Why We’re All Homesick for Egg Foo Young
Fri Dec 05, 2008 at 2:46 pm By Matt
If there’s one thing a person quickly understands about Chinese culture, it’s this: Unless you’re Chinese, you’re probably not going to like the food.
I’m not going to be politically correct about this, as Alan Paul was recently in his article about “taking on the local cuisine” in The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Paul suggests there is “endless variety,” as if every animal body part made edible were a good thing. He says he has “sampled as much as possible.” Translation: he really did try to eat it, up until the point he knew he would gag if he took a bite of the penis meat.
“Embracing the local cuisine can be a good way of immersing in the culture and bonding with the locals,” he says. That’s true. They’ll be amazed that you eat the food too.
I’m not going to win any guanxi points for writing this article, but it’s about time someone admitted it.
The Chinese food in America is tasty. Chinese food in China is not.
“Though the Thai and Indian foods in America are pretty good versions of the real thing, the Chinese cuisine is most often an abomination,” Mr. Paul writes. Translation: Thai and Indian foods are pretty good versions of the real thing because they’re naturally tasty to Westerners. Chinese cuisine is most often an abomination to the Western palette, and must be altered drastically.
Come on, guys. General Tso’s chicken or sea cucumber? Egg Foo Young or thousand-year-old eggs? Wonton soup or shark fin soup? You know what I’m talking about.
There will be those Westerners who disagree with me fervently – but they’re probably commie sympathizers. There will be occasional dishes that I will eat with absolute enjoyment in China – usually I’m drinking and hungry too. There will be still others who accuse me of living too long in Beijing. Why don’t I come to Shanghai, Chengdu, Hong Kong, or places in between and sample the food there?
Believe me. Been there, done that. Except to Harbin, but I doubt a frozen ass is going to warm my stomach up to the local cuisine.
I’d also suggest food preparation isn’t as clean as in other parts of the world. I’ve been to five continents and have been food poisoned in only two countries. Something didn’t agree with me in Texas when I was 8. This past year, I was poisoned beyond my wildest hellish imagination in Fu Li Cheng, my “Rich, Powerful” Chinese neighborhood - twice. God help what chefs are doing to the peasants here.
From the moment I set foot in China in the summer of 2005, I thought I’d fallen in love with the food. In fact, I liked the five-star hotel buffet. Yes, these can be quite nice in Beijing. As can some of the foreign food outlets and the very occasional dish at the very occasional Chinese restaurant.
So consider this article a word to the SME wise. Come to China for business, not because you always wanted to eat real Chinese food. Pack an extra suitcase full of meals – even grade E meat from Taco Bell.
Rotting 20 hours later in baggage claim, it may taste better than the alternative, and be better for your immediate health.
Loading ...
December 7th, 2008 at 12:06 am
I’m surprised to hear that any foreigner in China would feel that way! The Chinese food we get in Australia is pretty damn awful. I’ve travelled quite a bit in China and I will never get over the great dishes I get in Beijing (even the Sichuan dishes, which they do better here in BJ than they do in Sichuan).
Ok, I’ll admit, I don’t eat anything away from the normal beef/chicken/lamb range (and only the *normal* bits of those) but I have had some of the tastiest dishes of my life here in China:
Gong bao ji dong (the foreign favourite)
Di san xian - potato, eggplant and capsicum in tasty brown sauce
Yu xing qiezi bao - eggplant in slightly spicy/sweet sauce
Guotie (better than Aussie dim sims!)
Xingjiang chao mian pian - flat, square noodles in tomato-ey sauce
And the list goes on… I;m getting hungry just thinking about it!
December 9th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I have been following this blog since December 2007 and never been as moved to comment as I am now. This post is far-and-away wrong, and I cannot fathom how a fellow Beijinger wrote these things.
In short:
Americanized Chinese food is delicious, though a sodium hazard.
Beijing Chinese food is delicious, though a sanitation hazard.
Some American food is good, but generally its goodness is too closely tied to its saturated fat content.
