Although her TED talk is linked, there is no mention of Jennifer8. Lee's book, "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles." The point of the book is that American-Chinese food and Chinese food in China are different. (The book was published the same year as her talk, 2008; which is six years before this article originally appeared.)
China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese Food (2014)
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Re: China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese Food (2014)
#52:-p China would NEVER understand the concept of Indian Chinese food either. We've changed the traditional Chinese food so significantly that... And it is the second most popular "cuisine" in India after traditional Indian food.
Oh I hadn't heard of that. As a chef I'm definitely going to do some research on that! Any particular favourites?
Chicken chilli, chicken schezwan, chicken manchurian, chow mein, chop suey and what not https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Chinese_cuisine#Dishes
Re: China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese Food (2014)
#53Funny thing about international food. It's not very international at all. French food is great ... except in France it's very different (and outside of the center of Paris sucks pretty bad) Turkish fast food, specifically Kebab, is as far as I know a German invention taken up by Turks, rather than something that historically existed in Turkey. Now you might say shaved roasted meat existed there, and you'd be right, b…
> French food is great ... except in France it's very different (and outside of the center of Paris sucks pretty bad)
Others said it already you but you must be trolling; there is such incredible food to eat outside of Paris that we never get to Paris anymore. If you are not trolling you must've had really bad luck as in many places in France but outside Paris you'll trip over lovely food.
For the cuisine I cannot say (but I know it's a popular opinion to love it) I find Hong Kong very impressive; I went to all Michelin stars there (they change rapidly over the years and lose stars as easily as they get them) and it's just ok food. I find far better food in Shanghai and for some dishes (mushroom auntie dumplings) I would even say that I had better luck in Suzhou. Hong Kong seems to have far too many tourists/immigrants to sustain any authentic flavours (anecdote: we had lunch a few days ago and someone from the UK was barking at the waiter that his food was too spicy). There are some good Indian/Nepalese places in HKG but often you have to tell you are used to Indian food, otherwise you get the bland version (and that does not only mean not spicy as in chilis which is a matter of taste, but other spices are left out as well).
Ofcourse everything is a matter of taste when it comes to food, so not arguing, just hoping people will try more stuff open minded.
Re: China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese Food (2014)
#54Funny thing about international food. It's not very international at all. French food is great ... except in France it's very different (and outside of the center of Paris sucks pretty bad) Turkish fast food, specifically Kebab, is as far as I know a German invention taken up by Turks, rather than something that historically existed in Turkey. Now you might say shaved roasted meat existed there, and you'd be right, b…
You are spot on. Chinese food in china is good and different from what you get in Chinese restaurants in US/Europe - you really have to look for restaurants there to get real Chinese food. Also the Turkish food, your writing is spot on. The same can be said for Italian, Austrian, German, French, etc food. An "Oktoberfest" copy-cat in another country is usually a lot different to the original. To really cook local food on another continent you need a cook, receipts, species and ingredients from the original country.
Re: China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese Food (2014)
#55My dad's a Chinese immigrant, and I've been to China and had Chinese food there. There are two types of Chinese food you can get in America (well, more given all the regional variations, but I'm making a point...). If you went to a strip mall, walked into a P.F. Chang's, and had General Tso's Chicken, that's not Chinese food. But if you walked into an unmarked doorway in Chinatown, walked down a flight of stairs to a…
It doesn't take such arcane rituals to find more "authentic" Chinese food in major US cities. Many Chinese restaurants serve both the Americanized dishes and traditional Chinese dishes. You just have to know what to order.
Re: China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese Food (2014)
#56I'm married to a first-generation offspring of Chinese parents, a source of regular and scathing remarks on how what is served in the US as "Chinese food" is often a many-generations-removed facsimile thereof. Three items in particular (Chop Suey, Chow Mein and General Tso Chicken) receive very special ridicule and their appearance on a menu can effectively disqualify any restaurant from further consideration. As the…
There is a lot of ego around food when it gets tied to identity. Your spouse is probably rejecting many restaurants that are run by immigrants cooking recepies brought over.
Re: China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese Food (2014)
#57Funny thing about international food. It's not very international at all. French food is great ... except in France it's very different (and outside of the center of Paris sucks pretty bad) Turkish fast food, specifically Kebab, is as far as I know a German invention taken up by Turks, rather than something that historically existed in Turkey. Now you might say shaved roasted meat existed there, and you'd be right, b…
The reason for this is people's palate and availability of the raw ingredients and spices. In most cases people replace raw ingredients and spices need to be homemade or replaced. The end result is nothing which is going to be authentic.
Sure there will always be places where someone native wants his home food and does all the hard work to put it together. But those are very few.
Re: China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese Food (2014)
#58Funny thing about international food. It's not very international at all. French food is great ... except in France it's very different (and outside of the center of Paris sucks pretty bad) Turkish fast food, specifically Kebab, is as far as I know a German invention taken up by Turks, rather than something that historically existed in Turkey. Now you might say shaved roasted meat existed there, and you'd be right, b…
Sorry, but I would say you are trolling.
As Portuguese living across multiple European countries, including two years in France, my only complaint about french restaurants is the average price they cost, making going out an event instead of "I don't feel like cooking".
Re: China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese Food (2014)
#59Funny thing about international food. It's not very international at all. French food is great ... except in France it's very different (and outside of the center of Paris sucks pretty bad) Turkish fast food, specifically Kebab, is as far as I know a German invention taken up by Turks, rather than something that historically existed in Turkey. Now you might say shaved roasted meat existed there, and you'd be right, b…
> Turkish fast food, specifically Kebab, is as far as I know a German invention taken up by Turks
That is not quite correct. The Kebab ("grilled meat") is genuinely Turkish. To put it into flatbread was the invention of a Turkish immigrant to Germany, in Berlin in the 1970's [1]. From there it rose to prominence as fastfood all over Germany, and subsequently internationally.
[1] http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/gesellschaft/doener-erfinder-...
Re: China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese Food (2014)
#60In the reverse, this is what I got when I ordered a burger at a basketball game in China. I think of this burger when I try and empathize with how other cultures feel when America adapts their cuisine: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5dDMxJP_n1aVWFmby0ydlJfbW8... Also, here's a video of Chinese people trying Panda Express (American Chinese fast food) for the first time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo59LlkTDe4
That "burger" actually looks pretty good though. I think that was just a case of lost in translation. Chinese people know what Western hamburgers look like. There are McDonalds all over China.