Not long ago, I found myself delighted by a restaurant in Flushing with the noncommittal name of Golden Palace, serving the cuisine of northeastern China. The owners hailed from Liaoning province, and the food was amazing. Instead of white rice, there were puffy, pale-yellow baos made from corn flour, and dishes dotted with wobbly agaric mushrooms. Such northern Chinese standards as lamb with cumin contended with recipes that scrambled eggs with unfamiliar leafy vegetables. Pig skin in aspic and noodles that were dead ringers for spaetzle seemed to represent German influences from Shandong, another northern province that had once harbored a... More >>>