When people of different ethnicities and cultures get along, there will always be different stirring and sparks. The origin of the chop was born from the contact between the United States and the Qing Empire in the mid-19th century, from commerce and missionary to Chinese immigration overseas, different cultures were intertwined and blended, and the food culture of the two sides also interacted with each other.
Chinese immigrants to the United States contributed to the spread and transformation of Chinese food in the United States, and Americans shifted from exclusion to acceptance, eventually making Chinese food a part of America's multiculturalism. "Chop Grounds" is a dish that has swept all major ethnic groups in the United States and has become a symbol of Chinese cuisine. After the chops, Americans became more and more fond of Chinese food and, like foodies, sought more flavorful Chinese food.
The collision of two worlds
In the mid-19th century, American merchants sought greater markets and trade opportunities and were eager to make money, while missionary zeals of the time were eager to save the lost lambs of paganism, who had fled east to China. At first, they were denied entry, but with the end of the Opium War in 1848, the Americans looked forward to a major expansion of their commercial territory and religious gospel into China.
During this period, there was a lot of excitement in the shopping malls, with American businessmen and missionaries writing down their views on Chinese food culture, the taste of their meals, and the market for the ingredients they had seen and heard. Among them, the missionary Wei Sanwei's "General Theory of China" and the "China Congbao" co-edited by him and Richmond are particularly detailed, and they became indispensable for Americans to understand China, but these books and periodicals further shaped and strengthened Americans' cultural prejudice against China.
Wei Sanwei
Their records write that from pigs, cows, sheep and chickens to cats, dogs and mice, Chinese eat everything, and the meals, kitchens and bodies are full of bad smells, especially garlic, and the dining etiquette of Chinese also makes them extremely disgusted, especially the fact that they use their own chopsticks to pick up vegetables for Americans, makes them feel disgusting. But in the eyes of the Chinese, this group of "barbarians" neither knows how to eat etiquette, nor do they know how to taste delicious, and women do not know how to avoid guests at the banquet is even more barbaric, and the food they eat is also rough and unpalatable.
The mutual incomprehension and misunderstanding between the two sides were clearly revealed at the reception banquet where the US special envoy Gu Sheng and Minister Qi Ying signed the "Wangxia Treaty." Gu Sheng and Qiying entertained each other, and Qiying even entertained Gu Sheng with a full Manchu and Han banquet, but Gu Sheng did not understand the cultural meaning of "appeasing the barbarians" in this banquet. Therefore, although both parties are respectful and polite, they do not have a good impression of each other and are "frightened" by different eating habits. And after the treaty was reached, Americans lost interest in "learning about China" and only interested in making money, and viewed Chinese immigrants and dishes with a prejudiced and old-fashioned view.
The Chinese advance to the United States
In the middle of the 19th century, the discovery of gold deposits on the West Coast of the United States triggered a gold rush, and both Americans and Chinese were attracted by this wave to go to the West Coast to make a fortune. This group of Chinese who went to the "Golden Mountain" in the United States were mainly poor men from Taishan, Guangdong and other places, and they also brought the dishes of their hometown to the United States, which made Americans mistakenly believe that South China cuisine is equal to Chinese food for many years.
Many Chinese came to the United States to work as gold diggers, but there were also those who used their entrepreneurial spirit to start various businesses such as food and daily necessities for their daily needs. They introduced the way of life in their hometowns, developed agriculture and fisheries to buy and sell agricultural and fishery products, and also imported ingredients and daily necessities from China to meet the dietary needs of local Chinese and even Americans. Americans are still influenced by the opinions that have been circulating in the past, such as China Cong Bao, and have racial and dietary discrimination against Chinese people and Chinese food, such as dirty and disgusting, as unhygienic.
With the construction of the Pacific Railroad in the United States and the great increase in the number of Chinese workers in the United States, the Chinese food culture developed greatly, and various high-end restaurants were gradually born in the "Chinatown" (later Chinatown) where the Chinese lived. Despite Americans' general aversion to Chinese and Chinese food, tourists who come here make a point of visiting Chinatown to taste what they see as peculiar Chinese food.
Chinese American laborers who built American railroads
At the same time, due to the large increase in the number of Chinese in the United States, it has also triggered a serious anti-Chinese conflict. As Zhang Chunru puts it: "In any multi-ethnic society, there are latent ethnic conflicts that continue to brew, but it is usually not until the economic crisis erupts that people take off the mask of politeness, allowing long-simmering hatred to spawn all kinds of violence." "The economic depression of the 1870s led to the outbreak of serious anti-Chinese riots on the West Coast of the United States, coupled with the fact that the capitalists hired low-cost Chinese laborers to control the striking white laborers, forcing state governments to successively issue anti-Chinese laws against Chinese people and all walks of life.
It was precisely because of the serious anti-Chinese sentiment that the "Chinese Exclusion Act" and other laws that seriously discriminated against Chinese people were born, forcing Chinese people to give up laundry and other industries and change to other industries, coupled with the movement of Chinese people, which made Chinese food spread to the east coast of the United States, and then made Chinese food a part of American life.
"Chop Pieces" are popular in the United States
Due to the fierce exclusion of Chinese in California and other West Coast states, the Chinese spread to the interior, east coast, and south of the United States. There are only a handful of Chinese Americans who have settled in New York, but because of their exotic style, and Wang Qingfu, the editor of New York's first Chinese newspaper, declared war on American stereotypes and slanders of Chinese cuisine, and even created anti-Chinese whites, he emphasized the deliciousness, diversity and superiority of Chinese cuisine in his articles, which attracted the attention of a special group of New York foodies.
