My feelings in the United States

1) American Journey 20

"Food - In America" ??

There is a McDonald's on the north-south 17th Street west of the West Wing of the White House. The restaurant is located on the west side of the road. During lunch every day, employees in suits and ties rush out from the west wing and pour into the restaurant. Lunch is over in a few minutes after standing up for a hamburger and a cup of coffee.

Behind me in the photo is the West Wing of the White House, facing south. (June 1992)

Xiaobei and I - the translator and tour guide driver who accompanied our group - were leaning against the glass window of the McDonald's restaurant, eating burgers, and everyone in the group entered Visiting the White House, the two of us ate and waited. This scene was the norm when I was in Washington in the early to mid-1990s. Beckham and I often look at the lunches of these white-collar workers and wonder: Are the tall Americans full of burgers and coffee? Can you survive until dinner? Not hungry? The Chinese leaders at all levels in the group also questioned, what kind of stomach does this American have?

I stood on the sidewalk outside the North Gate of the White House behind me.

The Pentagon, the U.S. Department of Defense, not far from the Potomac River to the southwest of the White House, was free to visit at any time, and you could see Navy admirals and Air Force admirals in their offices. Because their office door is open!

I took a photo with American soldiers at the Pentagon.

(November 1992)

I remember that the tour guide told everyone: There are about 25,000 people working here every day, and the Pentagon needs to make 25,000 lunches burgers to satisfy the staff who work here. I don’t remember how many restaurants there are in the Pentagon. But I know for sure that this is how working Americans eat their lunch.

Visiting the Pentagon in 1992.

It is said that the nutrient content and caloric intake of hamburger coffee are sufficient to maintain the body's needs!

When I think about the fried vegetables and soups that our Chinese eat for lunch and dinner, I am very surprised by the difference in diet compared with the American work lunch!

During my more than ten years of visiting the United States from the 1990s to the beginning of the 21st century, although I basically ate at Chinese restaurants across the United States, American fast food McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, and pizza restaurants , fried chicken restaurants, American Western food, Mexican food, and Arabic food. I do feel that different styles and eating habits reflect the food culture of various countries. The United States has the culture and food of all ethnic groups in the world, and you can taste delicacies from all over the world in many cities.

This is our visiting group eating hamburgers at the airport (June 1992)

Speaking of Chinese restaurants in our Chinatown, it can be said that there are many Chinese restaurants in the United States. First of all, Chinatown in the United States As long as there is a city, there will be a Chinatown, and if there is a Chinatown, there will be Chinese restaurants. In recent years, more Chinese restaurants have been scattered all over the country. Even if there is no Chinatown, there will be many Chinese restaurants. Chinese food is still very popular in the United States.

In fact, Chinese restaurants in the United States are also very differentiated, including American-style Chinese food and Chinese-style Chinese food.

I remember reading a book "Tell You a True America" ??in the early 1990s. I liked this book very much. I often visited the United States at that time to compare it and I felt the same way! The author is Chen Yanni, a Chinese student visiting the United States. She conducted in-depth research and analysis to understand the life of Chinese in the United States. She visited and inquired about actual life, libraries, federal databases, and information databases. She used a large amount of first-hand information to analyze the current situation of Chinese and international students. The description of the Chinese restaurant is very detailed. From the first generation of Chinese entrepreneurs to the overseas students working in Chinese restaurants in the 1990s, the development and current situation of restaurants have been analyzed in detail!

Author Chen Yanni said in the book: Usually when you enter a Chinese restaurant and there is a small plate of fried pasta snacks on the table, it must be an American-style Chinese restaurant, and most of these Chinese restaurants are buffets. The characteristic of American-style Chinese restaurant cuisine is that chili peppers and soy sauce are used in all dishes, and the taste is salty.

And this kind of taste is especially popular with Americans, and business is booming!

It’s really not flattering to judge it by our Chinese tastes! In addition to being salty and spicy, I don’t eat less of it in the United States. For Chinese people visiting the United States, being able to eat Chinese food is already good!

Of course, there are also many real Chinese restaurants, such as authentic Sichuan cuisine restaurants, Shandong cuisine restaurants, Cantonese cuisine restaurants, Huaiyang cuisine restaurants, Shanxi cuisine restaurants, Hunan cuisine restaurants, etc., and there are even more ordinary Chinese restaurants.

I have tasted pretty good authentic Sichuan, Huaiyang, and Cantonese cuisine in Chinatowns in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington. However, when I walk into a Chinese restaurant and sit down, I always get a bowl of hot soup. It is said that this was back in the day. The first generation of Chinese to open Chinese restaurants were overseas Chinese from Guangdong, who brought in Cantonese cuisine. Therefore, this custom has been passed down in Chinese restaurants in the United States for more than a hundred years.

Generally, Chinese restaurants with authentic Cantonese and Sichuan cuisine are more expensive. In the 1990s, I could only eat there with a group a few times every now and then.

From 1992 to 2003, I led group meals, which were basically group meals. Tables are reserved based on the number of people per person. At that time, our daily food expenses were usually about 20 yuan, so lunch and dinner cost 7-8 yuan per person, usually 6-8 dishes, which was basically enough to eat. Of course, the texture and taste of the dishes varied. After each fruit meal, it was over. At this time, the waiter brought the bill plate and also brought a plate of pastry fruits. They were very small and crisp, and each person had one. There was a small note in English, and the content was basically a blessing. , good luck continues, everyone who doesn’t understand English asks the tour guide to translate, laughs heartily, and is humorous, bringing happiness to everyone in a foreign country.

