Paul Freedman: Is Innovative Chinese Food the Trend for Chinese Food in the US?

Chinese food has been popular in the United States for more than a century, and in recent years has taken on new trends. With the growing popularity of innovative Chinese food in the US, a number of boutique fast food brands have opened up a new dimension to the franchise chain. Paul Freedman, a professor of history at Yale University who has long studied the history of food and drink and is the author of Food: The History of Taste, explained in an exclusive interview with East Meets West of China News Service about American food culture, the development of Chinese food in the US, and how to build high-end restaurants.

Paul Freedman, Professor of History at Yale University

Photo from the Interviewee

China News Service: What are the characteristics of American food, and are McDonald's and other fast-food bestsellers its signature culture? When did Chinese food become popular in the US?

Freedman: It's true that to many foreigners, fast food like McDonald's is representative of American food, because it's hard to find an American dish in the way that one thinks of French food when mentioning French beef stew or Italian food when mentioning lasagna. Americans rarely tried foreign cuisine back in the late 19th century, and it was obviously from that time that Chinese restaurants became popular in the United States. The first Americans who tried it brought American eclecticism into food culture. They added their own tastes to these foreign dishes, just as the American sweet tooth is by no means just in desserts, but in all cuisines. For example, Chinese food in America is much sweeter than real Chinese food, like sweet and sour pork, which is so named because of the real acetic acid taste, but it is only sweet in America. So the American flavour is there, but the American diet is a mixed concept with a great variety of flavours.

A Chinese restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown serves "sweet and sour pork".

Photo by Liu Guanguan, China News Service

It can be said that the American diet has three important connotations. The first is regional. Historically, the United States has had different regional dietary characteristics, like vast countries such as China. Over the past one or two centuries, these regional characteristics have gradually become similar. Secondly, it is modernity. Everywhere in America, you can eat the same bread, drink the same orange juice, and buy the same food. The last is the fusion of imported food.

China News Service: Chinese food has been in the United States for over 100 years, what do you think is its current status? Has Chinese food been integrated into American food culture?

Freedman: The number of Chinese restaurants in the United States and their wide distribution has undoubtedly shown that Chinese food has been integrated into American food culture. There are currently about 40,000 Chinese restaurants in the US, in towns and cities. Chinese cuisine is definitely the most popular exotic food in the United States. However, in terms of home cooking, Chinese food still has a way to go compared to its two competitors, Italian and Mexican cuisines. Many Americans are already proficient in making authentic Italian and Mexican cuisines in their own kitchens, but Chinese food has not yet reached that level. So it can be said that Chinese food is only partially integrated into American food culture at the moment.

A Chinese restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown.

Photo by Liu Guanguan, China News Service

China News Service: You have mentioned that restaurants with ethnic characteristics need to balance originality and familiarity if they want to thrive in the US. Which of these two aspects is more important?

Freedman: Native-born American customers certainly want to taste authentic Chinese food, but there is some internal resistance, such as not accepting the internal organs of animals, even though they are often the most delicious parts. My students are all born and bred in America and call themselves curious eaters who, when given the opportunity to live abroad, will try the local cuisine, but even ingredients like liver scares them.

In fact, Americans are always looking for the best of both worlds, wanting authentic tastes without any psychological discomfort. For this reason, local restaurants will replace authentic ingredients with ones that Americans are comfortable with. For example, jiaozi has a high status in China, and the ingredients used are never as cheap or even as bad as some American dumplings. But these less authentic American dumplings are readily accepted locally. If you had to choose between authentic tastes and psychological comfort, I would say that psychological comfort is more important.

A Chinese restaurant inside Pike Place Market in Seattle, US.

Photo by Liao Pan, China News Service

China News Service: In your book Ten Restaurants That Changed America, you mentioned The Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco, why did this restaurant change America?

Freedman: This restaurant changed America because it was the first truly upscale Chinese restaurant. The Mandarin opened in San Francisco in the 1960s, when most Chinese restaurants still took the low-price route and were favoured because of their low prices. While some Chinese restaurants did have elaborate shop décor at the time, it was mostly ostentatious oriental décor, incorporating elements such as golden dragons, red colours, and Chinese character plaques. This was not the case for Cecilia Chiang, the founder of The Mandarin, who died in San Francisco just over a year ago at the age of 100. During her lifetime, she was committed to creating a more authentic and regional restaurant business.

The influence of The Mandarin was that it introduced the food of northern China, Shanghai, and other areas to Americans, breaking the years of dominance of so-called Cantonese cuisine in the United States. I had my first Peking duck and potsticker at The Mandarin. Apart from bringing northern cuisine to the United States, another important aspect of The Mandarin was that it showed Americans that Chinese restaurants could be elegant. It was decorated with modern art, and its location was in a shopping centre that had been converted from an early industrial complex into a centre of boutique shops. At the time, it was remarkable to be able to offer such a dining experience.

China News Service: Innovative Chinese food has become very popular in the US in recent years, with brands such as Panda Express and Junzi Kitchen increasing their restaurants in the US. Do you think the future trend of Chinese food in the US is innovative Chinese food?

Freedman: I think so. The concept of Junzi Kitchen, for example, is to create a fast-food model that chooses to customise a menu with mainly northern cuisine to offer American customers a wider range of options. This customised dining model is similar to Chipotle, a Mexican-style fast food brand, and Sweetgreen, the US salad chain giant, where customers can choose their own toppings or meats, veggies, etc. The sauces and sides are fixed, but customers have a wide range of options for pairing them. This convenient and quick model is a step forward for the development of Chinese food. Junzi Kitchen’s food is not cheap, but it is not quite up to the level of consumption of a fine dining restaurant and is more of a boutique fast food. The real challenge for Chinese restaurants in the US remains how to become high-end restaurants where people want to come in and spend much money.

China News Service: You have pointed out that the hierarchy of dining fashions is not stable, and that certain diets have managed to leapfrog to the ranks of fine dining throughout history. Does history offer any lessons for Chinese food in the US? What advice would you give to operators looking to open Chinese restaurants in high-end venues?　　

Freedman: History can certainly provide a lesson, provided that they really want to get into the fine dining category. American Chinese restaurant operators have been happy to see themselves in the low-priced dining category for many years, and they have made their money on low prices. There are, of course, boutique restaurants that target the Chinese community, and these are also successful, with traditional and sophisticated cuisine, although the people who come to eat are almost exclusively Chinese immigrants or their descendants. For the wider American public, Chinese food has not yet made the leap to prestigious fine dining.

In fact, Chinese restaurants have tried. But some of the factors that make Chinese restaurants a fantastic experience also limit them from being fine dining restaurants. Chinese people like to eat in groups and share dishes at the table. In some of these palatially decorated restaurants, the dining environment is not as quiet and formal as in a palace, but rather crowded, even noisy, and not at all polished. Such an atmosphere is an advantage when it attracts a few customers, like me, who want to experience authentic Chinese food culture, but it is a disadvantage when you want other customers to willingly spend $70 or $150 per person for it.

Customers filled a Chinese restaurant in New York's Chinatown to enjoy morning tea.

Photo by Liao Pan, China News Service

At this stage, about 95 per cent of Chinese restaurants in the United States are still in the class of good and inexpensive restaurants. If these restaurants want to move upmarket, it is necessary to diversify their décor and adjust their dining services, such as an individual dining system with a multi-course meal for one person and small portions of multiple servings in the Spanish tapas-style. Chinese dining, which has conquered the world with its diverse cuisine, rich flavours, and loads of texture, still has much potential for the future.