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

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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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.[/quote]

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.[/quote]

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. [/quote]

Sorry didn't answer this question directly--

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

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.[/quote]

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