Five Happiness

If you're a fan of Chinese style pork chop over rice, I have good news for you this morning. This past Sunday found us at Five Happiness, a nondescript little place on Geary that looks like it's been there for decades. The dining room, decorated in stereotypical Chinatown regalia, was bustling just fifteen minutes after the restaurant opened, hinting at good things to come. 

The star of the meal was the pork chop rice: pai gu fan for us Mandarin speakers. Like standard versions of this dish, the pork chop was crispily deep fried on the outside and served with white rice topped with a braised chop pork (ro zao). Five Happiness does a riff on tradition, using a slightly thicker cut of pork chop than I'm used to, deboning it before frying, and using some kind of brine that imbues the meat with a pink hue reminiscent of char siu. 

Look at that oil glistening off the pork! This generous portion was almost enough food for the two of us. As good as the pork was, however, I might have enjoyed the rice even more. I love ro zao, and Five Happiness hit a home run by using little pieces of chopped pork instead of ground pork. This upgrade on what's usually a bare bones dish really elevates it from a side dish to being entree worthy. I would order a bowl of just that in the future. As it is, we had to be rolled out of Five Happiness. But we vow to be back for the Peking duck sometime soon.