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American Chinese cuisine is a cuisine derived from
Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine encompasses the numerous cuisines originating from China, as well as overseas cuisines created by the Chinese diaspora. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has influenced many o ...
that was developed by
Chinese Americans Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...
. The dishes served in many North American Chinese restaurants are adapted to American tastes and often differ significantly from those found in China.


History

Chinese immigrants Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, ...
arrived in the United States seeking employment as miners and railroad workers. As larger groups arrived, laws were put in place preventing them from owning land. They mostly lived together in ghettos, individually referred to as " Chinatown". Here the immigrants started their own small businesses, including restaurants and laundry services. By the 19th century, the Chinese community in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
operated sophisticated and sometimes luxurious restaurants patronized mainly by Chinese. The restaurants in smaller towns (mostly owned by Chinese immigrants) served food based on what their customers requested, anything ranging from pork chop sandwiches and apple pie, to beans and eggs. Many of these small-town restaurant owners were self-taught family cooks who improvised on different cooking methods using whatever ingredients were available. These smaller restaurants were responsible for developing American Chinese cuisine, where the food was modified to suit a more American palate. First catering to miners and railroad workers, they established new eateries in towns where Chinese food was completely unknown, adapting local ingredients and catering to their customers' tastes. Even though the new flavors and dishes meant they were not strictly Chinese cuisine, these Chinese restaurants have been cultural ambassadors to Americans. Chinese restaurants in the United States began during the
California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California f ...
, which brought 20,000–30,000 immigrants across from the
Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...
(Guangdong) region of China. The first Chinese restaurant in America is debated. Some say it was Macau and Woosung, while others cite Canton Restaurant. Both unphotographed establishments were founded in 1849 in San Francisco. Either way, these and other such restaurants were central features in the daily lives of immigrants. They provided a connection to home, particularly for the many bachelors who did not have the resources or knowledge to cook for themselves. In 1852, the ratio of male to female Chinese immigrants was a 18:1. These restaurants served as gathering places and cultural centers for the Chinese community. By 1850, there were five Chinese restaurants in San Francisco. Soon after, significant amounts of food were being imported from China to America's west coast. The trend spread steadily eastward with the growth of the American railways, particularly to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The
Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplo ...
allowed merchants to enter the country, and in 1915, restaurant owners became eligible for merchant visas. This fueled the opening of Chinese restaurants as an immigration vehicle. Pekin Noodle Parlor, established in 1911, is the oldest operating Chinese restaurant in the country. , the United States had 46,700 Chinese restaurants. Along the way, cooks adapted southern Chinese dishes and developed a style of Chinese food not found in China, such as chop suey. Restaurants (along with Chinese laundries) provided an ethnic niche for small businesses at a time when Chinese people were excluded from most jobs in the wage economy by ethnic discrimination or lack of language fluency.Andrew Coe ''Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009). By the 1920s, this cuisine, particularly chop suey, became popular among middle-class Americans. However, after World War II it began to be dismissed for not being "authentic". Late 20th-century tastes have been more accommodating. By this time it had become evident that Chinese restaurants no longer catered mainly to Chinese customers. Chinese-American restaurants played a key role in ushering in the era of take-out and delivery food in America. In New York City, delivery was pioneered in the 1970s by Empire Szechuan Gourmet Franchise which hired Taiwanese students studying at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
to do the work. Chinese American restaurants were among the first restaurants to use picture menus in the US. Beginning in the 1950s, Taiwanese immigrants replaced Cantonese immigrants as the primary labor force in American Chinese restaurants. These immigrants expanded American-Chinese cuisine beyond Cantonese cuisine to encompass dishes from many different regions of China as well as Japanese-inspired dishes. In 1955, the Republic of China evacuated the Dachen Islands in the face of the encroaching Communists. Many who evacuated to Taiwan later moved to the United States as they lacked strong social networks and access to opportunity in Taiwan. Chefs from the Dachen Islands had a strong influence on American Chinese food. Taiwanese immigration largely ended in the 1990s due to an economic boom and democratization in Taiwan. From the 1990s onward immigrants from China once again made up the majority of cooks in American Chinese restaurants. There has been a consequential component of Chinese emigration of illegal origin, most notably Fuzhou people from
Fujian Province Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...
and Wenzhounese from Zhejiang Province in Mainland China, specifically destined to work in Chinese restaurants in New York City, beginning in the 1980s. Adapting Chinese cooking techniques to local produce and tastes has led to the development of American Chinese cuisine. Many of the Chinese restaurant
menu In a restaurant, the menu is a list of food and beverages offered to customers and the prices. A menu may be à la carte – which presents a list of options from which customers choose – or table d'hôte, in which case a pre-established seque ...
s in the U.S. are printed in Chinatown, Manhattan, which has a strong Chinese-American demographic. In 2011, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History displayed some of the historical background and cultural artifacts of American Chinese cuisine in its exhibit entitled, ''Sweet & Sour: A Look at the History of Chinese Food in the United States''.


