Okay some one please educate me on this one. What do people in china eat? By province and by taste what is a normal meal. General Tso’s chicken doesn’t count.
I’m no authority but I do watch a lot of the Food Network. They seem to be saying that the Chinese are eating a lot of what is in season and grown locally. Meat is becoming more of their diet than in the past. Seeing as how China is huge, that’s about anything. That’s like saying what would be standard fare at a weekday meal in the USA. Depending on where you’re at, that’s about anything.
My buddy Andrew Zimmern eats a lot of strange animal and the other animal parts when he’s in China. I saw a show on how fish sauce was made. It made me wonder how fish sauce came to be invented.
Whoa. That’s like asking what do European people eat. How much ground do you want to cover? The Faeroes to Crete, Ireland to Russia…there’s not that much in common, traditionally speaking. Resources and climate determine nearly everything.
I usually tell myself the answer has to be “accident”.
We took a 9 day tour of China several years ago, visiting Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou (spelling?). The food was definitely vegetable heavy, but fish, fowl and meat were represented. Interestingly, the food was not as highly seasoned as what we get in the US.
BTW-- according to our bus driver if you want Peking Duck, be sure to ask for Peking ROAST Duck. Without the “roast”, Peking Duck is apparently slang for a male prostitute…
I remember a dim-summation about the high amount of fat in American Chinese food from some years ago.
Lot of nasty stuff.
K.F.C. ? …Subway ? … McDonalds ? …Burger King ? .. 
Rice in the south, wheat and millet in the north.
I guess one man’s nasty is another man’s tasty, but on that trip to China we saw a lot of food markets offering some REALLY “unusual” looking ingredients: live turtles, dried reptiles of one sort or another, etc. OK, nasty.
I guess the thing is that I was thinking of the number of “Chinese restaurants” I have eaten at and it dawned on me that they were probably the equivalent of Tocobell and “Mexican” food. Some of it may be Cantonese cuisine inspired, but much of it is more of a caricature of what we think should be on the menu, such as General Tso’s chicken and Chop suey.
That is a good start.
Seems like baking isn’t as common and that most things are quickly pan fried, steamed or boiled.
My sense is that these days the primacy of Chinese cuisine in the U.S. has been eclipsed by Thai, Indian, Pho, and suchlike. So that when I take a quick mental inventory of local (or semi-local) eastern choices I can think of plenty of appealing options, but the “Chinese” places I know of conjure grease, sad overcooked veggies, gristle, and a side of fries with gravy.
I know there is delicious and authentic Chinese to be had though. Still, the extent to which most Americans (self included) can differentiate regionally is Hunan/Szechuan.
Perhaps it would be easier to say what it is not…
“You can’t get a sauce as thick and sweet as you get over here.”
Go out for a Chinese meal in Britain and it bares little resemblance to a Chinese meal in France. The same goes for Indian, Thai and other cuisines and they all bare little resemblance to the cuisine of the country of origin. Things get tweaked for local tastes.
Our Mongolian barbecue is better here than in Mongolia too.
One of the nice things about Minneapolis is that we have enough of a population that often it seems you can find things outside of what would be “local” tastes. We have our Olive Gardens, Chi Chi’s and other chain restaurants, but it is not that difficult to find something a bit less generic. Just can’t say I’ve had much luck with Chinese food.
Being a geek, I’ve been out with a lot of Chinese folks to restaurants they like, and on a few occasions, someone’s ordered from the “real Chinese” menu. The dishes from the authentic menu weren’t that different from what one gets at the “better” Chinese restaurants. They’re heavier on the vegetables and are more boldly spiced – the hot dishes are hotter; there’s more ginger and garlic; and more soy sauce and less sugar and cornstarch in the dark sauces.
Interestingly, I was out with someone from southern China to a Thai place, and she said it was just like Chinese food. This wasn’t a place heavy on coconut milk and lemongrass, though.
Oh, this makes me wonder what is passing for American fare in other countries. Wonder what they’re doing with apple pie?
We should ask the English and Dutch if they like what Americans have done to their apple pi.
As an engineer, I’ve had many coworkers who
hailed from various Asian locals. In the days
when Chinese engineers were more common
than those from India, our breakroom microwave
was redolent of fish everyday by 1pm (so much
so that there was a movement for a fish-free
microwave).
Also, a friend fresh from a trip to Hong Kong
reports that miniature octopus was a popular
topping on a pizza. He brought back a Pizza Hut
ad that looked like this:
So, my takeaway is that seafood is popular
among the Chinese (at least those in the eastern
part near the ocean).
That’s one thing I never got about Maryland.
“Why is there gravy on these fries?
Did I suddenly teleport to Canada?”
Gravy on fries is good. Have you ever heard of mashed potatoes and gravy? Whenever I ordere fries with gravy here in Southern WV, the waitress always comes back to ask me what kind of gravy I want, sausage, chicken, or beef. Sausage gravy is big down here.