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The sad part is that many Thai and Chinese restaurants serve a highly Americanized version of their cuisines. Sometimes so Americanized that it has little to do

The sad part is that many Thai and Chinese restaurants serve a highly Americanized version of their cuisines. Sometimes so Americanized that it has little to do with the original other than the name. For example a Chinese restaurant I went to recently put sugar in all dishes. I asked them about it that and they suggested Kung Pao Chicken if I don’t want sugar. They put sugar in everything else.

treme 5y ago
nothing sad about this. People grow up being used to different taste tone / palettes depending on local region, so businesses choose to cater to benefit of both customers and the business.
kcb 5y ago
When people bring this up it always reminds me of this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo59LlkTDe4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo59LlkTDe4 All the older first gen immigrants are like, it's not all authentic but it's pretty similar and tasty would eat it again. While the later gen kids are acting like its dog food.
- c21h30o2 5y ago
  Old Chinese people have experienced starvation. Young people have not.
- bobthepanda 5y ago
  It's also hilarious to act like there is one authorative version of a Chinese dish. China is 1 billion people over a large geographic area that has culturally exchanged for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years; at this point, the same dish can have many regional variations in preparation. The mapo tofu or kung pao chicken you find in its homeland of Chongqing is going to be very different from the versions of the dish served to locals in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. In that sense, American preparations of the same dish are adjusted to local taste and ingredient availability.
  - bllguo 5y ago
    What exactly is hilarious about the concept of authenticity? I don't see the argument
    - grey-area 5y ago
      There is no single ‘authentic’ version of a given dish, just infinite variety and shades of authenticity depending on what you mean by that and your particular experiences.
      - bllguo 5y ago
        I agree with most of that (I don't think personal experiences play much of a part; it's more about culture IMO), but I read the comment as suggesting authenticity is meaningless, which is a sentiment I have heard before and very much reject
        bobthepanda 5y ago
        The fetishization of the authentic is overwrought and is basically just exoticism. Most traditional recipes, if they were even standardized (and the aforementioned mapo tofu, as an example, is not at all) have only been like that in the last 100-150 years. In fact, I have seen people claim food that actually does come from China/Hong Kong as inauthentic. As an example, honey walnut shrimp is actually a dish from Hong Kong style western cuisine, which lost popularity in its homeland but is still made by the diaspora. To fetishize the authenticity of food is to reject progress and innovation. Korean or Indian food is no less authentic with the addition of chilis, even though those are not native plants to those regions and were introduced from the New World.
        bllguo 5y ago
        What a coincidence, I was actually thinking of honey walnut shrimp! If you conflate quality with authenticity I could see how "fetishizing" authenticity is tantamount to rejecting innovation. But I think they are distinct concepts, so I have to disagree. I also wouldn't characterize my stance as fetishization, more that authenticity is also something to appreciate, below more important factors like taste.
- silisili 5y ago
  Young people have something to prove, or differentiate themselves. See: hipsters. White kids would also talk about how bad say, Chiles or Applebee's is, for the same reason.
  - bllguo 5y ago
    I think in this case, "something to prove" is the desire to defend their culture
    - silisili 5y ago
      There is a difference between saying 'this is nothing like food in China', vs 'ugh its so bland/greasy/lifeless.' In the video in question, the young people's complaints were very much the latter. The old people seemed to more correlate it vs food in their country, but rated the food on its merits.
refurb 5y ago
Why is that “sad”? If people enjoy the food, that’s a good thing right?
- toastal 5y ago
  I suppose it's "sad" that you can't find the original or traditional dishes if you want. Immigrant Chinese cuisine has a long history of incorporating local ingredients and adjusting flavors preferred by locals. The new creations make me happy to eat. Bangkok has 1-3 American Chinese take-out restaurants with the New York menu for the large expat communities.
vostok 5y ago
I used to think this, but then I visited China and the food isn't that different from Chinese food in the US if you are comparing food from the corresponding region of China. Yes Kung Pao Chicken is very different from Cantonese dishes, but that's because Kung Pao Chicken is from a different part of China.
BelenusMordred 5y ago
> sad part Feel free to serve authentic Thai and Chinese cuisine in the west. Surely it will be a successful venture.

