How the USA Invented Chinese Food

  Рет қаралды 22,850

Matthew Li

Matthew Li

Күн бұрын

Americans love to "get Chinese" for takeout or as an easy meal. But there's still a lot of Americans out there who don't know the "Chinese food" they're eating is essentially American food. Today, let's dive into the history of Chinese people in America and how they're recreated a new genre of Chinese/American food.
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SOCIAL MEDIA:
Twitter - / itsmatthewli
Instagram - / randomchino
Credits:
Producer - Matthew Li
Production Assistant - Mana Chuabang
Script Supervisor - Russ Medcalf
Special thanks:
Louis Govier
Yusef Iqbal
Yeevonne Lim
Dylan Payne
Brandon Goddard
Music from Musicbed & Tom Fox
SOURCES:
The New York Times - shorturl.at/zEN47
TIME - shorturl.at/kuNV7
The New Yorker - shorturl.at/tuNP5
Library of Congress - shorturl.at/dpMU6
Atlas Obscura - shorturl.at/rCY45
The Tacoma Method - shorturl.at/oGOPR
Timestamps:
0:00 - Chinese food isn't Chinese
1:29 - Introducing American Chinese Food
2:39 - The Gold Rush & Chinese migration to the US
3:42 - Chinese people overstay their welcome in the US
4:17 - The Chinese Exclusion Act
4:52 - The Driving Out
6:23 - Why all Chinatowns look the same
7:20 - The origin of the Chinese takeout box
8:30 - The origin of the egg roll
8:59 - The origin of general tso's chicken
9:16 - The shocking origin of the fortune cookie
10:21 - Trying omikuji senbei
11:20 - Why fortune cookies became Chinese
13:00 - An American history of being Asian-American

Пікірлер: 183
@hollowsoulreaper
@hollowsoulreaper 10 ай бұрын
I think similarly in the UK, Indians (from South Asia) that migrated to the UK created their own "Indian food" that also catered to the British palate and that's how we got Chicken Tikka Masala
@feralkat9370
@feralkat9370 9 ай бұрын
That's the Bangladeshis fcuking up Indian cuisine in the UK. Saw this very informative BBC vid about why 'Indian' food in the UK isn't really Indian. eg Vindaloo is a Portuguese dish (Vin d'Alhos) introduced into India with simple ingredients like wine and garlic that marinate pork etc. In the UK Vindaloo is a greasy hot curry, nothing like the real Vindaloo of Goa, where the Portuguese ruled.
@HFC786
@HFC786 9 ай бұрын
Many dishes on a menu in a British Indian restaurant you won’t find anywhere in India
@jeevan88888
@jeevan88888 9 ай бұрын
@@HFC786 Like what?
@lorgnetteify
@lorgnetteify 4 ай бұрын
Wow thats the next rabbit hole of truth I will drop in after.
@Katharina-rp7iq
@Katharina-rp7iq Ай бұрын
Fun fact: Americans changed Pizza a lot to the point italians refuse to acknowledge many types of american pizza as real pizza and the restaurants called 'wiener schnitzel' hinting at a german dish doesn’t serve any german food at all, not even wiener schnitzel. Plus mac n cheese americans eat is not italian either.
@DemonZest
@DemonZest 10 ай бұрын
In Europe we have our own japanese food, still called japanese but they are modified recipes that appeal more to European palate.
@Lavszera
@Lavszera 10 ай бұрын
How is european-japanese food like?
@augth
@augth 9 ай бұрын
Japanese restaurants in the West are very different depending on the country. I’m French and was horrified when I discovered that Japanese restaurants in North America have sushi with "spicy mayo". Our restaurants aren’t authentic either but in a different way. They’ll have miso soup, sushi, teriyaki and gyoza usually.
@eduardochavacano
@eduardochavacano 9 ай бұрын
They probably dont deliberately modify. Because Europeans strive for authenticity. Lack of ingridients us just accidental modification.
@eduardochavacano
@eduardochavacano 9 ай бұрын
@@augth its easy to have authentic Japanese restaurants in rich countries. Even in philippines 5 star hotels have real Japanese food
@werren894
@werren894 9 ай бұрын
europe already eat sushi as old as 16 century tho
@dansharpe2364
@dansharpe2364 9 ай бұрын
As a white English person who grew up in Hong Kong from the age of 10 I was baffled by "Chinese" food served in takeaways in the UK when I returned here to go to college. I took to speaking to staff in Cantonese and suddenly real Chinese food was available! Great video, thank you, I have "Liked and Subscribed".
@SDZ675
@SDZ675 9 ай бұрын
Same with how "sushi" outside Japan is just mostly random maki roll concoctions when it's mostly sashimi and nigiri in Japan or how Italian and Indian food in US/UK are completely different than in their native countries. That's the beauty of cuisines; they adapt to the tastes of the local population and ingredients.
@eduardochavacano
@eduardochavacano 9 ай бұрын
The adaptation may just be accidental. As for sushi, Japan. It is allowed to be reinvented because ZEN encourages reinvention. So authentic Sushi is sushi that was reinvented. But some food are not allowed to tamper with. No one in the west needs fake teriyaki, when the ingridients for the dish are readily available.
@Liam-iv7wk
@Liam-iv7wk 7 ай бұрын
Indian food I find interesting because there's so many different takes on it throughout the world. Like South Africa and the Caribbean have interesting takes on Indian food.
