正文翻译
How is the Chinese food Americans eat different from the food eaten in China, and when and how did the changes happen? What do Chinese people think of American Chinese food? 美国人吃的中餐和中国人吃的有什么不同？这些变化是什么时候、怎样发生的？中国人怎么看美国的中餐？
评论翻译 Joseph WangMost of the changes seem to be made to adapt Chinese food to middle class American tastes and the fast food environment. Lots of sauces, lots of sugar, heavy on the meat. Everything is fried.One very odd thing is that there are cuisines that are more similar to Chinese food than American-Chinese food. My wife would buy food in the Hispanic part of Austin, Texas because that food was more similar to Taiwanese food than what you’d find in a American Chinese restaurant. My father would take food trips to the African-American part of town for the same reason.A lot of this has to do with cooking techniques. The people I know who ran Chinese restaurants for Americans ended up cooking food like McDonalds because that’s what people wanted and it made money. 大部分的改变似乎是为了让中餐适应美国中产阶级的口味和快餐环境。大量的调味料，很多糖，大量的肉。一切都是油炸的。一件非常奇怪的事情是，有些菜系更像中餐，而不是美式中餐。我妻子会在得克萨斯州奥斯汀的西班牙裔区买菜，因为那里的菜更像台湾菜，而不是你在美国中餐馆里能找到的菜。出于同样的原因，我父亲会带着食物去镇上的非裔美国人区。这和烹饪技巧有很大关系。我认识的那些为美国人开中餐馆的人最后都做了像麦当劳那样的食物，因为这是人们想要的，而且能赚钱。Honghao Bi500 years ago, chili peppers were taken back from the new world and introduced into China. Chinese started to make spicy dishes. Today, Chinese are running restaurant in America famous for spicy food.There are many opinions about American Chinese food, but I guess I am the open-minded Chinese.It's true that American Chinese food is just Chinese style American food, and it tastes like deep-fried sugar. But I don't think it's a joke. Actually, it's one of the greatest things happening in this world.Although many Chinese dishes are claimed with historical value, the reality is most of the popular Chinese cuisines didn't exist until 100 years ago. Without enough material from all over the world, some dishes are not possible to be invented.For example, the dish “Stir-fried tomato and scrambled eggs” is a very common Chinese dish we can see today. Almost every Chinese student start cooking with this dish. There are many different styles of tomato and scrambled eggs, and this dish is one of the most favorite dishes across the whole China.But, this dish was only invented within the recent 70 years, after Chinese were aware that tomatoes were not toxic.Another example is spices. Most Chinese dishes we are tasting now require a spice like this:With high density trains running in and out, spices from all over China gathered in Henan. This makes it possible to produce spice mix with all different kinds of spices. People from all over China came to Henan, providing customers and market for 13 spice mix. In turn, 13 spice mix was invented and gained huge success.Let’s come back and take a look at American Chinese food. American Chinese food was invented when the first generation Chinese came to America after 1840s (much older than the dishes and spices we talked above). At the beginning, Chinese dishes were not welcomed among Americans. Rumors said Chinese eat mice. That’s actually because Chinese labor had to work and live in very terrible environment, with a lot of mice running around.It was not until late 1800s, when the dish “Chop Suey” was invented by Wong Chin Foo, that Chinese dishes became accepted by Americans. 500年前，辣椒从新大陆带回中国。中国人开始做辣的菜。今天，中国人在美国经营着以辛辣食物闻名的餐馆。关于美国中餐有很多观点，但我想我是一个思想开放的中国人。没错，美式中餐就是中式的美国菜，吃起来像油炸糖。但我不认为这是个玩笑。事实上，这是世界上最伟大的事情之一。尽管许多中国菜被认为具有历史价值，事实上，大多数受欢迎的中国菜系直到100年前才出现。没有来自世界各地的足够材料，有些菜是不可能被发明出来的。例如，“炒番茄炒蛋”是我们今天看到的一道非常常见的中国菜。几乎每个中国学生都是从这道菜开始烹饪的。西红柿炒鸡蛋有很多种不同的风格，这道菜是全中国最受欢迎的菜肴之一。但是，这道菜是近70年来才发明出来的，因为中国人意识到西红柿是无毒的。另一个例子是香料。我们现在品尝的大多数中国菜都需要这样的调味品：随着高密度列车进进出出，来自中国各地的香料聚集在河南。这使得生产各种香料混合料成为可能。来自全国各地的人们来到河南，为客户和市场提供13种香料组合。接着，13种混合香料被发明出来，并获得巨大成功。让我们回来看看美式中餐。美式中餐是19世纪40年代后第一代中国人来到美国时发明的(比我们上面谈到的菜肴和香料要古老得多)。起初，中国菜不受美国人欢迎。有传言说中国人吃老鼠。这实际上是因为中国劳工必须在非常严酷的环境中工作和生活，而那些地方有很多老鼠跑来跑去。直到19世纪末，当王清福发明了“杂烩”这道菜时，中国菜才被美国人接受。Catherine FengAs a Chinese person that has eaten American Chinese food, I can say that there are many fundamental differences between American and true Chinese food. I think the differences are mainly based on the tastes and preferences of the people. American Chinese food caters to Americans, while Chinese food caters to Chinese.One main thing that I notice is that American Chinese food is often a lot sweeter and also oiler than Chinese. I also tend to notice the usage of a lot of sweet soy sauce. Chinese food tends to be lighter and is often less sweet (the sweetness of American Chinese food strikes me as being too strong). I’ve also found that American Chinese food doesn’t get to be as spicy or flavorful as true Chinese food. Chinese food often contains different spices and condiments, and you can often taste the difference.There are also many different branches of Chinese food, each of which originates from different parts of China. Each branch tastes different. Some are known for being extremely spicy, or for being sweet. It all depends on which area of China.I believe all of these differences and changes occurred when Americans first began imitating and making Chinese food. I believe the main difference is often the materials used, as well as the seasoning. Americans season food differently than the Chinese, so I think the change happened naturally as Americans began making Chinese food.I’m not sure how all Chinese people think about American Chinese food, but I tend to avoid it. Personally, I dislike how it tastes heavier than true Chinese food. I think that as a whole, Chinese people would see American Chinese food as a completely different version of their own dishes (like a separate branch of the cuisine or a different cuisine). 作为一个吃过美国中餐的中国人，我可以说，美国菜和真正的中餐有许多根本的区别。我认为差异主要是基于人们的品味和喜好。美式中餐迎合美国人的口味，而中餐则迎合中国人的口味。我注意到的一件主要事情是，美国中餐通常比中国菜更甜，也更油。我也注意到很多甜酱油的用法。中国菜一般比较清淡，也不太甜(我觉得美国中餐太甜了)。我还发现美式中餐没有真正的中餐那么辣或美味。中国食物通常含有不同的香料和调味品，你经常可以尝到不同的味道。中国食物也有许多不同的分支，每个分支都起源于中国的不同地区。每个分支尝起来都不一样。有些以极辣或极甜而闻名。这完全取决于中国的哪个地区。我相信所有这些差异和变化都发生在美国人第一次开始模仿和制作中国食物的时候。我认为主要的区别在于所用的材料，以及调料。美国人的调味方式与中国人不同，所以我认为这种变化是在美国人开始做中国菜时自然而然发生的。我不知道所有中国人是怎么看待美国中餐的，但我倾向于避开美国中餐。就我个人而言，我不喜欢它尝起来比真正的中国菜味道更重。我认为，总体来说，中国人会把美国中餐看作是他们自己菜的完全不同版本(就像一个菜系的分支或不同的菜系)。