I can imagine that Chang’s Garden sometimes feels like an afterthought. Henry Chang’s industrial-chic restaurant near Santa Anita Park is located around the corner from Taipei-born juggernaut Din Tai Fung Dumpling House, one of the busiest restaurants anywhere in Los Angeles. Certainly there’s room for more than one destination Chinese restaurant in Arcadia. Especially during peak times at Din Tai Fung, when waits can reach two hours. Chef Chang has developed Chang’s Garden into one of the best Shanghai-style Chinese food spots in the San Gabriel Valley. Yes, it helps my view that the chef has a way with Vitamin P. His top pork dish is undoubtedly the quartet of Pork Spare Ribs wrapped in Lotus Leaves ($12.95).

Unfurl each still-hot lotus leaf to reveal chile-flecked rice that’s flavored with melted hog fat. Peel away the glutinous coating to find a single spare rib that’s tender and aromatic from being steamed in the lotus leaf. The pork pulls from the bone with a soft stab from a chopstick. The spice level seems to have died down since my last taste of this dish at Chang’s Garden, but this is still a must-order Dose of Vitamin P.

Dose of Vitamin P is a new feature that spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.