S/O: Chinese or Chinese Americans, can you tell us about American Chinese food?

[Anonymous]

Reading the thread about someone ordering Chinese food got me thinking: how remotely authentic or recognizable is Americanized Chinese food versus authentic and traditional Chinese food? I know I can Google to learn more, but I love to hear from real people on DCUM. Would any Chinese or Chinese American DCUM posters care to weigh in on this subject? Thank you in advance!

[Anonymous]

We have traveled to Taiwan a number of times and the Chinese food you find here is nothing like the food you would find there. Food there is much fresher not so much heavily battered and deep fried.

[Anonymous]

A lot of Chinese restaurants have two menus- one for Americas and one for Chinese customers. Ask for Chinese menu if you want to try.

[Anonymous]

I lived in China for years. Chinese American food isn't the same food as Chinese food. It's a separate "cuisine" and shouldn't be compared or confused.

Like a PP said, many Chinese restaurants will have two menus. One for the American food and one of the more Chinese style food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I lived in China for years. Chinese American food isn't the same food as Chinese food. It's a separate "cuisine" and shouldn't be compared or confused.

Like a PP said, many Chinese restaurants will have two menus. One for the American food and one of the more Chinese style food.

OP here. What I’m honestly asking is like, what is on that menu? Same dishes prepared differently, or entirely different dishes, etc. I’m looking for specific descriptions.

[Anonymous]

It’s the same as the Indian food you get in most restaurants in the US: nothing close to authentic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in China for years. Chinese American food isn't the same food as Chinese food. It's a separate "cuisine" and shouldn't be compared or confused.

Like a PP said, many Chinese restaurants will have two menus. One for the American food and one of the more Chinese style food.

OP here. What I’m honestly asking is like, what is on that menu? Same dishes prepared differently, or entirely different dishes, etc. I’m looking for specific descriptions.

NP. Well, it depends on what's on your Chinese American menu. It also depends on what kind of Chinese American restaurant you're talking about.

I feel like back in the day, most "Chinese restaurants" had a lot of Chinese American dishes but were more full-service, sit down places and also had a Chinese menu. Those still exist. But the real hood takeout places-- they'll still have a Chinese menu but not as much use for them. They're really just serving CA food, subs, wings. It's more like if you're Chinese, you can ask them to make XYZ.

Chinese American food is like...

Chop Suey (literally invented in US)
Fortune Cookies (same)
Orange, Sesame, General Tso's Chicken
Egg Foo Young
Really almost anything that you've commonly heard of is standardized CA food... Beef w/Broccoli, Chicken Cashews, etc., Egg Drop Soup, Egg Rolls, etc.

It's not like there's nothing remotely like those things in China, but it's just different and not standardized the same way.

CA is mostly based on Hunan cuisine and solidified 60-80 years ago in US. Chinese food is like saying European food.

There are usually a few common items on a CA menu that aren't as far off of some regional Chinese cuisines, kinds of dumplings etc.

And if you get actual dim sum from Cantonese people a lot of that is almost the same as in Hong Kong, though if they get a lot of American customers they will focus on the most palatable kinds and possibly modify seasonings.

Mostly it's totally different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in China for years. Chinese American food isn't the same food as Chinese food. It's a separate "cuisine" and shouldn't be compared or confused.

Like a PP said, many Chinese restaurants will have two menus. One for the American food and one of the more Chinese style food.

OP here. What I’m honestly asking is like, what is on that menu? Same dishes prepared differently, or entirely different dishes, etc. I’m looking for specific descriptions.

Traditional Chinese food has textures that most Americans would not find palatable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in China for years. Chinese American food isn't the same food as Chinese food. It's a separate "cuisine" and shouldn't be compared or confused.

Like a PP said, many Chinese restaurants will have two menus. One for the American food and one of the more Chinese style food.

OP here. What I’m honestly asking is like, what is on that menu? Same dishes prepared differently, or entirely different dishes, etc. I’m looking for specific descriptions.

NP. Well, it depends on what's on your Chinese American menu. It also depends on what kind of Chinese American restaurant you're talking about.

I feel like back in the day, most "Chinese restaurants" had a lot of Chinese American dishes but were more full-service, sit down places and also had a Chinese menu. Those still exist. But the real hood takeout places-- they'll still have a Chinese menu but not as much use for them. They're really just serving CA food, subs, wings. It's more like if you're Chinese, you can ask them to make XYZ.

Chinese American food is like...

Chop Suey (literally invented in US)
Fortune Cookies (same)
Orange, Sesame, General Tso's Chicken
Egg Foo Young
Really almost anything that you've commonly heard of is standardized CA food... Beef w/Broccoli, Chicken Cashews, etc., Egg Drop Soup, Egg Rolls, etc.

It's not like there's nothing remotely like those things in China, but it's just different and not standardized the same way.

CA is mostly based on Hunan cuisine and solidified 60-80 years ago in US. Chinese food is like saying European food.

There are usually a few common items on a CA menu that aren't as far off of some regional Chinese cuisines, kinds of dumplings etc.

And if you get actual dim sum from Cantonese people a lot of that is almost the same as in Hong Kong, though if they get a lot of American customers they will focus on the most palatable kinds and possibly modify seasonings.

Mostly it's totally different.

Sorry didn't answer this question directly--

Same dishes prepared differently, or entirely different dishes, etc. I’m looking for specific descriptions

Basically it's entirely different dishes. I mean they might each have a dish that has both beef and broccoli in it, but it's not going to be the same dish at all usually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in China for years. Chinese American food isn't the same food as Chinese food. It's a separate "cuisine" and shouldn't be compared or confused.

Like a PP said, many Chinese restaurants will have two menus. One for the American food and one of the more Chinese style food.

OP here. What I’m honestly asking is like, what is on that menu? Same dishes prepared differently, or entirely different dishes, etc. I’m looking for specific descriptions.

China is a massive country with dozens of local regions all with their own food history and traditions. Listing "what's on the menu in China" would fill multiple volumes.

In terms of comparing the menu of a typical American Chinese menu to their bastardized counterparts, that narrows it down a little, but not much. There are dishes like General Tso's Chicken that are purely non-Chinese in origin and have no Chinese counterpart. There are dishes like Lo Mein that have a passing similarity to many, many Chinese dishes, but it would be impossible to pin down "American Lo Mein came from this particular dish." Then there are dishes like the generic "fried/steamed dumplings" that are pretty darn close to pork and cabbage dumplings you'd find in China but tweaked towards American tastes with a bigger pork to cabbage ratio and also tweaked towards mass production with a much thicker wrapper presumably to aid machine production and increase shipability. There are a few dishes I can think of that do have a direct counterpart and are just dumbed down on the American menu, but not many. Double cooked pork is one - the Chinese version uses very fatty meat from the belly and is often dripping in flavorful oil, while the American version uses lean cuts and far less oil.

Then on the other end there will be lots and lots of items on the Chinese menu that have no bastardized counterpart on the American menu. Mapo doufu for example you will rarely find in American Chinese restaurants, and in restaurants with two menus will generally always be on the Chinese side.

Really you'd need to go dish by dish. There's just too much variety in food in China to generalize like you're asking.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, PP. This info and perspective is exactly what I was hoping to read. -op

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s the same as the Indian food you get in most restaurants in the US: nothing close to authentic.

Indian-American, and I disagree. There are many Indian restaurants that serve relatively authentic food. Just greasier and less variety in the masala. That being said, there isn't much of India's regional variety represented in American Indian restaurants. It's primarily what would be called "Mughali" food in India. Northern Indian food heavily influenced by the Mughal empire. One thing you also don't get as much in American Indian restaurants is "dry" subzis. Restaurants put a heavy cream sauce in everything, it seems.

From what I gather from eating at Chinese-American friends' houses and going to restaurants with them, there is a much bigger difference between Chinese restaurants and what non-Chinese-Americans eat. A big difference I notice is that my Chinese-American friends use fewer sauces. They also eat things like chicken feet that most non-Chinese-Americans wouldn't eat.

[Anonymous]

There was an entire documentary trying to search for the original of General Tso's Chicken:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3576038/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

[Anonymous]

With Indian food, I've found the dishes are pretty similar in both cheap and fancy restaurants in India -- the difference is quality of ingredients. In the US, most Indian food is at "fancy" places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was an entire documentary trying to search for the original of General Tso's Chicken:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3576038/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

What about pork fried rice?

That’s my absolute go to. “Sub gum” for more veggies. I dump duck sauce on top.
Is that just laughable Chinese American food or what.