Chichi's Chinese »  Home-style Chinese cooking and occasional
cultural commentary.  Updated Rice Cakes, Inspired by Mission
Chinese Food   [Photograph: Chichi Wang]  Mission Chinese in New
York looks like a Chinese take-out joint at first; you pass the
kitchen along the way, into a room that's packed with eaters
sitting under an origami paper dragon spanning the ceiling, from
one wall to another.  Does this give you any idea of the type of
food here? No? Well, the menu includes such goodies as Kung Pao
Pastrami and McPig Tails (read the full review here). On a
friend's recommendation, I went to try their rice cakes, which
are stir-fried with thrice-cooked bacon, bitter melon, and loads
of chili paste. I am a fool for rice cakes. I will eat them
until I feel unwell, and even then, will still go on chomping
their sweet, chewy goodness.  The dish at Mission Chinese
sounded like a perfect counterpart to the rice cake dishes you
are likely to find in a typical Cantonese or Shanghainese
restaurant: plain rice cakes