Cooking or Buying Chinese Food

Onionman

Onionman

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This is just a general question, but when you hear "Chinese food" what does that represent to you in your cooking or your purchasing?

I ask that because I currently live in Asia but I'm from the UK and have lived in the US. Dishes that I would try to make in the UK or would be served in the US would be monumentally different from what I get here. It's kind of obvious, I guess, given the different palates but I was really quite surprised how different UK Chinese was to US Chinese dishes. Dishes in Hong Kong, for example, are far less rice-based, far less meat on the bone, far lighter to eat.

What are you experiences?
 
Chinese food to me is very rice based, I am in the US. I tend to eat more vegetables when I eat chinese and no meat on the bone.
 
Chinese food in the US is vastly different from the Chinese food in China lol. It's kind of like everything else really. Sometimes you want gourmet meals but sometimes you just want to gorge on a big bucket of fried chicken
 
I live in the US and alot of Asian food is rice based here and I do not like it. I like rice a lot, but I do not like a whole bowl of it with just a few veggies and a couple of pieces of meat and sauce on top. I rarely ever make Chinese food at home, is something we go out to eat for as a treat. I can never make it as good as the authentic Chinese people, so I don't even really try.
 
Provided that I have all the ingredients at home, I like to do it myself.
But if or when that is not an option, I go to the Chinese Restaurant in my neighborhood to get some. I'll have to stock up on the stuff that I ran out of, in order to be able to do it at home. :wink:
 
I am in the Caribbean and where I work in the mall there is a "Chinese" restaurant. I often joke with the girls that it's Bajan (Barbadian) Chinese and truth be told Ihave heard persons of Asian descent say it's not "real" Chinese. I often do a "Chinese' stir fry but it's not like the Chinese I have eaten at Chinese restaurant when I "used" to eat at them. I think different cultures produce different taste.
 
Chinese for us is a rush meal,when we don't want to cook ,we order a Chinese take away,chow mien,battered king prawns,soy based chicken dishes ,sticky duck,fried rice,prawn crackers,i do prefer authentic foods rather than mass produced sticky dishes
 
This is an interesting topic to me, because I do like typical u.s. chinese restaurant food, but have to believe it is not really what they eat in China. I used to live in a city with a huge asian population and I shopped in many Chinese markets - there are isles and isles of products I have never seen before and wouldn't have a clue what to do with. So I have to believe Chinese people have a completely different diet than that which is served in typical restaurants.

Also I remember one particular restaurant we often frequented, and they had a regular menu, then a "secret"Chinese menu with completely different food all in Chinese. There was a separate room the Chinese people would eat in and they would have completely different food than the buffet stuff we were all eating.
 
In England Chinese and Indian food is a 'creation' for us Brits. Indian food in restaurants is different to the food that Indian people cook in their own home, Chinese I should imagine is the same. The basics are the same just modified for local tastes.
 
I've always been told the U.S. Chinese food is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. I am very much like the above poster, Chinese takeout is a very quick and inexpensive meal that we get when we are out of time and don't want fast food. I have several recipes that I always say I'm going to try, but never have because the convenience of the restaurant around the corner always wins out!
 
I have always suspected that the "Chinese" food I get in the U.S. is not what is broadly eaten in China, but that is to be expected as Chinese immigrants introducing their cuisine in the west, did not always have access to the same ingredients. There is also the question of facilities and utensils - westerners generally do not have a wok, which requires more heat than a regular gas stove or electric range. Then there's balance... I could go on and on before I get into flavor and technique.
 
We went into our local B&Q diy store this morning and they were selling bbq's and garden furniture. Optimistic as it has been :rain: all day.
 
America has an Americanized version of Chinese food that actual Chinese people are unfamiliar with more often than not. A lot of things are deep fried or coated in a heavy sauce. I thought this was actually an adorable example of what I'm talking about:
 
That's a great little clip JoanMcWench. I think the Americanized food is always sweeter and "safe". I know when I am in the grocery line at a Chinese market I always look at what everyone is buying, and it is always a ton of bitter, green leafy vegetables, like boy choy and other variations I don't know much about. Also they have things like chicken feet, little mini brown eggs, fresh fish, and strange looking animal parts (not like chicken breast or thighs etc.). I never see them buying carbs like rice or noodles! I always look at the food on their grocery belt and wonder what on earth I would cook with it.
 
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