Non-Asian cooks...

[bigwong235]

i've always found it kind of odd that when white chefs try to prepare an "Asian" dish, they always seem to have to... hmm... well, for lack of a better word, "whiten" it up.

i was watching food tv the other day (damn i'm lame) and some person was trying to make some kind of chinese dish... it wasn't looking too good to me in the first place but then they had to screw it up even more by adding those dry chow mein noodles that you put in salad! :o

wolfgang puck was making some chow mein or something and although the ingredients weren't too off base, the way it ended up and its presentation just didn't seem to look very authentic.

is this just me or do other people notice it too? you don't see chinese chefs cooking french cuisine that looks odd... or is that just because most culinary schools actually teach you how to prepare european cuisine, with little to no emphasis on asian dishes?

[lethal]

Well, some chefs actually do venture through Asia to find the authentic way to cook things. I'm not sure how well they actually do that, but they put out the effort. Emeril comes to mind as one person who did that.

[deez nuts]

I think Chef Yang's (of the Yang can cook tv show) looks a little off too. ;)

[kimpossible]

Originally posted by bigwong235@Jan 9 2003, 11:36 PM
is this just me or do other people notice it too? you don't see chinese chefs cooking french cuisine that looks odd... or is that just because most culinary schools actually teach you how to prepare european cuisine, with little to no emphasis on asian dishes?
It's not just you re: the "Asian" cuisine some chefs cook up. Most culinary schools stress European cuisine and devote an extremely small portion to a condensed pan-Asian type of class. I would say that most Asian chefs prepare European food with an excellence that is on par with their European counterparts because culinary schools stress the classic European foods and techniques. However, I've also eaten some "Western" food in Asia that's just as funky as the supposed Asian food prepared by some non-Asian chefs.

[angel nympho]

Doesn't bother me. Experimenting with food is the only way to really create something that's your own.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by bigwong235@Jan 10 2003, 02:36 AM
i've always found it kind of odd that when white chefs try to prepare an "Asian" dish, they always seem to have to... hmm... well, for lack of a better word, "whiten" it up.

i was watching food tv the other day (damn i'm lame) and some person was trying to make some kind of chinese dish... it wasn't looking too good to me in the first place but then they had to screw it up even more by adding those dry chow mein noodles that you put in salad! :o

wolfgang puck was making some chow mein or something and although the ingredients weren't too off base, the way it ended up and its presentation just didn't seem to look very authentic.

is this just me or do other people notice it too? you don't see chinese chefs cooking french cuisine that looks odd... or is that just because most culinary schools actually teach you how to prepare european cuisine, with little to no emphasis on asian dishes?
yeah they americanise chinese food
but like HH said, there's some pretty asianised version of european food in asia

[wylin]

yah most chinese food and ethnic and american foods here in socal are cooked by mexicans, the only group wiling to take the low pay associated with being a cook.

so when u goto tacobell in LA and complain that ur food isnt authentic, realize there is authentic mexicans in the back cooking it for u.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jan 10 2003, 08:57 AM
I think Chef Yang's (of the Yang can cook tv show) looks a little off too. ;)
i always thought he does asian fusion food? or am i mistaken?

[deez nuts]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 10 2003, 02:00 PM
i always thought he does asian fusion food? or am i mistaken?
I've only seen like 3 episodes. But in one episode when he made za jian mein...i was like that's not how it looks like...it just looked weird. I mean if it's called za jian mein not za jian mien + <whatever> I don't think it's fusion. I know Koreans have their version of za jian mein and both Chinese and Korean version looks about the same.

Maybe Chef Yang was making za jian mein the way high class and rich people eat it.

Beats me....his dishes just look different.

[thaite]

Originally posted by angel nympho@Jan 10 2003, 11:39 AM
Doesn't bother me. Experimenting with food is the only way to really create something that's your own.
Maybe so, but the more you fuck with it the less it is what it's supposed to be.

I mean, you can't call pahd thai, pahd thai if you change out the ingredients and add some sort of signature chef flair that makes it your own instead of the real thing. Even if I called it padh thai buoywonder-style, that don't make it pahd thai.

[angel nympho]

Originally posted by buoywonder@Jan 10 2003, 08:19 PM
Maybe so, but the more you fuck with it the less it is what it's supposed to be.

I mean, you can't call pahd thai, pahd thai if you change out the ingredients and add some sort of signature chef flair that makes it your own instead of the real thing. Even if I called it padh thai buoywonder-style, that don't make it pahd thai.
Who gets to decide what a certain food is "SUPPOSED" to taste like? Eat tortilla soup at Islands n then eat it at CPK. They are completely different dishes.