Differences from other regional cuisines in China

American Chinese food builds from styles and food habits brought from the southern province of
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
, often from the Toisan district of Toisan, the origin of most Chinese immigration before the closure of immigration from China in 1924. These Chinese families developed new styles and used readily available ingredients, especially in California. The type of Chinese-American cooking served in restaurants was different from the foods eaten in Chinese-American homes. Of the various regional cuisines in China, Cantonese cuisine has been the most influential in the development of American Chinese food. One major difference between Chinese and American-Chinese cuisine is in the use of vegetables.
Salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...
s containing raw or uncooked ingredients are rare in traditional Chinese cuisine. However, an increasing number of American Chinese restaurants, including some upscale establishments, have started to offer these items in response to customer demand. While Cuisine in China makes frequent use of Asian leaf vegetables like
bok choy Bok choy (American English, Canadian English, and Australian English), pak choi (British English) or pok choi (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''chinensis'') is a type of Chinese cabbage, used as food. ''Chinensis'' varieties do not form heads and have g ...
and kai-lan, American Chinese cuisine makes use of ingredients not native to and very rarely used in China, for example, Western broccoli () instead of Chinese broccoli (
Gai-lan Gai lan, kai-lan, Chinese broccoli, Chinese kale, or jie lan (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''alboglabra'') is a leaf vegetable with thick, flat, glossy blue-green leaves with thick stems, and florets similar to (but much smaller than) broccoli. ...
, ). (Occasionally, Western broccoli is also referred to as ' in Cantonese () in order to distinguish the two.) American-Chinese food also has a reputation for high levels of MSG to enhance flavor; however, in recent years, market forces and customer demand have encouraged many restaurants to offer "MSG Free" or "No MSG" menus, or to omit this ingredient on request.
Egg fried rice Fried rice is a dish of cooked rice that has been stir-fried in a wok or a frying pan and is usually mixed with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, seafood, or meat. It is often eaten by itself or as an accompaniment to another dish. Fr ...
in American Chinese cuisine is also prepared differently, with more soy sauce added for more flavor whereas the traditional egg fried rice uses less soy sauce. Some food styles, such as
dim sum Dim sum () is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cuis ...
, were also modified to fit American palates, such as added batter for fried dishes and extra soy sauce. Both Chinese and American-Chinese cooking utilize similar methods of preparation, such as
stir frying Stir frying () is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and t ...
, pan frying, and
deep frying Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly oil, as opposed to the shallow oil used in conventional frying done in a frying pan. ...
, which are all easily done using a wok. Ming Tsai, the owner of the Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and host of PBS culinary show '' Simply Ming'', said that American Chinese restaurants typically try to have food representing 3-5 regions of China at one time, have chop suey, or have "fried vegetables and some protein in a thick sauce", "eight different sweet and sour dishes", or "a whole page of 20 different chow meins or fried rice dishes". Tsai said "Chinese-American cuisine is 'dumbed-down' Chinese food. It's adapted... to be blander, thicker and sweeter for the American public". Most American Chinese establishments cater to non-Chinese customers with menus written in English or containing pictures. If separate Chinese-language menus are available, they typically feature items such as
liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it i ...
, chicken feet, or other meat dishes that might deter American customers (such as offal). In Chinatown, Manhattan, some restaurants are known for having a "phantom" menu with food preferred by ethnic Chinese, but believed to be disliked by non-Chinese Americans.


