1600 2nd Ave
Des Moines, IA 5031
I was really happy to discover this place, which I think has the best Chinese (Cantonese style) barbecue in Des Moines, and probably Iowa. Whenever I’m preparing for a Chinese banquet, I try to make a stop here to pick up some duck and pork. It’s also a great place to have lunch or dinner–the restaurant is clean and welcoming, and the proprietors are friendly and helpful. They don’t have an extensive menu, which I think is a real selling point: what they make, they make well. My favorite is the duck and pork, though I’ve also enjoyed the chicken, and I recently tried their barbecued pork belly, which is amazing. The last time I was there I also picked up some duck feet, which were a hit with my friends from China. I serve all of it as is, as an appetizer, with the two sauces (one sweet, one spicy) that come with any order.
The leftovers are great for other dishes, too. One I recently came up with was a pork and shrimp fried rice 
dish; it turned out well, and I offer it below.
Pork and Shrimp Fried Rice
4-5 oz. Le’s barbecue pork belly, diced
1/2 to 1 pound of peeled and cooked shrimp (you could use pre-cooked shrimp, but the fresher the shrimp, the better. I used shrimp from La Tapatia, and used the shells to make a shrimp stock, about a 1/4 cup of which I added along with the shrimp in this recipe)
2 shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp minced ginger
2-3 scallions, sliced
3 eggs, beaten
1-2 tblsp light soy sauce
1-2 tblsp dark soy sauce
4 cups of cooked Chinese rice (I use Kokuho Rose), preferably from the day before; the rice is best when cooked in a rice steamer.
In a wok or deep, non-stick sauté pan, cook pork in a little oil until starting to brown, add shallots, white parts of scallions, garlic, and ginger, stir fry until onions are translucent, and then remove from pan and set aside (this is a crucial step in a lot of Chinese cooking: cooking ingredients separately, to allow for the proper preparation of each one). Add a little more oil to the pan, and begin stir-frying the rice on a medium high heat. The point of this step is to break down the clumps of rice until each grain is separate. As you stir fry, add light and dark soy sauce to taste; this also gives the rice a nice brown color. Once the rice is cooked through, set aside in large bowl and keep warm. Heat pan, add a bit more oil, and add eggs and half of the green parts of the scallions. Let eggs spread out into thin layer, and cook just until the eggs set, flip, and remove to cutting board. Slice omelet into strips, add to rice along with pork mixture and shrimp. Mix together, and serve with remaining sliced scallions as garnish.
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