Does it really matter? Everywhere I go, I EXPECT to recieve a different rendition of a seemingly familiar dish.

[deez nuts]

Originally posted by angel nympho@Jan 10 2003, 01:39 PM
Doesn't bother me. &nbsp;Experimenting with food is the only way to really create something that's your own.
I'm with her.

Bottomline is if it tastes good, fills me up and puts me into a food coma, Im happy.

But, I do have to admit I am cautious about eating something I'm used to eating (i.e. the dishes I grew up with) in a new light. It's not being close minded more like I have a real sensitive stomach and I'm sick of spending time on the bowl after a meal cuz it didn't sit well. The ones that look safe are the ones that induce rapid bowel movement for me! Goddamnit!

[SunWuKong]

yeah, i mean when the day comes that all authentic restaurants disappear, then i'll start complaining about food authenticity. i don't need to eat authentic food all the time. so pass the general tso's chicken! :D

and honestly, most of the fusion food i've had is damn good anyway.

[angel nympho]

Dood, if I really want authentic food, I'll ask my mom to cook it instead of going to some restaurant.

[deez nuts]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 10 2003, 05:28 PM
yeah, i mean when the day comes that all authentic restaurants disappear, then i'll start complaining about food authenticity. i don't need to eat authentic food all the time. so pass the general tso's chicken! :D

and honestly, most of the fusion food i've had is damn good anyway.
Actually MK..General Tso's Chicken is an authentic Chinese Dish. Zuo Zhong Gi is a famous Hunan dish.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jan 10 2003, 05:42 PM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 10 2003, 05:28 PM
yeah, i mean when the day comes that all authentic restaurants disappear, then i'll start complaining about food authenticity. i don't need to eat authentic food all the time. so pass the general tso's chicken! :D

and honestly, most of the fusion food i've had is damn good anyway.
Actually MK..General Tso's Chicken is an authentic Chinese Dish. Zuo Zhong Gi is a famous Hunan dish.
not the way they cook it in americanised chinese restaurants... right?

i don't recall seeing them cooked the same way in authentic chinese restaurants. same thing with the egg roll. although many americanised chinese restaurants are offering the real deal spring roll now.

[deez nuts]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 10 2003, 05:47 PM
Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jan 10 2003, 05:42 PM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 10 2003, 05:28 PM
yeah, i mean when the day comes that all authentic restaurants disappear, then i'll start complaining about food authenticity. i don't need to eat authentic food all the time. so pass the general tso's chicken! :D

and honestly, most of the fusion food i've had is damn good anyway.
Actually MK..General Tso's Chicken is an authentic Chinese Dish. Zuo Zhong Gi is a famous Hunan dish.
not the way they cook it in americanised chinese restaurants... right?

i don't recall seeing them cooked the same way in authentic chinese restaurants.
Well yeah, of course. My grandma made it really well. She always made it for me when I "dai bian dan" aka the Chinese metal lunchbox, when I was in elementary school.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jan 10 2003, 05:49 PM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 10 2003, 05:47 PM
Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jan 10 2003, 05:42 PM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 10 2003, 05:28 PM
yeah, i mean when the day comes that all authentic restaurants disappear, then i'll start complaining about food authenticity. i don't need to eat authentic food all the time. so pass the general tso's chicken! ?:D

and honestly, most of the fusion food i've had is damn good anyway.
Actually MK..General Tso's Chicken is an authentic Chinese Dish. Zuo Zhong Gi is a famous Hunan dish.
not the way they cook it in americanised chinese restaurants... right?

i don't recall seeing them cooked the same way in authentic chinese restaurants.
Well yeah, of course. My grandma made it really well she always made it for me when I "dai bian dan" aka the Chinese metal lunchbox, when I was in elementary school.
yeah i like the way they make it at the americanised restaurants better, hahhah! and crab rangoon. i love crab rangoon. lemon chicken too.

[deez nuts]

What's crab rangoon?

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jan 10 2003, 05:52 PM
What's crab rangoon?
that appetizer that is hot cream cheese wrapped in egg roll skin

[Hanuman]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 10 2003, 05:56 PM
that appetizer that is hot cream cheese wrapped in egg roll skin
Oh man, that's good stuff.

I'm not surprised by how much they 'whiten' the food up. They do it to cater to the palates of their customers. It's the same way in foreign countries, like when I went to a KFC in Thailand, they served the chicked with a sweet and spicey (very hot) sauce, that I notice my parents use here. They also offer a side of white rice if you want it. It's all about the demand. If it's their, someone will supply it.

