From "Stinky" and "Strange" to Trendy: The Evolution of Asian food in America

In the Chicago Tribune Commentary section, writer Ruth Tam wrote an article called "You shame my culture's food - and then make it trendy."  Here is the link:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-food-gentrification-asian-cuisine-20150901-story.html  After reading the article, I decided to make a blog post about it.  I am interested in food and culture.

Right now, Asian food is considered trendy and cool.  There are countless sushi bars, authentic Chinese restaurants, and a growing selection of food stuffs from Asia in the supermarkets.  People are now starting to enjoy the countless culinary traditions that Asian countries bring to the table.

However, this was not always the case.  The author points several cases in which Asian food was once considered strange and off-putting to Americans.  This passage from the article brings more light to this point.

My childhood home in suburban Chicago always smelled like whatever we were cooking. Visiting us meant cloaking yourself in the scent of haam daan ju yoke beng, a dish of steamed pork and salted egg, or the perfume of mapodoufu, tofu and minced pork with a spicy chili and fermented black bean sauce.  I didn't mind the smells growing up because I wasn't aware of them. That is, until a high school friend declared my house smelled of "Chinese grossness."

For most Americans, their experience of Chinese food is usually the Chinese takeout place that is down the street from their house or a trip into Chinatown.  Most Asian restaurants cater to Western tastes by adjusting their tastes to the Western palate.  A very good example of this is Panda Express and orange chicken.  Here is a clip from a popular YouTube channel called The Fung Bros. that talks about the creation of orange chicken.

Creating Asian dishes that are suitable to Western tastes is nothing new in America.  In the earlier 1900's, Chinese restaurants created dishes like chop suey.  Also, Chinese restaurants were considered trendy because they offered live jazz music and were elegant in style.

Asian food is now considered trendy.  The article mentions many examples of this.  I am happy to see this change in attitudes when it comes to Asian food.  I have been a fan of Asian food ever since I was a child.  I can remember the countless number of times my father would take for Thai food or Chinese food in Chinatown.  I still remember my father teaching me on how to extract the periwinkle from its shell by using a toothpick and the number of times he would try to eat the spiciest dishes in a Thai restaurant.

However, there are many people that still hold many stereotypes of Asian food.  Some of these stereotypes that Asian people eat dogs and cats.  There are some people who eat these animals in Asia, but they are the minority.  Also, some people have mentioned in the Chicago Tribune's comments section that this article is food shaming.  It is a racially motivated article.  Well...it is to certain point.  The author makes an interesting point by writing

In the United States, immigrant food is often treated like discount tourism — a cheap means for foodies to feel worldly without leaving the comfort of their neighborhood — or high-minded fusion — a stylish way for American chefs to use other cultures' cuisines to reap profit. The dishes of America's recent immigrants have become check marks on a cultural scavenger hunt for society's elite.

This is certainly true to a certain degree.  There are chefs out there who are creating fusion cuisine in order to make a profit.  Look at P.F. Changs and Asian Bowl for example.  The author points to interesting example of how some restaurants are trying to do this.

"When you travel in Southeast Asia, you have two experiences: the cultural experiences with the temples, food, and people, and then a phenomenal traveler's culture, too," chef Alex McCoy told Washingtonian. "That's the inspiration for this place. We want to introduce people to Thai cuisine, but frame it in the eye of a traveler."

This cultural appropriation stings because the same dishes hyped as "authentic" on trendy menus were scorned when cooked in the homes of the immigrants who brought them here. Fashionable food from foreign cultures may satisfy a temporary hunger, but if you're trying it for shallow reasons, you'll be culturally unfulfilled in the long run.

The author brings up an interesting point: why do people choose to eat certain foods?  Do they eat it because it is the trend thing to do?  Do the diners want to experience new dishes and restaurants?

Should we shame the diners who want to try these dishes for shallow reasons?  No!!  I think we should use this opportunity to share cultures with others.  Living in Japan showed me ways to do this.  Many Japanese have images of American food.   Their images usually include hamburgers and pizza.  However, there are countless number of times in which I will try to show that American food is more than those dishes.  After discussing food in America, my students want to try to these dishes.
Trends come and go.  We should use the trends as vehicles of cultural exploration and eduction.  Then, they will no longer be trends.  Instead, they will be mainstays.  Just look at the sushi boom in the West.  20 years ago...sushi was still considered exotic and trendy in the eyes of your average Americans.  Nowadays, sushi is a mainstay in the American diet.  Why?  People became educated and accustomed to sushi.  The "soft power" of Japan is working in the West.