“入鄉隨俗”的中國菜

Chinese food is not a foreign concept to the United States. But some recipes have gotten lost in translation.

The latest example is the Chinese smashed cucumber trend that has recently popped up in New York City.

The New York Times reported that many of Manhattans restaurants now offer smashed cucumbers dressed with sauces such as sesame oil with garlic and yogurt.

Julia Goldberg， a sous-chef at Superiority Burger in the US， told The New York Times， “Theres something about the roughness， and the variety of shapes and sizes. That you participate in smashing is incredibly satisfying.”

This isnt the first time that US chefs have embraced Chinese cooking techniques， while steering away from original recipe. Nor will it be the last.

Chefs in the US lean on flavors that American taste buds are attracted to， but by evolving the taste in this way， the original Chinese recipe is sometimes ignored.

General Tsos Chicken， chop suey and fortune cookies are among the most popular Chinese dishes in the US. However， “Chinese people dont crack open fortune cookies after every meal... Most Chinese people dont even know what chop suey actually is，” Shanghai-based journalist Jamie Fullerton told Business Insider.

Chefs specializing in Chinese cuisine want Americans to try their food. So they changed the ingredients， the cuts of meat and the presentation to suit American palates.

This is a cultural compromise to make consumers happy. At the same time， they are turning the food into something less Chinese and more American.

美國人對中國菜早已司空見慣。不過，有些中國食譜在漂洋過海之后都已面目全非。

最近的例子就是風靡紐約的拍黃瓜。

《紐約時報》報道稱曼哈頓的許多餐館現在開始供應用芝麻油、大蒜和酸奶調味的拍黃瓜。

美國超級漢堡餐廳的副主廚朱莉婭·哥德堡告訴《紐約時報》：“拍出來的黃瓜很粗糙，形狀各異，大小不一，不過這是個很棒的體驗。”

這不是美國廚師第一次采用中國的烹飪方法，同時對原始菜譜進行改革，當然也不會是最后一次。

在美國，廚師們會根據美國人的口味調整菜譜，不過經過這種口味的演變，原始的中國菜譜有時候就被忽略了。

在美國，左宗棠雞、炒雜燴和幸運餅干是最受歡迎的中國菜。但是駐上海的美國記者杰米·富勒頓告訴《財經內幕》：“中國人餐后基本不吃幸運餅干……大部分中國人甚至不知道什么是炒雜燴。”

專做中餐的廚師想讓美國人嘗嘗他們的手藝，于是他們依據美國人的喜好調整了配料、切肉的手法和擺盤的樣式。

這是為了迎合消費者做出的文化讓步。同時，他們也讓食物少了些中國味，多了些美國味。