The Many Faces of Chinese Food
Beijing-based news platform China.org published a recent guide to the Chinese culinary staple: cold, pickled chicken feet. The Western nose may turn away from such a menu item, however, chicken feet are loved by rich and poor alike across China's 23 provinces.
Should Americans be getting onboard? Chicken feet are carefully prepared, shorn of any hard outer layer and nails; each claw is removed, leaving a package of skin and connecting muscle that the Chinese and other nations love to chew. They also contain collagen, an essential building block for joints, skin, and muscle regeneration.
Best Feet Forward
China imports lots of chicken from the United States, prizing America's chicken feet for their size. Our preference for large meat-laden birds means they require huge, strong feet to support the extra weight. Subsequently, U.S. chicken producers make more-per-pound for chicken feet exports than chicken meat, according to Poultry World .
Meanwhile, Farm Progress reports that chicken feet accounted for over 85% of all U.S. poultry imported by China in 2022. This rate dropped in 2023 due to the aftermath of avian flu outbreaks the year before.
Chicken feet aren't the only "exotic" snack that Chinese diners enjoy. Any foreigner arriving in a Chinese city will see street food stalls in malls, markets, and plazas. It is common to find assorted, animal parts unwanted by Western standards used as a quick-stop refreshment while on the go, including rabbit heads, duck necks, and alcohol drenched live "drunken" shrimp. The options available draw from China's vast cultural and geographical influences.
A Dining Adventure
Venturing out from urban centers into wet markets or deeper provincial zones might bring visitors face-to-face with unexpected canapés: crispy scorpions, dried lizard, or fried silk worms. The average American citizen might also feel bewildered by the lack of rice on offer at a celebration or banquet.
Those partial to fried rice alongside their main entree may be upset to see it come out at the end. Sometimes, this is to signify longevity, though usually as a final stomach-filler for anybody not satisfied.
While some may consider China one nation, like America, it is more a series of republic states unified under one leadership. A look at a Chinese language map shows the country's state language, Mandarin, stretching throughout the land. However, nearly two dozen provincial dialects or languages — including Indo-European — are also prominent.
This relationship parallels the foodstuffs one might encounter.
China's Culinary Geography
There are eight regional Chinese culinary traditions throughout the land, according to London Chinese fine-dining restaurant, Hakkasan. Each region has unique cooking styles and recipes:
Of course, China's regional cooking map has other regions not included, such as Outer Mongolia, Tibet, and Yunnan Province. The westernmost and largest territory annexed in China's 1949 expansion is Xinjiang Province, formerly known as East Turkmenistan, and home to the Uyghurs — a Turkic demographic. Here, dishes resemble something closer to China's Central Asian neighbors, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, or Tajikistan.
A Diverse Food Nation
The Xinjiang diet incorporates Central Asian spices, uses Halal meats, and features fire-roasted mutton dishes, kebabs, and leavened breads. Furthermore, dairy products like milk tea, cheese, and horse milk yogurts are commonplace.
Being a majority Muslim region, most locals don't eat pork, and a common favorite is noodles (Uyghur laghman), though rice pilafs are popular. There are roughly a dozen Uyghur restaurants across several American states, such as California, New York, and Texas.
American Chinese Food's Journey
America has a special relationship with Chinese food, though like other imported cuisines, it puts a national stamp on it. The world can thank America's Chinese diaspora for dozens of crowd pleasers, including chop suey, egg foo young, and General Tso's chicken .
A CNN Travel feature quotes Taiwanese journalist Clarissa Wei. "There's nothing inauthentic about American-Chinese dishes, declares Wei. "The bulk of them were created by Chinese people for Chinese people."
Panda Express is another wholly American phenomenon, founded by American-born and American-based Chinese entrepreneurs. China's residents will be unfamiliar, Some may not consider Panda Express as authentic Chinese fare.
However, in an unusual turn of events, the U.S. fast food group got wind of an unauthorized restaurant in Yunnan Province, and asked Kunming Police to shutter the fake restaurant branch .
American-Chinese restaurant chain Fortune Cookies tried in vain to establish a presence in China. Unfortunately, its Shanghai branch closed down after struggling to make enough profit. This was more to do with price structuring than the food. A new chapter began last year when Bamboo Chinese Fast Food opened its first Beijing Branch — nearby the American Embassy, naturally.
This time, maybe the cost won't faze the locals; Beijing is one of the richest cities on Earth. The capital's curious residents can order U.S. stalwarts honey-walnut shrimp, beef and broccoli, or "Happy" chow mein. In a strange twist, Beijingers now have American-style Chinese takeout in white, cardboard boxes — even the Bamboo Chinese Fast Food menu has a cheap, local takeout joint aesthetic.
Transnational Dining
One must assume more traditional Chinese recipes will eventually go the other way, and some already are. Several Chinese hotpot restaurants now join the Uyghur restaurants scattered throughout the United States, offering more authentic flavors from the homeland.
Hotpot is another mainstay in China, bringing friends or family together in a shared dining encounter. There are two main hotpot options: the first is a traditional method, where ingredients come in the broth. The other choice is shabu shabu: diners poach meat, seafood, or vegetables in a choice of spicy or regular broth .
No matter the economic or geopolitical relationship between both superpowers, the shared love of all Chinese food will always find common ground.
