# Is there any Chinese food with cheese? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358 "2011-07-17T17:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/1 "2011-07-17T17:34:08Z")
Or do Chinese people just not eat any cheese? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/2 "2011-07-17T17:46:26Z")
Cheese is becoming more popular in China due to western influence. It’s not big in traditional Japanese cuisine either. Maybe historically both didn’t have much success or drive to keep domesticated cattle. The Wikipedia article on lactose intolerance also shows very high rates for these general ethnic groups. Starting all the way from keeping a cow, cheese is work. You’re not very likely to put in all the effort if you can’t stomach the final product, I bet. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/3 "2011-07-17T17:47:21Z")
I’ve had a couple of Schezuan dishes that contained little chunks of paneer. Other than that… got nuthin’, and being in Vancouver I’ve spent a few decades sampling more varieties of Chinese cuisine than I’d care to try to enumerate. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/4 "2011-07-17T17:54:12Z")
Crab rangoon usually has cream cheese- that’s the only thing I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/5 "2011-07-17T18:17:36Z")
Crab rangoon is about as traditional Chinese as French fries. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/6 "2011-07-17T18:37:33Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Cheese is becoming more popular in China due to western influence. It’s not big in traditional Japanese cuisine either. Maybe historically both didn’t have much success or drive to keep domesticated cattle. The Wikipedia article on lactose intolerance also shows very high rates for these general ethnic groups. Starting all the way from keeping a cow, cheese is work. You’re not very likely to put in all the effort if you can’t stomach the final product, I bet. Well, it’s not just cows that can make cheese. Though I don’t know if either country had much of the other animals that could. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/7 "2011-07-17T18:41:07Z")
No. A few weeks ago, this was discussed in [Slate](http://www.slate.com/id/2295196/), about an attempt to introduce western cheese into China. Traditionally, cheese was considered a barbarian food, eaten by the Mongols; plus many Chinese are lactose-intolerant. They tend to substitute bean curd and find the taste and smell of cheese very distasteful. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/8 "2011-07-17T18:44:14Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Crab rangoon usually has cream cheese- that’s the only thing I can think of. I like it, but never even heard of it until I moved to SF from NJ - do they have it on the East coast? Joe ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/9 "2011-07-17T18:47:04Z")
Okay, now I’m thinking of how I could add cheese to Chinese dishes. How about broccoli beef ‘n’ cheese? Yum! ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/10 "2011-07-17T18:50:12Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Crab rangoon is about as traditional Chinese as French fries. She didn’t specify traditional. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/11 "2011-07-17T18:51:26Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > No. Not quite correct. In Hong Kong and elsewhere (obviously places where there’s been significant exposure to Western culture), I’ve had a dish called Cantonese Lobster (God knows what it’s called in Chinese). But that’s the only thing I’ve seen with cheese. [http://rasamalaysia.com/lobster-recipe-baked-lobster-with/](http://rasamalaysia.com/lobster-recipe-baked-lobster-with/) Oh, one other not-cheese-but-dairy exception is mayonnaise shrimp, which are simultaneously disgusting and delcious. Also I think a Cantonese/HK specialty. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/12 "2011-07-17T18:58:55Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Oh, one other not-cheese-but-dairy exception is mayonnaise shrimp, which are simultaneously disgusting and delcious. Also I think a Cantonese/HK specialty. What’s the dairy in it? Is it made with milk? ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/13 "2011-07-17T19:10:00Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > What’s the dairy in it? Is it made with milk? Condensed milk. It’s almost too cloying. > **[Mayonnaise Shrimp with Candied Walnuts](http://the-cooking-of-joy.blogspot.com/2009/01/mayonnaise-shrimp.html)** > > Back when I lived in Taiwan at the insistence of some of my friends I went prawn fishing once. It was a curious sport and consisted of s... ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/14 "2011-07-17T19:12:24Z")
Can’t find the exact quote from Stephen Colbert, but something like: “One of life’s mysteries is why melted cheese looks delicious on a plate of spaghetti, but looks revolting on a plate of chinese food” ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/15 "2011-07-17T19:14:32Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Oh, one other not-cheese-but-dairy exception is mayonnaise shrimp, which are simultaneously disgusting and delcious. Also I think a Cantonese/HK specialty. That stuff is freaky ain’t it? But I agree, once you get past the thought of it, it’s really good. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/16 "2011-07-17T19:15:34Z")
As I’ve noted before on this Board, Anthropologist Marvin Harris wrote a great book anbout which foods are eaten where, and he points out how there are no traditional Chinese dishes with _any_ dairy content – not merely lacking cheese, but also butter, cream, or other dairy products. The appearance of ice cream in Chinese restaurants is a recent development. It’s not by chance that a lot of Chinese people are lactose-intolerant. When I was in grad school, I invited one of the Chinese post-docs over for dinner, and he was adamant about my not sefving any dairy products. I thought at the time that it was a personal dietary quirk. I’ve since learned better. The issue of why people eat what they eat is a complex one. Not everyone in China or with Chinese ancestry is lactose intolerant, but enougfh of them are to make the ban on Chinese dairy products pretty universal. Which raises the issue of why so many of them are lactosr intolerant when the Indians (who aren’t all that far away) and Tobetans rely on butter in their diets. Read Harris’ book **Good to Eat** (alsp published as **The Sacrede Cow and the Abominable Pig** ). ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/17 "2011-07-17T19:25:21Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Which raises the issue of why so many of them are lactosr intolerant when the Indians (who aren’t all that far away) and Tobetans rely on butter in their diets. Much closer to home, the Mongols are big butter fans (the buttered salted tea is, um, an acquired taste – but so is mutton). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/18 "2011-07-17T19:35:26Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > . Which raises the issue of why so many of them are lactosr intolerant when the Indians (who aren’t all that far away) and Tobetans rely on butter in their diets. Indians use clarified butter which has liitle or no lactose, and yoghurt which has less lactose than milk. They also use paneer, curdled cheese, which also has much less lactose than milk. Tibetans may use more goat and sheep milk products which are also lower in lactose. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/19 "2011-07-17T19:45:08Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Crab rangoon usually has cream cheese- that’s the only thing I can think of. > > I like it, but never even heard of it until I moved to SF from NJ - do they have it on the East coast? Shucks, you can get 'em in a Chinese restaurant easy as buy little premade ones from the frozen section of the local supermarket here in Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358/20 "2011-07-17T19:53:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Indians use clarified butter which has liitle or no lactose, and yoghurt which has less lactose than milk. They also use paneer, curdled cheese, which also has much less lactose than milk. Tibetans may use more goat and sheep milk products which are also lower in lactose. Regardless, Indians are mostly lactose tolerant, and can eat dairy products without consequence. VChinese are very heavily lactose intolerant: > **[Lactose intolerance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerant)** > > Lactose intolerance is caused by a lessened ability or a complete inability to digest lactose, a sugar found in dairy products. Humans vary in the amount of lactose they can tolerate before symptoms develop. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, flatulence, and nausea. These symptoms typically start thirty minutes to two hours after eating or drinking something containing lactose, with the severity typically depending on the amount consumed. Lactose intolerance d Lactose into... [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-chinese-food-with-cheese/589358.md?page=2)