Chinese Food in America and in China

摘自：attractionchina.com

Chinese Food in America and in China

摘自：attractionchina.com

Americans love to eat Chinese food.Some peo ple say that Chinese food found in the U.S.is very different from thecuisine1in China.How different?

The Dining experience

The experience of dining in a restaurant in China is different from eating at restaurants in America.Manners and menus are opposite.There are many beautiful pictures in menus in China.Chinese people order food according to the picture.But in America,people order food according to the written description.In China,people are used to dining in noisy environments,because it means welcome and joy.However in America,most of the restaurants turn out to be very quiet.For example,if you go to a Chinese restaurant that offers roast duck,people there are dressed up for eating roast duck with a candle on each small table.This is a scene you would never see in China.

Ingredients2

Chinese food puts more attention on vegeta bles.Most Chinese dishes in the U.S.focus on one kind of meat,beef,pork or chicken.In addition,Americans can’t accept things in food like pig ears,chicken feet,duck blood.So in America,you can’t find these things in Chinese food restaurant.There are some ingredients that are usually used inAmericanized3Chinese dishes.But you may not find the same in real Chinese food.For example,you can find beef withbroccoli4in almost every Chinese restaurant in the U.S.,but many real Chi nese have never seen it before.Instead,Chinese prefer to cook beef with tomato,potato,or carrot.

Cooking methods

It usually takes quite a long time for Chinese people to prepare and cook a traditional Chinese dish because they think “color”,“aroma5”,and“taste”are important.Americanized Chinese food is mainly cooked through frying,while Chinese people don’t fry food very often.Methods such as stewing,baking,steaming,are commonly used inauthentic6Chinese cuisine.

中国食物很受美国人的青睐。有人说美国的中餐和中国本土的菜肴大相径庭。那么究竟不同在哪里呢？

用餐的感受

在中国的餐厅用餐与在美国的餐厅用餐的感受是不同的。两者的氛围与菜单完全相反。在中国的餐厅，你会发现菜单上布满了花花绿绿的诱人图片。中国人点餐通常是根据图片来点的。但在美国，人们是根据菜单上对食物的文字描述来点餐的。在中国，人们习惯在热热闹闹的环境里进餐，因为这种环境被视为是热情和愉悦的。但是在美国，大多数餐馆是很安静的。例如，当你走进一家（美国的）中餐馆，那里的主食是烤鸭，你会发现在那儿进餐的人都穿着讲究，围着一个点着蜡烛的小桌子安静地吃烤鸭。这样的情景你在中国恐怕是看不到的。

原料

中国菜里有很多蔬菜。而在美国大多数中餐都以肉类（牛肉、猪肉或者鸡肉）为主。除此之外，美国人很难接受中国菜里面诸如猪耳朵、鸡爪、鸭血等食材。所以在美国，你很难在中餐馆品尝到这些食物。美国本土化的中国菜有一些常用的食材，但在正宗的中国菜里却不用。例如，几乎所有美国的中餐馆都会有一道菜——牛肉炒西兰花，但正宗的中国菜里几乎没有这样的搭配。中国人做牛肉时喜欢搭配番茄、土豆或者红萝卜。

烹饪方法

中国人做一道菜要花很长时间来准备以及烹饪，因为传统地道的中国菜强调色、香、味俱全。美国化的中国菜主要烹饪方法是煎炸，而中国人不会经常吃煎炸类食物。地道的中国菜肴经常采用炖、烤、蒸等方法制成。

Notes:

中国菜——中美两国大不同

华中师范大学石斯琳 选译