Regarding Chinese food in the United States

[dvduval]

5. More details

I live in Los Angeles and I would say most Chinese restaurants are not the traditional American Chinese restaurant that most people know. And I've heard that almost every region of China is represented here in Los Angeles with a restaurant to fit that region's style.

Hong Kong style food and Shanghai style food tends to be fairly normal in the sense that it doesn't stray too far from what the average American person has eaten.

But as you get into some different regions, you may encounter some things that may seem very unfamiliar or strange. For example, it would be common to serve things like cow tongue and intestine, or turkey neck or roast duck that includes the head.

And the vegetables are quite different. There's a Chinese broccoli that is pretty common in Chinese restaurants and a different type of eggplant, but there is a wide variety of vegetables that we don't typically eat here.

The Sichuan cuisine is very spicy and there is a type of spice called Ma La that will actually make your lips, tongue and throat feel numb depending on how much space there is and I can even be a little alarming if you've never tried it and don't know what's going on haha

Of course, she did not mention hot pot which is extremely popular in Sichuan but also popular throughout china.