RichAsianKid wrote:
> A few random thoughts here.
>
> First there is presentation. When you start deliberately mixing food
> together on the table - haha how can you call it an 'art' with
> those bibimbap or something, in a charred stone bowl or all that lo
> mein on a sizzling plate? One of the hallmarks of haute cuisine is its
> emphasis on preparation or presentation technique -not how you
> reproduce your stomach contents for public view! In fact in haute
> cuisine often different ingredients are cooked separately to the right
> degree of 'ripeness' and then mixed together, hence the
> extraordinary amount of time needed for preparation. Bento boxes -
> and these are considered cheap Japanese - like 'rice boxes' -
> nonetheless preserve or at least pretend to preserve this quality.
> Koreans and the Chinese do not. Else you may as well go for an infant
> diet or a pureed diet for old people. The fact that everyone digs into
> a public plate in the case of Chinese - thus sometimes without a pair
> of public utensil (i.e. chopstick) is yet another 'low class' sign
> - it's probably a residual from an ancient powwow ceremony where
> people just feast on a dead carcass after a long day's hunt. Very
> very primitive (or authentic, depends on your perspective).
>
> Décor of the restaurant is another issue and is peripheral to this
> subject of presentation. Even a middle class Japanese restaurant (at
> least in North America) is quiet - meaning you can hear what your
> neighbors are saying, unlike Chinese or sometimes Korean - and at
> times you feel like you've entered a monastery or Shinto temple
> inadvertently where you start your life journey and engage in some epic
> meditation session. "Authentic" Chinese restaurants - even the so
> called more
> expensive ones are like a flea markets or a public high school
> cafeterias where you need to shove your way in and where you are
> sometimes given a time limit on when you should finish your food, and
> where you have to combat waiters from mixing residual food between
> dishes together - just so they get a head start in dish cleaning, if
> they do that at all....
>
> The use of ingredients is important. Eggs or bean sprouts may be valid
> ingredients but they are very cheap, and are definitely not suitable
> for a main course dish at supper, and are certainly no showcase prizes.
> No, in fact the use of these materials reflects a sign of historical
> economic dearth when you think about it. It's not so common in North
> America but I think in mainland China people are so poor they eat
> tomatoes, scrambled eggs, and tofu as their main dinner dish day after
> day, night after night! Whoa!!
>
> I think 'high class' cuisine often seeks to preserve freshness and
> the true, 'original' flavor of the food with a minimal amount of
> seasoning. Chinese cuisine often resort to deep frying or stir frying,
> and certain provincial Chinese (like Szechuan) use spices or MSG to
> mask their flaws. Some Korean dishes encourage the use of hot sauce
> (e.g. the bibimbap). Sort of like poor Indians using curry in
> everything - thus you can really have a crappy piece of meat (if they
> can afford it) but you still won't be able to tell what's in it.
> It's like a woman who relies too heavily on makeup. That's why
> ground beef is low grade but you'll never mince filet mignon. And why
> many Chinese kitchens are so invisible - so secretive and furtive in
> their preparation of food that they in fact don't even pass public
> health standards!! One report I read demonstrated that it's cleaner
> (measured in terms of a lack of bacterial count) to eat off the *floor*
> of a university microbiology lab than a food tray at fast foods places
> where teens spit on your onion rings (is that true, or is that just
> Eminem lyrics) or at Chinese restaurants.
>
> Another sign is quality vs quantity. Chinese buffets now abound in
> North America - because they are cheap - and Chinese buffets love
> to emphasize quantity at the expense of quality. They are geared
> towards 300 lb trailer wives and inner city single moms and new
> southeast Asian immigrants probably. Higher class restaurants
> emphasize more on preparation and not on quantity, and the end product
> is presented perhaps as a psychological mechanism - product being food
> is so much smaller than the plate, and are 'vertically stacked' rather
> than a 'horizontal mess'.
