Chicken lo mein, crab rangoons, and beef and broccoli. These are some of the staple dishes we all know and love to call “Chinese food.” But is it, actually?

We all have our own stories and connections to Chinese food or Chinese restaurants. For me, it’s true, American Jews do indulge in Chinese food and a movie every Christmas (and the once-Jewish tradition is becoming more and more popular among non-Jewish and non-Chinese people).

And I think most of us know that the food we eat at our neighborhood Chinese restaurant isn’t really authentic: it’s catered specifically to American tastes. Jennifer Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, likes to say that Chinese food is more American than apple pie, and it’s true that there are twice as many Chinese restaurants as McDonald’s restaurants in America. Fortune cookies, Chinese take-out boxes, and chop suey are all-American inventions.

Perhaps chop suey is the best example that shows how American Chinese food was invented. When Chinese immigrants came to San Francisco (mostly from Guangdong province) they were forced into their own small community by discrimination – the community that today is known as Chinatown. Chinese immigrants across the US faced constant xenophobia and violence, eventually leading to the Chinese exclusion act of 1882. This was the only US law that specifically targeted a racial group from coming to America. This made living as a Chinese person in the US much more difficult: if they couldn’t find jobs outside of the community, they had to create their own, which often meant opening laundries or restaurants.

This led to the creation of foods that would bring in business and satisfy both American and Chinese tastes, like chop suey. It’s not a natively Chinese dish, but it caters to both American and Chinese tastes. One origin story of the dish even theorizes that chop suey originated as a joke from a Chinese chef in San Francisco whose boss wanted him to make something that “would pass as Chinese.”

I’ll be honest: I knew the Chinese food I was eating in the US wasn’t authentic, but I was surprised at just how diverse real Chinese food was when I got to China. Traveling across the country from Shanghai to Chengdu to Beijing and many cities in between, I couldn’t believe the quantity and diversity of local specialties, street foods, and flavors. It made coming home so much harder.

But there’s good news: authentic Chinese food is becoming more and more popular among American foodies. Researchers say this is a product of the “hierarchy of taste” phenomenon: if an immigrant community becomes more prosperous and relations between those two countries improve, more people will respect that community’s food and culture. 

As a result, we’re seeing more authentic Chinese restaurants than ever before. Last year, at Xi’an Famous Foods in New York City, I indulged in a bowl of liangpi or cold skin noodles that brought me back to the streets of the northern Chinese city of Xi’an. In Boston, I had a bowl of mapo doufu at Sichuan Five Spices House as good as what famous restaurants in Chengdu serve. In Portland, a bowl of noodles at Bao Bao Dumpling House that mirrored one of Beijing’s staple snacks.

For the first time, we have access to authentic, complex, amazing flavors from across China, not just a single region. Once things go back to normal, take advantage of this opportunity to take a foodie tour of China from right here in the United States; you won’t regret it.

Until next time,

Jordyn Haime （韩新慧)