Dishes


American Chinese restaurant menu items not found in China

Dishes that often appear on American Chinese restaurant menus include: *
Almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genu ...
chicken—chicken breaded in batter containing ground almonds, fried and served with almonds and onions. * Beef and broccoli— flank steak cut into small pieces, stir fried with broccoli, and covered in a dark sauce made with soy sauce and
oyster sauce Oyster sauce describes a number of sauces made by cooking oysters. The most common in modern use is a viscous dark brown condiment made from oyster extracts,The Times, 22 January 1981; ''Cook Accidentally on purpose'' sugar, salt and water thic ...
and thickened with
cornstarch Corn starch, maize starch, or cornflour (British English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken sauces or sou ...
. * Chicken and broccoli—similar to beef & broccoli, but with chicken instead of beef. *
Chinese chicken salad Chinese chicken salad is a salad including chopped chicken and Chinese culinary ingredients that is common in parts of the United States. Though many variations exist, common features of Chinese chicken salads include lettuce, cabbage, chicken ...
—usually containing sliced or shredded chicken, uncooked leafy greens, crispy noodles (or fried wonton skins) and sesame dressing. Some restaurants serve the salad with mandarin oranges. * Chop suey—connotes "assorted pieces" in Chinese. It is usually a mix of vegetables and meat in a brown sauce but can also be served in a white sauce. * Crab rangoon—fried wonton skins stuffed with (usually) artificial
crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all th ...
meat (
surimi is a paste made from fish or other meat. The term can also refer to a number of East Asian foods that use that paste as their primary ingredient. It is available in many shapes, forms, and textures, and is often used to mimic the texture and ...
) and cream cheese. * Fortune cookie—invented in
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
as a Westernized version of the Japanese '' omikuji senbei'', fortune cookies have become sweetened and found their way to many American Chinese restaurants. * Fried wontons—somewhat similar to crab rangoon, a filling, (most often pork), is wrapped in a wonton skin and deep fried. * General Tso's chicken—chunks of chicken that are dipped in batter, deep fried, and seasoned with ginger, garlic, sesame oil, scallions, and hot
chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...
s. Believed to be named after
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
statesman and military leader Zuo Zongtang, often referred to as General Tso. * Mongolian beef—fried beef with scallions or white onions in a spicy and often sweet brown sauce. *
Pepper steak Pepper steak () is a stir-fried Chinese dish consisting of sliced beef steak (often flank, sirloin, or round) cooked with sliced bell peppers, bamboo shoots and other seasonings such as soy sauce and ginger, and usually thickened with cor ...
—sliced steak, green bell peppers, tomatoes, and white or green onions stir fried with salt, sugar, and soy sauce. Bean sprouts are a less common addition. * Royal beef—deep-fried sliced beef, doused in a wine sauce and often served with steamed broccoli. *
Sesame chicken Sesame chicken is a dish commonly found in Chinese restaurants throughout the United States and Canada. The dish is similar to General Tso's chicken but the taste of the Chinese-based chicken is sweet rather than spicy. * Sushi—despite being served in the Japanese and American styles, some American Chinese restaurants serve various types of sushi, usually on buffets. * Sweet roll—yeast rolls, typically fried, covered in granulated sugar or powdered sugar. Some variants are stuffed with cream cheese or icing. * Wonton strips—commonly served complimentary along with duck sauce and hot mustard, or with soup when ordering take-out.


Other American Chinese dishes

''Dau miu'' is a Chinese vegetable that has become popular since the early 1990s, and now not only appears on English-language menus, usually as "pea shoots", but is often served by upscale non-Asian restaurants as well. Originally it was only available during a few months of the year, but it is now grown in greenhouses and is available year-round.


