American Chinese food

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Inspired by having just eaten too much crappy, yet oddly satisfying, American Chinese takeout: orange beef, salt and hot pepper shrimp, pot stickers, rice.

I'm fascinated that you can find Chinese takeout places in nearly every town in America, and they all seem to have exactly the same menu. It's surprising how few places actually attempt authentic Chinese cuisine. In Chicago's Chinatown, you'll typically find restaurants with two menus--one with the standard American Chinese stuff, in English, and another in Chinese with more authentic dishes--but out here in the boonies it's strictly General Tso's chicken and the like.

I haven't eaten chop suey since I was, I don't know, 8 or 9. And it's increasingly hard to find places that will serve that sort of thing.

Tell your stories/thoughts about American Chinese food here.

― amateurist, Monday, 9 April 2007 03:09 (eighteen years ago)

my favorite thing about the NYC fast food/american chinese places is the cheap-as-fuck chicken wings. also, the ability to get brown rice instead of gross fried rice most places is excellent. i often get general tso's chicken, or bean curd. there's a place near my house that actually has semi-decent mapo tofu, though nothing near the places in chinatown.

― ian, Monday, 9 April 2007 03:16 (eighteen years ago)

also 9 times out of 10 when i'm at one of those fast food chinese joints waiting for my food i will be the ONLY one ordering "chinese food" and not wings or 1/2 chickens with fries.

― ian, Monday, 9 April 2007 03:17 (eighteen years ago)

wasn't there a book that came out recently about the history of chinese food in america? i remember reading that the author was appearing somewhere and i wanted to go but couldn't. i still want to read it if i can locate a cheap copy.

― get bent, Monday, 9 April 2007 04:15 (eighteen years ago)

i like

-beef chow fun
-roast pork (with the red coloring!)
-boneless bbq spare ribs
-egg rolls
-scallion pancakes
-sesame chicken

― get bent, Monday, 9 April 2007 04:18 (eighteen years ago)

ooh and the "velvet" chicken corn soup

― get bent, Monday, 9 April 2007 04:28 (eighteen years ago)

Egg rolls & fried rice are flavorless grease party.

Tso's can be the the spicy yum or like mandarin chicken dyed a different color, and the mandarin can be like the sweet/sour-sour+orange color.

Pepper beef is usually a safe bet except the one time I got ground beef instead of...regular? And sometimes hardly any veg, or old veg. Fresh veg=yum. Sometimes it's just like fajitas on rice+msg.

A lot of places I've been to, th egg drop soup just tastes like thicker melted margarine!

Also people better damn well include msg. That stuff makes the yum.

― Abbott, Monday, 9 April 2007 04:29 (eighteen years ago)

there's a chain out here that does this sort of thing really well and beats the pants off panda express:

http://www.pickupstix.com/Home.html

― get bent, Monday, 9 April 2007 04:35 (eighteen years ago)

Me and my friend wrote a song about Panda Express once! It was called "(You Will Get Caught Up In The) SOCK PILE."

― Abbott, Monday, 9 April 2007 04:36 (eighteen years ago)

Good ol Pick Up Stix. Used to stop by one that was near the old house I rented.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 9 April 2007 04:39 (eighteen years ago)

growing up in suburban rhode island there was a fantastic dish called szechuan wonton in hot oil, which was more or less just that. but the wontons were hand-made, even though the restaurant was located next to the supermarket in a strip mall. you could see the older women making them at a table in the back. i have found many a pale imitation, but nothing quite right. i haven't done extensive digging in chinatown, though; there's just so much else to eat when there, i don't see the point of looking for the dish i enjoyed most as an eight year-old.

― ian, Monday, 9 April 2007 04:50 (eighteen years ago)

there used to be a place (now long closed) in chinatown that had one of my favorite chinese dishes ever: it was just a big bowl of generously cubed chicken, black bean sauce with loads of corn starch, and thick, slurpy noodles. i've seen chicken w/ black bean sauce on other menus, but never served quite the same way.

