The All-American Chinese Food

 
Quick question—is it still called Chinese American food if you’re in Canada? Or should it be called Chinese Canadian food? What’s the difference?

Anyhow, who knows. I’m not a big fan of chop suey or egg foo young. Maybe it’s because I grew up serving it. In any case, I always thought it to be a fraud. Authentic Chinese cooking doesn’t use all that corn starch nor is the fried rice really brown. And where the heck did egg foo young come from? Isn’t this basically a big fat omelette in gravy? Most Americans don’t know what real Chinese food is really like. This is a tragedy!

But then again, they might not even like the real thing now that they’ve grown up on this stuff. You know how some foods you absolutely love, but would be considered strange to others, and the only reason why you like it so much is because you grew up eating it? This is your comfort food and if you hadn’t ever tried it when you were younger, most likely you probably wouldn’t like it so much. I bet most Chinese people don’t like Americanized Chinese food or would find it awful if they tried it.

For example, red bean soup is a dessert that I enjoy. But tell someone who’s never had it before to try a dessert with red beans in soup and they’ll probably look at you strange. Or how about pig’s blood, chicken feet or thousand year eggs?

Now of course I’m generalizing. There are some who do embrace different types of cuisine. But ask the type that normally eats the Americanized version and they’ll be asking where the buffet’s at.

For an informative and entertaining presentation on the origins of Chinese food in America, check out Jennifer 8. Lee's talk at TED. I like the part when she gives people in China fortune cookies to try for the first time and they all look at it strangely. One guy exclaims, “There’s a piece of paper in my cookie!” The reaction on his face is priceless. Did you know that fortune cookies actually originated in Japan? How then did it become a part of Chinese food in America? Well, I guess you’ll have to watch the video to find out.