Natascha Hess, who runs the Ginger Pig food truck with her husband, Steve, lived in China for a year while in college; her "Chinese mom" taught her the ins and outs of traditional cooking during that time. The result of her immersion is obvious in the food at the Ginger Pig, especially Hess's Chinese fried chicken, a take on a dish called la zi ji that's perfumed with five-spice and given a hint of heat with ringlets of pickled Fresno chiles. The menu offers a tour of other Asian countries, too, with deep-fried spheres of rice called Bangkok Balls topped with Thai red curry, a banh mi bowl that takes the best of the Vietnamese sandwich and serves it over rice, and pork char siu that's spicy-sweet and respectful of the dish's Chinese origins. Catch that pig at Boulder's Rayback Collective or this summer at the Boulder County Farmers' Market.
Readers' Choice: King of Wings