Japanese Chef in Chinese Restaurant

[Ian_Lee]

No matter where you go in the world, when you dine at a Chinese restaurant, there is a 99% chance that the food you order is prepared by a Chinese (ethnic Chinese or Chinese expatriate).

However, the odd is reversed in Japan. Except the really top-notched (and expensive) Chinese restaurants in Ginza or Yokohama’s Chinatown which may hire expatriates from China, HK or Taiwan, the chance is that most likely the Chinese cuisine you order is prepared by a Japanese cook.

Such erosion of Chinese monopoly is deemed even more intolerable to me than Koizumi’s praying at Yasukuni.

I urge whenever our fellow Chinese posters travel to Japan, they should boycott those “faked” Chinese restaurants!

[Claw]

The reverse also happens too. In the U.S., I see plenty of Japanese restaurants run by Chinese people. I frequently hear them speak Cantonese in the background.

[Ian_Lee]

Claw:

The reason why many Chinese rush into Japanese restaurant business in US is because the profit margin is much higher than that of Chinese restaurant.

In US, generally Japanese restaurant (and strangely Thai) is perceived more high-class than Chinese restaurant. Most customers will budget $20-$30 or higher when they dine at a Japanese restaurant.

But most will not spend more than $15 or less in any Chinese eateries.

However, Chinese restaurants are considered in a higher grade in Japan (so is menu price as well as profit margin). It is even cheaper to eat in a French restaurant than a Chinese restaurant in Tokyo.

I guess that is the reason why even Japanese locals rush into that business.

[yonglan]

This is basically true in Korea, too. Just a function of immigration policy, I'd guess.

I don't care who cooks my food. I don't insist only Americans can make my McDonalds, only Italians can make my spaghetti, only French my chicken cordon bleu, etc. Am I missing some sarcasm here or do you actually care who makes your food? I hope not.

Anyway, I've eaten at some Chinese places in the US run and staffed by Koreans.

[skylee]

I've recently eaten at a "Chinese" restaurant in Tallinn, and the food was horrible. Every dish looked the same and tasted the same. Even our tour leader found them unacceptable. After a look at the kitchen, he told us that the cook was an Estonian woman, and then all of us went "oh that's why" and felt a bit relieved.

[Ian_Lee]

Yonglan:

Those Korean-staffed Chinese Restaurants in US that you have frequented are most likely operated by Korean-speaking Chinese.

A lot of Korean Restaurants in South Korea are operated by Chinese immigrants from Shandong. Since Shandongese have basically the same physical features as Koreans do, it is hard to distinguish between them if they speak fluent Korean.

Somehow in those restaurants they also serve Kimchee. But unlike authentic Korean Restaurants which use turnip and Chinese cabbage to make Kimchee, Shandongese normally use cabbage to make Kimchee which are more crunchy.

And they serve deep black-colored JaJang Myung.

[geraldc]

In Peru there are local restaurants called "chifas". They are run by peruvians and serve Peruvian versions of Chinese dishes, the name chifas is a corruption of chi fan 吃饭. I would have tried eating in one, but Peru does funny things to your stomach, so I didn't have much of an appetite when I was out there.

[Quest]

Every dish looked the same and tasted the same.

Let me guess, absolutely tasteless (not even bad but without any taste) stir fry on top of noodle or dried coarse rice.

The one chef would prepare the same stuff (i.e. ZTStirFry) every single day, but would give it different names. Mongolian noodles/rice on day one, Korean Veggie Noodles/rice on day 2, Szechwan *Yummy* noodles/rice on day 3, Japanese tasty noodle/rice on day nth....so on and so forth what not.

That was the white American *Asian* chef at one of my university's cafeterias.

[Ian_Lee]

Quest:

I recalled that in my university cafetaria, it looked like the real stuff.

The setting is like a Dai Pai Dong. The African American chef waved the huge wok and the smoke came up in front of you. Moreover, he cooked only when he received your order.

The menu was fascinating. It got three kinds of meat -- beef, chicken and shrimp. You could order it stir-fry with mixed vegetables on top of rice (white or brown) or noodles.

Moreover, you could order it stir-fry in three sauces: Hoison, oyster or hot.

However, here comes the problem: All ingredients -- meat and vegetable -- were precooked by boiling in advance and have stayed in refrigerator without wrap for a long time.

So the dish looks good when it is served but it tastes really bland since the meat and vegetables have all lost flavors during the precooking process.

And of course all the rice in cafetaria are steamed in a metal tray -- the worst way of cooking rice.

So what can you expect?

[bhchao]

The best Jia Jiang Mein I tasted were cooked by Koreans from Shandong.

[yonglan]

I don't like most Chinese food I've had in Taiwan. It's all the same: overcooked and oily. And I have eaten at some nice places.

Those Korean-staffed Chinese Restaurants in US that you have frequented are most likely operated by Korean-speaking Chinese.

A lot of Korean Restaurants in South Korea are operated by Chinese immigrants from Shandong. Since Shandongese have basically the same physical features as Koreans do' date=' it is hard to distinguish between them if they speak fluent Korean. [/quote']

I wasn't guessing

[chengdude]

I urge whenever our fellow Chinese posters travel to Japan, they should boycott those “faked” Chinese restaurants!

