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View Full Version : How different is American-Chinese food from real Chinese food ?



GoldCoinLover
Aug 18, 2006, 04:44
Has anyone eaten so called "chinese food" in the US? Like at Panda Express?

Are there really egg rolls in china? And orange chicken? Is this really how chinese food is in china? Or is it much different?

:cool:

RockLee
Aug 18, 2006, 06:59
Much different :) They Westernise the food abroad.

yukio_michael
Aug 18, 2006, 07:29
If you want to find good Chinese food in the United States, go to a NON chain restaraunt ---first, then go there on a Sunday--- if there are Asian people eating there, you've probably found a fairly authentic restaraunt.

Think Dim Sum, forget fortune cookies & General Chiang's Chicken... that stuff is strictly for the round-eyes.

Nana007
Aug 18, 2006, 07:43
I've eaten at a REAL chinese restuarant, there is alot of them in Houston, along the Bellair strip

Akakubisan
Aug 18, 2006, 10:53
Go to restaurants that chinese nationals frequent. I had a chinese roommate for a year and the restaurants he took me to were very different from the normal chain restaurants.

uloocn
Aug 18, 2006, 11:08
I am in China, I don't know how does the Chinese food like abroad?
My wife is good at cooking and we seldom eat in restaurants.

yukio_michael
Aug 18, 2006, 13:39
I am in China, I don't know how does the Chinese food like abroad? My wife is good at cooking and we seldom eat in restaurants.Chinese food in Japan seemed fairly authentic to me, or, at least as authentic as I've had at restraraunts in the United States that were popular with Chinese.

Chinese food in the United States, Westernized-Chienese food, is typified by stir-frying, Wok-cooking, quickly prepared dishes that are less centered on vegetables & seafood.

Fried rice is eaten much moreso than plain white rice, and, what I've experienced is that many dishes are served cooked with a rather oily sauce that makes many of the different tastes indestinguishable.

There are a great number of chicken and pork dishes that use a rather sweet sauce, sometimes almost orange in colour---- I've not had anything like this outside of the United States...

And of course the fortune cookie--- it goes without saying that at the end of a Chinese meal there is the ever-present slightly sweet cookie folded not unlike a dumpling you would find in soup.

The funny thing about fortune cookies is the fortune themselves... depending on where you go, even pan-Asian restaraunts in my city have fortune cookies oddly enough, the fortune can be anything from light hearted obvious statements like "Try and you will succede!", to downright depressing, "Man was born to live, but not prepared to live."

RockLee
Aug 18, 2006, 19:11
I've had Chinese food in Beijing,Shanghai,Guangzhou,Shenzhen and Zhuhai, and it tasted NOTHING like the food in Belgium. You can't compare it with the Chinese restaurants abroad to be honest.

ricecake
Aug 18, 2006, 19:53
Are there really egg rolls in china? And orange chicken ?

Is this really how chinese food is in china ?



There are regional variety of egg rolls in China,and orange or lemon chicken is an Americanized Chinese dish not available in China/HK/Taiwan.

Only authentic Chinese restaurants where Chinese frequent have original tastes as those in China/Taiwan/HK.

The best Chinese gourmet dishes are serve at restaurant Chinese wedding banquet.

yukio_michael
Aug 19, 2006, 00:49
There are regional variety of egg rolls in China,and orange or lemon chicken is an Americanized Chinese dish not available in China/HK/Taiwan.
Aren't egg rolls and the like, though different, refered to simply as "spring rolls", in Chinese and other Asian cooking?

Dena81
Aug 19, 2006, 02:51
I've had Chinese food in chinatown, a restaurant in which I think only us and another family there were the only non-asian...or maybe even non-Chinese in the restaurant. It was very, very, very different from chinese I've had that has been westernized.

nurizeko
Aug 19, 2006, 02:57
I'll have to admit, I dont ussually go to a themed resturaunt with cultural authenticity in mind.

When I go to an Istalian or Chinese resturaunt I expect good tasting slop hehe.

Theres a new Japanese resturaunt opening up soon here in my town so, since the S/O is over from Japan we'll prolly mozey on over and try out their authenticity, nothing like a Japanese national pick apart a westernised resturaunt.

I wonder if they'll do real Japanese food or just be a glorified westernised sushi bar.

ricecake
Aug 19, 2006, 03:59
Aren't egg rolls and the like, though different, refered to simply as "spring rolls", in Chinese and other Asian cooking ?



I don't know how the term " egg rolls " came about in America,the 2 Chinese characters for this appetizer literally means " spring rolls ".

Vietnamese have their native version of non-oil-fried spring rolls in rice wrapper stuff with vermicilli,lettuce,pork slices and halfed-shrimp.

uloocn
Aug 21, 2006, 10:23
I don't know how the term " egg rolls " came about in America,the 2 Chinese characters for this appetizer literally means " spring rolls ".
Vietnamese have their native version of non-oil-fried spring rolls in rice wrapper stuff with vermicilli,lettuce,pork slices and halfed-shrimp.
I think " egg rolls " =’`™É, " spring rolls "=t™É, little different and I don't like either.

sadie_sue
Aug 21, 2006, 11:35
Most of the Chinese food I've had has been iffy. Of course, before I moved to Arizona I lived in a town where the people running the only Chinese restaurant were Japanese, but the places here are good if a bit expensive, not a chain.

yukio_michael
Aug 21, 2006, 13:50
Vietnamese have their native version of non-oil-fried spring rolls in rice wrapper stuff with vermicilli,lettuce,pork slices and halfed-shrimp.They've always called that "summer roll".... at Viet Namese restaraunts I've been to.

ricecake
Aug 21, 2006, 14:28
They've always called that " summer roll " .... at Viet Namese restaraunts I've been to.



