What I learned from the book: The Fortune Cookie Chronicles

I read the book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee for the last few months and I have found out some things about Chinese cuisine in the United States. I would like to introduce some of the products I found that were not found in China but found in America as Chinese cuisine from the book. Also, I found videos and podcasts related to the book and I would like to share them. 

General Tso's Chicken

First, I found out about General Tso’s chicken. The general's chicken may be found at all-you-can-eat $ 4.95 supper buffets along interstate highways, in bulletproof urban takeouts, and in white-tablecloth restaurants. This food doesn't exist in China and it is the ultimate Chinese-American dish. It is a Chinese-American dish because the dish contains broccoli. In Chinese cuisine, usually, broccoli is not included. However, Americans love broccoli, so even though the Tso Chicken should be Chinese cuisine, broccoli is added. Another reason is that Chinese restaurants in America tend to shy away from anything that is recognizably animal. In American culture, there should be nothing where you have to chew on something and spit out an inedible part. However, it is the opposite in China. In China, the tender feet and legs are the most expensive part of the chicken. On the other hand, in America, they are almost worthless. Also, Americans like chicken, sweetness, and deep-frying. These three elements are converged in General Tso’s chicken so it is popular in America.

Next, the book talked about Chinese takeaways in the United States. The takeaway box is made with a single piece of white industrial cardboard, neatly folded, held by a single wire with no seams and no glue. The white takeout cartons only exist in the United States. This is because the Chinese takeout phenomenon in the United States doesn't exist in China. Even though it doesn't exist in China, the Americans look at the box and they see it as something Chinese. However, when others look at the box, they think of America.

Lastly, I found out about Kari-out soy sauce. Kari-Out is a company which is owned by a Jewish family and it became successful in the Chinese-restaurant business from the start of selling soy sauce. When you look at the label on a bottle of soy sauce from an Asian company, the ingredients listed would be water, soybeans, wheat, and salt. But if you look at the ingredients on Kari-Out soy sauce, the common ingredients would be water, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, caramel coloring, and corn syrup. The Kari-Out soy sauce doesn't contain soybeans. Kari-Out promoted packaged soy sauce across the country with its newly designed panda logo. The packets were so successful that by 1972 they added duck sauce and hot mustard to their Kari-Out lineup. Kari-Out's soy sauce factory naturally produces no soybeans. However, their product is still soy sauce.

Here is the video and podcast I found related to the book I am reading↓

video

The History of GENERAL TSO CHICKEN | Tso Chinese Delivery - YouTube

In this video, Min Choe and Angell Tsang, the owners of Tso Chinese Delivery in Austin reveal the story behind the famous General Tso Chicken. Angell says that the majority of the Chinese food you see in the United States was invented in the United States. For General Tso chicken you can trace back the roots to Taiwan. The dish became popular in Taiwan and some of the chefs brought it to New York. You can find the history of the General Tso Chicken.

podcast

https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2014/03/07/xian-famous-foods-bringing-a-little-known-chinese-cuisine-to-new-york-city

podcast: the splendid table

title: Xi'an Famous Foods: Bringing a little-known Chinese cuisine to New York City

detail: The interviewer is Jennifer 8. Lee is the author of the book which I am reading. The guest is Jason Wang. It is about Xi’an cuisine. Jason Wang’s father founded the restaurant, “Xi’an Famous Food” which is in New York and to have Xi’an cuisine is a lucky experience because actually, it is not well known in China. Xi’an cuisine is spicy, sour, and it uses a lot of black vinegar. They call it “suan la”, which means sour and spicy in Chinese. In the conversation, they talk about the signature dishes in their restaurant which are liangpi “cold skin” noodles, lamb pao mo soup and wide, hand-pulled biang biang noodles.