For those of you who have had problems with getting nothing except Americanized versions of Chinese food in Chinese restaurants, here’s a page of discussion about the subject:
There’s also a discussion of this in the book An Economist Gets Lunch by Tyler Cowen. Basically, don’t let them serve you an Americanized version of Chinese food if you don’t want it. Ask for the Chinese menu. Cowen says that he can get fairly authentic versions even in places that nearly always serve Americanized versions of Chinese food if he tells them that he wants the same sort of food that the family has for itself (and they are generally family businesses, even though they serve Americanized versions). Don’t let them get away with telling you that you wouldn’t like the authentic versions, since obviously Americans don’t like authentic Chinese foods. Insist that you do want the authentic thing. Let them understand that they’re insulting you by trying to restrict your choices. Walk out if they won’t give it to you.
And if you then get the authentic version and don’t happen to like it, accept it as a failed experiment. Perhaps you might like other authentic Chinese dishes. Perhaps you might not like authentic Chinese food at all. Just don’t then bad-mouth the food because it’s not typically Americanized versions of the food. Don’t tell all your friends not to go there. Don’t write bad online of the restaurant. If you demand authentic Chinese food and then bad-mouth it afterwards, you will just be further convincing the restaurant that they should never allow American customers to have authentic versions. It would be O.K. if you never again order authentic versions from that restaurant. It would be O.K. if you restrict yourself to restaurants that only offer Americanized versions. Just don’t do anything to stop Chinese restaurants from offering authentic versions to Americans who really want it.
One of my favorite pastimes is reading Yelp reviews of authentic Chinese restaurants. You get a good mix of “This place is amazing” and “I can’t believe this place stays open. Their food is too spicy and I had to visit the ER after eating here because my tongue went numb. And WTF no fortune cookie?!”
Note that the presence of Asian people does NOT necessarily mean a place is authentic. Plenty of Asian people have bad taste, have no interest in authentic Chinese food, just want to grab some quick noodles, or are willing to take whatever they can get. Think about how Americans overseas are happy for a McDonalds hamburger. Large groups of Chinese families eating is a good sign, but even that can be unreliable.
As mentioned, sweet and sour pork is found in China. I ate it all the time in Sichuan. The version there is a lot less sweet, less gooey, and not such a bizarre color, but the basic idea is there. Fried rice is also common in China, though you typically would eat it as a street food snack or light meal rather than as a side dish. In the China, fried rice will have fresher veggies, more pickled stuff, and a somewhat different spice mix, but generally it will be quite similar. There are a handful of other American Chinese dishes that are analogous to real Chinese dishes. For example, kung pao chicken is a very typical Sichuan dish. The Chinese version will be much spicier and include numbing Sichuan peppers, but otherwise it’s pretty much the same.
If I do that, I’m going to end up with tacos de lengua and horchata!
(The kitchen staff at most of the Chinese places around here are mostly Mexican. Some places with a visible kitchen have one grandfatherly type of Asian origin on the front wok, and a bunch of Hispanic cooks behind him. )
I love “American” Chinese food. I also love “authentic” Chinese food. I have no problem loving but distinguishing the two, as I do frozen pizza and restaurant pizza. I was shocked and thrilled to discover that some nights, one of the Chinatown restaurants (authentic) will deliver all the way to me on the north side of the city! But more often, we order from closer places that have decent versions of the not-quite-so-authentic stuff, because it’s just damn yummy, and my husband and son prefer their Chinese sticky and sweet. My daughter and I are a bit more adventurous.
I find that even without asking for “the Chinese menu”, I can often find some creative and different dishes if I look under House Specials. Authentic? Who knows? Who cares? I haven’t had it in far too long, so I’m not even sure if it’s the same dish, but I used to love the Ginger Beef from China Hut (what a name, huh? Also…Mexican cooks) in Rogers Park. Shredded, not chunked, beef tossed in flour and wok fried with a yummy yummy ginger sauce. Dripping with grease, heart attack special. But soooooo tasty, and unlike any Ginger Beef I’ve ordered elsewhere.
And I think the OP for this thread, because without it, I would not have discovered that they have a location much nearer to me! I’ll be ordering that tonight, I do believe.
> The kitchen staff at most of the Chinese places around here are mostly Mexican.
This isn’t the case at the places I’ve been to. The only time I remember even been told about a place where the cooks weren’t Chinese was many years ago and far away, where the cook was black but the waiters were Chinese. My experience for the past few years, around where I live and the few places I’ve visited, is that the servers (and presumably the cooks) are obviously Asian. A lot of time I suspect that they’re not long off the boat, just as I wonder if the staff at the authentic Mexican places are legal immigrants. In any case, my point was that if you don’t like authentic Chinese food (or authentic versions of any food), don’t screw things up for those of us who do. Restrict yourself to restaurants that serve Americanized versions or stay away from ordering the stuff on the Chinese menu. Don’t be one of those Americans who rages about how those evil furriners shouldn’t be serving anything that you’ve never tried before.
When I see the thread title, I can’t help but read it to the tune of Kids In America.
*Looking at the steamy old buffet
Rows and rows of Chinese food, Amer’canised
I stand there and try to choose a stir-fry
People want me to get moving
But it’s so difficult choosing
Heading down, I search for the pan of kung pao
Farther down kids paw at the food!
Farther down kids paw at the food!
Chinese food in America!
(Whoa!)
Chinese food in America!
(Whoa!)
Everybody gets what they want to wolf down!*
Look, while it is a good assumption most Americanized Chinese dishes are based on something authentic, I am going to have a hard time believing the Long family had any notion their invention would end up being transformed into the deep-fried gobbets of fat and meat doused in gloopy, day-glo sauce with canned pineapple and nearly raw onions that passes for sweet-and-sour stateside.
I am not suggesting these dishes do not exist in China (I hope someday to eat there myself), it’s just that I cannot imagine someone familiar with them in China being able to compare the same-named dished here.
I have to say, that sounds like a pretty good description of the sweet and sour pork we get in Singapore. Por Kee Eating House Zhu Chao Stall (First picture)
I understand it’s a Cantonese thing, so you’re likely to get it where the Cantonese went (think Hong Kongers).
Yeah I’ve had sweet and sour all over Asia and it can very in quality, but that’s true of any dish. Also, fried rice is not “gringo food” it is a very common dish in many parts of Asia.
And fried rice is basically leftovers. Take yesterday’s rice, and leftover whatever plus few tidbits, and fry it all together in a pan. There’s your fried rice. It’s what millions of people eat for breakfast all over Asia.
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