Chinese Cuisine – Family in the Chinese American Takeout Restaurant

Tag: Chinese Cuisine

“My dad, he would never let us eat like the food that he made at his restaurant, but he served those that that kind of food at his restaurant.”
– Person E recalls her dad’s opinion of Chinese American Takeout cuisine in June 15th, 2022 interview.

The Chinese immigrant story and the hard work that built Chinese American Takeout food ensures its permanent place in Chinese American cuisine. Many Takeout restaurants have identical menus, serving well-known dishes like General Tso Chicken and fried rice. Chop suey was the first Chinese restaurant dish to gain popularity in America, resulting in a Chinese cuisine boom. Jennifer 8. Lee notes, “The magic behind copy suey was that it was familiar but exotic” to the American palate. Su-Jit Lin at The Spruce Eats, grew up in a Fujianese-American household as a “Takeout kid.” Lin seeks to challenge the long-held belief that Americanized Chinese Takeout food is fake Chinese food.

Person A does not eat Americanized Takeout food because it is not healthy. Even when her family eats out, they eat authentic Chinese food in Chinatowns, usually consisting of seafood because it is usually a more expensive kind of meat. Person 2 explains how she looks for authentic Chinese food in New York City as food spots change their dishes to suit a wider palate. Recently, she is finding it harder to locate restaurants serving specific dishes she likes, including a smelly dish with shrimp paste as its main ingredient. Person 2’s advice to finding authentic Chinese food is to look for places that are not as clean, because the chefs at these places have not revamped their menu and might continue to cook dishes they would before the influx of non-Chinese customers.

*Person 2’s story is not processed and available on the website yet.

Lee, Jennifer 8. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. New York: Hachette Book Group, p. 59.

Lin, Su-Jit. “Yes, American Chinese Food Is Authentic Chinese Food.” Updated December 21, 2022. https://www.thespruceeats.com/american-chinese-food-is-authentic-5248271.

Transcript: 您每个月进多少货？进什么货？ Person C: 一个餐馆每个月有的是四个五个公司进货。海鲜两个礼拜进一次。干货包括, 那个sauce, 干货包括那个纸袋、叉、调羹、quart罐子、还有装饭的那个盒子，一个月进一次。还有那些新鲜的货，鸡翅版、鸡胸、鸡腿、素菜，一个礼拜进三次。还有就是平常素菜和新鲜的素菜，每一个礼拜五天进货。那付出还有垃圾、电话费、电费、煤气费。没有了。 Translation: How much goods do you order every month? What do you order? Person C: Some restaurants order from four or five companies each month. Seafood comes in every two weeks.…

Tag: Chinese Cuisine

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