Letters to the Editor
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This is the story of everybody's cuisine
I'm from South Louisiana, and there's a rule around here: don't eat Cajun outside of Louisiana unless it came from your own kitchen.
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Who Cares?
"Chinese" food in America may be as Chinese as Kansas, but...who cares? It is tasty, easy to prepare, always welcome, nourishing, interesting and a quick and complete meal ready in minutes.
Chow mein, chop suey and the rest of the Chinese favorites that are found on menus nationwide have become as American as meatloaf and mashed potatoes; who really cares if they're authentic?
I've eaten at big Chinese restaurants in Toronto and Montreal's Chinatown, in Chinatown in New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco; I've also bought Chinese food to go in small hole-in-the-wall neighborhood outlets nationwide. The one constant, no matter where purchased, is that the food is absolutely a "comfort-food".
Real Chinese? Perhaps not, but, it is real good.
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So were they supposed to starve when they got here?
Look at Italian food. 100 years ago you couldn't get marscapone at the local market, so they used cream cheese. The tomatoes here aren't as sweet as Romas, so they added sugar to their sauces. Etc... Italians still had to eat, and they had to cook what they knew, so they used what was available to them - which is exactly what they did in Italy. Same for Chinese immigrants who had to make do without the local produce they were accustomed to. No less a chef than Mario Batali has said that Italian American cooking isn't a bastardization, just different. The cultural implications of us exporting American Chinese cuisine are a lot more important than the food itself, since a lot of people think its really Chinese.
People have made fortunes "adding an Asian flair to French classics" or "putting an Italian spin on Polynesian favorites" or whatever the fusion cuisine of the day is. That's a big part of what food is about, just like language. The fact that it's being done by the mom and pop down the street instead of a James Beard Award winner doesn't make it any less valid.
Corruption is an accurate term for what happens to most cuisines when they get here, but it has too many negative connotations. Adaptation would be better.
I'm fortunate to live in an area with a huge and growing immigrant population (Latin) that doesn't have to adapt if it doesn't want to - everything they are used to is available here, and there aren't enough Americans to force them to change how they do things to have a successful restaurant. Portions are smaller, but you leave exactly full without the need to loosen your belt. And the food is surprisingly consistent with what they prepare at home. But of course there are Latin versions of American dishes available in some places, and Americanized versions of Latin dishes available in others. There is room for everything in a world where everyone has to eat 3 times a day.
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8
According to Wikipedia, having a number in your name is not uncommon in Taiwanese culture. Her parents added 8 to her name when she was a teenager, as it is a symbol of luck and good fortune. Seems to have served her well thus far.
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The Chinese, in China, will eat anything, won't they?
We know for a fact they will eat household pets (cats, dogs, canaries). Endangered species (sharks, whose fins are cut off, and the shark left to die). Zoo animals (apes, civets, snakes, bears, just name it). Only GOD knows what else they cut up and put in their mouths. What will they do when they have decimated their land of any living beings? Import chicken mcnuggets from the US?
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What about authentic "haute" ethnic cuisine?
Authentic?
It's so odd that people presume some sort of dichotomy between "authentic ethnic" and "haute" - there's plenty of haute Chinese food. To think that all authentic ethnic food is to be found in a hole in the wall dive is misguided at best and an insult to the Chinese at worst.
Bland & Greasy?
There's plenty of bland, greasy food to be found in China - I lived there for three years and had lots of gristle-filled dumplings and bland noodles in broth. It's kind of like eating a bad burger in the States - they're out there! But I also had some of the most mind-blowing, amazing food I've ever had in my life, both upscale and street. China is such a huge country with an amazing variety of local specialties
American Chinese?
Why not? It's like the creolization of language (I mean that in the broader linguistic sense, not specific to a specific creole) - when two or more cuisines collide, something new will arise, it will have features of the original cuisines, but it will be something entirely different. No shame in that. Chinese food is a bit different all over the world, including in places like Singapore, where different cultures have come together. Of course, you will find "authentic" versions everywhere, too, but the cooks will still be limited by what produce and meats are available in any given place.
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Maybe American Chinese food is like another region of China's cuisine
It's different, and as another letter writer noted, it might have evolved in the same way Italian-American did - you have to do with what you have.
I myself am really interested in getting the "authentic", but also enjoy the not-so-authentic. There is a great hole-in-the-wall here in State College, PA that has the combination of real dishes (a really good and pungent tofu and noodle dish, for example) and the Americanized stuff like General Tso's.
I also enjoy going to an Asian store here, since I like to cook. The workers there have been helpful in steering me toward recipes and finding the ingredients.
The one thing that stuck in my mind while reading this was how chicken tikka masala has just about become the national dish of Britain. That's something commonly found at Indian restaurants that I understand was created in Britain.
Finally, after watching Anthony Bourdain in Singapore, I feel the need to go there and get some chicken rice.
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the western world is not ready for chinese food
I doubt "real" chinese food would fly anywhere but china. The accounts I have heard of real Chinese food experience in China: two American people I spoke to who ate in China (who did not know each other) said they were fed something like that jelly that forms on the periphery of canned dog food. Another inadvertently ordered tadpole soup.