Western Style Chinese Restaurants

[gotlost]

Ten great place for Chinese food and Chiang Mai is not on the list.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/10great/2011-01-27-chinese-restaurants_N.htm

[el jefe]

That isn't even true. An Americanized (and yes hot and spicy) version of Kung Pao chicken is a standard dish at Americanized Chinese restaurants. Not to mention hot and sour soup, ma po tofu, General Tso chicken, Mongolian beef, spicy Chinese chicken salad w/ peanut butter sauce, etc., all American Chinese classics. Some of those are much more Hunan/Sechuan derived than Cantonese. Piquant Americanized versions of black bean sauce dishes are also popular at Americanized Chinese restaurants; not sure of the specific Chinese provincial origin of that, can someone say?

There is one thing Americanized Chinese restauranteurs will tell you that American tastes require with their Chinese food, at that is LOTS OF SAUCE. Not that authentic provincial Chinese dishes don't sometimes have lots of sauce, but I think there is truth to that stereotype about American tastes.

At this stage in culinary evolution, the US is a hot and spicy food loving country and that applies to adapted Chinese food as well. Perhaps not at Thai or Mexican levels, but it ain't Sweden either.

British style Chinese food is likely somewhat different. Not all "Westernized" Chinese is the same in different western countries.

Kung Pao chicken, yes it's good ... yes it's spicy ... yes it's Americanized

If we were to accept what you wrote as fact, we'd have to ask -- Did the Chinese restaurants in Chiang Mai that serve Ma Po Dofu bring the recipe over from America?!

You should spend more time traveling and eating in China. Ma Po Dofu is ubiquitous in Sichuan. Kung Pao Chicken, while very different than the American preparation, is also a traditional Sichuan dish.

I'll let Chef Ming Tsai be the expert. Here's what he thinks about Chinese-American food (from last week's interview with CNN -- http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/01/19/chef-ming-tsai-wants-you-to-have-a-chinese-friend/?hpt=C2):

Does Chinese-American food stand as its own cuisine?

I don’t think so. Chinese-American cuisine is “dumbed-down” Chinese food. It’s adapted for the wrong reasons, to be blander, thicker and sweeter for the American public. Chinese cuisine was the rage in the ‘60s and ‘70s. In the ‘80s it was Japanese food. In the 90s, Thai food. Now Indian cuisine and Korean food are huge. I just would not go to a restaurant that says it is Chinese-American.

Please feel free to choose your own expert, JT

[Ulysses G.]

There are plenty of good authentic Chinese restaurants in America that also serve a few Western favorites and they are called "Chinese". I'm pretty sure that a restaurant that says it is "Chinese-American" (if there are any) is not what Jing is talking about.

Chef Ming Tsai was raised in Dayton, Ohio, where he spent hours cooking alongside his mother and father at their family-owned restaurant, Mandarin Kitchen. His love of cooking (and eating!) great food was forged in these early years, while also gaining valuable experience in front and back of the house. Ming headed east to attend school at Phillips Academy Andover. From there, Ming continued to Yale University, earning his degree in Mechanical Engineering. During this time, Ming spent his junior summer at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. After graduating from Yale, Ming worked in kitchens around the globe. He trained under renowned Pastry Chef Pierre Herme in Paris and in Osaka with Sushi Master Kobayashi. Upon his return to the United States, Ming enrolled in graduate school at Cornell University, earning a Master's degree in Hotel Administration and Hospitality Marketing. Ming continued to learn varied styles of cuisine, holding positions in both front and back of the house at establishments in Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco and Santa Fe.

Edited January 29, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Jingthing]

No, restaurants don't call themselves Chinese American in the US. If American style Chinese food (and typical menus) isn't a valid Chinese cuisine, then Thai Chinese (which is adapted to Thai tastes with fish sauce and other typical Thai flavors) isn't either. Of course the US has many Chinese places that serve quite authentic provincial Chinese dishes, and also in places like San Francisco some places offer separate menus for Chinese (or sophisticates like moi) vs. Americans (plus items on the wall not translated into English). BTW, I never asserted that ma po tofu originated in the US. That's absurd, of course it didn't. Either did egg foo young, which also comes from China, but got Americanized and is a very popular western standard. As far as made in the USA Chinese dishes like chop suey (which is very retro now and not very popular anymore), some argue even that can be traced to a Chinese dish.

Excuse me for contradicting that highfaluting chef, but really, can't people make their own arguments here without dropping names? So a Thai Chinese beef with oyster sauce, what is that? A type of Thai food, authentic Chinese food from the Chinese land mass (obviously not) or a type of Chinese food from an area outside the Chinese land mass? Same question for Americanized Chinese egg foo young? A type of American food, authentic Chinese food from the Chinese land mass (obviously not), or a type of Chinese food from an area outside the Chinese land mass? Well you know my answer for both questions.

Edited January 29, 2011 by Jingthing