But like everyone else has already said, as long as it tastes good, dish me out a plate. :P

[kasia]

Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jan 10 2003, 11:39 AM
I've only seen like 3 episodes. &nbsp;But in one episode when he made za jian mein...i was like that's not how it looks like...it just looked weird. &nbsp;I mean if it's called za jian mein not za jian mien + <whatever> I don't think it's fusion. &nbsp;I know Koreans have their version of za jian mein and both Chinese and Korean version looks about the same.

Maybe Chef Yang was making za jian mein the way high class and rich people eat it.

Beats me....his dishes just look different.
Martin Yan...I think he does Cantonese cuisine. Supposedly, his accent is fake, and that pissed off some Asian groups. My dad knew him from a while back, though, and said that he had an accent before and his English eventually improved. I think, because his accent made him popular though, he decided to keep his accent on the show. 'if yan can cook, you can too!' :P

but back to the topic...there are a lot of fancy chinese restaurants in hollywood owned and run by white people - i'm not sure if the cooks are asian or non-asian, but i wouldn't be surprised if they're not asian. there's also p.f. chang's (is that a chain)? the food is okay. doesn't really taste chinese, though.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by kasia@Jan 12 2003, 02:09 AM
Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jan 10 2003, 11:39 AM
I've only seen like 3 episodes. But in one episode when he made za jian mein...i was like that's not how it looks like...it just looked weird. I mean if it's called za jian mein not za jian mien + <whatever> I don't think it's fusion. I know Koreans have their version of za jian mein and both Chinese and Korean version looks about the same.

Maybe Chef Yang was making za jian mein the way high class and rich people eat it.

Beats me....his dishes just look different.
Martin Yan...I think he does Cantonese cuisine. Supposedly, his accent is fake, and that pissed off some Asian groups. My dad knew him from a while back, though, and said that he had an accent before and his English eventually improved. I think, because his accent made him popular though, he decided to keep his accent on the show. 'if yan can cook, you can too!' :P

but back to the topic...there are a lot of fancy chinese restaurants in hollywood owned and run by white people - i'm not sure if the cooks are asian or non-asian, but i wouldn't be surprised if they're not asian. there's also p.f. chang's (is that a chain)? the food is okay. doesn't really taste chinese, though.
oh man p. f. chang's is terrible.

and about martin yan. if the accent is helping him make the $$$, then all the more power to him! it's all about making money off white people.

[Craig]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 12 2003, 01:48 AM
it's all about making money off white people.
It's nice they have one redeeming quality :)

[lethal]

p.f. chang's is a chain and it is horrible.

I heard this interview with Martin Yan where he spoke with no accent or a very slight accent. The interviewer asked him about it and he said that he played up the accent to sound more authentic or something. Whatever works :)

[angel nympho]

I like PF Changs. It's decent. As long as you don't expect to have real Asian food.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by angel nympho@Jan 12 2003, 09:26 PM
I like PF Changs. It's decent. As long as you don't expect to have real Asian food.
it's overpriced for what they have. i'd rather go to panda express.

[thaite]

Wait a minute, didn't just awhile back you said this:

Who gets to decide what a certain food is "SUPPOSED" to taste like?

and now you say this: I like PF Changs. &nbsp;It's decent. &nbsp;As long as you don't expect to have real Asian food.

Now who gets say what real Asian food is like? If PF Chang's says it's supposed to taste that way, then it's supposed to taste that way. Eh?

[kasia]

Originally posted by buoywonder@Jan 12 2003, 09:08 PM
Wait a minute, didn't just awhile back you said this:



and now you say this:

Now who gets say what real Asian food is like? If PF Chang's says it's supposed to taste that way, then it's supposed to taste that way. Eh?
AN has been impeached! you should have been the attorney for anna guo. :)

[himura-dono]

well, someone just got pwned....

[Fireblade]

Well at least Martin Yan's stuff is real. A while back he did a cooking show in Cantonese for a chinese programming channel in San Francisco. My parents were like... WHOOOOA NELLY. THAT'S SOME GOOD EATS. Supposedly he goes back every year to go check out the restaurants in Hong Kong and China and various parts of Asia to brush up on what they do there. In fact he's done a few shows outside of America. Pretty authentic I say. At least I trust my parents.

As for other chefs... *shrug* everyone has different tastes. Who you cater to is what matters to the chef. If Bill Gates wanted a chilli cheese burger with a side of aspargus, the cook would go ahead and do that. Just cuz it don't seem very traditional, doesn't mean it's not edible.

[contra_diction]

ooh i like Yan, i have one of his rice cookers, and his show is very informative and entertaining.