North American versions of dishes also found in China

* Beijing beef—in China, this dish uses ''
gai lan Gai lan, kai-lan, Chinese broccoli, Chinese kale, or jie lan (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''alboglabra'') is a leaf vegetable with thick, flat, glossy blue-green leaves with thick stems, and florets similar to (but much smaller than) broccoli. ...
'' (Chinese broccoli) rather than American broccoli. *
Cashew chicken Cashew chicken () is a Chinese-American dish that combines chicken (usually stir-fried but occasionally deep-fried, depending on the variation), with cashews and either a light brown garlic sauce or a thick sauce made from chicken stock, soy sau ...
—stir-fried tender chicken pieces with cashews. * Chow mein—literally means "stir-fried noodles". Chow mein consists of fried crispy noodles with bits of meat and vegetables. It can come with chicken, pork, shrimp or beef. * Egg foo young—a Chinese-style
omelet In cuisine, an omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from beaten eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan (without stirring as in scrambled egg). It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around fillings such as chives, ...
with vegetables and meat, usually served with a brown gravy. While some restaurants in North America deep fry the omelet, versions found in Asia are more likely to fry in the wok. *
Egg roll Egg rolls are a variety of deep-fried appetizers served in American Chinese restaurants. An egg roll is a cylindrical, savory roll with shredded cabbage, chopped meat, or other fillings inside a thickly-wrapped wheat flour skin, which is frie ...
—while spring rolls have a thin, light beige crispy skin that flakes apart, and is filled with mushrooms,
bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
, and other vegetables inside, the American-style egg roll has a thicker, chewier, dark brown bubbly skin stuffed with cabbage and usually bits of meat or seafood (such as pork or shrimp), but no egg. *
Fried rice Fried rice is a dish of cooked rice that has been stir-fried in a wok or a frying pan and is usually mixed with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, seafood, or meat. It is often eaten by itself or as an accompaniment to another dish. ...
—fried-rice dishes are popular offerings in American Chinese food due to the speed and ease of preparation and their appeal to American tastes.
:Fried rice is generally prepared with rice cooled overnight, allowing restaurants to put leftover rice to good use (freshly cooked rice is actually less suitable for fried rice).
:The Chinese-American version of this dish typically uses more soy sauce than the versions found in China.
:Fried rice is offered with different combinations of meat (pork, chicken and shrimp are the most popular) and vegetables. * Ginger beef ()—tender beef cut in chunks, mixed with ginger and Chinese mixed vegetables. * Ginger fried beef ()—tender beef cut in strings, battered, deep fried, then re-fried in a wok mixed with a sweet sauce, a variation of a popular Northern Chinese dish. *
Hulatang Hulatang, also known as hot pepper soup or spicy soup, is a kind of Chinese traditional soup created in Henan Province but became popularized in the cuisine of Shaanxi Province. Chinese immigrants have introduced it to the United States, where it ...
—a traditional Chinese soup with hot spices, often called "spicy soup" on menus. *
Hot and sour soup Hot and sour soup is a popular example of Sichuan cuisine. Similar versions are found in Henan province, near Beijing, and in Henan cuisine itself, where it may also be known as ''hulatang'' or "pepper hot soup" (胡辣汤). North America Uni ...
- The North American soups tend to have starch added as a thickener. *
Kung Pao chicken Kung Pao chicken (), also transcribed Gong Bao or Kung Po, is a spicy, stir-fried Chinese dish made with cubes of chicken, peanuts, vegetables (traditionally Welsh onion only ), and chili peppers. The classic dish in Sichuan cuisine originat ...
— a spicy
Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...
dish that is served with peanuts, scallions, and Sichuan peppers. Some versions in North America may include zucchini and bell peppers. * Lo mein ("stirred noodles")—frequently made with eggs and flour, making them chewier than simply using water. Thick, spaghetti-shaped noodles are pan fried with vegetables (mainly bok choy and Chinese cabbage napa.html"_;"title="Napa_cabbage.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Napa_cabbage">napa">Napa_cabbage.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Napa_cabbage">napa_and_meat._Sometimes_this_dish_is_referred_to_as_chow_mein_(which_literally_means_"stir-fried_noodles"_in_Cantonese). *_ napa.html"_;"title="Napa_cabbage.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Napa_cabbage">napa">Napa_cabbage.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Napa_cabbage">napa_and_meat._Sometimes_this_dish_is_referred_to_as_chow_mein_(which_literally_means_"stir-fried_noodles"_in_Cantonese). *_Rice_vermicelli#Mainland_China">Mei_Fun—noodles_usually_Simmering.html" ;"title="Rice_vermicelli#Mainland_China.html" ;"title="Napa_cabbage">napa.html" ;"title="Napa_cabbage.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Napa cabbage">napa">Napa_cabbage.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Napa cabbage">napa and meat. Sometimes this dish is referred to as chow mein (which literally means "stir-fried noodles" in Cantonese). * Rice vermicelli#Mainland China">Mei Fun—noodles usually Simmering">simmered in broth with other ingredients such as fish balls, beef balls, and/or slices of fishcake. * Moo shu pork—the original version uses more typically Chinese ingredients (including Cloud ear fungus, wood ear fungi and
daylily A daylily or day lily is a flowering plant in the genus ''Hemerocallis'' , a member of the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae. Despite the common name, it is not in fact a lily. Gardening enthusiasts and horticulturists have lo ...
buds) and thin flour pancakes, while the American version uses vegetables more familiar to Americans, and thicker pancakes. This dish is quite popular in Chinese restaurants in the United States, but not so popular in China. * Orange chicken—chopped, battered, fried chicken with a sweet orange flavored chili sauce that is thickened and glazed. The traditional version consists of stir-fried chicken in a light, slightly sweet soy sauce flavored with dried orange peels. * Wonton soup—In most American Chinese restaurants, only wonton dumplings in broth are served, while versions found in China may come with noodles.
:In Canton, it can be a full meal in itself, consisting of thin egg noodles and several pork and prawn wontons in a pork or chicken soup broth or noodle broth. Especially in takeout restaurants, wonton are often made with thicker dough skins.


