A Transpacific and Cross-Cultural Journey: How the Cooking of China Became the Most Popular Cuisine in America

The paper will focus on the travel of the Chinese culinary culture to the United States and the fundamental importance of food for Chinese immigrants and Chinese American communities, economically and socially, as they mounted resistance to blatant discrimination by the mainstream society, whose persistent dislike for Chinese food was motivated by racial animosity. The subsequent rise to prominence of Chinese food in public consumption reflected the resilience of a community that had not only survived the anti-Chinese movement but thrived culturally.

Utilizing the “share history” approach, the paper will examine the importance of Chinese food in three different perspectives. First, it is an integral part of American history since 1850. The gathering popularity of Chinese food around the turn of the twentieth century coincided with the transformation of America, owing to increasing immigration and urbanization and the development of a new lifestyle. Chinese Americans opened restaurants in non-Chinese neighborhoods across the country, meeting the needs of an emerging consumer society by democratizing dining out, an experience that used to be the exclusive privilege of wealthy Anglo elites, while creating the “Chinese American cuisine.” Second, the Chinese, like many other immigrants, transplanted their culinary traditions to the New World while being transformed by the latter. Third, it is also imperative to comprehend Chinese food in the U.S. from a diasporic and transnational perspective. The Chinese culinary traditions, spread by the global Chinese diaspora, blended with local cooking practices, and formed fusion cuisines. Changing patterns of Chinese immigration, along with political and socioeconomic developments in the Asia Pacific since the late twentieth century, have provided impetus for the continued transformation of Chinese food in the U.S. and contributed to the growing understanding of Chinese culture in the process.