Rou jia mo. (Photo provided to China Daily)
Rou jia mo (Chinese hamburger)
Rou jia mo, which translates as "meat placed between bun", has a similar recipe to hamburgers, consisting of chopped meat inside a bun.
The chewy bun baked in a clay oven or fried in a pan and with a mouthwatering meat filling stewed in a variety of spices — is not only popular in China's streets and alleys but also with foodies overseas.
Xie Yunfeng, a Chinese vendor selling rou jia mo in front of Columbia University in New York, became an online sensation in 2013. Xie said he could sell more than 100 rou jia mo a day.
Commenting on the reported comparison between rou jia mo and hamburgers, one Internet user said, "People like eating meat by sandwiching it between buns, whether they are in the East or the West."
General Tao's Chicken
Though name of the dish comes from general Zuo Zongtang (1812-1885), who lived during the Qing dynasty in today's Hunan province, the general himself carries little relation to the dish.
The dish General Tao's Chicken is neither served in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, nor in Xiangyin, the birthplace of the general. The generals' descendants, who still live in Xiangyin, said they have never heard of such a dish.
General Tao's Chicken can be found almost ubiquitously in Chinese restaurants in the U.S.. The chicken chunks, battered and deep fried, are often covered with a thick sweet and sour sauce seasoned with soy sauce, rice wine, rice wine vinegar, sugar, cornstarch and dried red chili peppers.
Egg rolls
The term egg roll often refers to a variation of fried spring rolls in China, only the wrap is thicker, the entire form bigger, and it doesn't have much to do with eggs.
The typical spring rolls in China are made with rice dough, wrapped around fillings which often consists of julienned vegetables and sometimes meat, and then deep fried. The egg roll, however, is made with flour dough, which gives it a thicker texture as opposed to the rice wrap.
Egg rolls are often served as appetizers in the U.S., just as spring rolls are in China.
