During my couple months back in the States I’ve had the privilege of going to about a half dozen Chinese restaurants, primarily buffets in Indiana. Furthermore, fresh out of hearing about Chinese food programs on TV during the Olympics every friend I’ve gone out to Chinese with has realized the lack of Chinese authenticity in Chinese restaurants in the US. In order to educate this growing number of culturally-sensitive Americans, I am writing this blog post. And for me, after being in mainland China for a year not only are they reminiscent, somewhat, of most everything I ate this last year, but they are a great venue for practicing my Chinese!
But before we go around hastily labeling what this “Chinican” food is, I’d like to present an amateur, non-chef perspective on Chinese food and then you can judge for yourself whether the title is appropriate. So, here’s some facts about most food and how it is served in China:
• Contains large amounts of oil
• Often cooked with hot peppers, garlic, ginger and salt
• Instead of being marinated or added at the beginning in order to cook in the food, most spices are added a few minutes before they are done cooking
• Is not baked, actually most Chinese have never used an oven! (but maybe the reason for our high carbohydrate/sugar diet, lets just say I’ve never seen the label “low-carb” in China)
• Is diced into much smaller pieces
• Is served on a single plate, heaped in such a fashion that all but the most professional chopstick connoisseurs spill at bit on the table
• Has very little sugar (a very bad fit for my sweet tooth)
• Rice served after all the hot and cold dishes and only eaten as a filler, if someone is still hungry. Its never mixed with any other dishes spices but eaten straight (and for the record I’ve never seen “fried” rice in China, surprised?)
• Soup, usually water based, at the end of the meal serving as most of the liquid for the meal since the teacups usually can hold 2-3 oz.
• All food is served by what we call “family style” (too bad that’s not what most families in this country to anymore) which people eat by using their own personal chopsticks
• Comes directly from the kitchen and is cooked up right after you order, none of this buffet sitting out for hours stuff
The majority of Chinese restaurants in the US are owned by people from the provinces Fujian and Guangzhou, both southern provinces, with different food varieties than the north. But to be fair, they do adapt to what American like, I mean I’ve never seen jello, shortbread, pudding (tapioca, vanilla, or chocolate), ice cream, sprinkles, brownies, crab cakes, deep-fried egg rolls, fried rice, anything as deeply fried as Sweet and Sour Chicken, egg drop soup (there’s one fairly similar which also contains tomato), orange slices, canned pineapple, sliced watermelon, bananas with sugary coating, or fortune cookies EVER at a Chinese restaurant while in China.
And just for the record, after a little digging online, a word about fortune cookies:
Originally Japanese before it was sampled in a Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles during World War 2. After that time, it began spreading rapidly across the US. For the detailed account of fortune cookies, see http://www.fortunecookiechronicles.com/2008/01/16/how-did-japanese-fortune-cookies-end-up-in-chinese-restaurants/.
This article is not meant to criticize, change or even poke fun at Chinican food. Simply an educational article in order to look for some more authentic restaurants or foods when you’re at a Chinese place. And while you’re at it, why don’t you be friendly to the next Chinese waitress you see and greet her by saying “Knee How” (English phonetics), how she’s used to be greeted in her home country. So even if the food isn’t quiet authentic she can at least feel a little more like she's back in her home country.
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