Chinese bhel is a
fast food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...
and
street food
Street food is ready-to-eat food or drinks sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or at other public places, such as markets or fairs. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...
item in India and is considered a part of
Indo-Chinese cuisine. It is a variant of
chop suey
Chop suey () is a dish in American Chinese cuisine and other forms of overseas Chinese cuisine, consisting of meat (usually chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or fish) and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery ...
and
bhelpuri
Bhelpuri is a savoury snack originating from India, and is also a type of chaat. It is made of puffed rice, vegetables and a tangy tamarind sauce, and has a crunchy texture.
Bhel is often identified as a 'beach snack', strongly associated wit ...
. It is popular in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
.
Ingredients
Like most street food items, the recipe of Chinese bhel has many variants. The basic ingredients present in every recipe are crisp fried noodles, raw shredded cabbage, and one or more hot sauces. These ingredients are throughly mixed together in the style of making a
bhelpuri
Bhelpuri is a savoury snack originating from India, and is also a type of chaat. It is made of puffed rice, vegetables and a tangy tamarind sauce, and has a crunchy texture.
Bhel is often identified as a 'beach snack', strongly associated wit ...
. The sauces could be Schezwan sauce, red chilli sauce, and/ or tomato ketchup.
In addition, it may contain one or more of these ingredients: finely chopped onion, sliced
capsicum
''Capsicum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the Solanum, nightshade family Solanaceae, native to Americas, the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their chili pepper or bell pepper fruit.
Etymology and names
The generic name may come f ...
, diced carrot, soya sauce, salt, black pepper powder,
ajinomoto
is a Japanese multinational food and biotechnology corporation which produces seasonings, interlayer insulating materials for semiconductor packages for use in personal computers, cooking oils, frozen foods, beverages, sweeteners, amino acids, an ...
, vingegar, and raw garlic paste in varying quantities. Sometimes chopped spring onion is used for garnishing.
Criticism
Chinese bhel stalls in Mumbai were criticized for poor hygiene and were suspected to have caused a
hepatitis E
Hepatitis E is inflammation of the liver caused by infection with the hepatitis E virus (HEV); it is a type of viral hepatitis. Hepatitis E has mainly a fecal-oral transmission route that is similar to hepatitis A, although the viruses are unrel ...
epidemic over a two-month period in 2011.
The
Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC; IAST: ), also known as the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), is the governing civic body of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra. It is India's richest municipal corporation. The BMC ...
(MCGM) has issued strict orders not to let hawkers sell fried foodstuffs on pavements and Chinese food outside schools. The Congress party had recently demanded that the MCGM ban the sale of Chinese street food due to fears related to its use of
monosodium glutamate
Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer wit ...
.
See also
*
Indian Chinese cuisine
Indian Chinese cuisine, Chinese Indian cuisine, Sino-Indian cuisine, Chindian cuisine, Hakka Chinese or Desi-Chinese cuisine is a distinct fusion culinary style that combines aspects of both Indian and Chinese foods and flavours. Though Asian ...
*
Manchurian (dish)
Manchurian is a class of Indian Chinese cuisine, Indian Chinese dishes made by roughly chopping and deep-frying ingredients such as chicken, cauliflower (''gobi''), prawns, fish, mutton, and paneer, and then sautéeing it in a sauce flavored with ...
*
Ching's Secret
Ching's Secret was founded in 1996 by Capital Foods. Based in Dallas. The Ching's Secret range of food products and ingredients include noodles, soups, sauces, masalas and chutneys.
History
In 1995, Mr. Ajay Gupta launched Capital Foods. Using ...
References
External links
Chinese Bhel recipe by Sanjeev KapoorChinese Bhel recipe by Tarla DalalChinese Bhel recipe by Khana Khazana
Indian fast food
Bihari cuisine
North Indian cuisine
Indian Chinese cuisine
Street food in India
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