|
March 8, 2014 |
|
American Chinese cuisine (什碎館 or 雜碎館) is a style of cooking served by many Chinese restaurants in the United States. However, it is considered to be not authentic Chinese cuisine by ethnic ethnic Chinese|Chinese but instead a cuisine geared towards Westerners. Some American Chinese restaurants have gone so far as to use the Chinese characters for "Western food" on their signs and advertising (of course the English translation uses different language entirely) (see McCawley, The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters.) This cuisine is often perceived as 'real' Chinese food. American Chinese cuisine has sometimes been used in derogatory jokes and common stereotypes to label the Chinese and Chinese Americans in general. Restaurants serving American Chinese cuisine are mainly run by the descendants of early Chinese immigrants (dating back to the 19th century) and cater to the taste of non-Chinese Americans. With more and more new immigrants arriving from China, more diverse selections of authentic Chinese cuisines are available in major cities such as San Francisco, California|San Francisco and New York, New York|New York, especially in the older and newer Chinatown|Chinatowns. However, so-called 'mom and pop' restaurant|resturants and diner|diners in tourist areas and smaller towns still offer dishes not found in China. Some dishes are indeed Chinese dishes, but the American versions are quite different and not considered very authentic. The menu typically includes:
American Chinese food also does not include some foods which many Chinese consider delicacies, such as liver and pig or chicken feet. American Chinese food tends to use western vegetables such as broccoli and carrots whereas more authentic Chinese cuisine would tend to use Asian leafy vegetables like bok choy and Gai-lan. Authentic Chinese cuisine places more emphasis on vegetables in general while American Chinese food treats vegetables almost as garnish. Image:Chinese buffet2.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A Chinese buffet restaurant in the U.S. American Chinese food tends to be cooked very quickly with large amounts of oil and salt, and it has a reputation for containing high levels of MSG (monosodium glutamate) which is used as a flavor enhancer. Because of this, the symptoms of MSG sensitivity have been dubbed "Chinese restaurant syndrome" or "Chinese food syndrome". While there is no conclusive evidence that MSG is harmful, many restaurants have taken the initiative for "MSG Free" or "No MSG" menus. In addition to full-service restaurants, American Chinese food is also available in mom-and-pop Chinese buffets. Fast food joints (usually located in shopping or strip malls) such as Panda Express and Manchu WOK are also quite popular. They are often found in areas with a lower or even non-existent population of Asian-Americans. In areas of the southwestern United States, it is common for the cooks within American Chinese restaurants to be from Mexico. As most American Chinese cuisine establishments cater to non-Chinese customers, menu|menus are usually written in English and only some may be in Chinese, however the part written in Chinese may be an entirely different menu from the English version (see McCawley). Such establishments are often patronized by way of take-out or delivery. San Francisco In San Francisco since the early 1990's, more than a few American Chinese restaurants influenced by the Cuisine of California have opened. While many of the trademark dishes of American Chinese cuisine remain on the menu, there is more emphasis on the use of fresh vegetables. Exotic ingredients such as mangoes, portabello mushrooms, or asparagus may appear. Menus tend to be vegetarian-friendly. Other cuisines may exert their influence: a common substitution is grilled flour tortillas in place of rice pancakes in mu shu dishes, and brown rice is readily available as an alternative to white rice. Even in restaurants which do not follow this new formula, chop suey is generally not available, and chow mein is reportedly different from that served in the midwestern US.
Category:American cuisine Category:Chinese_American_history
category:Chinese cuisine This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "American Chinese cuisine".
|
|
|||
All informatin on the site is © FamousChinese.com 2002-2005. Last revised: January 2, 2004 Are you interested in our site or/and want to use our information? please read how to contact us and our copyrights. To post your business in our web site? please click here. To send any comments to us, please use the Feedback. To let us provide you with high quality information, you can help us by making a more or less donation: |