USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    China
    Home / China / Across America

    Chinese visitors: America needs more real Chinese food

    By Chen Weihua | China Daily USA | Updated: 2014-03-19 11:07

    For Qiao Ling, a Shanghainese who has lived in Washington for the past few months, one of her wishes is to find an authentic Chinese restaurant exactly like those in her hometown.

    It's a feeling shared by an increasing number of Chinese who have either emigrated to the United States, come to work, study or just for a short visit. The stomach is the most "patriotic", as many would say.

    But most Chinese restaurants in Washington, like in other US cities, are simply not authentic Chinese. They're Americanized despite some efforts to please the taste buds from China.

    At Chalin's, a restaurant that serves largely Sichuan food on the Connecticut Avenue near Van Ness, waiters would show Chinese patrons a different menu with food they believe only Chinese would enjoy, especially in terms of the spicy level.

    At the Sichuan Pavilion on K Street, Yi Dong, who was originally from Shanghai but has lived in the US for more than 20 years, was reminded by the head waiter that some of his orders were not Chinese, but American-Chinese, such as General Tso's chicken and beef with broccoli.

    For Ling, the Chinese restaurants in the US are just not up to mainland standards. "It seems that one sauce has been used for all dishes," she said.

    However, that doesn't seem to prevent Americans from patronizing those outlets in the tiny Chinatown in the US capital.

    The Chinatown Express on the 6th Street near H Street has been receiving throngs of patrons every day. Its walls are filled with clippings of rave reviews by the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Washington Times.

    Ling can see why the restaurant would draw such attention given the few competitors out there, but she is sure such an ordinary place would not get any review in her hometown of Shanghai.

    Sometime it's not hard to find out why authentic Chinese food is not served. At P.F. Chang's, one of the largest Chinese restaurant chains in the US, kitchen staffs are often non-Chinese.

    "It's a huge distortion of Chinese culinary culture," said Ling, who, when back in Shanghai, likes to frequent new restaurants.

    Some Chinese and even some Americans who have lived in China for long have argued that a good way to help increase the mutual understanding between the two countries is to introduce more Chinese culinary culture into the US, given that most Americans don't have the chance to savor authentic Chinese dishes.

    So besides attracting those Chinese STEM students - referring to those studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics - the US badly needs to attract more high-level Chinese chefs from China. "Otherwise Americans don't know what they're missing," said Ling, referring to the wide variety of Chinese food.

    Ironically, Ling may not realize that some Americans living in China actually missed Chinese food, or the American Chinese food she has complained about.

    In Shanghai, Fortune Cookie was probably the first restaurant in the city of 24 million people that served American Chinese food. Just as the name suggests, a fortune cookie is totally non-Chinese. The crisp cookie made from four, sugar, vanilla and sesame seed oil and containing a piece of paper with words of wisdom and prophecy is only found in Chinese restaurants in the US and several other countries, not in China.

    Some of the ingredients used by the restaurant, such as Skippy peanut butter, Mott's applesauce and Philadelphia cream cheese, may never been found in the kitchens in other Chinese restaurants in town. Again, popular dishes, such as General Tso's chicken, beef broccoli and crab Rangoon, deep-fried wonton filled with Philadelphia cream cheese, spices and homemade sweet chili sauce, won't appear on the menu of other restaurants in China.

    Ling disagrees that American Chinese food, like that served in the Fortune Cookie restaurant in Shanghai, or those in Washington's Chinatown, deserves the status of other Chinese cuisines, such as Sichuan, Hunan and Cantonese dishes.

    "I just hope the US first lady Michelle Obama won't drop in one such restaurant during her visit in Beijing, Xi'an or Chengdu, otherwise she will miss the real Chinese food," said Ling.

    Mrs Obama, who is leaving for China today with her two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and mother Marian Robinson, told children at Washington Yu Ying Public Chartered School early this month that she is an "adventurous eater".

    Chicken feet, fish brain and pickled jellyfish were some of the Chinese dishes mentioned by the children, who have already visited China.

    Contact the writer at chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com

    Polar icebreaker Snow Dragon arrives in Antarctic
    Xi's vision on shared future for humanity
    Air Force units explore new airspace
    Premier Li urges information integration to serve the public
    Dialogue links global political parties
    Editor's picks
    Beijing limits signs attached to top of buildings across city
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    最近中文字幕电影大全免费版| 中文字幕乱码无码人妻系列蜜桃 | 国产成人无码午夜福利软件| 色综合久久中文综合网| 免费a级毛片无码| 日韩国产精品无码一区二区三区| 高清无码中文字幕在线观看视频| 最好的中文字幕视频2019| 人妻丰满熟妞av无码区| 波多野结衣AV无码久久一区| 国产精品中文字幕在线观看| 亚洲成A∨人片天堂网无码| 成 人无码在线视频高清不卡| 亚洲AV永久无码区成人网站| 久久精品aⅴ无码中文字字幕不卡 久久精品无码一区二区WWW | 亚洲AV中文无码乱人伦在线视色| 无码乱肉视频免费大全合集| 天天爽亚洲中文字幕| 久久激情亚洲精品无码?V| 久久久久亚洲AV无码永不| 日韩精品无码一区二区三区免费| 亚洲AV无码一区二区二三区软件 | 色窝窝无码一区二区三区色欲| 精品久久久无码21p发布| 特级做A爰片毛片免费看无码| 国产中文字幕在线免费观看| 精选观看中文字幕高清无码| 中文字幕一区在线观看视频| 最近最新中文字幕| 最近免费中文字幕大全免费版视频| 狠狠躁天天躁无码中文字幕图| 欧美日韩中文字幕2020| 日韩在线中文字幕| 熟妇人妻系列av无码一区二区| 久久久久久精品无码人妻| av无码人妻一区二区三区牛牛| 亚洲AV无码乱码在线观看裸奔| 久久青青草原亚洲av无码app| 国产精品三级在线观看无码| 好硬~好爽~别进去~动态图, 69式真人无码视频免 | 东京热无码av一区二区|