If you’ve ever eaten a hom bao (the best kind of pork roll, *heart eyes emoji*) at a Chinese grocery store, you know that a good, pillowy bao (the bun part) is one of life’s great pleasures, just a little softer and sweeter and lighter than anything else resembling bread. So it’s with unmitigated glee that I bring you this news: A chewy, fluffy bao is the vehicle for brewery/Chinese restaurant BTU Brasserie’s Burger Week meal, and the centerpiece isn’t a slab of beef because it’s a General Tso’s chicken burger! Chicken burgers can be pretty boring; this one is not. Building on what he describes as the “touchstone of junky American Chinese food,” BTU chef Chris Bogart has created a burger using crispy fried chicken covered in napa cabbage salad, Chinese sausage, and shiitake mushroom jam, all piled high between two bao buns topped with toasted sesame seeds. The General Tso’s chicken is golden, a little bit gooey, and the perfect ratio of savory to sweet, with a soft texture to match the miracle that is the bao. MEGAN BURBANK

The Portland Mercury’s Burger Week—AKA the best week of your life—runs from Aug 8-13. Feast on amazing $5 burgers at 35 restaurants… and while you’re at it, we challenge you to donate $5 to Oregon Food Bank for every burger you eat!

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