Hear hear! And I would further urge Japanese tourists in China to boycott all those Japanese restaurants where the tempura is fried up by Chinese chefs and served by young Chinese girls wearing kimonos. Disgusting. I myself avoid eating in almost all "Western food" restaurants because lord knows a Chinese chef could never master the art of cooking an omelet, grilling a burger, baking a pizza, or frying a chicken. And just the other night, I ate in an Indian restaurant in Chengdu; imagine my horror upon noticing the food being prepared by a team of Chinese cooks...where will the indignities end??

[Alleluia]

Way to go chengdude! My thoughts exactly when I read this thread...

[ChouDoufu]

my sister jokes that latinos are the best chef's in the world. Look inside any kind of restaurant in A major city in America and you'll see Latino's working away. They make everything from Indian to Chinese to french. it's incredible.

man i miss good mexican food.

[tetsuo500]

In Australia if you go into a Chinese restaurant, the staff will almost certainly be Chinese - though the food is usually that "Western Chinese" style. Yuck. What's the matter, can't we handle real Chinese food?

But if you go into a "Japanese" restaurant a lot of the time the owners will be Chinese or Korean. Especially in sushi trains. Sometimes they hire a couple of Japanese waitresses in an attempt to make it look authentic, or to be able to say "welcome" properly - who knows. But the food is always sub-standard. You can always find weird kinds of sushi and sometimes spring rolls, fried rice and fried chicken on the train (!!!!!!) I always have a good laugh when the staff are wearing their kimono the wrong way around, like they've just died.

Korean restaurants are usually staffed by Koreans here, and the food is usually pretty good, sometimes doesn't pack as much flavour or heat, but you'd still have the best chance of finding a good Korean restaurant rather than Chinese or Japanese.

Such erosion of Chinese monopoly is deemed even more intolerable to me than Koizumi’s praying at Yasukuni.

I urge whenever our fellow Chinese posters travel to Japan, they should boycott those “faked” Chinese restaurants!

Fair enough if you don't want to eat somewhere because the food's crappy, the staff are bad, or if you want to eat Chinese food cooked by Chinese or whatever...... but boycott?!? It's just food dude. And I really liked it how you included that little political statement :

[Ian_Lee]

Tetsuo:

For the sake of your health, I also advise you from refraining to dine at those "faked" Japanese restaurants.

Personally I only go to those Japanese restaurants operated by Japanese or stationed by a Japanese chef.

Frankly speaking, most authentic Japanese restaurants have higher hygienic demands than their Chinese counterparts.

But since most Chinese dishes are cooked in a 300 degree wok, so even though the sanitary condition is less than perfect in the Chinese restaurant kitchen, most likely all the germs have been killed by the 300 degree heat.

However, since most Japanese food is served either raw or cold, any less than perfect sanitary condition in the kitchen environment may get you two weeks in the hospital.

[TSkillet]

a 99% chance that the food you order is prepared by a Chinese (ethnic Chinese or Chinese expatriate

I highly doubt this. Even in a place which is large and has a sizeable Chinese population - like say my current home of Houston, Texas - most restaurants here employ Mexican/Central/South American cooks. Sure - the head chef and owner might be Chinese - but more than 90% of the time, my Chinese food here has been prepared by someone who speaks Spanish as a native langauge.

[Gaijinian]

I have never actually eaten at a Chinese Restaurant in Japan, but when I was in Tokyo (and your average foreigner would not know) they were amazingly common. I constantly saw the 中国料理 sign.

However, just because the cheifs are 倭, the food is automatically bad?

Anyway, I heard that there are very few Japanese Restaurants in China, because of the WWII memories and such. However, I'm not sure how... relayable the source was. Anyone wanna confirm this information?

[Gary Soup]

Yonglan:

A lot of Korean Restaurants in South Korea are operated by Chinese immigrants from Shandong. Since Shandongese have basically the same physical features as Koreans do' date=' it is hard to distinguish between them if they speak fluent Korean.

Somehow in those restaurants they also serve Kimchee. But unlike authentic Korean Restaurants which use turnip and Chinese cabbage to make Kimchee, Shandongese normally use cabbage to make Kimchee which are more crunchy.

And they serve deep black-colored JaJang Myung.[/quote']

Zha jiang mian was reputedly invented in Inchon's Chinatown, according to this article in the Korea Times.

[darph]

In my city (Passau, Germany) the Chinese Restaurant is run by a Vietnamese and the Japanese Sushi Bar is run by a woman from Taiwan. Oh, and the local Pizzeria is run by a Turkish man ;) Most Chinese restaurants in Germany are run by Thai or Vietnamese people.

In Germany most Asian style food is somewhat "westernized", spicy dishes are not as spicy as they are supposed to, and you prolly won't find something like 东坡肉 in a German Chinese restaurant. That's what I am a bit sad about, but I guess most people wouldn't eat it, if it was too exotic.

But I definately don't care who (in terms of country of origin) prepares my dish, as long as it tastes good.