Who was General Tso? When did America become obsessed with Chinese takeout? And what’s the difference between Chinese food in America and Chinese food in… China?

With unique insight from CEO of Xi’an Famous Foods, Jason Wang. Seriously, if you’re in New York you have to try it, the food is unreal.

Food History is a show all about… well, the history of food. Join host Justin Dodd as he brings you the stories of how your favorite meals ended up on your plate. Today, we’re talking about Americanized Chinese cuisine, from General Tso to crab rangoon.

Special thanks to Jason Wang and Xi’an Famous Foods.

To read Robert Sietsema’s Tianjin cuisine article, click here:
https://ny.eater.com/2018/3/13/17085910/tianjin-chinese-flushing-nyc

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39 thoughts on “Chinese Food in America: A Brief History”

  2. Associating the word "spicy" with General Tso almost seems insulting to the term spicy. Even if you eat the chilies they include, I don't think it would give even my wife heat in her mouth, and she can't handle things like "hot" flavor sauce from Taco Bell.

  5. One of the best things about dude is that he never takes credit for himself when he achieves something. He always respect us, the audience, and his team, and hi is always polite in all of his videos We congratulate ourselves on this achievement it's make Different From Other Youtuber 's.. More to come and everything to come…….♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️😀😀

  6. One of the best things about dude is that he never takes credit for himself when he achieves something. He always respect us, the audience, and his team, and hi is always polite in all of his videos We congratulate ourselves on this achievement it's make Different From Other Youtuber 's.. More to come and everything to come…….♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️😀😀

  7. One of the best things about dude is that he never takes credit for himself when he achieves something. He always respect us, the audience, and his team, and hi is always polite in all of his videos We congratulate ourselves on this achievement it's make Different From Other Youtuber 's.. More to come and everything to come…….♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️😀😀

  8. One of the best things about dude is that he never takes credit for himself when he achieves something. He always respect us, the audience, and his team, and hi is always polite in all of his videos We congratulate ourselves on this achievement it's make Different From Other Youtuber 's.. More to come and everything to come…….♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️😀😀

  13. Food is like language… it evolves…it creates new dishes and traditions…this is good, because if recipies became stagnant, then new recipes would have never been discovered…

  16. Interesting vid! Surprised that there was no mention of Chicken Balls in Canada. When a Canadian thinks of Chinese food, that’s what comes to mind. I moved to the US 26 years ago and I still miss them. In college I had a friend from Hong Kong who told me “”I love Canadian Chinese food! I’ve never tasted anything g like it.” Lol.

  20. General tso's chicken is my mom and brother's fave when it comes to Chinese takeout. My faves are orange chicken and lo mein. It's really interesting how Chinese takeout evolved from their roots and that a lot of famous dishes were popularized in New York City.

  22. Where herbs and spices used first for their taste and the medicinal properties were noted or were they used as medicines first and the flavors became a part of our cuisine?

  26. Thanks for an interesting video. It reminded me of a conversation I had with my wife, who grew up in China, shortly after we started dating:

    Her: Do you like Chinese food?
    Me: Yes, I love Chinese food!
    Her (excited): Really? Where do you eat Chinese food?
    Me: P.F. Chang’s.
    Her (disappointed): That’s not Chinese food.

  27. You don't need "air-quote" discover every time you say the word. The definition of discover has nothing to do with a thing being completely unknown to anybody else, only with that discovery.

  29. Why is lumping bagels, cheese burgers and lobster rolls….not okay again? They are all examples of American cuisine. A more accurate description would be to call pizza, fish n chips, and ratatouille "European food" an apt description to how we talk about Chinese or Indian food.

    I'm Chinese food is also isn't a problem… There is a shared culinary heritage and philosophy behind Chinese food that all region share. It's it's a minor problem when people think that food from Guangdong is all that Chinese food is (for example)

  32. I love Mala there is a restaurant in Charlotte NC that has a wide variety of delicious Mala dishes… I wish more restaurants cooked with them.

  38. I wish he’d have mentioned Danny Wong-Tam, the owner of America's “longest running” Chinese restaurant, the Butte (Montana) Pekin Noodles Parlor made famous by local patron, Evel Knievel.

  39. There has been a big chienese community in Peru for 150 years, they created Chinese-Peruvian food we call "Chifa", you can find Chifa restaurants everywhere, its delicious. Chaufa rice, friend wontons, chicharron, pickled turnip.
    But as per usual unless a country is an Anglo-Saxon or european country, India, China or Japan, good luck getting mentioned for anything. The rest of the world might as well not exist.
    Kinda like how Nobu gets praised as this amazing Japanese restaurant but its actually Japanese-Peruvian yet nobody knows about that part.

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