Readjusting back to an American diet took much longer than adjusting to a Chinese one when I lived in Beijing. Sure, there are flavors in Chinese food that make you question the entire country, like tripe, but those are rare, and the majority of what you eat is very similar to the flavors you find in the United States. Breads, meats, sweet things…the specifics change, like your meat has bones all over, and yes, there is probably glass somewhere in one of your dishes, but all and all it’s very delicious food. Just don’t order the thousand year old eggs. Order the orange chicken instead, it’s on the same menu. And, since you’re sharing dishes over bowls of rice, you can pick whatever you like the most and leave what you don’t like for someone else.
Contrast that to American food where you frequently (not always) order an entree which consists of a whole lot of some vegetable, a whole lot of some starch, and a huge hunk of meat. Look at the American solution to including vegetables into our diets: salad, plate full of vegetables. This unintegrated way of eating is boring and probably poses much more of a health problem than unsanitary Chinese kitchens. I don’t know that the Chinese government publishes any statistics on the number of people taken ill from food poisoning each year, but I’d wager it has a smaller financial cost than the clinical obesity of Americans.
I much prefer Chinese cuisine which integrates different food groups into dishes, that includes vegetables in rich and tasty sauces that aren’t solid fat like ranch dressing. It makes nutrition much more of a no-brainer, and this diet accounts for the lower levels of obesity experienced in East Asian countries (and most of the world). It’s definitely not because they’re simply making better choices, since Chinese kids don’t have nuitrition education to the extent Americans do in highschool health.
The only thing that I desperately missed in Beijing was tex-mex. That is, anything with cheese on it. There’s also a large shortage of Chinese cuisine which features some sort of tomato sauce. Now that I’m back, I eat a quesadilla with salsa everyday, preparing for the eventual return to Beijing where the only cheese I get to eat is if I go to the Kro’s Nest.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the very thoughtful comments. I figured this would be an extremely controversial post, but I’m going to stick to my guns after having eaten some Korean food tonight in Wang Jing section of Beijing.
I remarked to my girlfriend tonight after having eaten at this place on several occasions: “How would you define Korean food?” Answer: “Better Chinese food.”
I’m no world expert on Korean food, but the menu, which has the look of a Chinese one and features similar dishes (big soups, sweet and sour dishes, similar layout) yields actual delight.
Soups are not bland. They’re piquant. Sweet and sour dishes are yummy, and your not left with a slightly odd aftertaste (or duringtaste).
And do I have to say it? Chopsticks: They’re silver.
I’m bordering on bourgeois here (and clearly am being culturally insensitive), but there’s something upscale Chinese about Korean food (albeit based on this experience alone). Lots of free, tasty appetizers. Like tapas almost. Free tea and refills (hell, even Vietnam does that). A subtle, tasteful ambience. Not someplace failing miserably to be a Forbidden City eatery in its heyday.
But it all comes down to taste. I don’t think a Zagat rating is dependant on ensuring a 2,000 calorie diet.
December 12th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I’ve eaten a lot of Korean food here and I’ve found it to be extremely disappointing. Mostly tasteless, actually. The barbecue (which most rave about) is just grilled meat wrapped in lettuce with a mediocre sauce. Americans do it much better. Kim Bop is bland sushi with pickles instead of fish. Bi Bim Bop is decent but nothing special. Lots of the dishes are kimchi-based, an abomination if ever there was one. Honestly, how can anyone like that stuff?
I’ll admit lots (LOTS) of Chinese food is nauseating. Especially from the south. But if Westerners pick and choose the dishes they like it can be marvelous - - honestly, I’m worried about moving home and missing my favorites. Di San Xian, mentioned above, is delicious and there are number of amazing Dong Bei dishes. And you can’t tell me that Hunan or Sichuan doesn’t have a host of amazing offerings. I know they are expat haven and perhaps not truly indicative, but go to Di Shui Dong or Guyi in Shanghai and try try the Sichuan dry fried greenbeans, ribs or tofu dishes. Amazing.
Dong Bei, Dim Sum, Xinjiang, Taiwainese (like Charmant or Bellagio), Hunan, Sichuan . . . China has some amazing food. Are you sure you really live here? I realize this is a roll-call of expat hangouts, but man the grub is good.
Admittedly the high-class Shanghainese and banquet places are terrible . . . but you have to look beyond them to the gems beneath . . .