Foodscapes of Chinese America : The transformation of Chinese culinary culture in the U.S. since 1965

This book explores the transformation of Chinese food in the U.S. after 1965 from a cultural perspective. The author asks how Chinese food reflects the racial relation between the Chinese community and the mainstream white society and investigates the symbolic meanings as well as the cultural functions of Chinese food in America. She argues that food is not only a symbol that mirrors social relations, but also an agent which causes social and cultural change. A particular geographic focus of this book is California. Cover 1 Table of Contents 9 Acknowledgements 11 Abstract 15 Chapter 1. Introduction 17 Chapter 2. The Era of Chop Suey – the Early Evolution of Chinese American Food 35 Chapter 3. The Transformation of Chinese American Foodscapes 57 3.1 Culinary Diversification – The Chinese Restaurant Revolution 57 3.1.1 The Coming of the Culinary Diasporas – Change of Restaurant Operators/Chefs 69 3.1.2 How New Cuisines Were Introduced – Menus and Other Translation Strategies 81 3.1.3 There was More Than One Cuisine – From Standardized Cantonese American Fare to Diversified Regional Cuisines 95 a. The Charms of Hong Kong Cuisine and Its Cultural Identity 96 b. The Awakening of the American Palate – America’s Love Affair with Spicy Szechuan and Hunan Cuisine 106 3.2 Americanized Panda - The Rise of Chinese Fast Food Chains 116 3.3 Chinese Food and Chineseness in the New Era 144 Chapter 4. Culinary Culture in Metropolitan California 159 4.1 Serving Outsiders: Restaurants for Non-Chinese 162 4.1.1 Chinese Cuisine and Californian Taste – Cultural Adaptations and Negotiations 163 4.1.2 Representing and Reconstructing a New Ethnicity through Restaurant Décor 174 4.2 Serving Insiders: Restaurants for the Chinese Community 184 4.2.1 Features and Cultural Functions 184 4.2.2 Non-Chinese Customers – Authenticity and Foodie Culture 195 4.3 Cross-over Consumption – The Birth of a Transethnic Cuisine and Cosmopolitan Identity 205 Conclusion 213 Bibliography 223 This book explores the transformation of Chinese food in the U.S. after 1965. It considers the symbolic meanings and cultural functions of Chinese food in America - how Chinese food reflected the racial relation between the Chinese community and the mainstream white society, and how Chinese food shaped the cultural lives of Americans.