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I know many people who believe that the "American Chinese food" in some regions of the US is so bland and greasy not because the people making it don't know how
by derefr 3y ago
I know many people who believe that the "American Chinese food" in some regions of the US is so bland and greasy not because the people making it don't know how to make good Chinese food; but because they're trying to sell Chinese food to a market of people who actively dislike everything that makes authentic ethnic Chinese cuisine distinctive; and that some watered-down tasteless glop (and I don't mean congee, lol) is the local maximum they've found for marketability in that environment.
(Of course, the global maximum — at least for someone who wants to continue to serve that particular market — would be to stop trying to sell these people Chinese food at all, if they're not going to like it. And instead, to learn to cook something where you and your target market can agree on how it should taste.)
- marcosdumay 3y ago> Of course, the global maximum — at least for someone who wants to continue to serve that particular market — would be to stop trying to sell these people Chinese food at all It's entirely possible that those people like bland Chinese food.
- derefr 3y agoThey do like it more than they like Chinese food that has Chinese-food flavors in it, but even with it taken as far as it can be toward their tastes, they still don't like it as much as they like mediocre examples of other cuisines, let alone good examples of other cuisines. To go from a 3/5 to a 4/5 in the eyes of many of these markets, there's nowhere to go but to just start selling tacos or something. (Source: my Cantonese chef uncle-in-law who lives in the midwest.)
- tracker1 3y agoI spent most of my life in Arizona... There's some pretty garbage tacos out there... And taco bell,. Del taco and taco dons aren't good. They're ok... Not good or authentic. So even your counter example can have the same bias.