@yummychips_
@yummychips_ 3 ай бұрын
What? What do you mean by "authentic sushi is sushi that was reinvented". Sushi is supposed to be fermented soured rice with fish and still is known as that, but adopted the term "narezushi" in modern times. The current modern "Sushi" is 100% a adaptation of narezushi, not a revinvention. It even adopted its original name. Modern "sushi" isn't even as old as people think and only about a century old with many popular staples being younger than that, like salmon, sea urchin, and even Tuna. It has roots towards when Japan evolved technologically and innovations in fishing, food storage, safer processing and preparations. The original sushi was fermenting fish in salt and rice. This is what gave the sour properties in the rice. The product was meant to be stored food for the winter days where fishing, farming and food in general was hard to come by. They adapted it, by infusing a vinegar base brine into the rice and using fresh fish. The dish was intended to be a adapted version of the original sushi using more available technology and gathered knowledge for the key reason of "Trying to get the Japanese public to eat new types of dishes". The west 100% reinvented modern sushi by using completely different ingredients and not focusing on the soured rice aspect. Also... what do you mean by zen encourages reinvention. Last I remember, Japanese Zen focuses on a state of perfection not reinvention. So no clue where you got that idea from. @@eduardochavacano
@Sacto1654
@Sacto1654 2 ай бұрын
@@eduardochavacano Actually, sushi is supposed to be eaten by hand, even _nigiri_ sushi. Holding a piece of _nigiri_ by hand would shock Westerners but that was the norm in Japan until (arguably) after World War II.
@yakitatefreak
@yakitatefreak 5 күн бұрын
I almost always prefer Nigirizushi (Yes, that's how it's supposed to be written) more than the Maki, but I will take some maki style sushi. The reason is very simple: Eating a piece of Nigiri Salmon or Tuna in the way that the food was supposed to be handled blows the minds of many people. If done properly, the rice will never crumble when the sushi is properly dipped and the eating experience becomes enhanced by tasting the item presented on top first. I still have yet to have a Gunkan or Maki style of sushi that makes full use of this eating habit.
@jeff__w
@jeff__w 9 ай бұрын
Actually, there’s a bit more to the “Chinatown” look: the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 had leveled the city’s Chinatown and the city, including the mayor, seized on the opportunity to try to “relocate the Chinese,” something the city had wanted to do even _before_ the earthquake and fire, given that Chinatown was prime real estate. A Subcommittee on Relocating the Chinese met with prominent members of the Chinese community who, essentially, told the committee over about 25 hearings that, if forced to relocate, they might move somewhere else entirely, depriving the city of revenue from Chinese-American trade and other business benefits. (Representatives of imperial China weighed in on the side of the Chinese community as well.) The subcommittee dropped the plan. A Mendocino-born businessman, Look Tin Eli, came up with the idea to rebuild Chinatown in an exotic, _faux_ Chinese-style, and the white architects employed incorporated those features of Chinese architecture, e.g., curved eaves, multilevel pagodas, that, to them, seemed to typify Chinese architecture. Eli and the other Chinese or Chinese-American business leaders were well aware that this style was nothing like genuine Chinese architecture but that didn’t matter to them; if tourists wanted to see some theme park version of Chinese architecture-and they did-Chinatown would have no qualms about catering to them.
@terryc522
@terryc522 10 ай бұрын
As a CBC (Chinese born Canadian) born in the 70’s and first generation Canuk. I totally get the American/Canadian Chinese food. It was interesting to say the least. Very polarized. I remember inviting friends over for dinner and they were shocked about what we fed them. They either loved it or hated it. It was mostly Cantonese or “Hong Kong” style Chinese food. There are two interesting books. One American and one Canadian that delves into American/Canadian Chinese food. “The fortune cookie chronicles” and “Chop suey nation”. Jenifer 8. Lee (author of The fortune cookie chronicles) also did a Ted Talk called “Search for General Tao” it also a name of a documentary she produced? Ps, it was great in the 70’s as an Asian/Chinese child. Everyone thought Bruce Lee was my uncle and I got “diplomatic immunity” from getting beat up 😂
@wwlee5
@wwlee5 9 ай бұрын
Hopefully Jennifer found out it was a Hunan chef who fled to Taiwan and then NYC (like a bunch of Chinese) who invented General Tso. It's just a modern dish, really. Not 100 years old or older. Just like pho is actually a modern noodle dish in Vietnam. Anyway, I don't recall seeing it in China but I have had it at a Hunanese restaurant in Taipei roughly 3 years ago with my Taiwanese colleagues, not in this video link here. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/o7STqqx0p6iRdIU.html There's nothing particular about General Tso since it uses the same ingredients for Chinese dishes, even in America.
@julienielsen3746
@julienielsen3746 3 ай бұрын
I watched a PBS documentary on chinese restaurants in Canada. There were people telling us about getting Chow Mein burgers in the 1940s and 50s etc. Never heard of those in America. At least here in Oregon.
@to_cya_
@to_cya_ 10 ай бұрын
In Thailand, there is a dish called “American Fried Rice” but it isn’t exist in the US.
@curtisthomas2670
@curtisthomas2670 9 ай бұрын
So a Thai version of an American version of Chinese fried rice
@to_cya_
@to_cya_ 9 ай бұрын
@@curtisthomas2670 it’s a dish which is fried rice mixed with ketchup, raisins, green peas, and carrots. And also served with sunny side up egg, fried chicken, sausages, and ham. You can check the channel called “OTR Food & History”, it’s well documented there.
