Walk through any Chinatown and you will see shops with roasted ducks, and other things, on display in the front window. What are the “other things”? And are they any good? To answer the second question, they are very good indeed. As to what they are, welcome to Chinatown Windows 101.

The examples here are from Oakland, California, but the preparations are common worldwide.

The roasted ducks are hanging on the left. The signs offer whole ducks for $10 and chickens for $8, good deals.

Clockwise from upper left: red-cooked pork, pressed duck, crispy roasted pork, chicken.

Roasted pigeons.

Roast pig head (left), duck liver and sausage (right).

Clockwise from upper left: Pig ear, squid, pig uterus, duck feet. In the tray behind the pig ear there appears to be tripe and chitlins, although its hard to tell for sure from the photo.

The crispy roasted pork is probably least challenging to Western tastes. Just about everyone would find it delicious. If you are planning a party you can order a whole roasted suckling pig. The chicken, pigeon, and duck are likely to suit most tastes as well. The squid is not highly spiced; the yellow color is added in cooking. The pig ear and ducks feet are sought more for texture than flavor. The rest require what some would think as adventurous taste, although in my view there is nothing really very challenging. There is nothing here for vegetarians, but other shops have fried tofu.

Visit Chinatown and try something, you’ll like it.