"Chinese" food

[Guy Fawkes]

Which do you prefer- *real* Chinese food, or American-Chinese take out?

[KamaAina]

1. A loaded question.

The American-Chinese takeout to which you refer is only available on the U.S. mainland.

Hereabouts, the authentic stuff does double duty as "comfort food". Really.

[tjdee]

2. General Tso's family didn't even know he had a dish named after him.

I chuckled reading that...

Turns out, General Tso was somewhat of a bonafide hero in China back in the day. It must be insulting to think that all Americans know about your great ancestor is that he's a chicken dish.

One of the relatives, when presented with this news, said "It's a chicken dish, you say?" or something like that.

Kind of interesting, but kind of sad.

I like American Chinese takeout, never had the real thing.

[sasquatch]

13. I loved it in the Simpsons when they saw General Tso's memorial-

and it was a takeout box.

[Nikia]

3. I don't know if I have had real Chinese food

As I understand it, most Chinese food at American restaurants, even nice ones, is American style Chinese food. I have lived in the Midwest all my life and grew up eating what is called Chinese food.

[NewJeffCT]

15. American Chinese food is generally sweeter

They usually put a brown sauce on the food that makes the stuff pretty sweet. Authentic Chinese food is not nearly as sweet.

[TimeChaser]

4. A little of both

I love General Tso's Chicken, although I do like some of the authentic stuff too. Personally, I prefer authentic Japanese food.

[Guy Fawkes]

5. ! We're set to get a hibachi restraunt...

5 star and all that jazz, too! This is big news for our little town of 60,000!

The fanciest place in town (now) is Olive Garden. Oy.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

6. I don't know that I've ever had authentic Chinese food.

But I do love the American takeout version!

[Taxloss]

7. The authentic stuff, of course.

Mrs Taxloss's dad used to be a chef in a Chinese restaurant. The man's a genius. And I'm a lucky man.

[LeftyMom]

8. Well, we went to Chinatown for lunch on monday (3 hr drive)

and the food was delicious. Authentic chinese food rocks, good americanized take-out is okay if I'm in the mood for it, bad americanized chinese food (chain resturaunt stuff, for example) is awful.

Run far away from anyplace that serves chinese food but has no chinese employees! My best friend made the mistake of ordering chinese in Stillwater, Oklahoma and it was :puke:

[Lisa]

9. most small towns in Canada have a place that sells

"Chinese and Canadian Food" -- advertised as such on their signage! One such establishment, on the highway near Qualicum Beach BC, serves (authentic homemade) noodles with a cheeseburger on the side.

I love this country. I like authentic foods, but "hybrid" ethnic dishes like "chop suey" and "Hawaiian Pizza", for example, are fascinating examples of making-do with what materials are available. And they're also one way in which new types of food make it into the North American mainstream.

[Telly Savalas]

10. Down the street from us...

is a Pad Thai/Fish and Chips joint. Go figure.

[Lisa]

12. We live in a town with a lot of fish and chip joints ...

My former landlady would have lots of relatives visiting her from Japan, and she would often take them out for "giant tempura"!

[chaska]

11. Well, in my neighborhood they seem right partial to pig intestines.

But hey, where I come from we (not me personally though) are too. We call 'em chitlins.

[MrModerate]

14. I lived in Hong Kong for 5 years and . . .

One of my greatest disappointments was that the Chinese food wasn't very good.

As it turns out, Cantonese cooking is a lot blander than Northern Chinese (typically referred to as Szechwan or Hunan in the States), with most dishes steamed or boiled. And Cantonese don't tend to like fiery spices. So I found it pretty dull.

Except for Dim Sum. Hong Kong Dim Sum was incredibly good, especially with "Gweilo sauce" (chili paste) liberally applied.

[scarlet_owl]

16. Take out. I was never too fond of the real stuff.

[BlondieK143]

17. I've never had the real thing.

But I'm a big fan of some take out. :)

[solinvictus]

18. We're lucky to have both under one roof.

Here in Birmingham, there's an Asian market that inhabits an old Quincy's Steakhouse building. In the little sunroom portion of the building, they've set it up as a restaurant. Get this: they cook everything from the market, meaning, if you order fish it comes right out of the tank. Their menu has a fairly extensive mix of authentic and Americanized Chinese dishes. To top it off, prices are dirt cheap. A while back, we took a group of nine people and even with several appetizers, the total bill was less than $70.

[Hubert Flottz]

19. I don't eat anything that looks like it needs an oil change!

If you like Chinese food you'll love this...

http://www.starterupsteve.com/swf/chowmein.html

Boneuppatwat

[BlondieK143]

20. Ewwww!

:rofl:

[Hubert Flottz]

21. So that's what Billy Bob Frist does with all those danged kitties!

I nominated your thread!

No need to thank me, because I felt it was my civic duty to administer a
swift :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :beer: :toast: :hi:

[Lannes]

22. Loved real Chinese food

When I could get it.It isnt weighed down with alot of unecessary ingredients.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. Can't stand the "shopping mall Chinese buffet" stuff

There were some authentic places in Portland, and I think I've found one here in Minneapolis. The tell-tale sign is not only Chinese cooks and waiters but also Chinese customers. If there's a bunch of people at the next table speaking Mandarin and they seem to be enjoying the food, you've found your authentic restaurant.

When I was in China, the food was quite good, and the only bad meal was on a coastal ferry, where they dished unidentified gray slop over rice in a cafeteria-style line. We took one look at the gray slop and told them that we wanted just rice, please. We noticed that most of the Chinese passengers had brought their own food.

For the return trip (it was nearly 24 hours each way between Shanghai and Wenzhou), we stocked up on fruit and crackers, and my roommate broke out the jar of peanut butter that she'd been saving for just such an emergency. We were grateful that the ship's crew was unable to ruin the hot water and loose tea that were provided in each four-person cabin.

[Guy Fawkes]

24. Shopping-mall-Chinese-buffet story.

Our towns first IHOP closed about 15 years ago (we just got a new one). After it left, there were a series of stores in its building- culminating with a Chinese take-out place. They were closed by the health department shortly after opening. The HD cited extremely horrendous conditions, including insects and rats of all sorts.

After being kicked out of their building, they moved into the shopping mall, where restrictions are less (for some odd reason). The food is still horrible, the kitchen is still disgusting, and now they are set up next to a "McSnack".

Anyway, I was at the mall one day, and I got thirsty. Seeing that they had juice- in sealed bottles- I thought to buy one. It wasn't too expensive, so I got some POG juice (my favorite). Sure enough, they had ruined even that. It was luke warm and the expiration date was months past. They refused to refund my money. That was the only time I had ever bought something from them, and the only time I ever will.