a bacon-wrapped hot dog, w/ Mexican toppings, served on a bolillo bun.
Posted on 12/07/2023 8:19:39 AM PST by DallasBiff
Growing up in the United States, “Chinese food” usually meant American Chinese food. You know it’s not the real deal, but those words still conjure images of white takeout boxes, egg rolls, and fortune cookies.
And yet time-honored American Chinese classics such as General Tso’s Chicken would be unrecognizable to most people in mainland China. So where do these dishes actually come from?
American Chinese food has deep roots in Cantonese cooking from China’s Guangdong province (formerly referred to as Canton). Before the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 effectively halted immigration to the US, immigrants from Guangdong arrived in droves during California’s Gold Rush, forming communities that would come to be known as “Chinatowns.”
(Excerpt) Read more at radii.co ...
Not a huge Chinese food fan, never have been.. but learned a lot about the americanization of their “food” when I moved to Cali.
(Grew up in south and rust belt)
Nearly every staple dish you found in every chinese restaurant in the east, was non existent in the chinese restaurants on the west coast where I lived at the time.
As I said I never cared much for Chinese food anyway, but it was pretty obvious that a lot of the standard american Chinese food was not Chinese at all.
Hahah If there is an authentic Chinese Restaurant in the midwest, I’d be beyond amazed. Maybe a city like Chicago might have one or two hidden somewhere, but I don’t think any other area is going to have one.
Midwest is about American Comfort Food, period. I am sure there is a stray immigrant somewhere in a city here an there that manages to stay in business being authentic, but they are insanely rare.
Once you hit OHIO heading west, other than a rare find in a major metro area... or in a heavy immigrant neighborhood of a bigger city... Food that folks enjoy is largely the same things folks were eating in the 1950s. Meat, potatoes and dairy, as far as the eye can see.
This isn’t a bad thing mind you, but it is how things just are there.
Actually, there used to be a couple in Indiana. One in Carmel and the other on the West Side of Indianapolis. The Sichuan Restaurant in Carmel had a menu for Americans and a seperate menu for Chinese - I always ordered from the Chinese menu and the food was just like the stuff I used to eat when I lived in Chengdu.
The other restaurant was named Yummy Chinese. I only ate there one time and the food was really good. They had photos of Yao Ming on their wall from when he was in town to play against the Pacers.
Sadly, the Sichuan Restaurant only serves the Americanized Chinese food these days and the Yummy Chinese has long since closed. Now I would have to go to Chicago and I don't do Chicago.
Best Broccoli beef and shrimp I ever had was at a “hot table” in a Shell station on the corner of one of the more notorious housing projects in Birmingham AL. Really good stuff and the chef looked like he may have been central American. I was pretty regular there for lunch.
Looks like you have proven the next sentence of my post:
“Midwest is about American Comfort Food, period. I am sure there is a stray immigrant somewhere in a city here an there that manages to stay in business being authentic, but they are insanely rare.”
Not sure I care whether it’s ‘authentic’. Gained a lot of weight at one in the Midwest where good food is tough to come by. Only ate two dishes and never had to ask for more heat, although rarely did you ever see white people eating there. Finally asked the owner why the food tasted like a mixture of Korean and Chinese, and the owner explained that while she was Chinese, her husband doing the cooking was from Korea.
My former father in law, the child of missionaries, grew up in China in the 1930s. As a result, he spoke Chinese like a native.
It was a pleasure going to Chinese restaurants with him. He would start speaking, their jaws would drop to see how well he, a white guy, could speak in Chinese, and we would get the ultimate in service thereafter.
He functioned as a translator when Deng Xiaoping came to the US Northwest in 1979.
I also once got to shake hands with the Dalai Lama, through him. Too bad that didn’t rub off!
Ours is made from chicken, not stray dogs or rats.
—
The chicken is made from local cats.
Well, I’m not a huge Chinese fan at all.. but what I do eat are americanized dishes if I do eat there.
My go to is always Sesame Chicken if I end up at a Chinese restaurant.
“Midwest is about American Comfort Food, period. I am sure there is a stray immigrant somewhere in a city here an there that manages to stay in business being authentic, but they are insanely rare.”
I guess I have never thought of Chinese cuizine being a comfort food to Americans - that always seemed synonymous with Southern food. Unfortunately, those stray authentic restaurants are usually only found by word of mouth as they don't usually make it to social media apps like Yelp and such and most of the time they're not around for long once the health department hears of them. lol
The chicken is made from local cats.
Thank you for the update! I hadn't heard that.
I'll bet everyone in Canton was overjoyed about the milder flavor.
Around here, stop at the diner with all the farm trucks and work trucks ... that’s where the good stuff is at :-)
I’m not a fan of Chinese and rarely eat it. The only truly GOOD Chinese I’ve had was at what looked like a little dump but people told me it was worth going to. A friend and I went and there were only 5 tables. The server came out, discussed options with us, and took our order.
Then she went behind the counter...and started cooking! She had a one person restaurant - owner, cook and waitress. Food was awesome! I had never imagined Chinese food like that. And...I’ve never been to another place 1/10th as good.
That was 30 years ago in Sacramento. Don’t know who she was but I hope she made a fortune!
“That wasn’t chicken.” - My last Fortune Cookie.
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