― get bent, Monday, 9 April 2007 04:56 (eighteen years ago)

want good chinese food so much right now

vancouver bc is kind of insane with good/authentic chinese food - yeah i've eaten my fair share of sweet&sour pork but not all of it has been bright red and a lot of the chinese food i've eaten has been pretty straight-up homestyle awesome - though i've also eaten the higher-class 10-12-course chinese meal a few times - whoa. unbelievable.

i dare you all to eat authentic congee - it smells kind of like a horse barn and tastes like chicken and roots and will boost your immune system for like 3 weeks. i used to live near a place that had really good congee and if you ordered bbq chicken or pork they'd grab a cooked piece and cut it up right through the bone and everything and put it on a plate. it was always packed there, plus v few white people.

― rrrobyn, Monday, 9 April 2007 05:32 (eighteen years ago)

i did not answer the question really

― rrrobyn, Monday, 9 April 2007 05:32 (eighteen years ago)

want good chinese food so much right now

Yeah, I'm with you -- need to get some sleep but it would sure hit the spot. Some other time.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 9 April 2007 05:33 (eighteen years ago)

i've seen all of these dishes served in china. same deal, basically.

in mainland china there are some popular taiwan and hong kong chain restaurants (24 hour places around train stations and downtown) that have almost the same menu as an american chinese restaurant. it looks different (no red dye and shit like that) but it's all about the same. eggrolls! potstickers! beef and broccoli! all that shit.

― dylannn, Monday, 9 April 2007 06:40 (eighteen years ago)

scallion pancakes and scallion + bread products are available on every street corner. these dudes near my school sell this amazing flakey dough full of scallions. you can drop 3 mao extra and get a fried egg inside. not bad.

sesame chicken... i remember taking these dudes visiting from canada to a joint that's famous for sesame chicken. they take a whole chicken, head to toe, chop it up, deepfry it with an equal amount of chilis, drizzle a bit of sesame oil on it, and plate it. not the same deal.

i live right in the middle of mainland china, so it ain't like i'm in hk or guangdong, where a lot of these american chinese dishes are from. but the same dishes spread here and changed to suit local tastes, just like they spread to america (and the rest of the world).

i shouldn't make it sound like shitty JADE GARDEN MANDARIN BUFFET food rules china... but the kung pao chicken (gong bao ji ding) and chow mein (chao mian) ain't that much different from what i ate in canada or america or europe. it's better here and definitely not the same! but not wildly different.

but no general tso's chicken, i don't think. i never ate that before and i'm still not sure what it is.

― dylannn, Monday, 9 April 2007 06:49 (eighteen years ago)

here in central NJ it's all just brown sauce that tastes like it's half corn syrup.

i don't even know if i've ever had "authentic" chinese food, to be honest, but there's a place up in hamilton that serves a dish called "congealed pork blood" and a bunch of other things that seem to terrifying to my sheltered american mind. i had their version of some standard chinese chicken dish and it was great, didn't have that thick, disgusting generic sweet sauce and they didn't assume that i couldn't handle spices.

my favorite chinese place in the world is the little place that was (and hopefully still is) near the philly record exchange. they have a killer vegetarian menu; i once had a serious craving for string beans in garlic and theirs was just so perfect. so damn perfect.

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Monday, 9 April 2007 07:22 (eighteen years ago)

americanized thai food and indian food >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>american chinese food (i have never had "authetic" chinese food, but i'm sure i'd like some of it)

― gershy, Monday, 9 April 2007 07:26 (eighteen years ago)

say what you will about americanized chinese food, but fast food general tso's is the shit.

