Nelson Wang (born 1950) is an Indian restaurateur of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

descent and the founder of China Garden, a restaurant, 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- ...

Kemps Corner Kemps Corner is an upmarket neighbourhood in South Mumbai. It is flanked by Altamount Road on one side and Malabar Hill on the other. It lies at the intersection of Breach Candy, Warden Road, Pedder Road and Nepean Sea Road Nepean Sea Ro ...

neighborhood. Various sources credit him with the invention of the popular Indian/Chinese dish "

Chicken Manchurian Manchurian is a class of 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 soy sauce. Manchurian ...

Personal life

Wang was born in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. He is the son of a

Chinese immigrant Waves of Chinese emigration have happened throughout history. They include the emigration to Southeast Asia beginning from the 10th century during the Tang Dynasty, to the Americas during the 19th century, particularly during the California g ...

. However, within a few days of his birth, his father died, and he was sent to live with a foster family by his mother. His foster father was a chef, to whom Wang attributes his own love of cooking.

Early career

Chicken Manchurian (Hyderabad Style) (11960049916)

Wang came to

in 1974, with just

₹ The Indian rupee sign (₹) is the currency symbol for the Indian rupee (ISO 4217: INR), the official currency of India. Designed by D. Udaya Kumar, it was presented to the public by the Government of India on 15 July 2010, following its select ...

27 in his pocket. His first job there was in a small restaurant in

Colaba Colaba (; or ISO: Kolābā) is a part of the city of Mumbai, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other three are Worli, Bandra and Malabar Hill. During Portuguese rule in the 16th century, the island was known as Kolbhat ...

. He also worked a variety of other odd jobs, including being a limbo dancer, at which he claims to be skilled. According to Wang himself, he was a cook at the

Cricket Club of India Cricket Club of India (CCI) is a cricket club in India. It is located on Dinsha Wacha Road, in Churchgate of Mumbai, India. It was conceived as India's counterpart to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It is considered one of the most prestigious ...

, when in 1975, a customer asked him to create a new dish, different from what was available on the menu. He started by taking the basic ingredients of an Indian dish, namely chopped

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

, and

green chili Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

s; but next, instead of adding ''

garam masala Garam masala Hindustani_language.html"_;"title="rom_Hindustani_language">Hindustani_/_(''garm_masala'',_"hot_spices")is_a_Spice_mix.html" ;"title="Hindustani language">Hindustani / (''garm masala'', "hot spices")">Hindustani_language.html" ;"tit ...

'', he put in

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...

instead, followed by

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 soups, ...

and the chicken itself. The result was Chicken Manchurian.

China Garden

Wang branched out from his job at the CCI in 1983 to start his own restaurant. His restaurant gained popularity, and won various awards proclaiming it "India's best restaurant". Wang and China Garden have also been credited with inventing or popularizing a number of other Indian Chinese dishes, including Creamy Corn Cream,

Chicken Lollipop Chicken lollipop is a popular Indian fried chicken appetiser. Chicken lollipop is, essentially a ''frenched'' chicken winglet, wherein the meat is cut loose from the bone end and pushed down creating a lollipop appearance. Recipe Recipes vary f ...

s, Date Pancakes and

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 Un ...

. He and his sons Henry and Eddie would go on to open several restaurants in various parts of India, including

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Gurugram Gurgaon (pronunciation: �ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: �ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

and

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. It is available in Nepal also in

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

. The restaurant encountered trouble in 1999, when a court ordered him to close it for violating Coastal Regulation Zone rules about building floor area, in a case that took more than fourteen years. A

Rediff Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

columnist criticised the ruling as making "no sense". He reopened the restaurant at the Crossroads Mall in August 2000.

References

External links

China Garden
Wang's restaurant {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Nelson Living people 1950 births Indian chefs Indian people of Chinese descent Businesspeople from Kolkata Indian restaurateurs