Regional variations


New York City

The
New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...
is home to the largest Chinese population outside of Asia, which also constitutes the largest metropolitan
Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous peopl ...
group in the United States and the largest Asian-national metropolitan
diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
in the
Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...
. The Chinese-American population of the New York City metropolitan area was an estimated 893,697 as of 2017. Given the New York metropolitan area's continuing status as by far the leading gateway for Chinese immigrants to the United States, all popular styles of every Chinese regional cuisine have commensurately become ubiquitously accessible in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, including
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
,
Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan (Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, r ...
,
Shanghainese The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan langua ...
, Hunanese, Szechuan,
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...
, Fujianese,
Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...
,
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...
, and Korean Chinese cuisine. Even the relatively obscure Dongbei style of cuisine indigenous to
Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...
is now available in
Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the i ...
, as well as Mongolian cuisine and
Uyghur cuisine Uyghur cuisine ( ug, ئۇيغۇر تائاملىرى, , ; zh, s=維吾爾菜, p=Wéiwú'ěr Cài, links=no) is a cuisine of the Uyghur people, which is also consumed outside of Xinjiang. Signature ingredients include roasted mutton, kebabs, and ...
. The availability of regional variations of Chinese cuisine coming from so many
provinces of China The provincial level administrative divisions () are the highest-level administrative divisions of China. There are 34 such divisions claimed by the People's Republic of China, classified as 23 provinces (), five autonomous regions, four mu ...
is most apparent in the city's Chinatowns in Queens, particularly the Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), but is also notable in the city's Chinatowns in Brooklyn and
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.


Kosher preparation of Chinese food

Kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
preparation of Chinese food is also widely available in New York City, given the metropolitan area's large
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and particularly
Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...
populations. The perception that American Jews eat at Chinese restaurants on
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
is documented in media. The tradition may have arisen from the lack of other open restaurants on Christmas Day, the close proximity of Jewish and Chinese immigrants to each other in New York City, and the absence of dairy foods combined with meat. Kosher Chinese food is usually prepared in New York City, as well as in other large cities with Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, under strict
rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
nical supervision as a prerequisite for Kosher certification.


