Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why Chinatown Produce Is Cheap (2016)

saveur.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 415 posts

Re: Why Chinatown Produce Is Cheap (2016)

#161

Post by ithinkinstereo »

metaphorm wrote: post #138
ithinkinstereo wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your observations basically boil down to "my co-worker, who is Chinese, does not like raw fish, therefore..." There are plenty of sushi restaurants in Chinatown: https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=sushi&start=0&l=p:NY:N... There are also traditional - and popular - Chinese dishes that involve raw fish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusheng You have to understand that Chinese people are huge gluttons (I say this wi…

I offered an anecdote, which I did not claim was an argument. Please don't be deliberately uncharitable. Did you check the results of your yelp search? that's 2 restaurants that are actually in Chinatown and actually serve sushi. An unusually small number for a neighborhood with one of the highest density of restaurants in the city. Did you read the wiki article you linked? this sentence is in the summary: "While ver…

That's true that raw seafood is absent in pre-1960s cuisine. But that's pretty much the case in all cuisines (after all, historically raw meat/fish = disease).

Even contemporary sushi/sashimi was not popularized in Japanese cuisine until relatively recently during the Edo period (1700s-late 1800s). Pre-edo times, "raw" fish was mostly preserved fish.

In regards to Chinatown, it's worth noting that many Chinese (and Korean) seafood restaurants also serve raw seafood (sashimi, poke, oysters, raw clams, etc.)

Perhaps Yelp is being too liberal with what they define as "Chinatown", but a quick pass on Yelp with the "Chinatown" area checked, returned the following:

Japanese restaurants:

* https://www.yelp.com/biz/alin-sushi-new-york-4

* https://www.yelp.com/biz/mika-japanese-cuisine-and-bar-new-y...

* https://www.yelp.com/biz/gohan-new-york

* https://www.yelp.com/biz/aplus-sushi-new-york-2

Chinese restaurants:

* https://www.yelp.com/biz/pings-seafood-new-york?

* https://www.yelp.com/biz/oriental-garden-restaurant-new-york

* https://www.yelp.com/biz/chinese-tuxedo-new-york-2

Fusion:

* https://www.yelp.com/biz/cutting-board-new-york

* https://www.yelp.com/biz/bar-belly-new-york

* https://www.yelp.com/biz/dimes-deli-new-york

Re: Why Chinatown Produce Is Cheap (2016)

#162

Post by alasdair_ »

vram22 wrote: post #118
gutnor wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same in the UK btw. The fish choice in the biggest supermarket is smaller than you would expect in local store in the middle of Spain, away from the coast. Same thing happens with meat. There is a huge reduction of variety, even at the local fishmonger/butcher, compared to continental Europe (I'm sure it is coming though) A limited choice is available all the time everywhere, but the variety is not anymore.

Interesting. Due to commercialization? Possible some of the same is happening in India on some fronts, food or other, not studied it, just anecdotal, hence asking.

Perhaps.

For example, if you visit a supermarket in the UK or the USA at any time of the year, you can always find, say, fresh strawberries, despite the fruit only being locally in season for a month or two.

There is very little genuinely "seasonal" produce, meat or fish in supermarkets and I think that this is a major factor in the lack of variety.

Out of interest, if you went to an Indian market every three months, would you find all 100 different varieties of fish on offer every time, or does it change?

Re: Why Chinatown Produce Is Cheap (2016)

#163

Post by Arizhel »

metaphorm wrote: post #119
rifung wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since sushi is Japanese, doesn't it make sense that it would be found in Little Tokyo instead of Chinatown? Maybe there are lots of Chinese people eating it outside of Chinatown?

there's a huge number of sushi restaurants all over New York and a lot of them are not authentically Japanese nor are they owned or operated by Japanese Americans. Sushi is very popular in New York, much more popular than the Japanese population alone would support. There are sushi restaurants in neighborhoods where the residents enjoy sushi. The absence of them in Chinatown is an indicator that the residents there (…

>there's a huge number of sushi restaurants all over New York and a lot of them are not authentically Japanese nor are they owned or operated by Japanese Americans

That's true everywhere in the US. It's very hard to find an authentic Japanese restaurant, and even harder to find one run by actual Japanese people. Usually, "Japanese" restaurants are run by Koreans.

Re: Why Chinatown Produce Is Cheap (2016)

#164

Post by briandear »

mncharity wrote: post #124
tn135 wrote: post #66

As a fish loving Indian, I was totally surprised to see that in Capitalist America the choice of fish was absolutely pathetic. At American fish places you only get "shrimps" may be "large shrimps" and "small shrimps". Salmon, Bass, Red Snapper and just few handful of usual fish. My small village fish market offers at least 20 varieties of fish in India's coastal region. A proper fish market would offer at least 100.…

It's not just fish. A staple of graduate student conversation is "Food X was a favorite of mine at home, but" "I can't find it in Boston" or "the American version is a bad tasteless joke". One issue is lag - the American general food supply diversifies more slowly than the population. Another issue is corporate consolidation of the food supply chain. For example, New England used to have a lot of small confectionery…

Mexican food was a favorite of mine in the United States, but in France it tastes like cardboard. I want to find but France doesn't sell it.

This conversation can be had in literally any country in the world. Can't find a decent cheeseburger in Delhi, can't find decent cheese in Shanghai, nearly impossible to find good tequila in Germany.