@Default78334
@Default78334 9 ай бұрын
In China there is a popular dish called "New Orleans Chicken" that has absolutely nothing to do with New Orleans.
@jonaspete
@jonaspete 9 күн бұрын
​@@curtisthomas2670 Thailand has its own fried rice recipe. Chinese fried rice is more oily.
@TipperProject
@TipperProject 10 ай бұрын
In the UK we have both and it's kind of confusing. There's 'Chinese Takeaway' which is the American Chinese food, and there's Chinese or just Asian restaurants that make more authentic Chinese food. So sometimes when you're looking at places it's hard to know which it'll be without looking on the menu.
@mylesjude233
@mylesjude233 10 ай бұрын
Is there any difference between British Chinese Takeaway and Chinese American Food
@lauraqueentint
@lauraqueentint 10 ай бұрын
@@mylesjude233 yes! its actually quite different. watch people get these takeaways online. they have curry sauce and all :)
@chilliam00
@chilliam00 10 ай бұрын
​@@mylesjude233bro there was a whole TikTok argument a few months ago between Americans and Brits about which Chinese food is better. It even made the news!
@mylesjude233
@mylesjude233 10 ай бұрын
@@chilliam00 I heard of it, but what does british chinese food that differentiates it from American Chinese
@durand101
@durand101 10 ай бұрын
British Chinese food is totally different from American Chinese food. We don't have General Tso's, chop suey, egg rolls or many of the other dishes. We do have a lot of stir fried rice and noodle dishes, cantonese soups, spring rolls, prawn toast, dim sum, etc, as well as Chinese food from mainland China.
@er66an
@er66an 10 ай бұрын
So interesting.I was in Germany in July and they have asian restaurants not only a mix of china and Japan but also Thailand, India and more
@SiddharthS96
@SiddharthS96 10 ай бұрын
Great video! Here in India, we have completely different food here, which is called Indo-Chinese with popular dishes like chilli chicken, chicken Manchurian, Schezwan chicken, etc. None of which exist in China or anywhere else in the world, yet they taste great!
@Tampin111
@Tampin111 9 ай бұрын
I from M'sia The Chinese food here has well blended with the locals which is also very unique & spicy Most foreigners loved it including the Chinese from mainland China.
@ikunalz
@ikunalz 2 ай бұрын
India also has a popular “Chinese restaurant” dish called American Chopsuey. I am sure it isn’t available either in America or in China.
@demanager0412
@demanager0412 9 ай бұрын
over here in the Netherlands we have the same, having ''Chinese'' is actually adjusted Indonesian cuisine. Still great food but it's nothing like real Indonesian food, let alone Chinese.
@faustinuskaryadi6610
@faustinuskaryadi6610 3 ай бұрын
Probably because it was actually Chinese Indonesian food.
@flyingzone356
@flyingzone356 9 ай бұрын
American-Chinese food isn't entirely American, though, of course, it is loosely based on Cantonese cuisine. Most of the earliest waves of Chinese immigrants to the United States (and in fact all over the world) were from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. China is such a vast country, not surprisingly, regional differences are enormous. The people from Guangdong do not even speak the same language as those from the rest of China. Not surprisingly, their cuisine is very different from the rest of China too. Cantonese cuisine is in general less spicy, less salty, less "saucy," less oily and greasy (hard to believe given how oily and greasy American-Chinese food is), and more sweet (hence the sweetness of a lot of Chinese-American dishes).
@yakitatefreak
@yakitatefreak 5 күн бұрын
It is as American in culture as Burgers, Fries, and Pizza. There's definitely a loose basis of these dishes from their country of origin, but all have become iconic American dishes. The Hamburger is based off of the Hamburg Steak, which is a German dish. But the Hamburger is not a German dish by any stretch (In fact, the Salisbury steak is more reminiscent to a Hamburg Steak). Fries were originally conceived in Spain in the late 17th Century, but popularized in 18th Century Francophone Europe, where the enlightenment allowed for the spread of this dish to flourish. It is known to have the most disputed origin of the modern dish, between Wallonia (Modern-Day Belgium) and France. Though this dish is available in France and Belgium, this dish is paired popularly with steak in France, or mayonnaise in Belgium. In the US today, there are a variety of dishes that serve fries. You do indeed have the dish a la carte like in many parts of the world, but the dish can also be served with ketchup, or topped with a variety of items. A popular item in the US, Animal Fries (From California), which is topped with American cheese, burger sauce, grilled onions, and optionally chopped chiles. Kimchi Fries, Chili Cheese Fries, Loaded Fries, and Dirty Fries are also popular menu items. Pizza on the other hand is... mixed. There are some pizzas that represent the Italian counterparts such as Margherita and Cheese (The Italians would call it Quattro Frommagio/Four Cheese). But Pepperoni Pizza is uniquely American (Pepperoni in Italian means small pepper). Deep Dish has Sicilian Roots but is 100% an American pizza with the opulence of Excess, American industry and the Chicago meatpacking plants. BBQ Chicken Pizza is also uniquely a Los Angeles invention (with influence from other American cuisines), and so is serving pizza with breadsticks, ranch and buffalo wings. Even stuffed crust pizza is American. So while the cuisine is not entirely "American", the cultural impact is certainly far more American than it is Chinese. Certainly media impacts are felt, such as Jackie Chan in Rush Hour or Seinfeld with a scene of eating at a Chinese spot during Christmas because all of the other spots are closed in New York. As for the dishes in question, certainly you have the occasional Orange Chicken (which does not actually have a Cantonese equivalent and in it's popular form is actually an American invention from a chef at Panda Express as the dish is of Hunan origin with influences from General Tso's Chicken), Crab Rangoon (Invented by an Asian-American, as cream cheese is not in any traditional Cantonese, let alone Chinese dishes that I know of. Even the namesake of the dish is referencing Yangyon in Myanmar and not China), and General Tso's Chicken (Which also has roots in Hunan cooking and not Cantonese, but is considered far more American than Chinese). Two of the bestsellers at Panda Express (The premiere American Chinese fast food joint) are indeed not Cantonese dishes. But there's the Chow Mein (which has a counterparts all over Asia), Fried Rice (Which has counterparts from all over Asia), and Pot Stickers/Dumplings (Also has counterparts in East Asia). In many ways, these are in fact not all loosely based off of Cantonese dishes, but rather the dishes cater themselves to the local palate where Cantonese people were the historically dominant Chinese group.
