GON
$175 Site Donor 2026
Hasn't the CCP designated much of Vancouver a Chinese colony?
American Chinese V.S Authentic
- Thread starter VanLifer39
- Start date
Two words, gutter oil.
CleanSump
Site Donor 2026
American kids were doing the Tide Pod Challenge and you're concerned about an illegal act in a foreign country that has zero affect on North America.
Not necessarily in Vancouver proper, but Richmond.
You can get Authentic Chinese food if you find customers from that specific area the regions are from eating there. That's my rule of thumb. If you go with the people who know their food from that place, you probably can ask the chef to cook it the authentic way and the waiters would understand and they can cook it that way for you. (no return if it is too authentic though, mind you).
I grew up in Hong Kong (if you consider that part of China), and I love American Chinese food.
The people who said American Chinese food is not Chinese food, tends to be from the north. The fact is the American Chinese food are similar to Cantonese due to historic reason (the gold rush and railroad building folks who later changed careers into laundromats and chefs). I would typically classify American Chinese as Cantonese fast casual food. That's the kind of food they serve in cafeterias in factories and schools. All good.
Ingredients are typically not a big problem since it is mostly the sauce and spices that limit your capabilities and they find their ways here now. Food ingredients got sent all over the place and now they have broccoli in China and in US we have the Chinese mustard green (where the original broccoli beef was from), etc. There's also the newer generation of Chinese food that uses techniques and ingredients that older chefs dismiss as non-authentic, so now the American Chinese are starting to head back to China.
Thing is, most food have to evolve when they enter foreign market. I have eaten Japanese Chinese food and I absolutely would call it Japanese food instead of Chinese, and they eventually are ok with it as well (i.e. Ramen was Chinese and the Char Siu that they evolve into looks nothing like the original). I love them just as much.
As a Youtuber I follow once said, "If you go far enough in history every food is a foreign food", tomato scramble eggs was at one point considered fusion, and pasta before the New World has no tomato sauce.
I grew up in Hong Kong (if you consider that part of China), and I love American Chinese food.
The people who said American Chinese food is not Chinese food, tends to be from the north. The fact is the American Chinese food are similar to Cantonese due to historic reason (the gold rush and railroad building folks who later changed careers into laundromats and chefs). I would typically classify American Chinese as Cantonese fast casual food. That's the kind of food they serve in cafeterias in factories and schools. All good.
Ingredients are typically not a big problem since it is mostly the sauce and spices that limit your capabilities and they find their ways here now. Food ingredients got sent all over the place and now they have broccoli in China and in US we have the Chinese mustard green (where the original broccoli beef was from), etc. There's also the newer generation of Chinese food that uses techniques and ingredients that older chefs dismiss as non-authentic, so now the American Chinese are starting to head back to China.
Thing is, most food have to evolve when they enter foreign market. I have eaten Japanese Chinese food and I absolutely would call it Japanese food instead of Chinese, and they eventually are ok with it as well (i.e. Ramen was Chinese and the Char Siu that they evolve into looks nothing like the original). I love them just as much.
As a Youtuber I follow once said, "If you go far enough in history every food is a foreign food", tomato scramble eggs was at one point considered fusion, and pasta before the New World has no tomato sauce.
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there is some truth in your comment.
I have read in our local /national news the concern of planted spies and the fact that they do , given time...no matter how long it takes, attempt to colonize.
But the Chinese people living here , the vast majority, are here to because they wanted to escape their own government and live a free life. They just came here for a better life, or to invest and make more money/to have children and allow them to prosper/thrive, etc.
How I know this? I have a Hong Kong sister inlaw ,her brother /his daughter living downstairs from me with my second eldest brother. Been told many stories of Hong Kong, before and after they all left. Especially after the July 1st 1997 take over.
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for any of you Foodies who like to travel and thinking of visiting here....https://chefsfav.com/blog/vancouver-might-have-the-best-chinese-food-outside-of-china
GON
$175 Site Donor 2026
Disgraced former PBS chef Jeff Smith of The Frugal Gourmet wrote a book decades ago that implied all cuisines essentially originated in China, Greece, or Italy.