― modestmickey, Monday, 9 April 2007 11:04 (eighteen years ago)

but also, i kind of reject the notion that "americanized" chinese food is necessarily all that different, and un-authentic. i've obviously never been to china to test this theory though. but one of the standard chinese food places around here with general tso's, lo mein, blah blah, i've been frequenting pretty regularly and developed a little relationship with the owner. i asked her one time about how her food compared to the food where she's from and how much she changes it for an american clientele. she told me it's basically the same, but a bit spicier in her home town, and there's a bunch of pretty common chinese dishes they don't serve over here. she invited me to try one of these with her, and i turned her down, but looking at it it didn't seem radically different from what we're used to. so, i really don't buy into the "american chinese" myth too much.

― modestmickey, Monday, 9 April 2007 11:08 (eighteen years ago)

about a thousand years ago i delivered chinese food in massachusetts and the family that ran the restaurant would cook a huge meal for the 6 of us every night. it was never the shit that we sold.

― chicago kevin, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:25 (eighteen years ago)

moo goo gai pan y'all

― m coleman, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:32 (eighteen years ago)

Chop suey is the original Americanized Chinese dish - here. That said, it's still pretty good.

― Jenny, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:34 (eighteen years ago)

This is a really interesting Slate article about the history of Chinese food in America.

My favorite Chinese take out is Hunan soft tofu and ma po tofu and plain old chicken and steamed vegetables but I have no idea if those are authentic or Americanized.

― Jenny, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:38 (eighteen years ago)

I know I've repped for this place before, but my favorite American Chinese food is from First Wok in Grand Rapids, MI. It's the first place I ever had Chinese (or even "Chinese") food, and I've been in NYC for almost 10 years and still haven't beat it (altho the Dumpling House $1 special is a thing of beauty, for sure).

Anyway, my favorite item of American Chinese food is without question THE CRAB RANGOON from the establishment above. I had some at Christmas vacay, I savored every bite.

― Laurel, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:41 (eighteen years ago)

is it real crab or teh stick?

― m coleman, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:45 (eighteen years ago)

not trying to bust yr chops but I get nervous about eating ocean things in the midwest, though apparently sushi is everywhere these days

― m coleman, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:48 (eighteen years ago)

I have no idea what kind of crab, actually, it's in very small bits and mixed into a scallion cream cheese and wrapped in wonton, fried, and served with hot mustard & sweet sauce. So it pretty much doesn't matter.

Anyway, seafood everywhere is frozen now, unless you're like in Vinylhaven and you just bought a lobster from the nice fisherman on the corner. Even sushi-grade giant specialty tuna are frozen in the Far East and flown or shipped here, aren't they??

― Laurel, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:54 (eighteen years ago)

Hot and sour soup, get in me.

― nickalicious, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:57 (eighteen years ago)

not trying to bust yr chops but I get nervous about eating ocean things in the midwest, though apparently sushi is everywhere these days

Oh come on dude, it might not be as plentiful or cheap as near coastal areas, but there's plenty of good seafood in the midwest.

xpost

― Jordan, Monday, 9 April 2007 13:57 (eighteen years ago)

yeah I just realized that the "wild" salmon I've been buying is relatively cheap becuase it's been previously frozen. still tastes good.

I burned out on that fake crab tho -- too many c/o california rolls.

xpost^^

sure jordan but I really like brook trout & lake whitefish which don't taste as good on the coast

― m coleman, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:00 (eighteen years ago)

http://i4.peapod.com/c/IB/IBL6J.jpg

― m coleman, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:07 (eighteen years ago)

All crab rangoon is prepped and frozen at some crab rangoon factory in Mexico and shipped via Sysco food delivery services to Chinese restaurants in the midwest and on the coasts.

― Jenny, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:11 (eighteen years ago)

la choy products are why I didn't get into chinese food until I moved to new york. there were chinese restarants in ohio & michigan in the 70s but I was kind of a meat & taters guy. fish = mrs paul's stix.

― m coleman, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:17 (eighteen years ago)

I don't know, Jenny, the "crab cheese" at First Wok are different! I can't find them as good anywhere else.

