Takeout traditions?

Some of these recipes you'll see on foodblogs are all "check out this homemade/updated/healthier take on a takeout classic!" and I'm a little bit at a loss. It's not because I won't deign to eat takeout food - I totally will, like just give me a chance - but it's because what my classics were are not what maybe most people's were. For starters, growing up in a different country, but more relevantly, growing up in a different geographic region. What do I mean. Well, in this specific situation, since this is sesame chicken (and, obviously, SPARTAAAAA), let's talk about Chinese takeout food.

I grew up in Vancouver. Not only is it in Canada, it's on the west coast. I think that's actually the more relevant part, because I went to college in Montreal and discovered General ___'s chicken (the name of the general himself seems to change depending on where you are), which is, or was, unheard of in Vancouver. I think this, and the presence or absence of other "staples," has a lot to do with where you are, but not so much which country you're in. In Vancouver, the primary direction of immigration comes from across the Pacific, so our Chinese restaurants are maybe... less edited for the North American palate? Either because folks have been here less long, or because they're cooking for enough people that want the old-country food rather than people who aren't familiar with it, I'm not sure which, but something like sesame chicken was never really among the options. Beef with black bean sauce, now, that's a takeout staple from my youth. Hell yeah, fermented black beans!

** I just happen to like this photo; I'm not usually about the ingredients photos but I just think this looks nice

So this sesame chicken. Getting back to that. It's a totally different thing for me. It's not a comparison against all the takeout Chinese food I've had in my life. It's its own thing. It's "is this good?", rather than "is this better than the takeout I had last week?" And you know what? It is. It is good. You should maybe think about making it and then telling me how it stacks up against the takeout version, which you may have more experience with than me.