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CBS News
5 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Pepper House serves up top Chinese food in the nation with authentic Sichuan flavors
Pepper House serves up top Chinese food in the nation with authentic Sichuan flavors Pepper House serves up top Chinese food in the nation with authentic Sichuan flavors Pepper House serves up top Chinese food in the nation with authentic Sichuan flavors Pepper House, a local Chinese restaurant in Ellicott City, is attracting people from all over after getting national recognition as one of the county's top restaurants. Nestled along Route 40 in an office complex, Pepper House offers authentic Sichuan flavors. When Yuan Shen and her husband Frank Liang opened the restaurant during the pandemic in 2020, they never imagined making it on the national map. "Both me and my husband were teachers," said Shen. "We know nothing about restaurant. We never ran [a] restaurant before. But just one day, he said, 'Could we make real Sichuan food for American friend?' " Recently, Pepper House earned the 11th spot on Yelp's 2024 list of top 100 Chinese restaurants in the U.S., encouraging many supporters to come out and congratulate them. The ranking is now attracting people from all over, including Pennsylvania, Virginia, D.C., and more. What exactly is Sichuan cuisine? With over 200 reviews and a stellar 4.7-star rating on Yelp, customers praise Pepper House for its spicy, fragrant, and flavorful dishes that capture the essence of Sichuan cuisine, mostly known for its numbing effect from Sichuan peppercorns. "The flavor is incredible, and she's right, it's the flavor more than the spiciness," said Ryan, a customer who was dining inside Pepper House. "Everything blends together so well." Their secret is that everything is made from scratch and with love. "Our chili oil sauces, and dumplings, and noodles all are handmade," said Shen. "It's very tasty, yeah, it's different." That's what brings customers like Vineeth Garnepudi and Jack Ragonese returning for more. "We really like Sichuan food," Vineeth exclaimed. "I had to give it a try," said Jack. "I loved it the first time, so I had to come back." Both say they're proud to see Howard County represented at the national level. When Shen and Frank are not running their restaurant, they're singing opera. As a professional opera singer, Frank still teaches students sometimes at the restaurant, and when it's not busy, he plays the piano. It's music to your ears and food for your soul. "We want more and more people, all the country, all the people from everywhere to try this because it's good!" said Shen.
Malay Mail
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Head to Jalan Ipoh's Chef Tam Cantonese Cuisine for familiar Chinese dishes executed well
KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — Eating at Chinese restaurants demands the magical feat of knowing what to order to best showcase the chef's skills. A fellow food lover had raved about Chef Tam Cantonese Cuisine, her mainstay for Chinese food, so we wanted to experience it with her expert know-how. During the heyday of dining in Selayang, where fresh seafood shops packed a well hidden light industrial area, Chef Tam Restaurant was where your fresh catch from the tanks would be cooked to perfection. Now, he has moved to Eco Sky, a more intimate space that can accommodate four large round tables, requiring one to book ahead to avoid disappointment. In the able hands of Chef Tam, the food served here isn't fancy but simplicity rules in his dishes. Double-boiled soups are the cornerstone of Cantonese cooking and of course, it's a must-order to kickstart a meal here. The restaurant offers Chef Tam Signature Soup (RM68) – a fun lucky pick – giving rise to different flavours that are rotated daily . Our draw in the soup game arrived in a deep pot like a mystery guest, which we eagerly attacked with a ladle. 'What soup is this?' we all asked as it was red in colour! As we dug deep inside, clues emerged with each dip of the ladle, revealing chunky carrots, potatoes, gourd and a chunk of pork ribs with meat falling off the bone. Sweet Sour Pork is served with crunchy thin slices composed with Iberian black pork just coated with a tangy sauce that keeps the crunch even after sitting on the table for some time. