Americanized

A steaming plate of pork fried rice, beef with broccoli swimming in sauce, a big bowl of egg drop soup and, of course, the ubiquitous egg roll, thick-skinned and fried to a golden brown. While it’s laughable to call this Chinese food—most of us wouldn’t know authentic Chinese food if it poked us in the eye with a chopstick — it’s still plenty popular with Americans.

Regardless of whether you’re in Illinois or Idaho, the Chinese restaurant experience is often uncannily similar. Offerings include comfort foods like fried meat and abundant, affordable, satisfying starches — basically variations on the rice/noodles theme. Savory sauces. Just enough esoteric and vegetarian offerings to keep the purists happy. Huge helpings. Determine your own spiciness from blah to blistering. (For a head cold, you can’t beat the curative powers of Chinese mustard or hot-and-sour soup.) Dine-in or to-go. And a décor that blends culture and camp — zodiac, paper lanterns, etc. — in an ethnically exaggerated yet endearing way.

That’s why Wah Hing will likely succeed in its new Rathdrum, Idaho, location that formerly housed a quick succession of meat-and-potatoes places in this cozy prairie town of nearly 7,000 people. Good food. Predictably familiar dishes from chicken chow mein ($8.50) to Szechwan veggies ($9) to sweet and sour pork ($9.50). Fast service. Reasonable prices, like lunch combinations for $6-$7 and dinner from $8-$12.

The Rathdrum Wah Hing is the third of the Hing’s empire of family restaurants; it marks the midway point between Spokane’s Division Street store and the oddly placed Kellogg, Idaho, branch. The parking lot has been full to overflowing since the place opened this fall, so either plan on a bit of a wait or get there early.

While some may cringe at the idea of how wildly off-the-mark the Americanized Chinese restaurant is, others merely smile with a mouth full of Moo Shu and ask for a to-go box while popping open the fortune cookie that comes with your bill. At least in the world of Chinese-American dining, the future is always certain. — CARRIE SCOZZARO

Wah Hing, 15512 N. Hwy. 41, Rathdrum, Idaho, is open Mon-Sun 11 am-9 pm. Call (208) 687-1688.