In Glasgow - Scotland they do - I get Chip, Fried Rice and Curry Sauce all the time.
Not in the US. First of all, you generally can’t even order fries at a chinese takeout in the US unless it is an EXTREMELY cheap, nasty, shop as one would expect to find in a really crappy dangerous ghetto. The sort of place where you order through a bullet-proof-proof window. Second of all, Chinese restaurants in the US don’t serve curry. (on very, very rare occasion, you can get “singapore style” ie curried, stirfried noodles, but not in sauce).
I think the US equivalent is the “combo meal” which is rice (fried with pork or white) plus an entree - stirfried meat+veg - and an eggroll or a small container of soup - and the options are ALWAYS eggdrop, wonton, and hot&sour.
Also, it’s not common for Chinese establishments in America to offer dishes whose names include the word “curry.” That’s pretty much found in Indian and Thai places.
It’s a somewhat generic flavour called “curry” that varies from a dark brown to a yellow colour.
I often eat curry dishes in Chinese restaurants in China.
Seems strange that American Chinese restaurants would not have curry.
Is there no American-style Chinese takeout in China? Obviously it’s not real “Chinese food”, but it’s still cheaper and tastier than McDonalds, and China has hundreds of those.
This would be where I point out that NYC does not constitute the United States. I suspect that as with many things, film and tv makers use those containers because that is what they have seen used and thus it became a shorthand for takeout food that is now recognized in many places exposed to American media.
Not only would that particular combination be seen in America, but I’m pretty sure that serving anything on top of french fries is going to be some kind of specialty dish, like Montreal-style poutine or some kind of regional specialty. At fast food, mass-market, carry-out type places, they don’t serve anything on top of the fries.
And generally you’d get a choice of rice or bread or fries in that kind of situation. Not both fries and rice.
So have you risked drinking a Coke while you’ve been over there?
You get lots of dishes like that here. Pizza joints often do garlic chips or garlic and cheese chips. Cheese fries, taco fries, curry fries, curry and cheese fries. You name it!
Fast food or takeout food in China tends to be food bought from vendors in the streets and sidewalks. Most food is priced US 15 cents to one dollar or so.
McDonald’s, KFC, and especially Pizza Hut are mid-priced or even expensive restaurants in China.
I’ve also lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and rural Virginia. I have family in California and Ohio. They all had the white takeout boxes. Perhaps where YOU are also does not constitute the United States.
Me ? I do not understand the risk.
I have risked drinking milk here, but I don’t do it often.
Agree- though not in this example- for over 30 years and living in Michigan, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, I have always got that exact same packaging for Chinese takeout. Always…maybe some paces use different boxes, but I’ve never seen it, and Ive probably gotten takeout from dozens of places in dozens of states… I think this is one case where the reason TV and movies use those boxes for Chinese takeout is because Chinese takeout uses those boxes.
Okay, I forgot about cheese fries and chili-cheese fries. But to me that’s like serving fries with a condiment, like ketchup, not putting an entirely separate dish on top of the fries.
KFC is much more popular than McDonald’s.
But, KFC in China is not the same. More than half the menu is different, and most of the food is even oilier and saltier than in any other country where I have tried KFC.
Chinese food in China might be cheap, but I have never considered most of it to be healthy due to the huge amounts of oil and salt.
Here in Boston most places will serve rice in oyster boxes, but the rest of the order will come in plastic or Styrofoam containers. Some restaurants still use the oyster boxes for all their food, but it’s much rarer than it was when I was growing up.
I’ve seen those boxes in England- I’ve been given one by a Teriyaki takeaway, and an ex-housemate who worked in an Indian restaurant used to bring home leftover rice in one- they also used one exactly the same design but brown, for other leftovers. None of them had wire handles though.
So, definitely available, but they’ve not taken off.
That’s not true. I’ve seen lots of Chinese restuarants (eat-in or take out) in perfectly good neighbourhoods that have french fries on the menu, as well as other things like chicken wings or the like. I think it’s so the adults can get their food and also get stuff their little kids will eat.
Most of the places I’ve eaten at use nothing but the oyster boxes for rice, and a combination of oyster boxes (I love that term!) and oyster boxes or foil with clear plastic lid or el-cheapo plastic container with snap on lid for everything else. It seems to depend on how much liquid is involved which is chosen.