Vancouver (more precisely Richmond) is really an immigrant city these days. It went from mostly Hong Konger, to mainland Chinese, to other Asian immigrants including South Asians (Indians). It is pretty much the entire Canada maybe exclude Quebec now. They took in a lot of immigrants recently, and US companies have been sending engineers they want to keep who couldn't get H1B extension to Canada as well.
As for the Chinese food quality there. I went there with a friend from Seattle last December: it is not bad but I wouldn't call it out of the world. They are more authentic, and they are affordable, but still made to a price point. No matter where you go in the world you get what you pay for (or you don't get what you don't pay for). If you go to your local high end Chinese restaurant you probably can get same quality or better food by paying more. As for Chinese food in high quality, look for the fish tank up front, or look for the wall decoration that is good enough for wedding banquet, and you will usually find the legit one. Just don't expect Panda Express price for high end stuff.
As for the Chinese food quality there. I went there with a friend from Seattle last December: it is not bad but I wouldn't call it out of the world. They are more authentic, and they are affordable, but still made to a price point. No matter where you go in the world you get what you pay for (or you don't get what you don't pay for). If you go to your local high end Chinese restaurant you probably can get same quality or better food by paying more. As for Chinese food in high quality, look for the fish tank up front, or look for the wall decoration that is good enough for wedding banquet, and you will usually find the legit one. Just don't expect Panda Express price for high end stuff.
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Vancouver (more precisely Richmond) is really an immigrant city these days.
From Google : Richmond, British Columbia, incorporated as a city in 1990, population 209,937 (2021 census)
Half the population is Chinese. Altho it can seem more like 90% whenever I had went there to either work or shop.
Vancouver City proper (not including the suburbs) is at 750,000 residents (2025). Nearly 30% is Chinese. We also have a big Vietnamese population. With over 35,000 in the metro region. Possibly another 100,000 Koreans , mostly in the suburbs.
Another 130,000 Filipinos in the Metro.
Another 500,000 South Asians , mainly (East ) Indians. You can really see it in the suburb of Surrey, with a general population over 700,000 and I'd say at least 230,000 South Asians . Really great if you are like me and love Indian restaurants! Also many Indian/Pakistani restaurants in Vancouver.
One large ethnic group worth mentioning here are the Iranians ( from a foodie perspective). At least 200,000 Iranians in metro Vancouver. When I worked in the suburbs of North Van, West Van and Coquitlam, wow, you can really tell a lot of them live and work there. Many Iranian owned businesses all over, especially restaurants. They make some yummy dishes, I tried a few different places, plus their bakeries...they remind me of my own people, Italians, with their love of food.
I give you Panda bear, and others on here who are interested in doing a visit one day, to read off a very favorite food blog I check out every day for the past 13 years or so...Sherman's Food Adventures. The dude goes every day/night to a different eatery and writes up great online reviews with pics, location, etc.
https://www.shermansfoodadventures.com/ (check out his archives/sub categories...years and years worth of food reviews, including some travelling to USA and other parts of Canada)
10 Foods You Think Are Chinese, Invented In America
When I was in Shanghai I asked for Szechuan style food and got a lot of confused looks.
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I love spring rolls , but I really prefer the fried crispy Vietnamese spring rolls.
They used to be a relatively cheap side dish I would order with every meal of either Chinese or Vietnamese, but man, they sure jacked up the prices of these things!
Same with the Samosas at the Indian restaurants. The veggie samosas are generally inexpensive for one, but the ones I love are the beef/chicken or the rare to find lamb filling. I found a few samosa only places out in the suburbs I will go now and then with a huge variety of samosas, from 99 cents to 1.30 each. a few times I went out there (a 30 minute one way drive and bought $20-30 worth, eat a few at home and freeze the rest. Now I have an air fryer, frozen spring rolls and samosas reheat much better than the toaster oven.
I suspect the Indian restaurants in my city buy direct from them and resell on their menus, with crazy mark ups.
Two samosas for $7.00 ? cmon....rip off.
7-11 sells two large veggie samosas for $4 , which are actually pretty good for what it is.