The best orange peel beef in SoCal?

April 9th, 2009, 2:51 pm · 16 Comments · posted by Niyaz Pirani

orangepeelbeef

“The best orange peel beef in SoCal.”

That’s the claim that was made about the beef dish at Pink Chopstix last week from a fan of the way-out-there spot in North County.

I can’t say I’ve had many experiences with orange peel beef, but this version did justice to the claim. The rest of the meal measured up too, providing some of the freshest-tasting Chinese food I’ve had in a good long while.

On a quick detour: What you’ll notice first about this Yorba Linda restaurant are the booths. They’re puffy, pink-rimmed and massive. But they’re comfortable and I love to be comfortable when I’m about to chow down.

And chow down I did. Along with Fiancee Nadia and her younger sister, a vegetarian, we picked a few dishes on Chopstix’s deep menu.

First up, the Sizzling Rice Soup ($7).

soup

If it were just me, this soup could be a pretty filling meal on its own. The light, salty broth was packed with rice, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, Napa cabbage , carrots and snow peas, plus a plentiful helping of shrimp and chicken.

Our waitress brought the soup to us in two dishes, a plate of rice and a bowl of broth. Because Natalia is veggie, we also asked for the shrimp and chicken to be on the side, which the accommodating staff did not have a problem doing. Anyways, she drops the rice into the broth and there’s definitely a sizzle going on. This soup isn’t lying.

We also sprung not for spring rolls but cream cheese wontons ($2.75). These plump pillows of deliciousness, served four to an order, were filled with the obligatory cream cheese plus imitation crab and scallions. D-lish.

wanton

And now for that orange peel beef ($10, above). Holy wow. I was expecting skinny, fried slivers of beef but there was a whole lot of bovine in these bites. So much so that I was taking two, sometimes three bites out of each piece. The beef wasn’t oily, as many fried dishes can be, probably because it was smothered in a blood-red sweet orange sauce. Small strips of orange zest added a nice tangy balance to all of the sweetness and the heat provided by a few red chilies really brought the entree together nicely.

As much as I love my beef, I’d also order the sizzling tofu ($9) again too.

tofu

Jeff keeps telling me that tofu isn’t the enemy and he is right. Chopstix’s sizzling tofu plate comes with onions, broccoli, carrots, baby corn, Napa cabbage and a hefty amount of crispy-on-the-outside, soft-as-can-be-on-the-inside tofu triangles. The plate comes doused in a brown sauce that’s most comparable to a hot, thick soy sauce. Very tasty stuff. If I knew tofu could taste this good, I would have been chomping on soy long ago.

Our meal was finished off by our free dessert.

orangedessert

I speared the little segments with the provided toothpick, a refreshing way to end a fresh meal. One I hope to enjoy again very soon.

Pink Chopstix
22230 La Palma Ave.
Yorba Linda
714-692-8822 (updated w/correct number, sorry about that)

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Val says:

April 9, 2009 at 5:34 pm

THAT. Looks so good right now. Glarrr. Thanks for the tip!!

Sherry says:

April 10, 2009 at 9:22 am

Why do you keep saying “way out there” for north OC….there’s alot of us who live here, you know, and we consider south OC “way out there”!

Jeff Overley says:

April 10, 2009 at 10:00 am

Sherry - As someone who referred to Placentia as “the boonies” in a previous post, I will apologize for both myself and Niyaz. I think we say that because most people do not eat far from home, and so it’s a way of subliminally saying “It’s worth the drive” without always having to say “It’s worth the drive.” Still, as you point out, it makes no sense.

Niyaz Pirani says:

sherry: i’m just playing when i say that. hope i didn’t offend you. i think people know that i live in south county, so i just write like that. i’ll be a little north-sensitive for now on.

fyi though, i live in lake forest and consider anything past avery parkway in mission viejo to be the deep south. =)

jwillson says:

April 10, 2009 at 11:09 am

I have taken them to task for the same thing. But the thing Niyaz isn’t mentioning is that for a short while he lived in Placentia.

April 10, 2009 at 11:34 am

Hey, yeah, Niyaz, didn’t you also go to Cal State Fullerton?

April 10, 2009 at 11:46 am

huh? placentia? cal state fullerton? dunno where they are, but they sound hella far.

DiverDown says:

April 10, 2009 at 2:43 pm

That looks really really good. It might just be worth the drive to that way-out-there spot in North County. Price seem pretty fair, too.

djchuang says:

April 11, 2009 at 3:34 pm

I know that’s probably a more authentic rendering of Orange Chicken. But my 12yo son likes the fake Orange Chicken from Panda Express!

Niyaz Pirani says:

April 23, 2009 at 3:42 pm

djchuang: i used to like panda express back in the day, but last handful of times i’ve gone there have been truly terrible.

Steve G says:

April 13, 2009 at 4:52 pm

Food @ Pink Chopstix is good.. I’ve been going there since it was “China Pink” way back in the day..

I always stop in for lunch when I’m getting my car washed @ Riverbend, which is in the same shopping center.

Great Food + Great Carwash.. can’t beat it!!!

jess y says:

April 15, 2009 at 10:21 am

Thanks for the great tip! I tried their Honey Walnut Shrimp and it was DELISH.

Rocky says:

April 16, 2009 at 9:07 pm

btw, ti tried calling the number listed here, but the number is wrong. their phone number is 714-692-8822.

Niyaz Pirani says:

April 23, 2009 at 3:42 pm

thanks rocky, i’ll correct that.

Henna says:

April 16, 2009 at 10:26 pm

When I called the telephone number above was wrong.
It should be 714-692-8822
The Kung Pao Three Ingredients was Yammmmmmmmmm

Sidney says:

April 17, 2009 at 10:37 am

China Panda in Villa Park has a great Orange Peel Beef and Chicken. Their sauce is sweet without being overpowering. Their Honey Walnut Shrimp and Black Pepper Beef are also to die for.

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