tradition and is a homonym for a particular wish in the upcoming year.

This year, the Spring Festival falls on Sunday, Feb. 10. For 15 days, Chinese families around the globe are returning to their homes for half a month of feasting, money-stuffed red envelopes and much-needed bonding. In China especially, where a migrant working culture is prevalent, the holiday is often the only time of year when people get to see their relatives.

Food is the cornerstone of the celebrations. So in the spirit of the festivities, we've rounded up 10 essential New Year dishes, and included the significance behind them all. All of these dishes can be found in Chinese restaurants, but we wouldn't advise making the trek to the San Gabriel Valley over the weekend -- most of these places will be closed for the holiday.

More »