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi Everyone started to piece things together, concluding that this must be their version of the homestyle ABC soup. a staple item every mother has in her repertoire of recipes, played on a continuous loop. Its roots are hazy with many speculations on its moniker, whether it's named after vitamins or the ease of brewing this soup at home. The soup loosely uses a combination of vegetables and meat, without a specific recipe. Every family has their own secret ingredient, and in chef Tam's case, it was the knobby Szechuan vegetable, also called zha cai or cha choy, depending on which dialect you use. Steam Minced Pork is a rice killer dish, where that pork patty with sauce will have you asking for second helping of rice. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi That pickled mustard stem balances out the sweetness in the soup from all the vegetables, making it a hug in a bowl which we all drank until the large pot was empty. Sweet Sour Pork (RM98) may be an everyman dish, appearing in almost every eatery serving Chinese food but executing an excellent rendition for such a simple dish is not an easy feat. This version is the thin sliced type, a more modern style compared to the old school ball-shaped version. Using sliced Iberian Black Pork, the meat is tender with a light flour coating with knobbly bits, giving it a lovely crunch. Prawn Paste Fried Chicken is the ultimate ugly delicious food with its crunchy exterior hiding moist meat and a hit of ginger juice. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi The test of a chef's skills is how much sauce coats each piece of the crunchy pork and this one passed with flying colours as it was dry bodied yet sufficiently coated with the enticing tangy sauce. Most importantly, it remained crunchy even after some time, allowing one to slowly relish the pork slices. Even the sauce is more natural without that sharp tang from too much vinegar nor is it too sweet. Claypot Prawn Glass Noodles is a pot of goodness as the glass noodles soak up the milky broth spiked with black pepper. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi Steam Minced Pork (RM48) is homestyle but given a luxurious treatment, where the pork and fat is hand chopped to form a firmer bite. This version falls a little short as the texture doesn't have that bouncy bite but it's still the best friend of rice, putting our efforts into rationing our carbohydrates intake in peril. Prawn Paste Fried Chicken (RM38) was a surprise add-on item, ordered using that usual 'spy' method, where a friend had seen or in this case, smelt that distinct har cheong wafting from the next table. It was pure luck as that 'ugly brown' dish with its craggy fried bits, turned out to be stellar. Each piping hot bite had an ultra crispy crunch, followed with a surprise hit of old ginger juice mingling with juicy meat infused with that potent fermented prawn flavour. That touch of ginger was ingenious, eliminating any greasy after taste lingering in the mouth, allowing one to continuously dive in for one more piece. Claypot Prawn Glass Noodles is a pot of goodness as the glass noodles soak up the milky broth spiked with black pepper. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi6. Fried Beef Hor Fun is a tangle of slightly chewy broad rice noodles with tender beef slices. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi For those who eat chicken wings, they may be staring at these spindly thin golden brown pieces in puzzlement. Turns out the chef only deep fries the inner part of the drumette, yielding moist meat with an addictive golden crunch, that vanished quickly and had us fighting for the last piece. Claypot Prawn Glass Noodles (RM98) is served with small sized prawns that were bouncy and sweet, an indication of freshness, but the real treasure was the glass noodles, which had soaked up that milky broth spiked gently with dots of black pepper. Every strand of those delightful noodles were slurped up, down to the bottom of the claypot. Fried Beef Hor Fun (RM88) or kon chau ngau hor, another classic dish, had slightly chewier, broad flat rice noodles served with tender beef slices, which weren't drowned out with oil. Unlike the usually smooth skin beancurd that resemble perfect rectangular golden soldiers on parade, Chef Tam Signature Homemade Taufu (RM28) resembled jiggly fried beancurd with a dimpled brown skin, like it didn't visit the plastic surgeon for Botox jabs. Chef Tam Signature Homemade Taufu (left) are jiggly, soft bites of soybean milk curd and the restaurant inside Eco Sky (right) is a cosy, dining space that requires pre-booking. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi Once you bite inside, it yields a wobbly, creamy mass of soy milk curd, pairing well with the light brown braising sauce and tender petola. A second visit is warranted, for the chef's skills in steaming the prized Soon Hock fish or even the deceptively simple fried rice. Restoran Chef Tam Cantonese Cuisine, Lot 1-30, First Floor, Eco Sky, 6 1/2 Miles Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur. Open:12pm to 10pm. Closed on Monday. Tel:03-62418938. Facebook: @ChefTamCuisine * This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal. * Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
BBC News
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Where to get New York City's best Chinese food
Where to get New York City's best Chinese food 8 minutes ago Share Save Kate Heddings Share Save Ernesto Roman (Credit: Ernesto Roman) Proud New Yorker chef Calvin Eng is known for his daring reinterpretations of Chinese cuisine. Here's where he goes when he wants homestyle Chinese food, from dim sum to egg tarts. Though its original Chinatown in Lower Manhattan – dating to the 1870s – is the most well-known, New York City is actually home to nine official Chinatowns spread across its five boroughs; each reflecting the rich regional diversity of Chinese cuisine. The city's first Chinatown took root when Chinese immigrants, many from southern China, arrived either directly or relocated from the US's West Coast, fleeing anti-Chinese sentiment. Early businesses were mostly rice shops and teahouses, but by the early 1900s, full-service restaurants emerged, drawing curious diners from all over New York. By the mid-20th Century, Chinese food, in all its glorious forms, had become as associated with New York City as the humble bagel or the New York slice. The SpeciaList Brooklyn-born Calvin Eng is the chef and owner of Bonnie's, which has been praised in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Grub Street, Eater and Bon Appétit. Eng is a James Beard Emerging Chef finalist, a Food & Wine Best New Chef, a Forbes 30 under 30 recipient, a StarChefs Rising Star and a two-time James Beard Best Chef: New York State Semifinalist. His cookbook, Salt Sugar MSG, was published on 18 March 2025. Among the new generation carrying this legacy forward is chef Calvin Eng, the owner of Bonnie's; a Cantonese American restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that has been lauded for its inventive interpretations of Cantonese cuisine. Eng grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, learning to cook the food of Guangdong (formerly known as Canton) from his mother, the eponymous Bonnie. Weekends were spent visiting his grandparents on Bayard Street in New York City's Lower Manhattan Chinatown, where he developed a deep connection to the neighbourhood and its food. "There's just so much good food in such a small area," Eng says. "You learn what's worth lining up for and what's best eaten on a subway platform." These days, Eng gets his Cantonese fix at a variety of New York's Chinatowns, from Sunset Park to Bensonhurst, each offering its own take on Chinese flavours – from the seafood-heavy dishes of Guangdong to the bold, spicy flavours of Sichuan and Hunan. Despite the breadth of regional styles found across the city, Eng's focus remains rooted in the cuisine of southern China. Unlike other styles, Cantonese food is known for its lightness and simplicity, emphasising fresh ingredients, particularly seafood – a reflection of the region's coastal geography. Heavy spices are rare, and rice – not wheat – is the dominant starch. "Cantonese food is very low on acid and heat," Eng explains. "We use minimal ingredients that allow the main ingredients to shine." Here are Eng's favourite places to get Chinese food in New York City. Ernesto Roman Yi Ji Shi Mo on Elizabeth Street is a hole-in-the-wall serving Eng's favourite cheung fun (Credit: Ernesto Roman) 1. Best cheung fun: Yi Ji Shi Mo (Lower Manhattan) Insiders know that in Chinatowns across the world, some of the most unassuming places have the best food. Yi Ji Shi Mo – a tiny, below-street-level hole-in-the-wall on Lower Manhattan's Elizabeth Street – is no exception. Here, the specialty is made-to-order cheung fun; Cantonese-style steamed rice rolls filled with shrimp, beef, pork and other savoury ingredients. Cheung fun can be found all over New York City's Chinatowns, but Eng says what makes the offerings at Yi Ji Shi Mo stand out is their rice wrapper: it's perfectly thin with a satisfying chew and bounce. "They mill the rice into flour fresh every morning to make the batter," he explains. "Then they steam it, fill it, roll it up, pop it in a takeout box, give you a packet of their seasoned soy sauce, and you're on your way." Eng eats cheung fun for breakfast, lunch or just a snack whenever he's in the area. The wait can be a bit long since everything is made fresh, but he says it's worth it – or you can try calling ahead. "My go-to is always the large – which isn't even that large – with beef, scallion and cilantro," he says. "And I just douse it in their soy sauce." Address: 88 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10013 Phone: +1 646-233-6311 Ernesto Roman When the Grand Street Skewer Cart is open, the aroma of Xinjian-style meat skewers perfumes the block (Credit: Ernesto Roman) 2. Best for Xinjian skewers: Grand Street Skewer Cart (Lower Manhattan) A little slice of Xinjian, an autonomous region in north-western China, can be found at the iconic Grand Street Skewer Cart on Lower Manhattan's Grand Street. The vendors are a husband-and-wife duo who prepare Xinjian-style meat skewers (yang rou chuan) straight out of a cooler; you can smell the sizzling aroma of roasted lamb and spicy cumin from over a block away, says Eng. "I don't know what their schedule is, but when they're there, it's a treat, like a special surprise," he says. "If it's raining, snowing or even just a little cold, they're probably not going to be there. But when the weather's nice, you have to take the chance and go." The cart is set up just outside a busy train station, and like many commuters, Eng buys a bunch of the inexpensive skewers to eat on the subway ride home to Brooklyn. The selection is impressive: lamb, beef, chicken, fish balls, mushrooms, onions, leeks – even aubergine. "Whether you get it spicy or not is up to you," Eng says, "but the spicy skewers are very, very tasty." "The cart is really special and unique – you don't find anything like it in Chinatown," he adds. "Restaurants aren't doing this kind of thing because it's live fire and not easy to pull off. Getting to experience that on the street is very cool." Address: Corner of Grand St and Chrystie Street, New York, NY 10002 Ernesto Roman Hop Lee has been serving bountiful Chinese banquets in New York City's Chinatown since 1973 (Credit: Ernesto Roman) 3. Best Chinese banquet: Hop Lee Restaurant (Lower Manhattan) The Chinese banquet experience is a joyful multi-course feast typically shared at big, round tables to celebrate birthdays, weddings or even just a fun night out with friends. Eng's go-to for a classic banquet is Hop Lee on Mott Street; a beloved Chinatown institution since 1973, with all the essentials: oversized tables, lazy Susans and a vast menu. "They have the old-school stuff you can't get all in one place anymore," Eng says. Highlights include razor clams in black bean sauce, honey walnut shrimp and a wide variety of chicken dishes: half, whole, poached, fried. But one dish in particular stands out to Eng: the eternally popular Cantonese lobster with pork. "It starts with the Chinese trinity of ginger, garlic and scallions," Eng explains. The lobster is broken down Chinese-style, which means it's chopped into 14 easy-to-eat pieces, so there's no need for cracking shells. "The flavours of the trinity really come through in the wok," he says, "and they stir-fry it with ground pork, which adds this whole extra layer of depth that most lobster dishes just don't have. It's delicious." Website: Address: 16 Mott Street, New York, NY 10013 Phone: +1 212-962-6475 Instagram: @hop_lee_nyc/ Ernesto Roman Roasted meats like char siu reign supreme at King's Kitchen in Chinatown (Credit: Ernesto Roman) 4. Best roasted meats: King's Kitchen (Manhattan, Brooklyn) Throughout the winding streets of Manhattan's Chinatown, roast ducks, chickens and slabs of pork hang in steamy restaurant windows. For Eng, King's Kitchen stands out for serving the best of these iconic barbecued meats. With multiple locations across Manhattan and Brooklyn, the