Los Angeles County

Chinese populations in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
represent at least 21 of the 34 provincial-level administrative units of China, along with the largest population of Taiwanese-born immigrants outside of Taiwan, making greater Los Angeles home to a diverse population of Chinese people in the United States. Chinese-American cuisine in the
Greater Los Angeles area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino ...
is concentrated in Chinese ethnoburbs rather than traditional Chinatowns. The oldest Chinese ethnoburb is Monterey Park, considered to be the nation's first suburban Chinatown. Although Chinatown in Los Angeles is still a significant commercial center for Chinese immigrants, the majority are centered in the
San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley ( es, Valle de San Gabriel) is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, lying immediately to the east of the eastern city limits of the city of Los Angeles, and occupying the vast majority of the eastern part ...
which is the one of the largest concentration of Asian-Americans in the country, stretching from Monterey Park into the cities of
Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of ...
, San Gabriel,
Rosemead Rosemead is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 50,245, currently dropping. Rosemead is part of a cluster of cities, along with Alhambra, Arcadia, Temple City, Monterey Par ...
,
San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
, South Pasadena, West Covina, Walnut,
City of Industry City of Industry is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is almost entirely industrial, containing over 3,000 businesses employing 67,000 people, with only 264 residents as of t ...
, Diamond Bar, Arcadia, and Temple City. The Valley Boulevard corridor is the main artery of Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley. Another hub with a significant Chinese population is Irvine ( Orange County). More than 200,000 Chinese Americans live in the San Gabriel Valley alone, with over 67% being foreign born. The valley has become a brand-name tourist destination in China, although droughts in California are creating a difficult impact upon its water security and existential viability. Of the ten cities in the United States with the highest proportions of Chinese Americans, the top eight are located in the San Gabriel Valley, making it one of the largest concentrated hubs for Chinese Americans in North America. Some regional styles of Chinese cuisine include
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
,
Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese provin ...
, Chonqing, Dalian, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Hunan, Mongolian hot pot, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shanxi, Shenyang, Wuxi, Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Wuhan.


San Francisco Bay Area

Since the early 1990s, many American Chinese restaurants influenced by California cuisine have opened in the San Francisco Bay Area. The trademark dishes of American Chinese cuisine remain on the menu, but there is more emphasis on fresh vegetables, and the selection is vegetarian-friendly. This new cuisine has exotic ingredients like mangos and portobello mushrooms. Brown rice is often offered as an alternative to white rice. Some restaurants substitute grilled wheat flour tortillas for the rice pancakes in mu shu, mushu dishes. This occurs even in some restaurants that would not otherwise be identified as California Chinese, both the more Westernized places and the more authentic places. There is a Mexican bakery that sells some restaurants thinner tortillas made for use with mushu. Mushu purists do not always react positively to this trend. In addition, many restaurants serving more native-style Chinese cuisines exist, due to the high numbers and proportion of ethnic Chinese in the San Francisco Bay Area. Restaurants specializing in Cantonese, Sichuanese, Hunanese, Northern Chinese, Shanghainese, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong traditions are widely available, as are more specialized restaurants such as seafood restaurants, Hong Kong-style Western cuisine, Hong Kong-style diners and cafes, also known as ''Cha chaan teng'' (),
dim sum Dim sum () is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cuis ...
teahouses, and hot pot restaurants. Many Chinatown areas also feature Chinese bakery products, Chinese bakeries, boba milk tea shops, siu mei, roasted meat, Chinese Buddhist cuisine, vegetarian cuisine, and specialized dessert shops. Chop suey is not widely available in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
, and the area's chow mein is different from Midwestern United States, Midwestern chow mein.


