Authentic Chinese Flavors in New York City
Chinese Food Map in NYC
Alice Cheung 张馨予
中国味道在纽约
Signature Hotpot at Zhen Wei Fang, a restaurant in Chinatown, Manhattan.
Photo by Alice Cheung
There are nearly 41,000 Chinese restaurants in the United States. As of 2011, roughly 6,000 of them were in New York City. While New Yorkers have many restaurant choices, most of these serve food cooked in the American-Chinese style, according to the website Life in the USA. I think it is not that easy to find restaurants that serve authentic Chinese food in New York.
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"I came to New York 5 years ago, but it's still hard to find authentic Chinese food here. Many Chinese restaurants choose to Americanize the food. It's not wrong, but just not authentic anymore."
Shuyu Ni, 19, NYU Sophomore
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How do we define authentic Chinese food?
Students from NYU Chinese Student Association (CSSA) and Global China Connection (GCC) explain what Authentic Chinese food is.
Josie Jiang, 18, NYU Freshman
"The food cooked by my parents are the most authentic as they would cater to my taste. I think the most important thing in Chinese food is the family affection it contains. The Chinese food with affection and bonding is soulful and the most authentic."
Shuyu Ni, 19, NYU Sophomore
"Authentic Chinese food doesn't mean it's exactly the same as the food in my hometown, but what can remind me is that the person that cooked it for me."
Sarah Zhang, 19, NYU Sophomore
"Authentic Chinese food has the taste of the land. When I eat food cooked with Szechuan peppercorn, I sometimes say it is the soul of Szechuan food, because it reminds me of the humid weather and beautiful mountains in Szechuan."
While people have different ideas about authentic Chinese food, there are some dishes that are easily identified as Chinese.
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Kung Pao Chicken 宫保鸡丁
"I like the sweet and sour taste of Kung Pao Chicken," said Calli Ferguson, an NYU sophomore who enjoys eating Chinese food, "I bought the ingredients from Trader Joe's, but when I cooked it at home, it's just so different from what I ate from Szechuan Mountain House."
Located at 23 St. Mark's Place, Szechuan Mountain House is so popular that people wait in line for more than three hours to find a seat on weekends.
Yu Qing, a chef of Szechuan Mountain House, introduces the signature dish, Szechuan Kung Pao Chicken, and unmasks the secret recipe behind it: "Only Szechuan peppercorn has such an intense fragrance, citrus-like flavor and can produce a 'tingly-numbing' sensation in the mouth."
Maybe that is the reason why Calli failed to cook Kung Pao Chicken with an authentic Chinese taste. Next time, choose Szechuan peppercorn and wait silently for the surprise it brings.
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Red Braised Pork
红烧肉
While Kung Pao Chicken, according to A Bite of China documentary series, is the most famous dish from the western part of China, the Red Braised Pork is the most popular cuisine originating from Hunan province in the south.
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Here’s a video tutorial of Sarah Zhang cooking Beijing Zha Jiang Noodles to start you off: