What exactly is Chop Suey?I recently finished "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles" and absolutely loved it. Jennifer 8 Lee delves into the world of Chinese food in America after hearing about a statistical anomaly where numerous people (somewhere around 100) had major lottery winnings in a single contest. The link? The majority of the winners picked their numbers from a fortune cookie. She follows the history of Chinese food in America and examines its impact on American culture.
Growing up, my family always distinguished between Chinese food and "American Chinese food." When I first moved to Davis 10 years ago, I refused to eat at any Chinese restaurant because it wasn't authentic. Lee however, legitimizes American Chinese food as an integral part of American culture. She writes, "Our benchmark for Americanness is apple pie. But ask yourself: How often do you eat apple pie? How often do you eat Chinese food?"
It has helped me appreciate places like Panda Express for what it is. Now when my friends gush about "Orange Chicken," I understand that they are talking about their own homey comfort foods, and they fall in a different category than scrumptious chicken feet and pig's ears.
4 comments:
You are a much better woman than me! I still hold Panda Express in great distain. I'll have to read the book.
Wikipedia has a helpful entry on chop suey. It appears to be the quintessential American-Chinese food.
I grew up in a town with two Chinese restaurants, but given the fact that the vast majority of the town was Latino and then a large white population, the food wasn't all that authentic. The owners were merely catering to the tastes of their customers and so the only thing respectfully Chinese on the tables was soy sauce. Any hot sauce they gave could be found with the other salsas in the grocery store. The food also favored deep-fried fare.
When I came to Davis and went to China, I had huge revelations about Chinese food and became something of a snob. I wouldn't call many of the Chinese restaurants in Davis "good Chinese food" as in being representative of something that's authentic, but it tastes good. When I go to Panda Express I generally don't ask for chop sticks because who am I kidding -- I'm eating American fast food influenced by Chinese cuisine. Same with Baja Fresh or Chipotle -- it's not authentic Mexican food, but it tastes good.
Here's an interesting question: what if the Chinese food we eat in America is more representative of the Chinese food of a century ago than of what is eaten there today? That is, surely the cuisine has changed in China, and perhaps we're eating a snapshot of what was eaten in China before those folks immigrated to the US. I don't think we could go very far with this since a large portion of Chinese immigration has happened in the last fifty years and it's likely that many of the Chinese restaurants serve food that's mingled with all the other stuff out there that originally came from another country: burritos, hamburgers, gyros, lasagna, sushi, humus, etc.
I agree with you, Pegs. I like Panda for what it is, and I like my more authentic restaurants for what they provide. It's just different, right? I mean, I dig my fillet mignon, but I also like my In-N-Out, too!
I think growing up I had the notion that "chop suey" was something involving very large meat cleavers (the chop part) and I don't know what the "suey" part was supposed to be... but i think i imagined there were noodles involved somehow. where did that come from anyway, i've never seen it on a menu or anything...
Post a Comment