Cooking or Buying Chinese Food

I'm from South Africa and we've got a lovely Chinese community that sells traditional Chinese foods. However, the meals are very rice based and also sushi. Perhaps, since most of them have been born here, the local palate is a bit different that what one would encounter on mainland China.
 
I am a big fan of Chinese food and try to take my influences from traditional Chinese chefs who grew up with authentic Chinese cooking. I have enjoyed learning about different regional styles of cooking in China and the history and philosophy behind it.

I take Chinese cooking seriously and believe it should remain true to it's origins and i try to achieve that with my dishes, i do not take any influence from the USA or Britain in the way they have adapted Chinese cooking. I am planning to visit Singapore and Hong Kong one day to learn more about the Chinese methods and techniques in order to perfect my cooking as much as possible.
 
Berties said:
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
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That's exactly my memory of Chinese food in the US (and to some degree with the UK), with the battered king prawns and sticky duck. And I kind of miss some of this version, as I see little like that around me. That said, I shouldn't expect to see it here as the dishes cater to local tastes.
 
Chinese food in the UK seems to be heavily based on rice and noodles and stir-frying. I can't say I've ever eated anyting truly authentic and when you watch travel documentaries about the country, the food they show seems very different to what we are used to.
 
I've gotten much much better at making many Chinese dishes at home to the point when I am just craving some shrimp/chicken/pork fried rice, I can whip up a batch that is just as good if not better than what I would get from my local Chinese restaurant. However when I want deep fried anything Chinese, such as General Tso's Chicken, or anything with Char Siu in it - I don't even bother to try and make those at home because I can never get them anywhere close. Also it comes down to how many ingredients I will need. If I don't have all the stuff on hand to make a Kung Pao shrimp or chicken - such as the peanuts, dried chili peppers, oyster sauce, mixed veggies including stuff like bamboo shoots, etc... then it's more cost effective for me to just pony up the $7 or so, and order takeout - then pick it up myself. Otherwise I'm gonna end up blowing like $30 or more at the grocery store to make one meal.

Although fried rice is a guilty pleasure, especially with all the eggs, green onions and BBQ pork in it - I try to limit my intake of it to less than a cup (cooked) as a meal portion because it is rather high in calories. I don't think I would really care for any of the Chinese dishes I order to have meat still on the bone - convenience is one of the things I enjoy about Chinese food, I wouldn't want to be picking out bones while trying to eat something.
 
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