Chinese cuisine in America

When I go back to Pontiac, IL, where I spent all of my teen years, into my 20’s and early 30’s, at least one night we will eat out or order carry out from a small selection of restaurants. There is nothing unusual about the restaurants in Pontiac, nothing that stands out as extraordinary. You have a few family restaurants, pizza joints, a couple of Mexican places, fast food, and even two “Italian” places. Of course, you can’t have a town with a population of more than 10,000 people and not have at least one Chinese restaurant. Pontiac not only has two Chinese restaurants, but they are buffets!

As we sat with our take out last night, which I will admit was very tasty, I thought about Chinese cuisine in America and how much the Chinese have had to Americanize their traditional food in order to survive here. And why do they compromise what could be a great experience for Americans? Because not all Americans have the palates to appreciate traditional Chinese food. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not necessarily a good thing either. To me, compromising a long standing, family recipe of ethnic origin would be the same as putting Ketchup on a great steak.

Unless you are fortunate enough to live in a city with a Chinatown or have access to a city with a Chinatown or a great Asian market, you will be bombarded with Chop Suey, which was believed to have been invented by a Cantonese immigrant back in the 1800’s. He was trying make Chinese food palatable to Westerners, so he took whatever vegetables he could get, stir fried them and added meat. He served this dish over steamed rice and named it Chop Suey. Other entrees that are a stretch on authentic Chinese cuisine are Mongolian Beef, Cashew Chicken, Almond Chicken, General Tso’s Chicken, Sesame Chicken, and Crab Rangoon to name a few. Last night I dined on Chicken with Mixed Vegetables, which the Chinese are traditionally heavy on vegetables leaving the protein as an afterthought. My Mother had Lo Mein, which is traditional in Chinese cuisine, however typically made with wheat flour noodles and flavor. Her Chicken Lo Mein was missing the wheat flour noodles and the flavor. My Chicken with Mixed Vegetables however had a great flavor, although I’m not quite sure what that flavor was. Typically I can detect something from flavor, but this time, I couldn’t tell what any particular seasoning was in that mysterious brown sauce. It was brown, thick, and gelatinous, but it did have a good flavor.

I know not everyone can handle dining on authentic Chinese food. Did you know that there are 9 main regional Chinese cuisines and if you go to wikipedia you can find all the information you can imagine about these regions and the types of food they have to offer. After that, you can even break these foods down into recipes and photos. Or, you could come and visit me and we will wander down to Chinatown and you can experience this first hand. You can trust me, I will ease you into this potentially life changing experience. Chef Tony Hue is a master of Sichuan cuisine, and I would definitely suggest starting there and working your way around Chinatown. After that culinary breakthrough, then you can graduate into Japanese, Korean, Thai, and the ultimate(in my book), Vietnamese. Of course I believe once you experience Vietnamese food, you’ll never want to try anything else.

Of course, Asian cuisine as a whole could be discussed all night. The traditions, the do’s and dont’s, etc. Did you know that not all Asian cultures use Chop sticks? Did you know that it is acceptable to eat Sushi with your hands? Did you know that it is acceptable to slurp when sitting down to a bowl of Pho(Vietnamese Soup)? So much could be discussed, but that would take the fun out of researching and learning on your own, because I can’t teach you everything. I have much to learn yet about the Asian culture.

Now, before I sign off, I want you all to know that I’m not knocking small towns and their selection of restaurants. I’m hoping to inspire at least a few of you to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Small towns are limited to what they have to offer and as frustrating as it is, as long as it sells, things won’t change. You have to take a leap of faith. I promise it won’t bite and it won’t hurt, much.

By the way, not to burst your bubble, but Fortune cookies were invented in California!

Motivation and Direction. What the hell happened to it.

A few years ago, I could write. I could write things that would make you want to eat your computer monitor, that would enable you to smell the food that I was describing, that would make you want to go out and eat that Shiz now! But over the last few years, I lost it. I could blame a couple of people that just sucked the motivation out of me, but that would be a cop out. It's not like I've stopped eating, because I have to say, I've had some amazing meals over the past few years. Amazing would be an understatement though. On my trips to New York City, Nashville, and the local restaurants here in Chicago, they have all provided meals well worth putting in writing and sharing my experiences with you all that may not normally eat such things. Things that would make most people turn their noses up, but I could convince you to at least put just a smidge on your tongue.

Over the past few years I've converted people from eating something as simple as Veggies to what some would consider Extreme, such as Sushi. There is a wild world of food out there, just waiting for eager diners to consume. I am fortunate enough to live in a city that is on the cutting edge of food. The restaurant industry here is booming and some say it's paving the way in the US. Not bad for being land locked in the middle of the US. And I've also had the good fortune of being able to travel to New York City and experience their Restaurant scene. I've met Executive Chefs, Sous Chefs, and Pastry Chefs. It's been a truly brilliant experience.

The biggest surprise I've had was the Nashville scene. Although it's young and up and coming, it's going to be competitive. Maybe not to the level of NYC or Chicago, but it will be on the US Map of excellent foodie destinations. From the simple Cuban Sandwich from the Tin Roof, or the Fresh Soft Pretzels and Beer at the Flying Saucer to the comforting Po Boy's and Steam Pot of the South Street Crab Shack and Dive Bar, all for the casual diner. Then going a bit upscale, you have the Stuffed Peppadews at Rumba, grilled South African peppers, stuffed with Goat Cheese and Chorizo, chased with a Hard Cider with a shot of Jack Daniels Honey dropped in or the House Made Belly Ham, Mozzarella, Grana Padano, Oregano, Chillies Pizza, artfully decorated and finished off with a Farm Fresh egg placed right in the center right before being pulled out of the oven, which was prepared by Chef Tandy Wilson of City House. Chef Wilson was nominated in 2010 by the James Beard Foundation for Best Chef SouthEast. As you can see, there is so much more than Country Music and wanna be cowboys in Nashvegas!

Here we are, November 2011, and I believe I've rediscovered my motivation, thanks to some friends and a mission to help someone else rediscover their mission to write. So now, with camera in hand and a small notebook, I will begin again my love of writing and photography to go along. If you are going to nibble on your monitor, you should at least have a visual. And this that I provide will be much less expensive than Internet porn. I hope to provide what the great Anthony Bourdain has termed "Food Porn". If you see me out, I won't be one of those annoying bloggers, critical of everything, verbal about the smallest things. No, I have a genuine love of good food, and I want to share it with you in hopes that it will motivate you to maybe leave your comfort zone of Burgers and Fries and maybe try a bit of Sweet Breads or Chapulines.

Until next time....