My mom used to tell me, when I was growing up in China, that meat when cooked on bones tastes sweeter and that’s the best way to eat it. Since moving to New Zealand 20 years ago, the thinking here seems to be different. From fish to beef, people like to have them boneless. But I am so happy to have found the ribs at Mr Hao, which is served in a 1kg platter and either in spicy cumin style and a non-spicy sweet sour style. I want to nominate this for iconic eats because these dishes are so special to me. Sweet sour pork can be traced back to its origins in old Canton, my birth city which is known as Guangzhou today. So while the flavours in the Mr Hao dish is familiar, it is cooked on ribs which is exactly how we Chinese like to have them. But the other option, the spicy cumin style one, is the taste that many will be familiar with as this is a marinated, which is now used at many modern eateries in cities like Shanghai and Beijing. We are so lucky in Auckland to get to enjoy the best of both worlds with Mr Hao’s ribs.