This group of gourmets is the "bohemians" made up of artists, writers, etc. The 1880s were America's "Gilded Age," and the high society was all the rage in French cuisine, trying to define social mores, but the "bohemians" refused to accept it, eager to discover what New York City was really like, hanging out in a variety of restaurants and bars. This time, they set their sights on restaurants in Chinatown.
Although the United States signed the Chinese Exclusion Act in the 1880s, it began the most unfriendly years for the Chinese. But with the help of "bohemian" tasting and publicity, Chinese food began to conquer the city, and non-Chinese Americans began to flock to Chinese restaurants to taste "delicious, strange and cheap" Chinese food. Among them, the special dish "fried chops" from Taishan, Guangdong Province has become people's favorite meal, which is mixed with multiple ingredients and can be adapted to the taste, becoming the favorite dish of Americans, and under the praise of Wang Qingfu and others, it has been praised as "China's national dish".
With Li Hongzhang's visit to the United States in 1896, this Chinese food trend reached its peak. After arriving in New York, he stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and when he was entertained at a banquet, many newspaper reporters in New York were also invited. These reporters reported in detail what Li Hongzhang ate. Although Li Hongzhang did not eat chops, the prevailing Chinese food craze, many newspaper news told readers that Li Hongzhang ate it, which intensified Americans' enthusiasm for Chinese food, especially chops.
After that, Chinese recipes began to appear, and Chinese restaurants stepped out of Chinatown, and restaurants with the name of "chops" spread along the east coast, north and south, and even counterattacked the West Bank, where the Chinese food was the most fierce and resisted Chinese food for the longest time. Americans love these "delicious, quirky, and cheap" restaurants with an exotic feel, a chic and clean décor, and a late night. Although the United States is still full of racial discrimination against the Chinese, malicious difficulties and attacks are still seen from time to time, and the labels that are labeled still linger, the prejudice against Chinese dining habits and diets has gradually faded due to the integration of catering culture.
In the 20th century, Chinese restaurants were more in response to the fashion trend, bringing entertainment into restaurants, jazz, dance floors, etc. into restaurants, plus people changed to drink tea during the Prohibition period, Chinese restaurants replaced many entertainment venues, and during the Great Depression, the Chinese developed exotic sightseeing itineraries in order to make money, which made Chinese food infiltrate the mainstream culture of the United States, and chop is one of the representatives.
In the 1920s and 30s, Americans not only made their own chop at home, but also "chop sundaes" and "American-style chop paste" products, reflecting the localization of chop vegetables from China in the United States. And because chop has become a part of mainstream American culture along with coffee, sandwiches and other meals, eating Chinese food and chop has become a way to enter mainstream culture.
At that time, a large number of Jews in exile in the United States were integrated into American society in this way, and the Jews were both foreigners, and the Jews were more afraid of anti-Semitism in Europe, so Jews were more comfortable eating in Chinese restaurants than in restaurants run by Europeans. Since then, Jews have become one of the most popular ethnic groups for Chinese food. But as Chinese food has become a part of Americans' daily lives, Chinese restaurants have lost their charm and they are facing a dilemma that must change.
Nixon Whirlwind
After World War II, in order to break through the predicament, Chinese restaurants first used their greatest advantage of "cheapness" to make small profits but quick turnover, and then promoted the transformation of restaurants. However, these efforts were still insufficient, and the impact of the times saved Chinese restaurants.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, many outstanding Chinese spread to the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other places, and the entrepreneurs and chefs among these people began to regroup in the United States, and they no longer operated Cantonese cuisine or cheap Chinese restaurants, but opened high-end Chinese restaurants with provincial flavors.
Fueled by newspapers and magazines and a new wave of bohemian gourmets, Chinese cuisine has once again taken the United States by whirlwind, with Shun Lee Palace (later renamed Shun Shun Dynasty) being one of the leading chefs who have traveled from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the United States.
At a time when the Chinese food craze was booming, Nixon's visit to China brought this trend to a climax. This major event in the history of diplomacy has brought a huge shock to people, but the US government does not want people to pay too much attention to diplomatic details, especially the sensitive Taiwan issue. Therefore, it is hoped that the president and his wife will be broadcast on television in Beijing talking about delicious meals such as Peking duck to divert people's attention. The Chinese side used the banquet to defuse the tension in the negotiations, so that it could take advantage of the negotiations.
This important turning point in the history of diplomacy added fuel to the booming Chinese food in the United States at that time, formed a raging fire, and successfully diverted the focus. Before Nixon's visit to China ended, Americans once again set off a Chinese trend, learning new dietary techniques and judging whether the meal was "Chinese food for Chinese rather than Americans," just to eat Nixon's state banquet meals and novel Chinese meals.
This Chinese craze has also led to the flourishing of Chinese cuisines such as Sichuan and Hunan cuisines, and Chinese restaurants have not only not collapsed like other high-end restaurants due to the economic depression of the 1970s, but have become more prosperous, experimenting with new dishes, such as the invention of "Zuo Zongtang Chicken", which became a well-known new Chinese dish after Peng Changgui's invention and promotion in the United States.