4 ms·

I don’t think the “franchise” is literal in terms of a royalty — it’s just that the vast majority of Chinese restaurants order their supplies from the same few

I don’t think the “franchise” is literal in terms of a royalty — it’s just that the vast majority of Chinese restaurants order their supplies from the same few distributors yielding largely similar results. It’s why you pretty much know what you’re getting when you go to a new Chinese restaurant in a way that you don’t at a new Italian restaurant.

bencollier49 5y ago
Same deal with Patak's sauces in Indian restaurants in the UK nowadays, unfortunately.
- sidlls 5y ago
  We have those sauces in jars available on the shelf at my local grocer (Safeway, Bay Area, US). Bastardized or not, they are tasty.
  - bencollier49 5y ago
    Apparently it's the pastes which are used: https://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/bulk-pataks-balti-curry-paste-10121-p.asp https://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/bulk-pataks-balti-curry-p... It's a shame, because a lot of the dishes have lost a lot of their subtlety and especially regional variation.
    - sidlls 5y ago
      Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. They are a bit bland and more salty as compared with properly done from-scratch versions of the sauces, marinades, and sautés, but they're not too bad.
kenneth 5y ago
As an expat who lives in China and loves Chinese food, it makes me incredibly sad that in the Western world Chinese food is basically greasy bland cheap garbage generally inspired by 19th century Cantonese immigration (chop suey, fried rice, and various stir frys, plus uniquely American inventions like orange chicken or fortune cookies). What happened to the amazing food of Taiwan, Hunan, Sichuan, Shaanxi? There's so much better Chinese food than what you'll find at your average American Chinese restaurant. It's getting a bit better but there's still a long way to go even in the cities that have more Chinese options (NYC, west coast cities)
- alliao 5y ago
  what you're witness isn't actually Chinese food it's the melting pot of multiculturalism in action. Just like curry in UK, General Tso's chicken is now part of the US identity. New comers will bring new forks but the old dare I say classics are here to stay.
- jrochkind1 5y ago
  Sichuan seems pretty popular in the USA these days. In the medium-sized city where I live, there is a standard American Chinese place by a university which is frankly not very good even for American Chinese food, but was owned by people from sichuan and would make off menu sichuan dishes for immigrant students. But they noticed non-immigrant Americans ordering them too, and wisely noticed the general trend going on, and the same owners up a different place a few miles away with actual sichuan food and prices 2x+ higher, which has been very successful. :) In Philadelphia there's also the popular Han Dynasty chain of sichuan places. I'd imagine even the places with food closer to "actual" sichuan food, if they are popular with non-Chinese people, have "Americanized" to some extent. I couldn't say as they are my only exposure to it! But I know sometimes I get something where the flavors/textures are just TOO different than what I'm used to, and I just don't like it!
- 41209 5y ago
  Do you have any tips on getting real Chinese food in America. I was planning on living in Asia later this year, but it doesn't look like the pandemic will be under control by then
  - hallway_monitor 5y ago
    Go to a homey, family-owned Chinese restaurant when they are not busy. Some have a separate menu for more authentic cooking; you can ask about that and if not, just tell them you want to try authentic regional dishes. I have had good luck with this even in the midwest. Make sure to tell them how adventurous you are - will you eat feet, intestines, head-on fish etc.
  - azurezyq 5y ago
    Just talk to first generation Chinese immigrants. I have to say American Chinese food and authentic Chinese food are belong to different categories and serve different sets of people.
bluedino 5y ago
I came across a web site that looked like it was written in Geocities-style, it was a chinese food distributor and they basically sold a chinese restaurant in a box kit. All the food to make the menu, all the accessories like boxes and fortune cookies...

bencollier49 5y ago

Same deal with Patak's sauces in Indian restaurants in the UK nowadays, unfortunately.

sidlls 5y ago
We have those sauces in jars available on the shelf at my local grocer (Safeway, Bay Area, US). Bastardized or not, they are tasty.
- bencollier49 5y ago
  Apparently it's the pastes which are used: https://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/bulk-pataks-balti-curry-paste-10121-p.asp https://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/bulk-pataks-balti-curry-p... It's a shame, because a lot of the dishes have lost a lot of their subtlety and especially regional variation.
  - sidlls 5y ago
    Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. They are a bit bland and more salty as compared with properly done from-scratch versions of the sauces, marinades, and sautés, but they're not too bad.

kenneth 5y ago

As an expat who lives in China and loves Chinese food, it makes me incredibly sad that in the Western world Chinese food is basically greasy bland cheap garbage generally inspired by 19th century Cantonese immigration (chop suey, fried rice, and various stir frys, plus uniquely American inventions like orange chicken or fortune cookies). What happened to the amazing food of Taiwan, Hunan, Sichuan, Shaanxi? There's so much better Chinese food than what you'll find at your average American Chinese restaurant. It's getting a bit better but there's still a long way to go even in the cities that have more Chinese options (NYC, west coast cities)

alliao 5y ago
what you're witness isn't actually Chinese food it's the melting pot of multiculturalism in action. Just like curry in UK, General Tso's chicken is now part of the US identity. New comers will bring new forks but the old dare I say classics are here to stay.
jrochkind1 5y ago
Sichuan seems pretty popular in the USA these days. In the medium-sized city where I live, there is a standard American Chinese place by a university which is frankly not very good even for American Chinese food, but was owned by people from sichuan and would make off menu sichuan dishes for immigrant students. But they noticed non-immigrant Americans ordering them too, and wisely noticed the general trend going on, and the same owners up a different place a few miles away with actual sichuan food and prices 2x+ higher, which has been very successful. :) In Philadelphia there's also the popular Han Dynasty chain of sichuan places. I'd imagine even the places with food closer to "actual" sichuan food, if they are popular with non-Chinese people, have "Americanized" to some extent. I couldn't say as they are my only exposure to it! But I know sometimes I get something where the flavors/textures are just TOO different than what I'm used to, and I just don't like it!
41209 5y ago
Do you have any tips on getting real Chinese food in America. I was planning on living in Asia later this year, but it doesn't look like the pandemic will be under control by then
- hallway_monitor 5y ago
  Go to a homey, family-owned Chinese restaurant when they are not busy. Some have a separate menu for more authentic cooking; you can ask about that and if not, just tell them you want to try authentic regional dishes. I have had good luck with this even in the midwest. Make sure to tell them how adventurous you are - will you eat feet, intestines, head-on fish etc.
- azurezyq 5y ago
  Just talk to first generation Chinese immigrants. I have to say American Chinese food and authentic Chinese food are belong to different categories and serve different sets of people.

bluedino 5y ago

I came across a web site that looked like it was written in Geocities-style, it was a chinese food distributor and they basically sold a chinese restaurant in a box kit. All the food to make the menu, all the accessories like boxes and fortune cookies...