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American Chinese food is an adaptation of Chinese cuisine to American tastes. The local refugees or Chinese immigrants did not know English and they could only work at restaurant jobs where they were cooking and cleaning for other Chinese workers and daily wager workers.
Historical and Cultural Influences on American Chinese cuisine
Local Chinese immigrants had to adapt their Chinese cuisine to suit a more western palate. This adaptation resulted in a significant difference from conventional Chinese cuisine. Dishes on the local American Chinese food restaurants were adapted to local tastes and most restaurants served a dinner roll and butter on the side to suit American tastes. As locals could not pronounce the difficult Chinese names of the dishes, menu items were also indicated as numbers. Chefs also invented local cuisine-related dishes that were named very simply and were easy to cook too.
Ingredients Commonly Used in American Chinese Foods
American Chinese food had to be adapted to suit the predominantly meat oriented taste buds of the locals. Chefs used a larger amount of meat reducing the vegetables to side dishes or as garnishes. Leafy vegetables like bok choy, kai-lan and spinach were also reduced in quantity and were replaced with meat and seafood. Food had to be prepared faster and with more oil and salt as compared to the actual Chinese versions. Most dishes were prepared with stir-frying, pan-frying, and deep-frying to cook them faster as fast food variants. MSG was also added to the dishes to accentuate the taste of the food. Ingredients were also changed to suit the local tastes with addition of broccoli and carrots which are not used in traditional Chinese cuisine. Traditional Chinese cuisine uses scallions, Daikon radish in preference to onions, carrots, and broccoli. Tomatoes are also very rarely used in Chinese cuisine but American Chinese food uses the variant very regularly. Brown rice is also used instead of white along with grated cheese which is not used in traditional Chinese cuisine
American Chinese Cuisine Recipes Popular in Foreign Culture
The most popular American Chinese food recipes that have spread over the entire world include chop suey of meat or vegetables which is a mixture of fried vegetables and meat in a thick sauce with an egg on top; sweet and sour meat variations; chow miens, fried rice, dim sums, etc. Other popular American Chinese variations include dishes like General Tso Chicken which is a batter fried chicken seasoned with ginger, garlic, sesame oil, onions and hot sauce. Sesame chicken is another popular dish where boneless chicken is deep fried and served with a sweet sauce. Chinese chicken salad is also very popular as it contains crispy wonton skins and even crispy noodles that are put into a sauce.
Major Everyday American Chinese Cuisine Recipes
Although American Chinese food is popular all over the US, there are several special cuisine foods that are native to certain US regions. These few American Chinese food dishes are seen in a few places only-
• Chow mein sandwiches are seen only in the Southeastern region of the US especially in Massachusetts or Rhode Island.
• Chicken finger that are served as an appetizer with sweet and sour sauce and are found only in New England.
• Chop Suey Sandwiches that are made in Massachusetts only on the north shore and consist of chop suey on a sandwich.
There are many more local regional variations as well as American Chinese food variations that are served all over the US.
Popular Chefs of American Chinese Cuisine
There are several US chefs that are experts in American Chinese food and they are Ming Tsai, Joyce Chen and Martin Yan. But there are niche chefs who also deal with special areas of American Chinese food cooking.
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