Every country has foods they're good at and foods they're not. As far as the death of small producers, why by Boston chocolate when I can buy actual high quality Swiss chocolate at a lower price? Why buy some marginal local beer when I can buy literally the best beers in the world. Globalization certainly has its negatives, but on balance there is more variety than every before.

Re: Why Chinatown Produce Is Cheap (2016)

#165

Post by stickfigure »

robrenaud wrote: post #79
naravara wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm racking my brain trying to figure out what's stopping chains from replicating this. Scale. Anything living has a level of variability and likelihood of failure/damage/spoilage to it that gets harder and harder to manage as your scale gets bigger. When you're a small shopkeeper who sells about 3 baskets of apples a day, it's both easier to sift through it and throw out the bad ones AND easier to find 3 basket's w…

I am skeptical that dis-economies of scale are the reason chinatown is cheap. Why are Amazon and Walmart so successful and cheap?

I generally agree with your skepticism, although the original source is the WSJ and I generally credit them with an elevated level of economic literacy.

Rationalizing your question: Amazon and Walmart predominantly sell shrink-wrap manufactured items with nearly unlimited shelf life and minimal variability. The supply chain is very different and much more forgiving.

Walmart does sell groceries, but it's unclear if they're especially successful at it, or if their prices are especially good. I don't feel there's enough information here to encourage or discourage your skepticism.

Re: Why Chinatown Produce Is Cheap (2016)

#166

Post by hinkley »

tn135 wrote: post #66

As a fish loving Indian, I was totally surprised to see that in Capitalist America the choice of fish was absolutely pathetic. At American fish places you only get "shrimps" may be "large shrimps" and "small shrimps". Salmon, Bass, Red Snapper and just few handful of usual fish. My small village fish market offers at least 20 varieties of fish in India's coastal region. A proper fish market would offer at least 100.…

Go to the coasts, and the selection is better. Fish just doesn't make it far inland, unless it's freshwater fish.

Re: Why Chinatown Produce Is Cheap (2016)

#167

Post by briandear »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #132
joss82 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, god forbid, a pizza!

Mr. Pizza has you covered. A Korean chain in Beijing, who believe corn mayonnaise pizza is a good thing. At least Chinese pizzerias don't use ketchup as tomatoes sauce anymore....those were the days!

Although -- Kimchi pizza is pretty awesome after a long night of Soju and singing. But I never got the corn thing..

Re: Why Chinatown Produce Is Cheap (2016)

#168

Post by monksy »

anigbrowl wrote: post #148
look_lookatme wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For whatever reason Americans just don't eat a lot of seafood. This is why the choices are so bad in "Capitalist America" -- there's not enough demand. It's literally capitalism at work. Some theorize that this is due to American's avoiding flavor in general [1]. http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/07/01/327248504/the...

Americans avoid flavor because of capitalism, in my view. There is huge money in feeding people bland crap that's been processed as heavily as possible. Frankly, I'm astonished at people's willingness to consume shitty food that is obviously likely to have a detrimental impact on their health. I would prefer to go hungry or eat the same boring but nutritious meal day after day than consume bad food, and frankly I thi…

> Frankly, I'm astonished at people's willingness to consume shitty food that is obviously likely to have a detrimental impact on their health.

Collecting pennies in front of a steam roller.

Re: Why Chinatown Produce Is Cheap (2016)

#169

Post by theparanoid »

metaphorm wrote: post #97
sleepingeights wrote: post #75

Capitalism in America means as close to monopolization and price gouging as much as possible. Even Silicon Valley is a very close approximation to a monopoly, sponsored by masses of delusional participants deluded into thinking they're accepted within the same ranks. The people in the US eat only two types of meat, a handful of types of vegetables and crops. Also the cost of fish in the US is very high because the US…

re: meat https://www.meatinstitute.org/index.php?ht=d/sp/i/47465/pid/... relevant numbers from linked page 25.8 billion pounds of beef 23.2 billion pounds of pork 5.8 billion pounds of turkey 286 million pounds of veal, lamb and mutton 38.4 billion pounds of chicken beef, chicken, and pork are all highly prevalent, but chicken is king. there are other meats produced as well but in much lower quantities. turkey is get…

Pork is almost as popular as beef. 50 years ago, beef was king. With meat the US has become poorer.

Re: Why Chinatown Produce Is Cheap (2016)

#170

Post by alasdair_ »

civilian wrote: post #110
sleepingeights wrote: post #75

Capitalism in America means as close to monopolization and price gouging as much as possible. Even Silicon Valley is a very close approximation to a monopoly, sponsored by masses of delusional participants deluded into thinking they're accepted within the same ranks. The people in the US eat only two types of meat, a handful of types of vegetables and crops. Also the cost of fish in the US is very high because the US…

You might get something out of this article: http://www.americanteeth.org/2015/06/21/why-i-m-a-capitalist... If " Capitalism in America means as close to monopolization and price gouging as possible. " is your definition of capitalism, then you're off. (And I think that may be why you're being disagreed/downvoted on.) If you think that monopolization and price gouging is an emergent property of capitalism in America-…

>The really damaging monopolies only ever come from government-granted powers.

All private property in the Western world (and much of the rest of the world) is government-granted.

Unless you happen to be a local warlord with your own private army, it's likely anything you think of as "yours" right now is only so because a government exists to either grant you the rights to it or to protect you from its theft. (Of course, Proudhoun would argue that all property is theft. I would too, but only after a couple of beers.).

Post reply on HN