Strange enough but the so-called Chinese
food
in the USA has very little in common with genuine Chinese cuisine. The
fact is that American Chinese food has been modified to cater the
tastes of costumers.
Since the 19th century, when the first American Chinese food
restaurants
were opened, the western version of Chinese food has considerably
changed. Originally such American Chinese food restaurants catered to
railroad workers, then they were established in towns and were much
popularized among ordinary people. If at the beginning the selection of
American Chinese
food dishes wasn't too large, very soon chefs replenished menus
with such famous western inventions as General Tso's Chicken and Chop
Suey. In addition, American Chinese food restaurants became a real
refuge for Chinese immigrants who often suffered from unemployment for
their lack of language fluency. This way, a new style of Chinese food
was developed – the style that doesn't, actually, have any
analogues in China.
As it was said above, American Chinese food differs much from native
Chinese cuisine. For instance, genuine Chinese dishes feature live
seafood and fresh meat, as well as various vegetables like gai-lan or
bok-choy, while American Chinese cuisine uses vegetables as a garnish.
As a result, American version is less pungent, that is why MSG is often
added to enhance the flavor. However, some people are MSG-allergic, so
today Asian restaurants have to offer MSG free menus.
Besides that, American Chinese food is prepared with a large amount of
salt. All dishes are cooked very fast using inexpensive ingredients.
Some Chinese food
nutrition experts claim that such meal has many calories
and can't be healthy – in contrast to original Chinese food
which
is concentrated on leafy vegetables and requires less oil.
Is it true or not, but today American Chinese food has ever-growing
popularity, and more and more people enjoy the top 5 of western Chinese
dishes, including Sesame Chicken, Chop suey, Egg foo young, Wonton soup
and General Tso's Chicken.
|