[Adaon]

Martin Yan's accent is basically nonexistent. He came to my highschool during one oft hose diet consciousness/food day/faire health things......basically it was a cook off between the clubs in the school...and he tossed up some quick chow mein/lo mein ideas......he went to school in the states some where I heard.....

Back to the subject in thread....I mean growing up in San Fran, I'd LIKE to think I have a pretty good palatte to decipher who cooked what, whether it was Panda Express Style with "Juan" (I'm not trying to be offensive with this, the Panda Express in SF Shopping Center in San Fran has a cook in the back named Juan, go check for yourself) in the back throwing together my orange sesame chicken or assorted goodies as compared to some of the honestly almost traditional ways of getting them downtown/homemade.....and the farther you leave from the more ethnic areas of a city, the less traditional the food gets and the more likely they start to serve only the tastes of the surrounding customers (I think I read that a few entrees back)....survival of the fitest in the restaurant race......heh

[angel nympho]

Originally posted by Adaon@Jan 14 2003, 05:02 PM
Martin Yan's accent is basically nonexistent. He came to my highschool during one oft hose diet consciousness/food day/faire health things......basically it was a cook off between the clubs in the school...and he tossed up some quick chow mein/lo mein ideas......he went to school in the states some where I heard.....

Back to the subject in thread....I mean growing up in San Fran, I'd LIKE to think I have a pretty good palatte to decipher who cooked what, whether it was Panda Express Style with "Juan" (I'm not trying to be offensive with this, the Panda Express in SF Shopping Center in San Fran has a cook in the back named Juan, go check for yourself) in the back throwing together my orange sesame chicken or assorted goodies as compared to some of the honestly almost traditional ways of getting them downtown/homemade.....and the farther you leave from the more ethnic areas of a city, the less traditional the food gets and the more likely they start to serve only the tastes of the surrounding customers (I think I read that a few entrees back)....survival of the fitest in the restaurant race......heh
What does his accent have anything to do with anything? Or was something mentioned about it earlier? It so, sorry! But I just saw your post and thought to myself, "uh....?"

His growing up in the states doesn't really have any relevancy about whether or not he's authentic or whether or not he cooks good or whatever.

[angel nympho]

Originally posted by buoywonder@Jan 13 2003, 05:08 AM
Wait a minute, didn't just awhile back you said this:



and now you say this:

Now who gets say what real Asian food is like? If PF Chang's says it's supposed to taste that way, then it's supposed to taste that way. Eh?
I know, I'm just saying don't go to PF Changs expecting to see what you'd see on your momma's table and then bitch about it later.

[angel nympho]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 13 2003, 04:12 AM
it's overpriced for what they have. i'd rather go to panda express.
I get discounts :)

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by angel nympho@Jan 14 2003, 07:06 PM
I get discounts :)
damn
should i be afraid to ask how you manage to get discounts? :P :D

[AltimaGTR]

I work at this place called Hunan Emperor that caters specifically to non-asians. We have like 4 Mexican cooks in the back that make General Tso's Chicken and all this other "Chinese" food. But yeah, most of them cant tell the difference and they really enjoy the food, haha! Any Chinese guy would instantly notice we're not serving real Chinese food if they ate there :lol:

[Napoleon Chynamite]

Regarding discounts, the year right after high school, I used to have at least one friend that worked for each and every fast food establishment in the area, so if I felt like Burger King or Subway or whatever I could just head to that specific branch and get hooked up :P

[Adaon]

Sorry AN, ppl brought up Yan's accent earlier in the thread and the authenticity of it........

And AN prolly gets a mall discount or something, SWK, u dirty dirty minded Monkey King. Lol, ROCK ON, MK!!

[angel nympho]

Originally posted by Adaon@Jan 15 2003, 06:35 AM
Sorry AN, ppl brought up Yan's accent earlier in the thread and the authenticity of it........

And AN prolly gets a mall discount or something, SWK, u dirty dirty minded Monkey King. Lol, ROCK ON, MK!!
Uhh, I don't work in a mall. I know the manager's face enough to chat him up on occasion.

[Adaon]

Opps, my bad for assuming AN

[contra_diction]

There's this place in El Paso called Chopsticks that serves Chinese food, but it's run by Mexicans. not that they had anything to do with the quality/ presentation of the food, but.... well, i've had better.

[bigwong235]

Originally posted by FrozenPizza@Jan 14 2003, 08:13 PM
Regarding discounts, the year right after high school, I used to have at least one friend that worked for each and every fast food establishment in the area, so if I felt like Burger King or Subway or whatever I could just head to that specific branch and get hooked up :P
how come i can't be you?! :lol: