American Chinese cuisine

Question

This piglix contains articles or sub-piglix about American Chinese cuisine

Answer 1

Mongolian beef

Mongolian beef

Mongolian beef (Chinese: 蒙古牛肉; pinyin: Ménggǔ niúròu) is a dish served in Chinese-American restaurants consisting of sliced beef, typically flank steak, and stir-fried with vegetables in a savory brown sauce, usually made with hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and chili peppers. The beef is commonly paired with scallions or mixed vegetables and is often not spicy. The dish is often served over crispy fried cellophane noodles or steamed rice.

The dish and its name are derived from Mongolian barbecue as a dish instead of cooking upon order. Thus, none of the ingredients or the preparation methods are drawn from traditional Mongolian cuisine.

...

Wikipedia

Answer 2

Moo goo gai pan

Moo goo gai pan

Moo goo gai pan (Chinese: 蘑菇雞片; Cantonese: mòh-gū gāi-pin) is the Americanized version of a Cantonese dish, usually a simple stir-fried dish consisting of sliced or cubed chicken with white button mushrooms and other vegetables. Popular vegetable additions include snow peas, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and Chinese cabbage.

The name comes from the Cantonese names of the ingredients:

...

Wikipedia

Answer 3

Moo shu pork

Moo shu pork

Moo shu pork (also spelled mù xū ròu, moo shi pork, mu shu or mu xu pork) is a dish of northern Chinese origin, possibly originating from Shandong. It is believed to have first appeared on the menus of Chinese restaurants in the United States in the late 1960s, and is also a staple of American Chinese cuisine.

In its traditional Chinese version, moo shu pork (木须肉 / mùxūròu) consists of sliced pork tenderloin, cucumber, and scrambled eggs, stir fried in sesame or peanut oil together with thinly sliced wood ear mushrooms (black fungus) and enokitake mushrooms. The dish is seasoned with minced ginger and garlic, scallions, soy sauce, and rice cooking wine (usually huangjiu).

In the United States, the dish seems to have appeared in Chinese restaurants in New York City and Washington, D.C., in approximately 1966, receiving mention in a New York Times guide to Washington, D.C., restaurants published in that year. One of the first restaurants in Manhattan to serve the dish was Pearl's, one of the best known New York City Chinese restaurants to serve non-Cantonese food in the 1960s. A 1967 article in The New York Times states that another of the first restaurateurs to serve the dish in Manhattan was Emily Kwoh, the owner of the Mandarin House, Mandarin East, and Great Shanghai restaurants. The dish was also early on the menu at Joyce Chen's, a celebrated pioneering Mandarin-style restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At that time, the dish was at first prepared in a traditional manner, but, as wood ears and day lily buds were scarce, a modified recipe was developed. In this modified recipe, which gradually came to predominate in North America, green cabbage is usually the predominant ingredient, along with scrambled eggs, carrots, day lily buds, wood ear mushrooms, scallions, and bean sprouts. The new recipe is more like the filling of Chinese Spring pancake. Shiitake mushrooms, bok choy, snow pea pods, bell peppers, onions, and celery are sometimes also used, and dry sherry is often substituted for the huangjiu. The vegetables (except the day lily buds and bean sprouts) are generally sliced into long, thin strips before cooking.

...

Wikipedia

Answer 4

Mumbo sauce

Mumbo sauce or mambo sauce is a condiment found in takeout restaurants in Washington, DC and surrounding metro area. The red orange sauce is similar to a barbecue sauce or plum sauce but sweet and tangy, and is put on fried chicken wings, french fries, fried jumbo shrimp, and fried rice. Its origin and ingredients are subject to great dispute.

The trademark MUMBO name was first used by Argia B. Collins, Sr., for use in connection with a barbecue sauce he developed for his Chicago restaurant. Since at least as early as 1950, Mr. Collins and his business used this trademark, and his successor-in-interest, Select Brands, LLC, registered the trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 25, 1999, Registration No. 2,247,855. The MUMBO trademark has been used for sauces, and appears on labels as part of the phrase MUMBO® SAUCE. Some people have used the term "MUMBO SAUCE" in articles, internet blogs and advertisements for their sauce products, in connection with a sauce said to have originated in Washington, DC Chinese restaurants used on chicken wings, French fries, and fried rice. Select Brands has challenged such uses as incorrect and as potential infringements of its MUMBO trademark.

However, according to Capital City Mumbo Sauce, the sauce originated in a restaurant called "Wings-n-Things" in the late 1960s. Since Argia's Mumbo Sauce can be traced back to the 1950s (before it showed up at Wings-N-Things) it's speculated that the DC version is a transplanted version of the original Chicago sauce.

The DC go-go group Mambo Sauce derived their name from the condiment.

The DC hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon performs a song about Mambo sauce.

...

Wikipedia

Answer 5

Nankin Cafe

The Nankin Cafe was "a downtown Minneapolis landmark for 80 years". Founded by Walter James in 1919 at 15 S. 7th Street, now the site of the Dayton-Radisson parking ramp, it was sold in 1949 to the Golden and Chalfen families. The restaurant moved across 7th Street to 20 S. 7th Street in 1958. In 1980 it was razed, along with the entire block (1979-1980), to make way for the City Center shopping center, after its owners agreed to a settlement allowing it to relocate in the new center, which it did in 1981 upon completion of the complex. The Nankin was owned by the Wu family for the last 10 years of its existence.

Several factors that may have contributed to the restaurant's demise include the decline in popularity of traditional Chinese-American food, a five-month shutdown of the restaurant during a strike in late 1988, a drug raid by Minneapolis police in 1997 in which 19 customers were arrested, and the filing for bankruptcy protection by the Wu family.

Coordinates: 44°58′41″N 93°16′28″W / 44.9780177°N 93.2743152°W / 44.9780177; -93.2743152

...

Wikipedia

Answer 6

Orange chicken

Orange Chicken

Orange chicken (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: chénpí jÄ«; Wade–Giles: ch'en²-p'i³-chi¹; Jyutping: can⁴ pei⁴ gai¹) is a Chinese dish of Hunan origin.

The variety of orange chicken most commonly found at North American Chinese restaurants consists of chopped, battered, and fried chicken pieces coated in a sweet orange-flavored chili sauce, which thickens or caramelizes to a glaze. While the dish is very popular in the United States, it is most often found as a variation of General Tso's chicken in America rather than the dish found in mainland China. For many years Orange Chicken was actually made from other meats. Sometimes even different cuts from the cow could be disguised as chicken. This only happened when there were chicken plagues throughout China. In mid 1600's China experienced a disease that killed off many different types of chicken. While the southern part of China still used chicken in their dishes the northern part could not.

In most countries in the western hemisphere, the names "orange chicken", "orange chicken peel", "orange flavoured chicken", and "tangerine chicken" are typically used for this particular dish. In Chinese, however, the dish is always known as "陳皮雞", literally "Dried Citrus peel chicken", referring to dried orange or tangerine peel, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine as well as cooking. For restaurants outside of Asia, fresh orange peel is often used instead, or even no peel at all.

...

Wikipedia

Answer 7

Oyster pail

An oyster pail (also known as a Chinese food box or Chinese takeout container) is a folded, waxed or plastic coated, paperboard container originally designed to hold oysters. It commonly comes with a handle made of solid wire. Currently, it is often in use by American Chinese cuisine restaurants primarily throughout the United States, to package hot or cold take-out food. It can also sometimes be found in European countries such as Germany and England, but is rarely seen in China and other Asian countries with high numbers of ethnic Chinese.

The container has the advantage of being inexpensive, durable and fairly leak-proof as long as it is kept upright. The top usually includes a locking paperboard tab so that it is self-closing. The simple origami-like folded construction also allows for some escape of steam from hot food. If care is used to remove the flaps, and the sides are unfolded, the container can also double as a somewhat flimsy plate. However it is also typical to eat directly out of the container, a feat that the long reach of chopsticks makes easier. The containers are primarily used with American Chinese cuisine, though they have started to spread in some European countries.

Oyster pails that can be used safely in microwave ovens (without the metal handle, which can cause arcing in a microwave) are also available. Microwave-safe pails often come with no handle or a handle made of plastic.

The containers may also be used for storing or transporting non-food items, such as soap bath beads or small parts. Takeout containers have also been offered as novelty packaging for small gifts.

