Where to Find the Best Chinese Food in Boston

FOR SICHUAN: FULOON

You don't go to Fuloon for the atmosphere, which is classic suburban Chinese restaurant (think: elevator music, slippery "leather" booths, and a fish tank). Nor do you go because it's convenient, as Malden is a good 20 minute drive north of the city. You go for the chili burn, the citrusy numbing sensation of ma la, and the vinegar punch, all of which make frequent appearances on the restaurant's largely Sichuan menu.Chef Zhang Wenxue's ma po tofu is some of the best you'll taste anywhere, including in its hometown of Chengu: rich and intense, custard-smooth, and mouth-numbing with the intensity of its Sichuan peppercorns. But that's just one of many must-order dishes. Our best advice: get a group together and share as many of the following as can fit on the lazy Susan: Bang Bang Chicken, Wonton's with Special Hot Sauce, Jingdu Pork Pancake, Starch Noodles with Pork, Mandarin Cabbage with Spicy and Sour (the sleeper hit of the menu), Szechuan-Style Steamed (read: swimming in chili oil) Beef, Kan Shue String Beans, Hot Diced Chicken Szechuan Style, Wok-Baked Beef, and Bean Curd Knots with Pork Belly.

FOR CANTONESE SEAFOOD: PEACH FARM

Thanks to its late hours (open 'til 3 a.m.), this bustling subterranean Chinatown staple doubles a hangout for off-work chefs. (It's also a good idea to go late at night, because eating during primetime often means crowding around the entryway while you wait an hour or more for a table.) But the real draw is swimming in the restaurant's fish tanks: live fish and shellfish that are no sooner plucked from the water than they appear on your plate. Live, head-on, in-the-shell salt-and-pepper shrimp are a must, and you know they're fresh because their availability is day-to-day (call the restaurant after 1 p.m. to check if they'll have them that night). The fry job is so expertly done that the two-bite crustaceans boast a light, delicate crunch that you might not expect from shell-on seafood. Other good choices include Cantonese classics like lobster with ginger-scallion sauce and clams with black bean sauce

The Easiest Way to Plan for Leftovers Right Now

You know our Parker House Rolls? The fluffy, butter-brushed pull-apart buns of divinity pictured at the top of this page? Our food director Carla Lalli Music is pre-making batches of them (they’re freezable—but more on that later), using the same dough four different ways to make sure there are dinner roles at the main Thanksgiving event and plenty of warm buns for sandwich leftovers the day after. If you’re going to do one ounce of prep in anticipation of Thanksgiving this weekend, make it this.

Same Dough, Different Way
According to Music, you have a few different options:

1) The Classic. Fold the dough over so you end up with shingle-like strips in your pan. The bun you’ll get are highly pull apart-y and thin, the way you’d traditionally expect them to be.

2) The Time-Saver. Music sometimes feels like the recipe for the rolls can be “steppy.” As in, there are a ton of steps on how to cut and fold and roll and fold and cut that stand between you and your hot buns. What she does instead is take pieces of dough and roll them into balls, the way you would with other buns or cookies. Then put those dough balls in a 9″ by 13″ pan—so maybe three to a row, rather than 10—and bake. The buns you’ll get are still pull-apart, but they’ll more closely resemble dinner rolls. And they’ll make killer sandwich buns to house leftovers the day after.

 

3) The Milk Bread. Use a muffin tin. Place three small dough balls into each cup. You can use the same butter and salt finisher to brown the tops. But when these dome up, the finished breads will appear as individual rolls, each with three fluffy pull-apart tops.

4) The Flaky AF. Cut the dough into smaller rectangular strips. Stack and cut, stack and cut. Repeat. Flip that stack (of around four strips) onto its side and put into muffin tins. The dough in each muffin tin cup will puff and fan out into beautiful butter flake rolls with ridged tops. It looks fancy, feels flaky—and all you did was use that same dough.

Hot Buns
Did we mention that you can totally make the dough in advance (like, this weekend!) and freeze it? You can shape the rolls, put them in whichever tray you choose, and place in your freezer until Thanksgiving day (or the day after or whenever you want a fresh roll). When you’re ready to bake, you can bake them from frozen, says Music. Just from your freezer straight into the oven. They only take about 20 minutes to bake. And approximately 30 seconds to devour an entire tray. They’re seriously that good.

Weekend Rib Roast

Total Time:1 hr 25 minPrep:20 minInactive: 20 minCook: 45 minYield:6 to 8 servingsLevel:Easy

Ingredients
1 (3-rib) standing rib roast (7 to 8 pounds)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Mustard Horseradish Sauce, recipe follows
1 1/2 cups good mayonnaise
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

DIRECTIONS: 

Two hours before roasting, remove the meat from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (see note).

Place the oven rack on the second lowest position.

Place the roast in a pan large enough to hold it comfortably, bone-side down, and spread the top thickly with the salt and pepper. Roast the meat for 45 minutes. Without removing the meat from the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and roast for another 30 minutes. Finally, increase the temperature to 450 degrees F and roast for another 15 to 30 minutes, until the internal temperature of the meat is 125 degrees F. (Be sure the thermometer is exactly in the center of the roast.) The total cooking time will be between 1 1/2 and 1 3/4 hours. Meanwhile, make the sauce.

Remove the roast from the oven and transfer it to a cutting board. Cover it tightly with aluminum foil and allow the meat to rest for 20 minutes. Carve and serve with the sauce.

Note: Be sure your oven is very clean before setting it at 500 degrees F.

Mustard Horseradish Sauce:

Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustards, horseradish, sour cream, and salt in a small bowl.