Yes, but let’s be fair here… you do rather live in Singapore. (FWIW, Malaysia is the same- lots of different styles of “Asian” or “Chinese” food in mall food courts. Hong Kong style is the closest to what white people tend to recognise as “Chinese”, IME)
Jokes aside, I must say that I, too, am completely baffled by how anyone could live in somewhere like the US and get to adulthood without ever having had Chinese food. That’s not necessarily a criticism of the OP, but it is pretty darn unusual, even by SDMB standards.
HOng Kong style is very specific round here. Until I got involved with an actual real chinese person I hadn’t had anything “authentic” chinese.
I must say there is really a big big difference between waht you get from the local greasy bar, (as in sweet n sour chicken, black bean beef and the like) and what a “proper” Chinese restaurant will serve.
And if its a “proper” Chinese restaurant (at least in my experience) it will be known for its regional cooking (or the menu will note the food - as In “Szechuan Hot n Sour Soup” or “Hainanese Chicken Rice”)
As a side note - one of my favourite Chinese restaurants here does a mean honey roasted pork rib dish - it’s totally delicious. But if there’s ever a dish I associate with America its ribs…
Quite a bit late, but knowing a similar picky and unadventurous chinese eater, my menu suggestion is egg drop soup, egg roll, Moo Goo Gai Pan or Chicken Almond Ding with White Rice.
True - looked at the comments on allrecipes.com lately? It’s a great place to go for a crowd-pleaser casserole, but all the comments are like “The three grains of pepper were WAY too much. Also, my husband won’t eat white foods.”
I’ll tell you how I managed it. I grew up with a father who was (and still is) pretty much a meat and potatoes type. My mother rarely cooked anything that my father didn’t like because he was the one who earned the money that paid for the food; why should he eat something he didn’t enjoy? About the only time we didn’t have that style of meal was when we had pasta, and our pasta dishes were pretty basic as well. We rarely went out to eat as my father felt he could get better meals at home for less money, and those occasions when we did eat out were usually in the summer when we’d go to a local drive-in diner style place and get foot long hot dogs and fries. Sometimes we’d get milkshakes, sometimes we got the shakes from the Dairy Queen next door. To tell you the truth, I don’t even remember there being a Chinese restaurant in town in the 60s. We lived in a suburb that was still more rural than otherwise, and was primarily a bedroom town. Maybe there was one, but it just wasn’t of concern to us. The ethnic cuisines I was mostly exposed to while growing up were Jewish (when we lived in northern New Jersey) and Italian (when we lived in Connecticut). Chinese food to me meant La Choy and similar processed foods from the supermarket.
Somehow I managed to get through college without trying Chinese food as well. No particular reason why, the opportunity just never really presented itself. My first taste of Chinese came when I was almost 25. I was interviewing for a job, and was asked back for a second interview. The VP I was interviewing with had a busy schedule, and could only fit me in during lunch. When I presented myself in his office, he asked if I had any objection to going to a nearby Chinese restaurant. I said that I’d never had Chinese food, but I was willing to give it a try. We went to the restaurant, Dr. Britton recommended the Moo Goo Gai Pan, I got the job, and had many tasty lunches at that restaurant (or as take-out) until it closed.
My apologies. The thread had dropped pretty far down the list, and I was hesitant to revive it and bring on the wrath of the moderators.
We did go, and I decided to come clean and just admit I didn’t know what I was eating. I got a round of “WHAT??!?!?!?! HOW CAN THAT BE?!?!?!?” but on the whole they were understanding (they are, after all, my friends) and wanted to be helpful. They decided to order a bunch of food and I’d have to try everything.
I’m not sure of the names of everything (I remember something with pork ribs, and General Tso’s Chicken, spring rolls, etc), and I was game to try each dish. I think they took it easy on me, as I was a novice. There were some that were sweet, some spicy (which I found out AFTER eating it, thank you very much), some I liked, some I didn’t. It seemed like everyone got a kick out of “educating” me.
I am still not wild about the food, and I don’t think, given the choice, going to a Chinese restaurant would be my first pick again. But I thank all of you for giving me advice; it made me less afraid of trying something unknown, and I wasn’t afraid of “wasting” a meal because I was trying a bunch of things at one time.
And, you all gave me the courage to admit that I didn’t know what I was doing (and risk embarrassment), and then ask for help. They all seemed as enthusiastic and willing to teach me as you all were. Thanks.
I was in college before I had Chinese food - does 18 count as adult? (I thought it did at the time, but now I’m not so sure :D)
I grew up in a painfully small town (around 800 people) and we had no Chinese restaurant. I was in the nearest “city” quite often, and it had several Chinese restaurants, but we were there after school, never at dinner time. Our after school snacks were usually eaten at McDonalds or the Home Dairy. Urp.
I am happy to report that my home town now has around 1200 people AND a Chinese takeaway!
The funny thing is that in Australia and NZ, most places- even tiny ones, as someone observed- will have a Chinese Restaurant. So a town of 800 people would almost certainly have one here.
Again, not a criticism of people, but definitely another one for the “Only on the SDMB” list…
Funnily enough, I know quite a few people who’ve never had Indian food because they’re convinced it’s fiery hot and will burn horribly and be unpleasant, and no amount of saying “But there’s no spice-heat in a Royal Korma at all” will change their minds. But Indian does have the PR issue (in that everyone knows it’s generally pretty spicy), whereas Chinese is, (at least as far as I’ve ever heard) regarded as a “Safe, Neutral” cuisine which everyone likes.
I hope she isn’t in the hospital with food poisoning or a terrible allergic reaction.
My suggestion would be if she was going with a group to see if they wanted to order family style and try some of everything. If not, aske the guy she’s dating what he likes and if he wants to share. That way she could at least try 2 things.
ETA: Sorry-missed that she had posted. I’m happy to see that it worked out OK.
Now that you’ve popped your Chinese food cherry, time for something adventurous!
It’s fortunate that it was Chinese food that you were posting about because we’re all about the sharing and familial atmosphere when we dine out. That’s why so many things are portioned for many people and you scoop bits out of every dish so that you can get a pretty wide variety. You should have them take you out to Dim Sum sometime. Food there is pretty different than a sit-down restaurant, you might find something you like.
Mods do not get angry about people reviving threads, esp. when an OP is coming back in to report on how advice people gave worked out for them. It is, in fact, considered courteous to do so.
A very, very old thread (more than six months, or more, depending on the topic) might get locked, but there is generally zero wrath involved.
(FWIW, Malaysia is the same- lots of different styles of “Asian” or “Chinese” food in mall food courts. Hong Kong style is the closest to what white people tend to recognise as “Chinese”, IME)