>
> Also, practically, when was the last time at a quiet, sedate wine
> 'n' cheese inbred soirees or business meetings that they serve
> Chinese food? Never! Never! Never! These just do not have the
> same cachet at upper middle class or upper class/educated functions -
> it's like wearing a tracksuit to a wedding. Japanese is however
> increasingly served in these functions, and in fact I think it adds a
> touch of cosmopolitanism to an otherwise dull mélange of French and
> Italian.
>
> And let's not forget also that at the lower middle class level, we
> see Chinese and Koreans trying to operate Japanese restaurants, dishing
> (pun huh?) out ersatz Japanese food. You just don't see things the
> other way around.
>
> Here is another practical reason. We now know how beneficial omega-3
> acids are to health. These are found in cold-water fish amongst other
> food items. Fish - sushi, sashimi - is one of the main staples of
> Japanese diet. And the Japanese have one of the world's longest life
> expectancy at ~81 years, last time I checked.
>
> So why is all this important? Food is like sex. Hunger is one of our
> natural, human, cardinal urges. It may be a non-topic and neglected
> when it's abundant, such as in North America, but since food is
> required by everyone to survive, i.e. it drives natural selection,
> cultural varations hold a key to understanding something deeper
> perhaps. I think what we eat and how we do it - like sexual norms and
> mores - reflect and reveal ourselves more than anything else. I've
> listed a few suggestions here, as a brute, who visits, occasionally,
> Burger King. But if I can see it, I'm sure others can also.
>
> Yeah yeah I know, "de gustibus non est disputandum", i.e. taste is
> not disputable. But in this mano a mano comparison between Japanese and
> Chinese/Korean cuisine, I say the Japanese won hands down.
>
> Postscript: two other objective data points.
>
> 1. Price. Unless they're Chinese or Korean owned, Japanese restaurants
> in general charge a premium for their food and services. While the free
> market is not always rational, it does indicate that there is a demand,
> at least in North America. And I think that's true in the Far East as
> well outside Japan - Japanese restaurants are never considered 'cheap
> food' or 'lower class food'. Zagat survey indicates many more Japanese
> that make it on top compared to Chinese, *in spite of* the latter's
> popularity. It's almost like 150 girls and 50 boys competing for the
> Math Olympiad, but the top 10 winners are all boys.
>
> 2. Yes you can get real sick from Chinese food. It's called the Chinese
> Restaurant Syndrome. Heard of it? He
> http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/001126.htm
>
> "Chinese restaurant syndrome is a collection of symptoms that some
> people experience after eating Chinese food. A food additive called
> monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been implicated, but it has not been
> proved to be the agent that causes this condition."
>
> "Life-threatening symptoms may be similar to any other severe allergic
> reaction and require immediate medical attention. These include the
> following:
>
> * Swelling of the throat
> * Chest pain
> * Heart palpitations
> * Shortness of breath"
>
> Seems that the above 2 points which have been blatantly neglected in my
> first go-around carry more weight. Chinese food more often than not
> just does not have the same cachet as Japanese.
>
> Make no mistake: Chinese food is very much like porn: (1) best enjoyed
> private and takeout, (2) good variety, (3) addictive to some, (4)
> cheap, (5) often dirty, and (6) most outlets are found in sleazy
> neighborhoods. That is, it's way way fun. It's just not always
> mentioned in the same breath as your CEO's inbred wine 'n' cheese
> soiree.
>

Well, the PFChang China Bistro shows one way towards increasing respect
for Chinese food. Susannah Foo has a Chinese Restaurant in Philadelphia
that has a very good reputation. Barbara Tropp had, until she died, the
China Moon restaurant in SF. And thats just scraping the surface. In
reality, there are all kinds and levels of Chinese food served out there
- cachet appears to be in the eyes of the beholder. Anyone who knows
much about food knows that Chinese cuisine is as refined and
sophisticated as any in the world.

Ian