@julienielsen3746
@julienielsen3746 3 ай бұрын
I watched a PBS documentary on chinese restaurants in Canada. There were people telling us about getting Chow Mein burgers in the 1940s and 50s etc. Never heard of those in America. At least in Oregon.
@nuutti2957
@nuutti2957 9 ай бұрын
Criminally underrated channel. Great to see you growing though.
@n0etic_f0x
@n0etic_f0x 10 ай бұрын
Honestly, something really fun is to as an American go see what people think American food is. One thing I have seen is canned corn... for some reason. Like even as a pizza topping. More common and more American is ketchup and hotdogs, in or on everything as well as Ranch often being American flavor. Other than that oversize it and drench it in cheese... which... yeah we do that.
@dunndudebemelol
@dunndudebemelol 10 ай бұрын
Peanut butter / canned corn / pizza / hot dogs / pancakes / burgers/ BIG / apple pie come to mind as an Englishman. I can only assume I'm missing some actual local foods and drinks like sweet tea?
@deyili49
@deyili49 10 ай бұрын
Thanks for making this video!
@billspooks
@billspooks 9 ай бұрын
Thank You...!!! Wonderfully informative.
@mylesjude233
@mylesjude233 10 ай бұрын
This video looks great, can't wait to watch 😊
@michaellima6272
@michaellima6272 20 күн бұрын
I wonder if a similar case could be made for Italian food in the U.S. For example, spaghetti and meatballs and fettucine alfredo as dishes are not really a thing in Italy (you may find exceptions in certain restaurants catering to tourists).
@LelouchLamperouge235
@LelouchLamperouge235 Ай бұрын
The Netflix series called Warrior plays out during the Driving Out era in San Francisco.
@boijorzee
@boijorzee 25 күн бұрын
Over here in Belgium and Holland we have our own genre of Chinese food. Partly influenced by Indonesian food trough the Dutch colonial era and partly by Chinese immigrants. It has dishes like babi pangang, nasi goreng, Peking duck, and pork or chicken in sweet and sour sauce. It has nothing or very little in common with authentic Chinese cuisine but it's pretty great in its own right. When I was a kid this felt like something exotic and often the restaurants that served this kind of food were very distinctly decorated. But nowadays many of these places have fallen out of favor and you can get most of these dishes from the supermarkets. In Belgium many of the Chinese immigrants who ran these place have turned to selling fries instead. Still I really like this cuisine because it reminds me of my childhood and the fun times I had eating in those places.
@shakiMiki
@shakiMiki 10 ай бұрын
An informative & rich video.
@amraouza4937
@amraouza4937 9 ай бұрын
crazy video, crazy underrated
@singkamore
@singkamore 9 ай бұрын
Same here in the philippines but with breads, spanish bread, german bread etc.
@mersereaux
@mersereaux 10 күн бұрын
Your videos are really great man, I hope you keep it up.
@00Julian00
@00Julian00 9 ай бұрын
You are a man of integrity as you listed your sources.
@Thatveganlifestyle
@Thatveganlifestyle 9 ай бұрын
Super interesting video.
@paulskiye6930
@paulskiye6930 9 ай бұрын
Canton is a province. Guangzhou is a city in Canton.
@faustinuskaryadi6610
@faustinuskaryadi6610 3 ай бұрын
While fortune cookie is Japanese invention, the omikuji itself have root in Chinese culture. Yes, many Taoist temples also have something similar to omamori, ofuda, and omikuji (fortune telling paper) just with more Chinese style and aesthetic. So, that's why Chinese restaurant in USA can easily adopt Japanese fortune cookie since fortune telling paper is also part of Chinese culture or I could say Confucian culture sphere.
@soulie2001
@soulie2001 3 ай бұрын
I truly think this discounts how much the cultural differentiation has made (your) people carve out some large niche of America. You are top of the line, as we speak. And very respected.