treme 5y ago

nothing sad about this. People grow up being used to different taste tone / palettes depending on local region, so businesses choose to cater to benefit of both customers and the business.

kcb 5y ago

When people bring this up it always reminds me of this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo59LlkTDe4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo59LlkTDe4 All the older first gen immigrants are like, it's not all authentic but it's pretty similar and tasty would eat it again. While the later gen kids are acting like its dog food.

c21h30o2 5y ago
Old Chinese people have experienced starvation. Young people have not.
bobthepanda 5y ago
It's also hilarious to act like there is one authorative version of a Chinese dish. China is 1 billion people over a large geographic area that has culturally exchanged for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years; at this point, the same dish can have many regional variations in preparation. The mapo tofu or kung pao chicken you find in its homeland of Chongqing is going to be very different from the versions of the dish served to locals in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. In that sense, American preparations of the same dish are adjusted to local taste and ingredient availability.
- bllguo 5y ago
  What exactly is hilarious about the concept of authenticity? I don't see the argument
  - grey-area 5y ago
    There is no single ‘authentic’ version of a given dish, just infinite variety and shades of authenticity depending on what you mean by that and your particular experiences.
    - bllguo 5y ago
      I agree with most of that (I don't think personal experiences play much of a part; it's more about culture IMO), but I read the comment as suggesting authenticity is meaningless, which is a sentiment I have heard before and very much reject
      - bobthepanda 5y ago
        The fetishization of the authentic is overwrought and is basically just exoticism. Most traditional recipes, if they were even standardized (and the aforementioned mapo tofu, as an example, is not at all) have only been like that in the last 100-150 years. In fact, I have seen people claim food that actually does come from China/Hong Kong as inauthentic. As an example, honey walnut shrimp is actually a dish from Hong Kong style western cuisine, which lost popularity in its homeland but is still made by the diaspora. To fetishize the authenticity of food is to reject progress and innovation. Korean or Indian food is no less authentic with the addition of chilis, even though those are not native plants to those regions and were introduced from the New World.
        bllguo 5y ago
        What a coincidence, I was actually thinking of honey walnut shrimp! If you conflate quality with authenticity I could see how "fetishizing" authenticity is tantamount to rejecting innovation. But I think they are distinct concepts, so I have to disagree. I also wouldn't characterize my stance as fetishization, more that authenticity is also something to appreciate, below more important factors like taste.
silisili 5y ago
Young people have something to prove, or differentiate themselves. See: hipsters. White kids would also talk about how bad say, Chiles or Applebee's is, for the same reason.
- bllguo 5y ago
  I think in this case, "something to prove" is the desire to defend their culture
  - silisili 5y ago
    There is a difference between saying 'this is nothing like food in China', vs 'ugh its so bland/greasy/lifeless.' In the video in question, the young people's complaints were very much the latter. The old people seemed to more correlate it vs food in their country, but rated the food on its merits.

refurb 5y ago

Why is that “sad”? If people enjoy the food, that’s a good thing right?

toastal 5y ago
I suppose it's "sad" that you can't find the original or traditional dishes if you want. Immigrant Chinese cuisine has a long history of incorporating local ingredients and adjusting flavors preferred by locals. The new creations make me happy to eat. Bangkok has 1-3 American Chinese take-out restaurants with the New York menu for the large expat communities.

vostok 5y ago

I used to think this, but then I visited China and the food isn't that different from Chinese food in the US if you are comparing food from the corresponding region of China. Yes Kung Pao Chicken is very different from Cantonese dishes, but that's because Kung Pao Chicken is from a different part of China.

BelenusMordred 5y ago

> sad part Feel free to serve authentic Thai and Chinese cuisine in the west. Surely it will be a successful venture.