@to_cya_
In Thailand, there is a dish called “American Fried Rice” but it isn’t exist in the US.
@DemonZest
In Europe we have our own japanese food, still called japanese but they are modified recipes that appeal more to European palate.
@jeff__w
Actually, there’s a bit more to the “Chinatown” look: the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 had leveled the city’s Chinatown and the city, including the mayor, seized on the opportunity to try to “relocate the Chinese,” something the city had wanted to do even before the earthquake and fire, given that Chinatown was prime real estate. A Subcommittee on Relocating the Chinese met with prominent members of the Chinese community who, essentially, told the committee over about 25 hearings that, if forced to relocate, they might move somewhere else entirely, depriving the city of revenue from Chinese-American trade and other business benefits. (Representatives of imperial China weighed in on the side of the Chinese community as well.) The subcommittee dropped the plan. A Mendocino-born businessman, Look Tin Eli, came up with the idea to rebuild Chinatown in an exotic, faux Chinese-style, and the white architects employed incorporated those features of Chinese architecture, e.g., curved eaves, multilevel pagodas, that, to them, seemed to typify Chinese architecture. Eli and the other Chinese or Chinese-American business leaders were well aware that this style was nothing like genuine Chinese architecture but that didn’t matter to them; if tourists wanted to see some theme park version of Chinese architecture—and they did—Chinatown would have no qualms about catering to them.
@julienielsen3746
I watched a PBS documentary on chinese restaurants in Canada. There were people telling us about getting Chow Mein burgers in the 1940s and 50s etc. Never heard of those in America. At least in Oregon.
@dansharpe2364
As a white English person who grew up in Hong Kong from the age of 10 I was baffled by "Chinese" food served in takeaways in the UK when I returned here to go to college. I took to speaking to staff in Cantonese and suddenly real Chinese food was available! Great video, thank you, I have "Liked and Subscribed".
@SDZ675
Same with how "sushi" outside Japan is just mostly random maki roll concoctions when it's mostly sashimi and nigiri in Japan or how Italian and Indian food in US/UK are completely different than in their native countries. That's the beauty of cuisines; they adapt to the tastes of the local population and ingredients.
@davidcopple8071
Howdy from Texas 🤠 When I was 14 years old my stepdad got me a job washing dishes at a Chinese restaurant. And the Chef Owner, who went by the name George was very traditional and old school Chinese. He was around 60 years old and he had actually purchased his 24 year old wife in China and brought her over to work in his restaurant and god knows what else. I don't even want to think about it. 🫣 Anyway the restaurant served American Chinese food. But at night after closing, George and his two assistant cooks whipped up a proper Chinese spread , they would put several dining tables against each other and lay out an impressive amount of actual Chinese food. This was a nightly routine and we all sat together and ate like one big family. That's how I was introduced to actual Chinese food. They all really enjoyed watching me try new dishes that I had never had before. And whether I liked it or made a face, they would all laugh and clap at my reaction. I'm 61 years old now and that is still one of my fondest memories. And I still love both cuisines to this day.
@louigovi
In the UK we have both and it's kind of confusing. There's 'Chinese Takeaway' which is the American Chinese food, and there's Chinese or just Asian restaurants that make more authentic Chinese food. So sometimes when you're looking at places it's hard to know which it'll be without looking on the menu.
@flyingzone356
American-Chinese food isn't entirely American, though, of course, it is loosely based on Cantonese cuisine. Most of the earliest waves of Chinese immigrants to the United States (and in fact all over the world) were from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. China is such a vast country, not surprisingly, regional differences are enormous. The people from Guangdong do not even speak the same language as those from the rest of China. Not surprisingly, their cuisine is very different from the rest of China too. Cantonese cuisine is in general less spicy, less salty, less "saucy," less oily and greasy (hard to believe given how oily and greasy American-Chinese food is), and more sweet (hence the sweetness of a lot of Chinese-American dishes).
@terryc522
As a CBC (Chinese born Canadian) born in the 70’s and first generation Canuk. I totally get the American/Canadian Chinese food. It was interesting to say the least. Very polarized. I remember inviting friends over for dinner and they were shocked about what we fed them. They either loved it or hated it. It was mostly Cantonese or “Hong Kong” style Chinese food. There are two interesting books. One American and one Canadian that delves into American/Canadian Chinese food. “The fortune cookie chronicles” and “Chop suey nation”. Jenifer 8. Lee (author of The fortune cookie chronicles) also did a Ted Talk called “Search for General Tao” it also a name of a documentary she produced? Ps, it was great in the 70’s as an Asian/Chinese child. Everyone thought Bruce Lee was my uncle and I got “diplomatic immunity” from getting beat up 😂
@faustinuskaryadi6610
While fortune cookie is Japanese invention, the omikuji itself have root in Chinese culture. Yes, many Taoist temples also have something similar to omamori, ofuda, and omikuji (fortune telling paper) just with more Chinese style and aesthetic. So, that's why Chinese restaurant in USA can easily adopt Japanese fortune cookie since fortune telling paper is also part of Chinese culture or I could say Confucian culture sphere.
@tedgovostis7351
Pretty sure the "egg" in egg roll comes from the wrapper being an egg and flour based pasta, rather than the rice based wrapper for spring rolls.
@SiddharthS96
Great video! Here in India, we have completely different food here, which is called Indo-Chinese with popular dishes like chilli chicken, chicken Manchurian, Schezwan chicken, etc. None of which exist in China or anywhere else in the world, yet they taste great!
@er66an
So interesting.I was in Germany in July and they have asian restaurants not only a mix of china and Japan but also Thailand, India and more
@demanager0412
over here in the Netherlands we have the same, having ''Chinese'' is actually adjusted Indonesian cuisine. Still great food but it's nothing like real Indonesian food, let alone Chinese.
@nuutti2957
Criminally underrated channel. Great to see you growing though. <3
@lemmonsinmyeyes
Max Miller from tasting history, talked about old goldmining towns and cowboys & whatnot. He mentions that a lot of chinese, german, french went to these towns to open pubs that also had food/buffet. And even very remote area were severing chinese food with things they could get here. So american-chinese food is really really old. Like 150 years old
@soulie2001
I truly think this discounts how much the cultural differentiation has made (your) people carve out some large niche of America. You are top of the line, as we speak. And very respected.
@n0etic_f0x
Honestly, something really fun is to as an American go see what people think American food is. One thing I have seen is canned corn... for some reason. Like even as a pizza topping. More common and more American is ketchup and hotdogs, in or on everything as well as Ranch often being American flavor. Other than that oversize it and drench it in cheese... which... yeah we do that.
@hollowsoulreaper