They didn't adapt f-ck all. It all started in San Francisco.
You'd never eat authentic. No way in hell.
You'd never eat authentic. No way in hell.
"WHITE LEFT" : China's New Internet INSULT
- Thread starter White_Unifier
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The cuisine that Westerners refer to as "Chinese food" mostly originated in San Francisco's Chinatown during the 1950s.
Not all of it. The Chinese just adapted some of their ancient cuisines to suit American tastes.
Differences from other regional cuisines in China
American Chinese food builds from styles and food habits brought from the southern province of Guangdong, often from the Toisan district of Toisan, the origin of most Chinese immigration before the closure of immigration from China in 1924. These Chinese families developed new styles and used readily available ingredients, especially in California. The types of Chinese American cooking served in restaurants was different from the foods eaten in Chinese American homes. [14][8] Of the various regional cuisines in China, Cantonese cuisine has been the most influential in the development of American Chinese food, especially that of Toisan, the origin of most early immigrants.[15][16]
Among the common differences is to treat vegetables as a side dish or garnish, while traditional cuisines of China emphasize vegetables. This can be seen in the use of carrots and tomatoes. Cuisine in China makes frequent use of Asian leaf vegetables like bok choy and kai-lan and puts a greater emphasis on fresh meat and seafood.[17]
Stir frying, pan frying, and deep frying tend to be the most common Chinese cooking techniques used in American Chinese cuisine, which are all easily done using a wok (a Chinese frying pan with bowl-like features and which accommodates very high temperatures). The food also has a reputation for high levels of MSG to enhance the flavor. Market forces and customer demand have encouraged many restaurants to offer "MSG Free" or "No MSG" menus, or to omit this ingredient on request.[17]
American Chinese cuisine makes use of ingredients not native to and very rarely used in China. One such example is the common use of western broccoli (Chinese: 西蘭; pinyin: xīlán) instead of Chinese broccoli (Gai-lan, 芥蘭; jièlán) in American Chinese cuisine. Occasionally, western broccoli is also referred to as sai1 laan4 fa1 in Cantonese (西蘭花) in order not to confuse the two styles of broccoli. Among Chinese speakers, however, it is typically understood that one is referring to the leafy vegetable unless otherwise specified.
This is also the case with the words for carrot (luo buo or lo bac, or hong luo buo, hong meaning "red") and onion (yang cong). Lo bac, in Cantonese, refers to a large, pungent white radish. The orange western carrot is known in some areas of China as "foreign radish" (or more properly hung lo bac in Cantonese, hung meaning "red"). When the word for onion, yang cong, is used, it is understood that one is referring to "green onions" (otherwise known to English-speakers as "scallions" or "spring onions"). The larger, many-layered onion bulb common in the United States is called yang cong. This translates as "western onion". These names make it evident that the American broccoli, carrot, and onion are not indigenous to China, and therefore are less common in the traditional cuisines of China.
Egg fried rice in American Chinese cuisine is also prepared differently, with more soy sauce added for more flavor whereas the traditional egg fried rice uses less soy sauce. Some food styles such as Dim sum were also modified to fit American palates, such as added batter for fried dishes and extra soy sauce.[17]
Salads containing raw or uncooked ingredients are rare in traditional Chinese cuisine, as are Japanese style sushi or sashimi. However, an increasing number of American Chinese restaurants, including some upscale establishments, have started to offer these items in response to customer demand.
Ming Tsai, the owner of the Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, Massachusetts and host of PBS culinary show Simply Ming, said that American Chinese restaurants typically try to have food representing 3-5 regions of China at one time, have chop suey, or have "fried vegetables and some protein in a thick sauce", "eight different sweet and sour dishes", or "a whole page of 20 different chow meins or fried rice dishes". Tsai said "Chinese-American cuisine is 'dumbed-down' Chinese food. It’s adapted... to be blander, thicker and sweeter for the American public".[18]
Most American Chinese establishments cater to non-Chinese customers with menus written in English or containing pictures. If separate Chinese-language menus are available, they typically feature items such as liver, chicken feet, or other meat dishes that might deter American customers. In Chinatown, Manhattan, the restaurants were known for having a "phantom" menu with food preferred by ethnic Chinese, but believed to be disliked by non-Chinese Americans.[19]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameri...erences_from_other_regional_cuisines_in_China
... And, that wok makes for a super cool helmet for a kid.
Protip: clean out the wok prior to giving to a kid to wear
Protip: clean out the wok prior to giving to a kid to wear
There was a hotel in Wawa that was almost as good as the place in Scotland. I think they literally caught their whitefish fresh off the dock at the back of the place. While the chips in Scotland were definitely superior, the fish was in both places was probably equally good, but damn it, newspaper really does make fish'n'chips taste better. :lol:
They key to good fish and chips is to not change the oil and only top up.
Use cod or hake, and put on plenty of salt and vinegar.
Harry Ramsden's on Blackpool seafront is the best fish and chips restaurant I've ever been to. It's an absolutely exquisite dining experience.
Perhaps even somewhat conservative in its mores. Gambling is illegal on the mainland and so is prostitution. So is gay marriage. So economically quasi-communist but socially centrist or maybe even moderately conservative. When they compare that to Canada with its 60+ gender pronouns, then we're loony left in their eyes at least on social policy.
Er... there is, actually; but their notion of politically correct is radically different from ours. When I was in China, the average person would perceive opposition to capital punishment for drug trafficking or murder or arson as being 'soft on crime.' Even progressives thought that.