I’m not Chinese, but I’m an American. So naturally I eat Chinese food. But maybe not the way Chinese people eat Chinese food.
Pretty much my first exposure to Chinese food was in Spokane in the mid-1970s, while I was in college. It was a revelation. Big platters of food! Family style! Egg rolls!
Well, it was middle-of-the road American Chinese food, naturally. Some of the dishes had Chinese names – “moo goo gai pan,” naturally – but most of them were perfectly Americanized.
But it was good. No: it was delicious.
Then I came to Providence, and learned about all kinds of exotic specialties, like Ants in a Tree, and Happy Family.
Then I visited my mother in rural Washington state, and she was very excited to take me to the new Chinese place in her little town.
Oh my god. Everything had brown gravy on it. The fried rice was dripping with grease. The menu was beyond stereotypical: egg foo young, chop suey, chow mein. It was edible but revolting. I was rude enough to let my mother know that this was swill, and she was furious that I didn’t like her beloved (and, to her, delicious) “Chinese food.”
Well, I am much older now. She was right, of course. What’s authentic, really? American-style Chinese food is certainly not what they eat in China. It’s interesting, and it can be very good, but it’s not really Chinese food.
There are all kinds of local (meaning: American) variants. Here in southern New England, someone invented the chow mein sandwich (which is just what it sounds like, with lots of gravy, so the bread gets good and soaked). Also, in a lot of old-fashioned New England Chinese restaurants, you get bread and butter before your meal.
Partner and I were in his home town, a suburb of Boston, a while back. We visited a Chinese restaurant there – China Moon – which had been around since Partner’s childhood. It’s traditional American-Chinese. They still have subgum on the menu! And everything else!
The first time I had their food, I didn’t like it at all. It wasn’t what I expected. The sweet and sour had candied fruit in it!
But I’ve come around. It’s just one more American version of Chinese food.
And their hot-and-sour soup is superb.
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