all praise be unto Young Chow!

I drive past Haymarket, Virginia on my way to and from work. Occasionally, I hit Exit 40 and go into Haymarket. There used to be a great restaurant there called 55's, which served one of the very best Reubens I've ever had, along with great hand-cut fries. 55's went under, alas, but Young Chow, the Chinese joint located about 300 yards from where 55's used to be, is still around, and they've got excellent fried wontons and crispy beef. Some Chinese restaurants serve horrible crispy beef: terrifyingly chewy chunks of gristle in soggy breading, leaving you to wonder whether the meat you're masticating is actually bovine. Good crispy beef should be cut in long, thin strips and served up in a breading that's crunchy enough to defy the softening power of the sweet/spicy sauce with which it's garnished. Young Chow's crispy beef is just such a dish: it remains crunchy right to the final morsel. Behold:






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