― Laurel, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:25 (eighteen years ago)

jenny, the place i worked minced their own crab. and they got it from a place in quincy, ma. that was allegedly fresh but i don't want to think about eating crabs from boston's south shore.

― chicago kevin, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:27 (eighteen years ago)

i dare you all to eat authentic congee - it smells kind of like a horse barn and tastes like chicken and roots and will boost your immune system for like 3 weeks.

there are a ton of different kinds. i like duck liver/ginger and pork/preserved egg the most, i think.

― lauren, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:36 (eighteen years ago)

ian, in manhattan you could try one of the grand sichuan branches (not the chinatown one) or wu liang ye for your wonton in hot oil needs.

― lauren, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:37 (eighteen years ago)

baltimore is a hellish hole of no decent chinese food

― strongohulkington, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:44 (eighteen years ago)

i seriously need to stop moving to cities where i can't get good chinese

― strongohulkington, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:44 (eighteen years ago)

I am skeptical, Laurel and Kevin! Skeptical!

― Jenny, Monday, 9 April 2007 15:18 (eighteen years ago)

Hey no prob. More crag cheese for me.

― Laurel, Monday, 9 April 2007 15:20 (eighteen years ago)

Er. Crab. Please.

― Laurel, Monday, 9 April 2007 15:20 (eighteen years ago)

I think "crag" is how Sysco lists it on their delivery checklist so maybe you ARE getting something different.

― Jenny, Monday, 9 April 2007 15:20 (eighteen years ago)

crag ranboon

― nickalicious, Monday, 9 April 2007 15:23 (eighteen years ago)

laurel would eat all this crag cheese

― nabisco, Monday, 9 April 2007 18:03 (eighteen years ago)

As long as Chicago remains a mecca for good Thai food, I basically have no reason to ever eat Chinese.

― jaymc, Monday, 9 April 2007 18:07 (eighteen years ago)

omg racest

― gff, Monday, 9 April 2007 18:10 (eighteen years ago)

Crag cheese:

http://k53.pbase.com/o4/91/43791/1/64432804.VUoVDdTO._S8E5750_swiss_raclette.jpg

― Laurel, Monday, 9 April 2007 18:12 (eighteen years ago)

Skipping 161 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Dawn+intestinal+Wang%22

― luol deng (am0n), Tuesday, 24 November 2009 21:17 (sixteen years ago)

Dry flat bitter gourd

sounds delicious!

― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Tuesday, 24 November 2009 21:19 (sixteen years ago)

I just learned that crab rangoons were invented for the 1904 World's Fair in St Louis!! They are basically Midwestern, which makes me surprised they bothered to put scallions in them at all!!

― WHY DON'T YOU JUST LICK THE BUS DIRECTLY (Laurel), Tuesday, 24 November 2009 21:20 (sixteen years ago)

Business was brisk Beef

want

― harbl, Tuesday, 24 November 2009 21:35 (sixteen years ago)

Diminutive hot-dog eating champ Dawn "Intestinal" Wang

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 24 November 2009 21:38 (sixteen years ago)

three years pass...

http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2013/jan/21/micropolis-mystery-chinese-double-menu/

― 乒乓, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 15:40 (twelve years ago)

i just came here to say DUMPLINGS!

― ^ sarcasm (ken c), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 15:54 (twelve years ago)

and lol at first post that may have had the examples wrong way round

― ^ sarcasm (ken c), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 15:56 (twelve years ago)

ten months pass...

http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-FPSBFCM40-Fortune-Cookie-Maker/dp/B007K98IWQ

Amazing

Think of the gag gift possibilities

― 乒乓, Friday, 13 December 2013 17:28 (twelve years ago)

this local place has a "chinese menu" on their website for authentic non-"american chinese" dishes. some of the google translate results:
Crystal shoe
Lilac Floor
Palace of explosive Squid
Fried conch slice
Seafood Conference
Fried intestine
Dawn intestinal Wang
Sauerkraut intestine
Business was brisk Beef
Dry flat bitter gourd
3 soup
Fish head casserole two
― luol deng (am0n), Tuesday, November 24, 2009 3:42 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hahahaha