Boston

Chinese cuisine in Boston results from a combination of economic and regional factors, in association with the wide Chinese academics, academic scene. The growing Chinatown, Boston, Boston Chinatown accommodates Chinatown bus lines, Chinese-owned bus lines shuttling an increasing number of passengers to and from the numerous Chinese Americans in New York City, Chinatowns in New York City, and this has led to some exchange between Boston Chinese cuisine and that in New York. A large immigrant Fujianese people, Fujianese immigrant population has made a home in Boston, leading to Fuzhou cuisine being readily available there. An increasing Vietnamese people, Vietnamese population has also had an influence on Chinese cuisine in Greater Boston. Finally, innovative dishes incorporating chow mein and chop suey as well as farm-to-table, locally farmed produce and regionally procured seafood are found in Chinese as well as non-Chinese food in and around Boston. Joyce Chen (chef), Joyce Chen introduced northern Chinese (Mandarin) and Shanghainese dishes to Boston in the 1950s, including Peking duck, moo shu pork, hot and sour soup, and potstickers, which she called "Peking Ravioli" or "Ravs". Her restaurants would be frequented by early workers on the ARPANET, John Kenneth Galbraith, James Beard, Julia Child, Henry Kissinger, Beverly Sills, and Danny Kaye. A former Harvard University president called her eating establishment "not merely a restaurant, but a cultural exchange center".


Philadelphia

The evolving American Chinese cuisine scene in Philadelphia has similarities with the situation in both New York City and Boston. As with Boston, Philadelphia is experiencing significant Chinese emigration, Chinese immigration from
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, 95 miles to the north, and from China, the top country of birth by a significant margin for a new arrivals there . There is a growing Fujianese community in Philadelphia as well, and Fuzhou cuisine is readily available in the Chinatown, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Chinatown. Also, emerging Vietnamese cuisine in Philadelphia is contributing to evolution in local Chinese cuisine, with some Chinese-American restaurants adopting Vietnamese influences or recipes.


Washington, D.C.

Although Washington, D.C.'s Chinese community hasn't achieved as high of a local profile as that in other major cities along the Mid-Atlantic United States, it is now growing, and rapidly so, due to the gentrification of Chinatown (Washington, D.C.), D.C.'s Chinatown and the status of Washington, D.C. as the list of capitals in the United States, capital of the United States. The growing Chinese community in D.C. and its suburbs has revitalized the influence of Chinese cuisine in the area. Washington D.C.'s population is 1% Chinese, making them the largest single Asian ancestry in the city. However, the Chinese community in the D.C. area is no longer solely concentrated in the Chinatown, which is about 15% Chinese and 25% Asian, but is mostly concentrated throughout various towns in suburban Maryland and Virginia. In D.C. proper, there are Chinese-owned restaurants specializing in both Chinese American and authentic Chinese cuisine. Regional variations of Chinese cuisine that restaurants in D.C. specialize in include Shanghainese cuisine, Cantonese cuisine,
Uyghur cuisine Uyghur cuisine ( ug, ئۇيغۇر تائاملىرى, , ; zh, s=維吾爾菜, p=Wéiwú'ěr Cài, links=no) is a cuisine of the Uyghur people, which is also consumed outside of Xinjiang. Signature ingredients include roasted mutton, kebabs, and ...
, Mongolian cuisine, and Sichuan cuisine. In the suburbs of D.C. in Maryland and Virginia, many of which have a much higher Chinese population than D.C., regional variations present aside from the ones previously mentioned include Hong Kong cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Shaanxi cuisine, Taiwanese cuisine, and Yunnan cuisine.


Puerto Rico


Hawaii

Hawaiian-Chinese food developed somewhat differently from Chinese cuisine in the continental United States. Owing to the diversity of Pacific Ocean, Pacific ethnicities in Hawaii and the history of the Chinese immigration to Hawaii, Chinese influence in Hawaii, resident Chinese cuisine forms a component of the cuisine of Hawaii, which is a fusion cuisine, fusion of different culinary traditions. Some Chinese dishes are typically served as part of plate lunches in Hawaii. The names of foods are different as well, such as ''Manapua'', from the Hawaiian contraction of "Mea ono pua'a" or "delicious pork item" from the dim sum ''bao'', though the meat is not necessarily pork.