purveyor offers a vast menu, including dim sum, but it's the roasted meats that keep Eng coming back. Insider tip: When ordering char siu, Eng says you can request your preferred cuts. "You can order lean, you can order fat or you can order half and half," says Eng, who orders his half fatty, half lean. "The guy at the counter will know which cuts to pull and chop for your order. If you don't specify, they just give you whatever." But, he adds, "I think it's a very different eating experience to get what you prefer. I love the half-and-half bites." "The char siu (roast pork) is perfectly balanced – sweet and salty, charred and glistening because it's always fresh," he says. The marinade, a blend that includes bean paste and Chinese five-spice, is rubbed inside the cavity of the pig, giving the meat deep, rich flavour all the way through. "King's Kitchen does steady business, so they're popping out fresh things all the time," Eng adds. "This way you know the meat is not just sitting there all day." Website: Address: 92 East Broadway, New York, NY 10002 Phone: +1 212-966-7288 Instagram: @jinhuanggroup/ Ernesto Roman BK Seafood Market in Sunset Park is Eng's go-to for the freshest Chinese-style seafood (Credit: Ernesto Roman) 5. Best seafood: BK Seafood Market (Sunset Park, Brooklyn) When he's in the mood for seafood, Eng heads to Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighbourhood to hit BK Seafood Market – a large restaurant with rows of bubbling tanks filled with live fish, crustaceans and molluscs. Diners can pick exactly what they want and have it cooked to order, just minutes from tank to table. "It's a rare opportunity to eat something that was literally swimming two minutes before it was cooked," says Eng. One of his favourite orders is king crab prepared three ways, a "massive feast of king crab", he says. He also chooses a fresh whole fish and asks for it steamed with soy sauce, ginger and spring onions. "When the seafood is this fresh, you don't want to ruin it," he says. "Steaming keeps it clean and simple and that's how you taste how good it really is." Website: Address: 842 64th St, Brooklyn, NY 11220 Phone: +1 718-836-6888 Instagram: @bkseafoodmarket1/ Ernesto Roman The menu at Park Asia offers a huge selection of seasonal and rotating dim sum specials (Credit: Ernesto Roman) 6. Best dim sum: Park Asia (Sunset Park, Brooklyn) "If I want the full dim sum experience, I go for a big location – a place with, like, 1,000 seats," says Eng. For that, he heads to Park Asia; a sprawling two-storey space with high ceilings and a bright, bustling vibe. "It's where I had my son's 100-day party [a celebration marking a child's first 100 days in Chinese culture] with 100 people," he says. For Eng, the ideal dim sum restaurant offers the most variety. "When I get dim sum from a cart, I want a lot of different things on the table," he says. And the key to a good spot? "It should be packed. That means the food's fresh, and nothing's been sitting on the cart for more than half an hour." The selection is huge, from pork siu mai and shrimp dumplings to specials that rotate with the seasons. In the evenings, Park Asia shifts into banquet-style dining, but the dim sum crowd is always out in full force – even on a Monday morning. Website: Address: 6521 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220 Phone: +1 718-833-1688 Instagram: @parkasiarestaurant/ Ernesto Roman The dan tat at Xin Fa Bakery are always hot and fresh (Credit: Ernesto Roman) 7. Best Hong Kong-style egg tarts: Xin Fa Bakery (Sunset Park, Brooklyn) For the best egg tarts in the city, Eng makes a beeline to Xin Fa Bakery. But he doesn't just buy one. "You get a dozen," he says. "They're always hot and always fresh." These are the classic Hong Kong-style dan tat – small, flaky tarts filled with silky egg custard. For Eng, the perfect one has a wobble. "When you bite into it, it should be jiggly and almost fall out of the crust," he explains. "You don't want it to be fully set. And you definitely don't want to see your teeth marks in it." Website: Address: 5617 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220 Phone: +1 718-871-2889 BBC Travel's The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers. -- If you liked this story, sign up for The Essential List newsletter – a handpicked selection of features, videos and can't-miss news, delivered to your inbox twice a week.