Early patents date to 1890, 1894 and 1908. The paperboard oyster pail was invented at a time when fresh oysters were more popular, more plentiful, and less expensive than they are at present. Since shucking oysters (removing the raw meat from the shell) takes some amount of skill and can be difficult and dangerous, it was common to have the oyster seller open the oysters so they could be taken home for use in cooked dishes. The oyster pail provided an inexpensive and sanitary way to accomplish this. In the early 20th century oyster pails were also used to hold honey. In the mid-20th century, overfishing (and the subsequent rise in price) of oysters left manufacturers with a significant number of unsold oyster pails.

...

Wikipedia

Answer 8

Pepper steak

Pepper steak

Pepper steak (Chinese: or , pinyin: ; Japanese: チンジャオロース, chinjaorōsu; also called green pepper steak) is a stir-fried Chinese American dish consisting of sliced beef steak (often flank, sirloin, or round) cooked with sliced green and/or red bell peppers and other seasonings such as soy sauce and ginger, and usually thickened with cornstarch. Sliced onions and bean sprouts are also frequent additions to the recipe.

Evidence for the dish's existence in the United States dates from at least 1948.[1] The dish originated from Fujian cuisine, where it was known as (). In the original dish the meat used was pork and the seasonings were relatively light compared to pepper steak.

Similar dishes include a dish called chin-jao rōsu (青椒肉絲) found in Japanese Chinese cuisine and steak au poivre found in French cuisine.

...

Wikipedia

Answer 9

Pu pu platter

Pu pu platter

A pu pu platter, pu-pu platter or pupu platter is a tray of American Chinese or Hawaiian food, consisting of an assortment of small meat and seafood appetizers. A typical pupu platter, as found in American Chinese cuisine, might include an egg roll, spare ribs, chicken wings, chicken fingers, beef teriyaki, skewered beef, fried wontons, crab rangoon, fried shrimp, among other items, accompanied by a small hibachi grill.

The pupu platter was probably first introduced to restaurants on the United States mainland by Don the Beachcomber in 1934. It has since became a standard at most Polynesian themed restaurants such as Don's and Trader Vic's. The earliest known print reference to a pupu platter served at a Chinese restaurant is from 1969.

Later, other types of restaurants used pu pu platter to mean an appetizer combination platter. However, pu pu platters are currently more closely associated with American Chinese restaurants.

In the Hawaiian language, pū-pū denotes a relish, appetizer, canapé, or hors d'oeuvre; it originally meant "shell fish', but also referred to small bits of fish, chicken, or banana relish served with kava and beans.

Since the introduction of commercial dining and drinking establishments in Hawaii, pūpū were, and remain, standard fare in island establishments. An establishment that serves "heavy pupus" will often have a buffet table with warming trays full of chicken, tempura vegetables, shrimp, poke (cubed and seasoned raw fish), small skewers of teriyaki meat or chicken, sushi, and other similar finger foods. An establishment that serves "light pupus" usually will offer only the cold foods such as poke, sushi, and vegetables. Some establishments will serve pūpū to the table.

...

Wikipedia

Answer 10

Sesame chicken

Sesame chicken

Sesame chicken (also called Chinese sesame seed chicken) is a dish commonly found in Chinese restaurants throughout the English-speaking world. The dish is similar to General Tso's chicken but the taste of the Chinese-based chicken is sweet rather than spicy.

The dish involves chicken (usually thigh) pieces that are de-boned, battered, and Chinese deep-fried, then dressed with a translucent, reddish-brown, semi-thick, somewhat sweet sauce made from Asian corn starch, vinegar, wine or sake, chicken broth, and sugar, the last of which is a major contributor to sesame chicken's relative sweetness. After these preparations, the unfinished dish is topped with small sesame seeds, which may or may not be toasted, hence the name sesame chicken. It is at this point, and never before, that the Chinese sesame seed chicken preparation is complete. It is sometimes, but not always, served with vegetables such as broccoli and Chinese baby corn. Some vegetables are regularly absent from this dish, such as Brussels sprouts and Cabbage.

Chinese Sesame shrimp is also a popular variation of Chinese Sesame Chicken. Shrimp is simply substituted for chicken. Preparation of this Chinese dish is the same, with the exception of the degree and length of heating of the meat. Another potential difference is that chopped almonds may be substituted for the sesame seeds, hence the name almond shrimp. In some areas of the United States, Chinese sesame chicken is incorrectly referred to as Chinese chicken with sesame seeds.

...

Wikipedia