Jews and Chinese Food: Guest Post and Giveaway!
Friday, July 24, 2009
This guest post is by Andrew Coe, author of Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States. In his latest book, Coe unravels the history of the American infatuation with Chinese food, bringing us to San Francisco during the 1848 Gold Rush, New York City in the late 1800s where Bohemians fell in love with chop suey, and along for the epicurean ride in 1972 when President Nixon visited China.
Coe is a wealth of knowledge on the cultural history of Chinese food, a topic near and dear to my heart, and I am fascinated to learn of how my ancestral cuisine evolved over the years in this country. Apparently the Jews of New York played a big part. In this post, Coe delves into the Jewish love affair with Chinese food and how it came to be.
For the record, Andrew Coe is neither Jewish (although his wife is, and he lives in New York City, so that kind of makes him an honorary Jew), nor Chinese (although he scopes out Chinese customers when he eats at Chinese restaurants, and has what they’re having, so that kind of makes him an honorary Asian).
If you like his post, check out his book and learn more about this interesting culinary history. Lick My Spoon is giving away (2) copies of Chop Suey!
To win a copy of this book, leave a comment here telling me: What do you order when you go to a Chinese restaurant (the deliciously cheap, fast service, kind of seedy ones)?
Comments must be submitted by Thursday 7/30, 5 pm PST. Winners will be announced next week on Friday, July 31st.
Jews and Chinese Food
By Andrew Coe
Jews are sometimes called the “People of the Book” for their devotion to religious study. For American Jews from the 1930s through the 1970s, that book was often a Chinese restaurant menu. On Saturday mornings they went to synagogue; on Sunday evenings they visited the local Chinese eatery to feast on chop suey. Yet many Chinese dishes contained pork and shellfish, foods outlawed by Jewish kosher law. So how did Jews become such devoted fans of Chinese food?
In the New York City of a century ago, Chinatown and the Jewish immigrant Lower East Side lay just a short walk apart. Russian and Eastern European Jews rarely if ever set foot on Mott or Pell Streets. Coming from the cities and shtetls of Europe, most of them practiced Orthodox Judaism. They kept kosher and ate at home where they could be sure that the food was correctly prepared. Eating out in restaurants was an American custom that many had never experienced. Their children, however, often defined themselves more as Americans than Jews. They went to public schools and ate in the dining halls; they found jobs and were invited out for dinner with their co-workers. During the 1920s and 1930s, the favorite places for a cheap yet sophisticated night on the town were Chinese.
To these second generation Jews, Chinese food was cheap, tasty, and sinful–those rosy slices of roast pork and fat and succulent stir-fried shrimp. Maybe if they choked down a cocktail–another new experience–they could get over the guilt of eating non-kosher food. And then there was the décor of cheap lanterns and prints of Chinese maidens on the wall. The Chinese restaurant experience was alien but somehow also welcoming. Unlike in other eateries, the owners did not discriminate; they served white, black, and Native American alike. The Chinese were also strangers in a strange land, like the Jews, and maybe fit in even less. Jews also noticed the many similarities between Jewish and Chinese food, including the use of onions, celery, garlic, and chicken and the lack of dairy products. The bonding of American Jews with Chinese food didn’t take place overnight, but by the 1940s the match had solidified.
However, they still had to get over the kosher problem. Luckily, some anonymous genius invented the concept of “safe treyf.” “Treyf” means “unclean” in kosher law; thus safe treyf means unclean but still okay to eat. When Jews were eating in Chinese restaurants, they applied the rule of safe treyf: if you couldn’t see a dish’s non-kosher ingredients, you could eat it. They wouldn’t order a plate of roast pork, but soup made with pork-flavored stock and chop suey with the pork or shrimp chopped up so small you couldn’t identify it was permissible. And maybe ordering lobster was allowed as well, because it was served by a (non-Christian) Chinese. Flexibility was the key to safe treyf.
In the 1950s and 1960s, American Jews had moved to the suburbs and assimilated into American life. Every Sunday evening, the family went to the local Chinese, where they ordered the family dinner of chop suey, chow mein, and egg foo young with soup and egg rolls. On Long Island, diners at one Chinese eatery were so regular that the owners had permanent name plates made for the booths. For observant Jews, restaurateurs opened kosher-Chinese eateries where the diners could be sure that pork and shellfish were not on the menu.
During the 1970s, when a spate of more authentic Cantonese, Sichuan and Hunan restaurants began to open in cities like New York and San Francisco, Jews were also in the forefront of exploring these new culinary experiences. But then in the 1980s, something happened to Chinese food. The old chop suey joints began to close their doors, while a craze for low-fat, heart-healthy cuisine took hold. American Jews discovered sushi.
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As we drive home some evenings, we will pull out THE chinese restaurant menu, you know…the one menu suits all restaurants of this ilk…and we will order 2 spring roll, 1 house lo mein, and I usually cave and let hubby order the General’s chicken AGAIN! He loves that stuff. I did tell him the other day, it wasn’t an authentic Chinese dish, but did he care??? I hope I didn’t misinform him. Sometimes we add the fried dumplings if I don’t want the General’s chicken.
Thanks and love the blog! Kim
I am all about wonton soup. When I was in middle school I would walk to a local chinese restaurant with my best friend Rachel and we would get food with our own money and thought we were awesome. I remember being astounded when I found out I could buy a double order of wonton soup and get it in a giant bowl. I love all sorts of wonton soup, except for this one Cantonese style bowl I had in northern Virginia that smelled like an old lady’s breath.
eww tmi dana. tmi.
Potstickers and cashew chicken are my must-haves when ordering at any restaurant that contain the words ‘Bamboo’, ‘Panda’, ‘Pearl’, or ‘Wok’! (I’m sure there are a few more . . . )
It’s been a while since I’ve eaten at these inexpensive, take-away places, given the plethora of more ‘authentic’ Chinese restaurants, but I still value them. I don’t use the word ‘cheap’ to describe them precisely because they hold that value – although they may be derided by some as inauthentic, such places are often many people’s first experience with ethnic cuisine. It doesn’t matter what the door looks like as long as it provides opens the threshold to cross into new experiences!
well said, Tangled Noodle! for me, these americanized chinese restaurants are a bit of a guilty pleasure…but a pleasure nonetheless!
I typically leave ordering up to my husband (whose parents are from Taiwan) to order, as he knows all the best things. I’ve learned what those “best” things are, but by their Chinese names, which I would have NO clue how to write out. :^) Dumplings are the one thing I know how to refer to in the American way, and are a staple. Any noodle dish is all right by me, and I loved steamed fish. Really, almost anything is good with me–I just love food, and Chinese food in particular!
mmm yes, i could eat noodles all day! all types are good by me, but my favorite is gawn chow gnow hau. it’s a stir fried flat rice noodle with beef. yummmm
Dumplings! Never had a bad dumpling in my life.
Also Lo Mein is hard to mess up.
Ah, wonton soup is a must for us and then we try to make sure we order whatever regional specialties there are for that region the restaurant claims: Mandarian, Cantonese, Tawainese. Sometime, even though it is listed in Chinese on the wall, we ask to order from those menus again to get the most authentic experience.
This book sounds great, reminds me of the Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8 Lee which was a fun read. She also spoke of the Jewish connection which I thought was fascinating.
xiao long bao (soup dumplings! mmm =)
omg, XLB are my absolute favorite
This sounds like a fascinating book! What do I order? Hot & sour soup, cashew chicken, beef & broccoli, and some sort of sizzling, spicy shrimp dish. Yum!
mmm what a feast!
I usually go overboard when I order Chinese food. My favorite restaurant is this tiny hole in the wall restaurant in South San Jose called Lee’s. It’s not a sit down restaurant although they do have plastic tables and chairs if you desire to eat there but you go there for take-out. I usually order the following: sweet & sour pork, shrimp foo young, chicken chow mein, egg rolls, hot & sour soup, bbq pork fried rice, prawns with honey walnut, and beef and broccoli.
i love the shrimp with candied walnuts! that’s my favorite banquet dish.
Wonton noodle soup and beef broccoli. The book sounds interesting. Jewish and Chinese sounds like a fun book.My favorite Chinese cook book is The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Grace Young. Really great stories and authentic recipes.
War shu guy – I spelled it phonetically, but I like that one. Beef and Broccoli and Lemon chicken are staples.
Chinese takeout isn’t complete without fu yong hai (aka egg foo yong) for me. Ku Lu Yuk is also high on my list along with Babi panggang. All served with some Bakmi. Just thinking about it makes me hungry!
I love Chinese cuisine! whenever we order from our favorite restaurant, I always have to get an eggroll along with chicken and broccoli yummmy!
I am also a fan of fried wontons as well
just got back from Atlantic City, I was wishing for Pho
and found it a place called Sydneys-pretty authentic Pho, with the beef on the side, yummy!
Their spicy beef noodle soup was not only tasty but truly spicy.
Ever try beef tendons, those are great. tell me if you had that.
yes, i’ve tried beef tendon…but i’m not so into the texture
i know i know…i’m such a juk sing.
Being Jewish myself, whenever I hear or read about Chinese food, I always think about my family heading to the movies and the local Chinese restaurant on Christmas day. I am not much of a Chinese food fan myself, but on that day, I enjoy it with all of my other Jewish friends/family.
Great and insightful entry.
haha thanks, Shane! my b/f’s family runs a chinese restaurant and his memories of christmas growing up also entail a chinese food feast with all their jewish friends
I love love General Tso’s and I have recreated that…but I must admit MY FAV…EGG ROLLS…Love them
The deliciously cheap!!!
Manhattan is lucky to have several options…since I moved further south, though…it’s been quite an interesting shift to find some jewels hidden among strip mall storefronts and lopsided old houses. It’s a venture but southern Chinese food can be more adventurous!
House Special lo mein (and let me tell you, it’s sometimes reeeeally “special”) and hot and sour soup. You can’t go wrong!
I am third generation full-blodded Chinese American. Three of the four of my grandparents were born here in the U.S. Being so, I can say without fear of being accused of racial overtones, that makes me a Twinkie or banana. Yellow on the outside and white on the inside :0) My children are fourth generation full-blooded Chinese Americans.
Chinese was not spoken in my house but my grandparents were great chinese cooks. Not so with my parents. So staying connected with our Chinese food roots gets harder and harder. (That’s why I could sure use this book :0) Plus I can pass it on to my kids)
I have several Jewish friends and my favorite is taking them to Philly’s Chinatown and ordering dim sum at one of the small, greasy, dirty bathrooms, poor service restaurants. But with all that, the food is great! And the looks on their faces when they see the chicken feet, braised tripe and conjee pass by is priceless. But they soon come to love, like me, the bark of the cart gals calling out; Har Gow, Sui Mai, Char Sui Bow. Now if I could just find a good source for Challah bread!
yeah, those cart ladies can be a doozie
I am so bad when we go to a Chinese restaurant………..I like a super greasy egg roll and hot and sour soup!