Shanghai Warms Up To A New Cuisine: Chinese Food, American-Style

NPR ^ | February 12, 2014 | Frank Langfitt

[nickcarraway]

[GeronL]

Is that like putting a Taco Bell in Mexico City?

[CorporateStepsister]

This sounds like a fantastic idea; the Chinese will get a taste of Americanized Chinese takeout and Americans will get a taste of home when they feel like it.

[DannyTN]

Yes

[cripplecreek]

[ifinnegan]

Not a bad analogy.

Similarly, PF Chang’s is a restaurant that makes relatively authentic Chinese dishes like are found in China, Taiwan or US restaurants patronized by overseas Chinese.

But PF Chang’s isn’t quite as good, has smaller portions and costs more.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

After living in Japan for a decade, my mother had adopted and “improved” several Japanese dishes.
Her fried rice was killer, but not exactly Asiatic.

[who knows what evil?]

"I feel calm. I feel relaxed. I feel like I'm at home."

That's just the 'MSG' kicking in...

[JRios1968]

[nickcarraway]

Never thought I’d hear PF Chang being considered authentic.

[null and void]

Did you ever notice that of all the Chinatowns in America, not a single one has a Mein Street, why is that?...

[virgil283]

Thanks NC.....living in a foreign country does make you crave familiar food.

In Spain. before franchises expanded there, we heard there was a McDonald's. Arriving we discovered he had only copied what he had heard about American food.

The hamburgers were ground pork [HAM-buger get it?], the buns were dinner rolls and the fries were small new potatoes fried. Nevertheless we ate it up . HA...

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

[cripplecreek]

[ifinnegan]

Interesting.

Why do you say that?

[JRios1968]

[Marcella]

I'll tell you about real Chinese food - it's bland, bland, bland. I spent two weeks in Hong Kong and one day in mainland China. The Chinese food has very little taste. Lots of little dumplings with fillings and no seasoning. I say none, because you can't taste a seasoning if it is in there. We were so disappointed in this bland food, we checked about Hong Kong to try to find Chinese with a taste. We finally found ONE Szechuan food restaurant and there we got the taste of the Szechuan province of China which uses spices to produce spicy food. Other than that place, you will get bland tasting food. That is the vast amount of Chinese food and if you don't want that, stay in the US. When in China, eat as the Chinese do.

Then, we go to mainland China and a big Chinese dinner is served just for us at a large building and it's owned by the Chinese government. Again, little dumplings, etc., all bland. Peking duck at least has enough meat you know you are eating meat and it's not drowned in little pasty tasting dumplings.

My trip was some years ago, so I don't know if it has changed, but based on this new restaurant serving spicy food, I guess it hasn't - that their main food is still bland.

I would go to this new restaurant in a heart beat if I lived there.

[Mears]

The Japanese like sticky rice.

.

[bigbob]

We used to make fun of my buddy’s BIL who wouldn’t eat local cuisine in Mexico because it “didn’t taste like Taco Bell”