Here’s the thing about Chinese food – something I think is worth contemplating. And that is this – one can only wonder at the enormity and diversity of the Chinese cuisine, a cuisine that has been around for 1000s of years, and yet, we have all grown up with chicken chow mein and egg foo yung.
What led me down this path was my thinking about how Chinese food in particular has changed quite a lot since we were children growing up in the 60s/70s. I was thinking about all those chinese takeaways and country town chinese restaurants (think Red Lantern, Emperors Bowl, Golden Dragon, etc) serving up special fried rice, chop suey, chicken chow mein. We know that some of these dishes are not truly authentic Chinese at all and were “westernisations” of meals that came from China. So I got to thinking about this whole thing – how did chinese food become so anglicised over the years? How did a country with so many different cuisines become so homogenous all around the world?
My other thought is this : If there are 8 different cuisines in China, how was it that we all only really knew or recognised food from the Cantonese cuisine for so many years? It is strange to think that most of the western population considered this to be all that Chinese food has to offer. The fact that, say, the Szechuan region on its own is huge and has a population of 80 million people and has a cuisine of it’s own means we all have a lot to learn!
I guess it seems fairly obvious – Guangdong, the Southern province in China – is a major port area and from there many Chinese migrated to other countries (UK, USA, Canada, Australia, NZ and other South East Asian Countries), especially during the early 1900s when Chinese were fleeing such things as corruption, starvation and war. As well as economic opportunities such as gold … My own ancestors left this region around 1940 during the Second Sino-Japanese war and returned to New Zealand (long story, will explain later … 😁 ).
As more Chinese settled around the world, Chinatowns sprung up in many major cities – a settlement area for the migrants, along with the opportunity to eat, drink and live within their community. Whilst chefs and restaurants popped up in these communities, they were mainly utilised by the Chinese themselves.
In the UK, Chinese migrants (mainly sailors) had settled around Liverpool and other port cities around the 19th century. The population grew as students arrived into the UK and, as with other migrants, tended to create their own communities. After World War Two, asian restaurants in London began to pop up – returning servicemen having had a taste of different asian flavours. So, by the 60s and 70s the number of restaurants in London and other major cities in the UK started to grow. Migrants from Hong Kong began arriving in the UK in numbers, bringing their cantonese dishes with them and therefore the restaurants that flourished were Cantonese – making dimsum, steamed fish, stir fries, claypot stews – things that were appealing to the British palette. Many spices and ingredients from other parts of China were very hard to come by at that time so any other cuisines were rare and hard to find. It wasn’t really until the late 1990s – with the influx of Chinese from other areas of China coming into western countries – that other cuisines from China began to surface in restaurants around the world – demand being driven by the new emigrants, students and workers from other parts of China. The spicy/peppery Szechuan, Hunan and Dongbei provinces brought spicy dishes to the table. The food of Xi’an and Yunan also has different culinary flavours of cheeses and rice noodles, lamb dishes and muslim meals.
Chinese have been coming to Australia and New Zealand since the late 1800s searching for gold. In addition to the gold miners, came men and women from China who sourced and cooked food for the miners in their camps – wanting to eat food that reminded them of home. These chefs and cooks eventually left the gold mining fields and moved to the cities to cook and earn a living. And so began the shaping of Cantonese meals into meals suited to white Australians. Again, it wasn’t until the 1990s when migrants from other parts of China came and brought all the delicious different spices to our lives.
Of course, it is now due to the growth of Chinese supermarkets that have brought these tantalising ingredients to the public, making it possible for people to cook these meals at home. (unashamedly plugging WONG SHE & CO. here!).
I need to add that even though some of the dishes that we may have grown up with are not “authentic” chinese dishes, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t tasty! Some of these foods are being reinvented and given a more modern twist – think Mr Wong’s in Sydney being an excellent example of the continuing deliciousness of Cantonese food – Kung Pao chicken, steamed fish, tofu dishes, cheong fan, dumplings … yum, all sooo good. I seriously love that restaurant, not only because it has a great name either!
In this very brief history, I think I have only touched on the surface of the amazing culinary story of China and how it has made it’s way into our lives. I am fascinated by the diversity and the crossovers between cuisines from the East and the West. And in Australia where would we be without being able to enjoy all that Chinese food has to offer. Yumcha, BBQ shops, spicy and soupy and everything in between!