That's " Goi Cuon " in Vietnamese for native version of non-deep-fried rice wrapper rolls aka summer rolls,I see now they differentiate it with this English label for there wasn't one in the past.

Vietnamese also have " Cha Gio ",a Chinese imitation oil-fried egg rolls aka spring rolls with slightly different stuffings.

I don't think there are Japanese and Korean spring rolls,they've only localized Chinese " fried rice ".

ricecake
Aug 22, 2006, 05:37
(1) " egg rolls " = ’`™É

(2) " spring rolls " = t™É

little different and I don't like either.



(1) These 2 Chinese characters commonly use for pastry sweets or egg tarts or puffy Swiss rolls

(2) These are oil-fried spring rolls ( aka egg rolls )

Nicholas Tse
Sep 1, 2006, 18:39
Chinese eat every living thing in the world! Including microorgamisms.. because they're in the air..:blush:
just joking...chinese eat every living thing except poisonoues creature!:-)

BeNe
Sep 1, 2006, 22:49
I have a favuorite chinese restaurant in munich, and i like the food there more than in other chinese restaurants here. By reading this thread I remembered that it's the only one where I can meet chinese people.... Sometimes there are 50 chninese people and just me is non-chinese :-)

Xiadane
Sep 26, 2006, 07:06
Mm.. The general rule of thumb when looking for a 'good chinese restaurant' is looking into the restaurant and seeing if there are any foreigners in there. If it's all/mostly Asian, then most likely it's authentic. XD

But about eggrolls and orange chicken... they're incredibly westernized to suit the Western tastes. That's why most foreigners think of those two when it comes to Chinese food.

Geographer@UK
Oct 10, 2006, 05:57
Well, i'm a Chinese in England and the Chinese buffet in a number of Chinese restaurants here can only show the way of cooking and seldom the good taste based on my limited experience. The real Chinese food is far more than a non-Chinese can expect.

taeter_tot
Dec 18, 2006, 06:19
I am all for spicy savory Sichuan cuisine,the worldly known hot and sour soup is mouthful.:cool:

Goldiegirl
Dec 18, 2006, 06:37
mmm...I like Chinese food. Westernized is ok with me. I had some really great Chinese food in Yokohama. Also, they had dessert there, not a fortune cookie or almond cookie like here in the US. It was kind of like a white coconut pudding with fresh fruit and lychees (spelling ?) it was so refreshing and not too sweet or heavy. I wish we had that here.

Utena Tenjou
Dec 18, 2006, 13:57
I love chinese food. We have a China Wok and a New China Restaurant... that's the name of the place.

CBT1979
Jan 1, 2007, 00:41
If you live in Europe, the best Chinese (especially HKnese) cuisine is in Chinatown London!
In most other European countries, Chinese restaurants are usually offering westernized Chinese food.
If you want eat Chinese food with good quality I can recomment you trying them (too many choices) in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In (mainland) China, there are also great and even elite cuisines but many are still not at high standards yet, especially the cheaper ones.
Chinese food has a very big inventory to display, since it contains so many provinces with their own local food. Some of the most famous are Beijing Duck, MaPoTofu from Sichuan, TsaSao and DimSum from Guangdong etc.

The bandwith of the Chinese cuisine is so huge, that you definetly will find things you love and things you hate :-)

taeter_tot
Jan 1, 2007, 03:59
I see,so it's the same in Europe continent where you only get usual westernized Chinese food not authentic original tastes.

crazybuyer
Jan 16, 2007, 01:20
I've eaten the real chinese food by some friends of mine that are from china...nothing compare with the one eaten in restaurant ;)

kanadian
May 5, 2007, 07:39
I like Chinese food.I dont mind the Western version of it.
Either way...it is good ! I wish I had someone to teach me how
to make Chinese food and make it good !

lenajiang
May 25, 2007, 15:33
In China ,every area has different appetite.I am now in the east of China.it is closely to Shanghai.In my city ,everyone would like to eat a little sweety dishes,white rice and delicious soup and so on .In the north of China,there people would like to eat food made from wheat as their dinner.It is very interesting .Welcome to China to realize her's presence .

EmperorHirohito
Jun 25, 2007, 06:52
I love Chinese food, but over here in the UK Chinese restuarants did have a bad name say twenty years ago, but due to better standards of hygiene we have in this country the whole scene of take away food has got alot better, which is very good. I am very partial to most of the rice dishes and chow mein dishes, which I love.

As for stir frys I do have two woks in this house which get used on a regular basis :)

Mothling
Jun 23, 2009, 21:59
There are a large selection of Chinese restaurants in my home-city, and I have eaten at pretty much all of them at least once. My favourite place though is a small establishment which serves the most delicious food, and ironically, I (and whomever I may bring with me) seem to be the only western person eating in there. Everybody else is asian. This, I am taking,is a good sign - food-authenticity-wise!

Cakeceramic
Jul 19, 2009, 12:16
I am Chinese, I like Chinese food very much. I have read every friends' message, thanks for your praise about Chinese food. There are many kind of food, it is very difficult for me to describe them here. I hope every one will come to China, and then go to everywhere to play and eat. I am sure that you will have a happy trip here.

chinafacttours
Aug 7, 2009, 15:19
When it comes to food, the Chinese have a common saying, "The masses regard food as their heaven," which means that food is people's primal want. There are a lot of different dishes on the menu around the country. Just learn more about Chinese food and cuisine at China Fact Tours.

lazyluan
Oct 9, 2009, 15:36
I have never been abroad and have no chance to eat such food.But I am a Chinese CI can eat the more traditional food here.