Other regional American Chinese dishes

* Chow mein sandwich—sandwich of chow mein and gravy (Southeastern Massachusetts; Rhode Island) * Chop suey sandwich—sandwich of chicken chop suey on a hamburger bun (North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Massachusetts) * St. Paul sandwich—egg foo young patty in plain white sandwich bread (St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri) * Cashew chicken, Springfield-style cashew chicken—a style of cashew chicken that combines breaded deep-fried chicken, cashews, and oyster sauce (Springfield, Missouri) * War/wor sue gai (boneless almond chicken)—bite-sized Southern-style fried chicken with yellow sauce (Columbus, Ohio) * Yaka mein—Chinese-Creole food found in New Orleans that evolved from beef noodle soup


American Chinese chain restaurants

* China Coast—closed in 1995; owned by General Mills Corporation, formerly 52 locations throughout the United States * Chinese Gourmet Express—throughout the United States * Leeann Chin—Minnesota and North Dakota; owned at one time by General Mills Corp. * Manchu Wok—throughout the United States and Canada, as well as Guam, Korea and Japan * Panda Express—throughout the United States, with some locations in Mexico * Pei Wei Asian Diner—throughout the United States; formerly a subsidiary of P.F. Chang's * P. F. Chang's China Bistro—throughout the United States; featuring California-Chinese fusion cuisine * Pick Up Stix—California, Arizona, and Nevada * Stir Crazy (restaurant), Stir Crazy—Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, Florida, Indiana, Texas, and Ohio


Popular culture

Many American films (for example: ''The Godfather''; ''Ghostbusters''; ''The Lost Boys''; ''The Naked Gun''; ''Crossing Delancey''; ''Paid in Full (2002 film), Paid in Full''; and ''Inside Out (2015 film), Inside Out'') involve scenes where Chinese take-out food is eaten from oyster pails. A consistent choice of cuisine in all these cases, however, might just be an indicator of its popularity. A running gag in ''Dallas (1978 TV series), Dallas'' is Cliff Barnes' fondness for inexpensive Chinese take-out food, as opposed to nemesis J. R. Ewing frequenting fine restaurants. Among the numerous American television series and films that feature Chinese restaurants as a setting include ''A Christmas Story'', ''Seinfeld'' (particularly the episode "The Chinese Restaurant"), ''Big Trouble in Little China'', ''Year of the Dragon (film), Year of the Dragon'', ''Lethal Weapon 4'', ''Mickey Blue Eyes'', ''Booty Call'', ''Rush Hour 2'', and ''Men in Black 3''. In most cases, it is not an actual restaurant but a Set construction, movie set that typifies the stereotypical American Chinese eatery, featuring "paper lanterns and intricate woodwork", with "numerous fish tanks and detailed [red] wallpaper [with gold designs]" and "golden dragons", plus "Siu mei, hanging ducks in the window".


See also

* Fusion cuisine * Canadian Chinese cuisine * Australian Chinese cuisine * Chinese bakery products *
Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine encompasses the numerous cuisines originating from China, as well as overseas cuisines created by the Chinese diaspora. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has influenced many o ...
* Cuisine of the United States, American cuisine * British Chinese cuisine * Indian Chinese cuisine * Fortune Cookie * List of Chinese restaurants * Oyster pail


Citations


References and further reading


Studies

* * * Free download: * * * *


Cookbooks

* Sara Bosse, Winnifred Eaton (writer), Onoto Watanna, with an Introduction by Jacqueline M. Newman. ''Chinese-Japanese Cook Book.'' (1914; reprinted, Bedford, MA: Applewood Books, 2006). . . * * Eileen Yin-Fei Lo and Alexandra Grablewski. ''The Chinese Kitchen: Recipes, Techniques and Ingredients, History, and Memories from America's Leading Authority on Chinese Cooking.'' (New York: William Morrow, 1999). .


External links

* "Chinese food in America History" (The Food Timeline
The Food Timeline: history notes--restaurants, chefs & foodservice

Imogen Lim Restaurant Menu Collection: American menus
Vancouver Island University Library. {{cuisine, state=collapsed American Chinese cuisine, Chinese-American history, Cuisine Chinese-American culture, Cuisine Chinese cuisine Hawaiian cuisine