― marcos, Friday, 13 December 2013 19:27 (twelve years ago)

Dawn intestinal Wang

Heck of a way to wake up

― Le passé, non seulement n'est pas fugace, il reste sur place (Michael White), Friday, 13 December 2013 21:32 (twelve years ago)

Seafood Conference is my favorite, can't say for sure why

― I was a teenage oenophile (rip van wanko), Friday, 13 December 2013 21:44 (twelve years ago)

Aww it's a Millennium Falcon that makes pizzelles!

― Tottenham Heelspur (in orbit), Friday, 13 December 2013 21:47 (twelve years ago)

three years pass...

Okay I just had dry-wok (vegetarian) chicken (干锅素鷄) and it's crazy full of sichuan peppercorns so my mouth is all tingly. If you go to a place that makes it TRY THAT SHIT, it's good. Lotus root, bamboo shoots, snow peas, mushrooms, all that.

― rudy githyanki (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Sunday, 18 December 2016 11:13 (nine years ago)

― 龜, Sunday, 18 December 2016 13:44 (nine years ago)

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I LOOKED LIKE AFTER I ATE IT

― rudy githyanki (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Monday, 19 December 2016 07:59 (nine years ago)

sichuan peppercorns are magical

― global tetrahedron, Monday, 19 December 2016 16:31 (nine years ago)

lived in china for a year and i'd honestly say a round trip flight would be worth it for the food alone. that said, this thread kind of makes me want to get leeann chin for lunch

― global tetrahedron, Monday, 19 December 2016 16:40 (nine years ago)

Someone from my school was recognized by a community organization on Friday and the awards dinner was at a local Chinese banquet hall and her biggest complaint was that THE FOOD WOULD BE GROSS AND MOVING AND HAVE EYES. This person is born and raised in Brooklyn--not, as you might think, Collyer, KS, population 109.

― If authoritarianism is Romania's ironing board, then (in orbit), Monday, 19 December 2016 16:49 (nine years ago)

Jeeeeeeeeeesus.

― rudy githyanki (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Monday, 19 December 2016 19:21 (nine years ago)

one month passes...

we got a hot pot and it is the GREATEST LEFTOVER MACHINE EVER* seriously the microwave is strictly for popcorn now I think

*as long as you don't mind scrubbing the burnt bits out of the bottom etc

― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 31 January 2017 01:01 (eight years ago)

My Dad has always added plum sauce to barbecue sauce for his ribs.

― Spencer Chow, Tuesday, 31 January 2017 18:23 (eight years ago)

what do you mean? xp

― 龜, Tuesday, 31 January 2017 18:29 (eight years ago)

I think I know what tombot means but it's funnier if I picture him throwing random leftovers in a hot pot

― mh 😏, Tuesday, 31 January 2017 19:40 (eight years ago)

raindrops
hot pots

― na (NA), Tuesday, 31 January 2017 19:43 (eight years ago)

picture him throwing random leftovers in a hot pot

yes, picture that

― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 31 January 2017 20:08 (eight years ago)

like taco bell

― mh 😏, Tuesday, 31 January 2017 20:08 (eight years ago)

yeah i literally are imaging him throwing some leftovers tacos into a hot pot

― Islamic State of Mind (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 31 January 2017 20:10 (eight years ago)

wow im illiterate

― Islamic State of Mind (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 31 January 2017 20:11 (eight years ago)

^^^ LOL! I could kinda eat American Chinese food every day for lunch, and often do. I stay away from deep fried stuff like General Tso's, and mostly do tofu or chicken w/ veggies, and spicy green beans. My local place will sub brown rice at no extra charge. And once a week they have a special curry.

