By 1980, Chinese food had become the country's most popular ethnic cuisine. The spread of Chinese restaurants started a quiet but revolutionary change to America's palate while transforming the nation's dining experience.
"The extraordinary impact of Chinese food on American culture can be measured in a couple of ways. First, this is reflected in its ubiquitous presence throughout the United States since the turn of the 20th century," Chen said. "Second, Chinese food's spread played a significant role in the transformation of American culture and lifestyle: Chinese food was the first cuisine to be available for mass consumption across the nation. As such, it democratized the dining-out experience, making it possible for almost everyone in the U.S.."
American Chinese food
While Americans love Chinese food Chen admits the dishes they crave the most are not really made in China.
"When Chinese restaurateurs started to carry their food to non-Chinese neighborhoods, they also modified it to make it more suitable to the taste of Americans," Chen told CGTN Digital. "Over time, such modified dishes became a distinctive tradition itself, known as American Chinese food, which is found in areas that do not have a large Chinese community."
One of the most popular Chinese dishes in the U.S. is General Tso's Chicken, but like so many of the western world Chinese favorites, this is a mystery to China.
Lee showed the man who invented General Tso's Chicken what had become of his dish he was shocked. "That's not right. This isn't authentic," he told her.
Even so, Chen said this assumption that American Chinese food is unauthentic has been around for more than a century is largely an incorrect assumption.
"The differences are that food in China is more diverse and it has been changing far more rapidly," he said.