@lemmonsinmyeyes
@lemmonsinmyeyes 11 күн бұрын
Max Miller from tasting history, talked about old goldmining towns and cowboys & whatnot. He mentions that a lot of chinese, german, french went to these towns to open pubs that also had food/buffet. And even very remote area were severing chinese food with things they could get here. So american-chinese food is really really old. Like 150 years old
@jonncatron7381
@jonncatron7381 9 ай бұрын
I was taught a lot of this in the 80' in school but they stoped teaching it in the 90's
@shanicestella2226
@shanicestella2226 10 ай бұрын
It isn't surprising that the authentic one somethings can be bit too challenging to be accepted by general American palate and it is reserved for a foodie with thick bucks , and of course some prefer the Americanized version
@ruedelta
@ruedelta 9 ай бұрын
This isn't even true though. The issue is that the usual suspects of Cantonese food (or other southern regions) are more challenging, whereas something like Dongbei food would be much easier to accept. When sausages in Harbin resemble kielbasa, it's imminently easier to bridge palate gaps. Sadly, the issue is that northern Chinese rarely immigrate over, and so not only there is very little chance of experiencing northern Chinese food in the US, people also associate "real Chinese food" strictly with a few select southern regions. Honestly it should be pretty shocking how it's nearly impossible to find Lu cuisine anywhere in the US, even though it was the dominant court style for the previous 200-300 years. Case in point, I've heard very few people turn up their noses at Beijing roast duck.
@patricksebastian7841
@patricksebastian7841 3 ай бұрын
Bro is like the Johny Harris of food, been following you since 3k subs, you're gonna get far man, best of luck!
@JAMESHANGLUNG-km4ru
@JAMESHANGLUNG-km4ru 9 ай бұрын
Thank you for explaining this ,God bless you.
@KrasMazovHatesYourGuts
@KrasMazovHatesYourGuts 9 ай бұрын
Yeah, as you said: part of it is the over-representation of Cantonese/Cantonese-adjacent dishes due to the high number of Cantonese immigrants largely making up the majority of early Chinese migration. There's also another issue you might not have mentioned, being the inability to get certain traditional ingredients and having to sub them with what was available (the hallmark of culinary ingenuity). Take Kung Pao Chicken, which traditionally uses Sichuan Pepper in China, whereas in the US the version you typically get uses more chili peppers (often hotter than what is traditionally uses) and also uses a wider variety of vegetables. Sichuan Peppercorns were actually illegal to import into the US until very recently (2005), so it is only until the last 18 years that traditional Kung Pao could be made in the United States.
@Liam-iv7wk
@Liam-iv7wk 7 ай бұрын
I think it ultimately brings up the highly unspoken concept of foreign diasporas and how they differ greatly from their ancestral nation. Like Italian American (and Italian Brazilian) food is definitely different than the old country. More Lebanese and Irish overwhelmingly live outside their respective countries
@draglionz
@draglionz 9 ай бұрын
awesome history vlog/history lesson. Where did you buy that shirt Yin/Yan shirt?
@offthemenuyt
@offthemenuyt 9 ай бұрын
at a thrift shop in Tokyo lol
@dynasty0019
@dynasty0019 9 ай бұрын
Hey Matt, I think you should do a piggyback video on your Japanese Pasta video on why Italian cuisine, or should I say more correctly, Italian-American cuisine is so popular in Asian countries like Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, etc.
@Pratchettgaiman
@Pratchettgaiman 10 ай бұрын
In my relatively small city in the US I find it interesting that the Japanese and Thai restaurants are *probably* more authentic to their home cuisines than any of the Chinese restaurants. In my hometown (which is bigger and crucially home to a state university which attracts a fair amount of Chinese students) there are a couple of places that are clearly not as marketed to the White American palate, so you clearly can have Chinese food closer to the food in actual China, you just need a significant population to support it
@mzple
@mzple 9 ай бұрын
Defenitly thai, as the thai government helps pay for restaurants as a way of creating culinary tourism. Considering how many tourists go to Thailand I would say it is a huge success.
@augth
@augth 9 ай бұрын
This channel is severely underrated
@knobjob2839
@knobjob2839 10 ай бұрын
One thing I noticed while in China was how much less salt they put in food. Some savory dishes were borderline sweet.
@truth4004
@truth4004 9 ай бұрын
its using local produce for cost so they ended up being diff recipes.
@andrearoseschneider7479
@andrearoseschneider7479 Ай бұрын
I had a place in Brookline Ma. It had three different menus. I always chose more actual Chinese dishes that were authentic and spicy. But it closed at the end of the pandemic. I miss it so.
@trevoroutim8519
@trevoroutim8519 Ай бұрын
Great video. South African- born Chinese over here. Grandparents came from Canton.
@Sacto1654
@Sacto1654 3 ай бұрын
Some "Chinese" dishes known to Americans like _chop suey_ and _egg foo young_ are actually of southern Chinese origin, mostly because many of the Chinese immigrants during the 19th Century came from southern China, especially what is now Taishan County in Guangdong Province. In fact, because of the large number of emigrants from Hong Kong after World War II, the first authentic Chinese cuisine that became popular in the USA, especially in San Francisco and Los Angeles, is the Cantonese cuisine familiar to the people of Hong Kong. (Which does explain why many Americans are familiar with _dim sum_ ).
@christianhansen3292
@christianhansen3292 9 ай бұрын
Egg is used to seal wrapper from unfurling in deep dry oil.
@Phoca_Vitulina
@Phoca_Vitulina 8 күн бұрын
Pretty solid history lesson, thanks. Could have mentioned more with the Chinese exclusion act and banning women and children from coming as well as so many Chinese people dying from working horrible conditions for the railroads. I didn't know about the takeout box origins, that was cool!
@deioped
@deioped Ай бұрын
Erm.. Chinatown in Singapore wasn't built to look like an exotic location. The building you showed is the Buddha Tooth Relic temple, it looks like any chinese temple we have all over here. The rest of Chinatown's old buildings were relics from colonial times.
@silentwatcher1455
@silentwatcher1455 9 ай бұрын
Many Chinese foods have variants when in US. These variants were result of adjustment made by Chinese migrants and Americans to suit the American customers.
@easyray3012
@easyray3012 9 күн бұрын
In the US, we have all kinds of groups who used American ingredients to develop dishes that somewhat resembled, but did not emulate, the dishes of their homelands. American Italian food: ex. cipino, Veal parmigiana, etc. American Irish food: corned beef and cabbage, American Mexican food: anything from Taco Bell. Why is American Chinese food any different? Is there something wrong with this?
@metiu2342
@metiu2342 9 ай бұрын
Why do i feel like ive seen you from somewhere before.... Did u happen to be in like a youtuber group?
@jeff__w
@jeff__w 9 ай бұрын
9:50 _“Fortune cookies”_ I’m not a big fan of fortune cookies but I _love_ _tsujiura senbei_ (辻占せんべい). They taste _nothing_ like the fortune cookies in the US, at least the ones sold near the Fushimi Inari Shrine don’t-have a delicious savory nutty flavor, basically like a sesame cracker. My favorite fortune in a fortune cookie: my mom opened a fortune cookie, read the fortune, and gave the slip of paper to my dad, saying “This is for you.” The fortune? _A beautiful woman will hand you a message._ 7:31 _Oyster pails/“Take out boxes”_ We were showing friends from Hong Kong around, young men in their 20s, and took them to a local Chinese restaurant. What made the biggest impression on them was _not_ the food (which to them was perfectly “okay”) but the stacks of Chinese takeout boxes, with the stereotypical red “chop suey” font, that were piled high on top of the beverage fridge. They had never seen them in real-life before, only in US television shows or movies-in fact, they might have doubted that those existed anywhere _other than_ in films and TV-and that, to them, were quintessentially “American.”
@gerardc6070
@gerardc6070 3 ай бұрын
When my family makes lumpia, we seal the wrapper with egg. So when I noticed "egg rolls" in restaurants that seemed similar, I assumed that they used eggs too. 😅
@user-ut3nn1ey7h
@user-ut3nn1ey7h 9 ай бұрын
hello otm, thank you for this video reporting of chinese food is now here food. but when we speak of dim sum - my parents or family would tell us that our menu in america is bigger than some of the restaurants in HK. some items were created by the same chef a chinese man from china. wish that take out easier items mentioned not there are brocolli with chicken or sweet and sour chicken was created by cantonese of here with pineapples in here. and can be found in 'nice' restaurants. elle for hot and sour soup
@Pratchettgaiman
@Pratchettgaiman 10 ай бұрын
I love American Chinese food, but especially where I live where there aren’t many Asian people the places that sell it have a tendency to not have very high quality food in general
@luplew1444
@luplew1444 10 ай бұрын
Thanks for the history lesson. Great video. I miss real Chinese food myself.
@cyeungko
@cyeungko 9 ай бұрын
How about the term romanticized Chinese food? This can be applied to "Chinese food" outside of China. They were created by the Chinese diaspora to fit the palate of that country.
@HYPERIONNakayama
@HYPERIONNakayama 3 ай бұрын
Your video style reminds me of Jonny Harris. Great quality
@littlekirby6
@littlekirby6 10 ай бұрын
Yeah I come here to learn new things about food from you, but also I appreciate that you mention things like the Chinese massacres. I would think that maybe they would teach it in some schools around San Francisco, but growing up in Texas the only thing I learned was that Chinese people came for the gold rush, then built railroads, and then a lot of people hated them for being foreigners.
@lezcano777
@lezcano777 10 ай бұрын
Qué buen video
@otto_jk
@otto_jk 9 ай бұрын
I never thought that RC Anime would become the Johnny Harris of food culture 👍
@wwlee5
@wwlee5 9 ай бұрын
The fortune cookie, I agree. But there are too many varieties of eggrolls (spring rolls) in China, Taiwan, and SE Asia. The eggroll in the picture looks EXACTLY like the poster of a vegan restaurant advertising some promotion behind where I live: In Taiwan. It's called lumpia, in the Taiwanese language, fried that is...Lunbing in Mandarin if you want to go standard Chinese (yes, it's the same word as the Filipino word but originally it's a Chinese word). As for other dishes, people in Taiwan and China distinguish each other by saying, southern Taiwan or southern China likes sweetened dishes, northerners like non-sweeten fermented bean taste. It's really hard to say the Chinese served in America is "Americanized" when I basically got the same soup, same sweet sour dish at an Asian factory cooked by a Chinese chef, servicing to Chinese workers. There will be some "Americanized" things but that's waaaaay overblown. Don't listen to one group of Chinese, listen to different groups from different regions of China.
@s._3560
@s._3560 9 ай бұрын
So true, China is a huge country with a huge population. Certain dishes are sometimes small regional dishes so it doesn't mean that every Chinese knows about its existence. For instance, in Singapore and Malaysia, there is a popular dish hailed from people originated from Fujian - Popiah (薄饼) which is very much like spring roll. It is basically a medley of cooked vegetables (mainly carrots, cabbage, green beans and jicama (optional) with other condiments wrapped in a thin rice crepe roll. It isn't fried but freshly wrapped and eaten much like a burrito. I would say many who aren't from that region wouldn't know about it! But thanks to the internet now, you can search it up and look for images or even YT videos on it.
@Ris-T.
@Ris-T. 9 ай бұрын
As an Asian who has lived in US, I do think there is a distinct difference between egg roll and spring roll. The American egg roll, while it is a derivative of Asian spring roll, does not seem to exist here in Asia or at least I have not yet encountered something similar here so far. It is also evident when we examine the origin of the manufacturers: if you look at the frozen skins/wrappers for egg rolls and spring rolls available in Asian supermarkets in US, the egg roll wrappers are mainly made in US (and typically have brand names similar to American Chinese restaurants, with some even using the faux Chinese fonts), while the spring roll wrappers are mainly made in Asia.
@edwinholcombe2741
@edwinholcombe2741 9 ай бұрын
As an American living in East Asia the reverse is also true. What is called American food can be very foreign to an American.
@dojokonojo
@dojokonojo 9 ай бұрын
Growing up next to a large Chinese immigrant community in California during the 2000s where I could just go a mile down the street for authentic Chinese food, I wasn't introduced to American Chinese food until I was a teenager lol
@into_the_void
@into_the_void 9 ай бұрын
Same in India.. we have our own version called indo Chinese food. It started from Chinatown in Kolkata and then spread all over India..
@mzple
@mzple 9 ай бұрын
Yes they eat it from Chinese Americans. But with that being said now in many cities there is authentic non american chinese food in many US cities. In Rockville, Maryland you can get anything from Dim Sum, to Xi'an food, to Uygher cuisine, to Yunan, hotpot and North Chinese food.
@lostboy8084
@lostboy8084 9 ай бұрын
General tso chicken was made for Admiral Perry's banquet him and other American guests actually enjoyed the dish and they couldn't find it in any Chinese restaurants at the time and as they were people who had influence ended up being responsible for bringing it to American Chinese restaurants especially when you had these important people asking for General Tso chicken those Chinese business men new a good thing and used connections to bring the recipe to America.
@yung_nuts
@yung_nuts 6 ай бұрын
reminds me of that sopranos scene where the American Italians go to Italy, and natives make fun of them for getting spaghetti with marinara sauce, because to them thats like coming to America just for macaroni and cheese
@Gamepak
@Gamepak 14 сағат бұрын
after hearing about guteroil, no more chinese food for me
@JimFeig
@JimFeig 9 ай бұрын
Most of the Pasta you know has been Americanized as well.
@ranjanbiswas3233
@ranjanbiswas3233 2 ай бұрын
Egg roll's wrapper has EGG. That's why egg roll.
@jonpirovsky
@jonpirovsky 9 ай бұрын
I think it's very interesting how people want to attach a single definition to the cuisine of a country of over 1 billion people and larger than Europe... The same happens with "Indian" cuisine, "Brazilian" cuisine etc... It also happens with "American" cuisine outside the US. These are HUGE countries, its cuisine varies wildly across the regions...
@robertlee4172
@robertlee4172 9 ай бұрын
Love that story about the takeout box. Hate the story about the slaughter of Chinese locals. My great great grandfather started off in Oakland, working the railroad from 1865 till completion. He was one of the lucky ones who got out alive. Later, he worked as a sheep herder in Utah. Didn't make much, but he was able to send money home to raise his family. Eventually, he moved back to China permanently.
@mu2ko
@mu2ko Ай бұрын
小吉 "きりょうがよいね" Low Luck "Good looking" Onikuji kukkie Japanese fortune cookie said it. Haha. Doesn't say anything. No make sense ;)
@studyandburn
@studyandburn Ай бұрын
Honestly general tso can pass as chinese food
@danielles7766
@danielles7766 16 күн бұрын
I'm sorry to say that these all are Southern Chinese food, other than the fortune cookies. All of these foods were all shared by South East Asian Chinese. People who claimed these weren't Chinese are Northern Chinese who had never been eating Southern Chinese food
@tomtom9792
@tomtom9792 4 ай бұрын
same with other ethnic food...... for example, calling Taco Bell as Mexican food
@ssjwes
@ssjwes 9 ай бұрын
Chinese food in America is more of a commercial concept than traditional food.
@HkgHkg-gu3rd
@HkgHkg-gu3rd 13 күн бұрын
But apple pie was invented in Austria.
@Halkin85
@Halkin85 27 күн бұрын
People from Guangzhou did eat rats. I have seen it in the early 90s. Google it and there is an AP video on youtube. I do not think it is common anymore but it was when I was young.
@helltrigger87
@helltrigger87 6 күн бұрын
Bullshiet where's your source?
@Halkin85
@Halkin85 5 күн бұрын
@@helltrigger87 Type "Guangzhou eat rats" into youtube or google. I mentioned it in my comment.
@helltrigger87
@helltrigger87 4 күн бұрын
Providing a source means you actually provide proof of what your claim, not "oh I heard some bullshit on the internet go find it yourself 🥴"
@Halkin85
@Halkin85 4 күн бұрын
@@helltrigger87 www.youtube.com/ watch?v=xhIurJKzhLM&t=17s&ab_channel=APArchive Any remove the space if the link did not work.
@Lostboy811
@Lostboy811 6 күн бұрын
You mean my favorite mapu tofu might not be Chinese.
@mimimarcus
@mimimarcus 9 ай бұрын
8:42 The dish on the right that is not fried looks like summer/garden rolls, which is a Vietnamese dish. Also, egg rolls or spring rolls probably originated from or derivatives of the traditional Vietnamese dish "Chả Giò" because of the rice paper, which is a Vietnamese invention.
@justinarzola4584
@justinarzola4584 9 ай бұрын
Spring Rolls don't use the rice paper from what I've eaten, usually fried batter,it is definitely a Chinese invention but I don't know if the Vietnamese came up with the idea for rolls before Chinese,I would assume it was Chinese as the Vietnamese often took aspects of Chinese culture into their own.
@mimimarcus
@mimimarcus 9 ай бұрын
@@justinarzola4584 Yes, the Vietnamese culture was heavily influenced by the Chinese culture, as with many others including the USA, because the Chinese culture is one of the most influential cultures in the world. But regarding cuisine, I don't think it's the case as I think Vietnamese cuisine is very unique and influence might have been more of a two-way street than one way. Personally, I think Vietnamese are better cooks and so my guess is the Chinese might've taken some inspirations, especially by the southern part of China where most Cantonese live. Cantonese and Vietnamese share a lot of similarities in language, culture, etc.
@justinarzola4584
@justinarzola4584 9 ай бұрын
@@mimimarcus I don't really see any influence in Cantonese rolls to the Vietnamese style( look very different and maybe prepared different)though your definitely right about the Cantonese and Vietnamese sharing some culture.
@nadiayc85
@nadiayc85 9 ай бұрын
The province is Guangdong, not Guangzhou
@melissaroscher1080
@melissaroscher1080 6 ай бұрын
Wish you had mentioned that no matter where Chinese immigrants go, the food morphs to the new culture, examples; Cuban Chinese, Japanese Chinese food, etc.
@mariaaugustapinto365
@mariaaugustapinto365 10 ай бұрын
Mas a comida chinesa é uma delícia! 😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
@thaihm
@thaihm 9 ай бұрын
Chop suey??? Does that still exit? I don’t remember what that is supposed to be.
@ramencurry6672
@ramencurry6672 Ай бұрын
That’s because you were born in the 90s. Chop suey was more of a thing in the 1950s
@truth4004
@truth4004 9 ай бұрын
American Chinese cooked by Asians is the best. They created it so to me it is Chinese.
@wwlee5
@wwlee5 9 ай бұрын
It is Chinese, probably 95% of it. I used to grow up in one "America-Chinese restaurant." Now I work in Asia working for an Asian factory that serves "America-Chinese" food to Chinese workers, cooked by Chinese chefs. Most people like to say that sweet-sour-pork for example is Americanized. Or the hot-sour soup. Or the egg-roll. Such and such. You can get the hot-sour soup at a food stall in taichung, taiwan; and sweet-sour-pork at a Cantonese restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan. The egg-roll (or lumpia in Taiwanese or lunbing in Mandarin as written on the poster) was being promoted by a vegan restaurant a few months ago behind the alley where I live. Don't listen to anyone else including Chinese or Taiwanese themselves. They tend to only eat sichuanese, hunanese, or northern Chinese food and ignore the other variety of cuisines in China and Taiwan.
@WOMFT
@WOMFT 7 күн бұрын
egg wa
@gabrielspautz3448
@gabrielspautz3448 7 ай бұрын
i mean we can even say that sriracha sauce is a chinese american invention
@PSL09
@PSL09 9 ай бұрын
its a great video but i feel like a lot of people know this at this point lol
@royc888
@royc888 9 ай бұрын
Taiwan invented a few fake foreign sounding food: Mongolian BBQ is not even Mongolian, Moon shrimp cake is not from Thailand, Pineapple cakes originally never had any pineapples in them.
@yeert6931
@yeert6931 10 ай бұрын
Nice video, getting heavy Johnny Harris vibes in a good way
@lorgnetteify
@lorgnetteify 4 ай бұрын
It’s so difficult to find information on what kind of meat is being used in american*** chinese food. The meat is so rubbery. Maybe its marinated in some nasty agents; maybe msg? I mean wth. 😢
@RoyFJ65
@RoyFJ65 9 ай бұрын
Wait tlil you see whats passed off as Chinese food in India, the irony being China is their next door neighbor.
@whaz4056
@whaz4056 9 ай бұрын
Not all Chinese's food originate from China. You can find different types of Chinese culture & food from various countries. Chinese are everywhere
@eduardochavacano
@eduardochavacano 9 ай бұрын
But it seem like it is still fair to call Chinese take out in America as Chinese? They do after all have stuff like Kumpao chicken, Sweet and Sour pork, and lemon chicken and these are Cantonese Food. Sure the box came from the US and it is fast food. But the people who made them are Chinese and they really value Authenticity and tradition. What matters is that their Quality is Consistent to what they have been making for decades. The video is great. But it failed to establish what seem to be its main thesis that Chinese Food in America is not Chinese. It is Chinese, made by Chinese people and with the same INTEGRITY they have in cooking Chinese food in China.
@tompraisan7642
@tompraisan7642 11 күн бұрын
There is nothing wrong with clean white Chinese food.
@Suntoria236
@Suntoria236 9 ай бұрын
We just call them “American” Chinese food Edit: Ah yes, just reached that part of the video
@daanachmad4032
@daanachmad4032 8 ай бұрын
It is laughable how some Americans made fun of Brits for their take of Chinese foods. You may find the British Chinese foods unappetising. But, don't act like you know what authentic Chinese foods are.
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