Pittsburgh, PA: Discovering a Surprisingly Vibrant Chinese Food Scene

Still exploring, but really excited to report that The Burg has ample Chinese food to satisfy us for the month. Our first weekend here, we went grocery shopping at a Chinese market, a Maangchi-approved Korean market, and a longstanding Pittsburgh fish market. 

After hauling our goodies home, we went to Taiwan Bistro 33 for a feast: pork chop over rice, pork intestine stewed with mustard greens and garlic scapes, and everyone's favorite: stinky tofu! Such good times. 

And as we settle in for a month of mostly-stay-at-home, our fridge looks fantastic.

Since we were in Pittsburgh for a month, I tried to cook most nights. We were really glad we did, because the quality of produce and meat were both excellent. 

Garlicky pea shoots, a simple salad with 2 kinds of kimchi, and beef stew with carrots and onions. Just like home.

Even the frozen dumplings we bought in The Strip were legit.

But a road trip is not a road trip unless you eat some junk food. And for Asians, that means instant ramen. I greened things up with some pea shoots, but I'm sure my insides are still rotten.

Our last night in town, we got takeout from Everyday Noodles. Again, we were so impressed by the quality of food, especially the drunken chicken. Not only was the chicken poached perfectly, it had been de-bone and stuffed with gojiberries and afew other herbs. The "drunken" flavor also came through very nicely, where sometimes restaurants get away with lightly brining a chicken. Beef noodle rolls, dan dan noodles, and soup dumplings all suffered from a long drive home, but we could tell they would have been great hot.