― Fake posts from a failing poster (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 31 January 2017 20:13 (eight years ago)

yeah home hot pots are the shit

taiwanese food > chinese food btw *ducks*

― k3vin k., Tuesday, 31 January 2017 20:14 (eight years ago)

yes, picture that

― El Tomboto, Tuesday, January 31, 2017 3:08 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) Bookmark

you mean like an induction cooker?

― 龜, Tuesday, 31 January 2017 20:30 (eight years ago)

? bro you know what a hot pot is

― k3vin k., Tuesday, 31 January 2017 20:31 (eight years ago)

i guess hot pots are induction cookers? not an appliance nerd

― k3vin k., Tuesday, 31 January 2017 20:33 (eight years ago)

anyway i also had a hot pot and it was a great investment. my ex-gf kept it when we broke up :/

― k3vin k., Tuesday, 31 January 2017 20:34 (eight years ago)

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/popeye-tsos-chicken-general-tsos-chicken-made-with-popeyes-chicken-nuggets-recipe.html

I WANT TO BELIEVE

― mh 😏, Tuesday, 31 January 2017 20:39 (eight years ago)

? bro you know what a hot pot is
― k3vin k., Tuesday, January 31, 2017 3:31 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i guess hot pots are induction cookers? not an appliance nerd
― k3vin k., Tuesday, January 31, 2017 3:33 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark

i guess one appliance you do own is a self-clowning oven

― 龜, Tuesday, 31 January 2017 22:50 (eight years ago)

i still have no idea what appliance yr talking about

― just sayin, Wednesday, 1 February 2017 02:14 (eight years ago)

cooking up tacos in the hot hot pot

― mh 😏, Wednesday, 1 February 2017 02:34 (eight years ago)

guys seriously
basically I'm talking about a ceramic pot with a lid and the lid has a little hole in it to let out steam
you chuck some rice in there and some water and make the rice
then you chuck all the veg and protein or whatever (random leftovers!) and some vinegar and hot sauce and you know, stuff
then let it cook for a while. add more hot sauce whenever you feel like it though
after that you eat it and it's delicious

― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 1 February 2017 02:40 (eight years ago)

from what I hear this is basically exactly how they feed sumo wrestlers, so it seems healthy too

― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 1 February 2017 02:41 (eight years ago)

That sounds like a rice cooker?

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 1 February 2017 03:18 (eight years ago)

oh... its a japanese thing

― just sayin, Wednesday, 1 February 2017 03:28 (eight years ago)

tombot that sounds like claypot rice, not hot pot

https://i.imgur.com/ewMQPps.jpg

― 龜, Wednesday, 1 February 2017 14:34 (eight years ago)

I admit I am not quite able to picture the 'bot's setup. Image, please? Does ceramic thingie go directly on burner? Electric or gas or ???

― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Wednesday, 1 February 2017 18:31 (eight years ago)

I can't remember if I posted about it already but I got a carbon-steel wok and seasoning it was a v. satisfying process and it is nice to cook with. Still can't get that awesome restaurant flavor, though. Maybe when the weather gets nice I'll try wokking outside over some sort of propane flame-thrower setup.

― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Wednesday, 1 February 2017 18:33 (eight years ago)

tomboto

ya i have that

it's a type of hot pot

use it to make nabe, but you can make all sorts of stuff with it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabemono

good during winter and i put mine on a portable stove burner

my setup looks like this

http://www.gunmajet.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_6824.jpg

― F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 1 February 2017 19:26 (eight years ago)

the pot itself i just call it a nabe pot (donabe) btw (bought it at mitsuwa)

― F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 1 February 2017 19:30 (eight years ago)

yes, ceramic pot, goes directly on burner

tonight I threw in the last bit of January's chili batch, leftover roast chicken from super bowl dinner out, and some rice

burning my mouth like crazy with amazing combination of temperature and capsaicin

thanks again new kitchen guy

― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 01:14 (eight years ago)

I made szechuan chicken with udon noodles tonight. I'm Pan-Asian!

― scott seward, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 02:56 (eight years ago)

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