Ms. Lee, a few questions:

1. What makes you pick a particular Chinese restaurant from all the ones around it?

2. What do you always order and never ever order?

3. Do you ever use the duck sauce or mustard packets?

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Hey Jennifer

I read somewhere not too long ago that fortune cookies were actually adopted in Japan, from a Japanese cracker. Sound right to you? If not, then what's the fortune cookie story?

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Fortune cookies were invented in California around the 1920's or so. If you to to order them in China most places won't know what your talking about.

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Are there any Americanized Chinese dishes that are popular or even eaten back in China?

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Jennifer,

What are your favorite Chinese junk food and high-end dishes? Are there any Chinese standards that you just can't bring yourself to eat?

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Boy do I feel dumb...

If you go look at the AOL food page linked in the post, the origins of the fortune cookie are revealed (and the origin is indeed a Japanese cracker!).

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where does chinese chicken salad come from?

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Jennifer,
You say there is no soy in American soy sauce packets, but you list "hydrolized vegetable protein", which is (more often than not) soy protein. I am allergic to soy, so I am very careful about this. Your information may be harmful to someone who is allergic to soy.

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Kikkoman isn't the only soy sauce with real soy. That's misleading. There are many American brands, even one "in house" label for A&P, which is "America's Choice." It has no additives and no artificial coloring. Also one of the best is Eden Organic Shoyu.

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I had Broccolli dishes in Beijing in 1994

All though it was at a Holiday Inn.

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There is soy in REAL soy sauce, especially organic ,not the commercial junk or the junk packets one gets with a take out order

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What does your middle "initial" stand for? Do you have a favorite Chinese place in Northern NJ? Come on, you know you've been over the bridge! :)

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Jennifer, does the Chinese use meats that are not
traditionally eated by Americans. I have heard some
cat/rat stories and the foods does look different.
What's the scoop.

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Kikkoman soy sauce is produced in Walworth Wisconsin for must US markets, not Japan

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Once, in the late eighties, my dad was traveling for business and came across a "Chinese" restaurant that served Ketchup Shrimp. He determined then and there never to eat in a restaurant with that particular dish on the menu.

Do you have any dishes that serve as a harbinger for you and tell you immediately that you don't want to eat there?

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When and why did Chinese food get Americanized? Why do you think that the modified dishes hold more appeal to people in this country than the traditional Chinese fare?

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What do you think about "MSG Syndrome?" Real allergy, or a psychocultural phenomenon?

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When people on TV are about to eat with chopsticks, they always tap them together several times. What do they do this and what does it mean? It almost looks like they are sharpening them, which does not make sense since they are wood!
KB
thanks!

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I am from the NYC metro area, where duck sauce rules!!! Now that I live in Seattle, not one restaurant offers those yummy little packets. It is very, very sad. Last time I was in NYC, I asked a rather confused waiter to give me as many packets as possible. Why do you think places in the West Coast don't offer duck sauce?

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Hi,

1. Many Chinese restaurants offer "almond cookies", which are usually just small, round, hard disks seemingly flavored with almond extract. What's the origin of this?

2. Quite a few Chinese restaurants have lychee fruit as an option on their menu although they hardly ever actually serve it. Why is it so rare, and why do so many restaurants offer something they don't have?

3. Are dishes such as Hawaiian Chicken and Mongolian Beef really connected to Hawaii and Mongolia?

4. Buddha's Delight... Really connected to the Buddha?

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