You must know that these business and government leaders at all levels who visited the United States with me are also a kind of relaxation when they are busy at home. They come from various units and companies and basically don’t know each other. This is also a kind of freedom. Live it!

This is (December 6, 1994) during an inspection in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. The American Edison Company invited us to have Chinese food. (The first on the right is Mr. White, director of the International Department of the American Edison Company, the second on the right is Deputy Director Yan of the Shaanxi Provincial Rural Power Administration Bureau, and the first on the left is the author)

Americans are very humorous and interesting! There was lively chatting and laughter at the dinner table! (The second author from the left and the third from the left are the directors of the Harbin Agricultural Power Administration Bureau in Heilongjiang Province)

What impressed me deeply was the one in Los Angeles located in Rosemi, north of Highway 10, and in the Gary area. In Chinatown, there are many Chinese restaurants there. They have almost all kinds of Chinese restaurants run by Chinese. You can choose whatever you want to eat, including all kinds of snacks from all over the world. You can say that you have everything! We have eaten Huaiyang cuisine, Shanghai cuisine, Shanxi noodles, Zhejiang snack porridge restaurants, Tang Jianbao from Meilong Town, Shandong Shandong cuisine and sea cucumbers roasted with green onions...!

We dined here again in March this year (2020) before we left Los Angeles and returned to China. What I ate is the "Xiaoluzi Porridge Shop" that I used to (often) like. Not much has changed since I returned to the old place. The taste is still as delicious, the varieties are still as many, the service is still as enthusiastic, and it feels the same as it did to me in the 1990s! I just feel that the houses and roads are much older. The last time I came to the United States was 7 years ago (2012). Generally speaking, the overall appearance has not changed.

The Chinatown here is said to have been founded by Taiwanese people who gradually gathered in the late 1970s. The business is also developed, with Chinese shops lined up in rows, including supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, department stores, hotels, and karaoke shops. Wait for everything! Better than other Chinese residential areas in Los Angeles such as Rowland Heights, Montréal Pak and Chinatown in the city center! The convenience for the Chinese living here is that it is like a small Chinese society. There is no need to speak English here, and Chinese is widely spoken.

In addition to the Chinatown in the city center, there are two older Chinatowns in Los Angeles not far from here. One is Monterey Park and the other is Rowland Heights Hill, but there is no place here in either of them. It is popular, businesses and shops are prosperous, and Chinese people from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China gather together. However, the U.S. economy has been declining in recent years and it is slightly inferior to the past.

In addition, there are many noodle restaurants in Chinatown, and they all have the flavor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and they are very delicious.

Speaking of noodles, I must talk about Vietnamese Pho, which I like to eat and is popular with everyone. It has a unique taste. It has the same shape as noodles, but a large bowl is served by the waiter. The thin slices of bright red raw beef that are one inch long will be confusing to diners who taste it for the first time. When you turn it over with chopsticks, the beef will become cooked immediately in the large noodle bowl. The other ingredients are mint leaves and lemon. , hot peppers, bean sprouts, squeezed with Vietnamese sweet chili sauce, etc. When mixed like this, it tastes really delicious!

Eating Vietnamese pho noodles has almost become a must-do when we go to Los Angeles. Everyone responded very well!

Vietnamese Pho has taken root in the United States and can be eaten in almost every city. This time we enjoyed it many times during the three months we were in the United States, no matter where we were in Nevada. You can eat it in Las Vegas, Arizona, or in Houston, Texas.

In the winter of 1992, I led a delegation from China’s coal cities to visit the United States and hosted the company in the Bay Area of ??Oakland near San Francisco. I remember that the Western restaurant was located on the edge of the bay with a pleasant view.

The author is in the middle, Xiaobei is on the left and Mr. PAUL is on the right.

We had an American and Western meal and an Italian meal. The etiquette and various procedures of Western food also gave everyone a taste of American Western food culture. At the very least, they also experienced the feeling of eating Western food in the United States. It was also the first time for many people to try it. Hot soup, pre-dinner aperitifs, cold platters, hot dishes, various barbecues, specialties, red wine and fruits, after-dinner snacks, etc.

The boss of the Chinese company invited me to have Chinese food. (December 1992 in the San Francisco Bay Area)

I once ate Italian pizza on the street near Tongniu on Wall Street in New York. It was also a small fast food shop. When I entered, I found that there were only a few tables. It was probably a takeaway shop. , the windows were clear and clean, and a huge pizza oven faced us. After ordering for a few minutes, the clerk opened the oven door and pulled out a large tray. The tantalizingly fragrant pizza came out of the oven. When I took a closer look at the pizza, no wonder it looked like this Fragrant and fragrant, the pizza is topped with sausages, shrimps, pine nuts, walnuts, pecans and vegetables, stirred with thick cream and pressed on top of a particularly soft and thick pizza. It is fresh and shiny and appetizing. This completely changed my prejudice against pizza. Xiaobei, who was accompanying the company, and I feasted on it. It was so delicious! I told him to come back next time.

I remember that in 1995 in San Francisco, I received Ms. Xu Chun, the head of the cooperative company, and said to me: Today I will show you an authentic American breakfast. I remember that it was at the Burger King restaurant. The name of the breakfast was like It's: gruansland. A large plate contains: 2 American sausages, 2 slices of brown bread, 2 slices of fried brown and fat bacon, a large spoonful of tofu-like scrambled eggs with honey, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of coffee as you like. Several other fruits!

The picture shows our typical breakfast in the United States.

I feel like I can skip lunch after eating this for breakfast! This is different from our fried dough sticks, soy milk, flower rolls, steamed buns, pickles and eggs, but it seems that this breakfast is more nutritious! From the perspective of breakfast, the American diet is not very simple.

I don’t know if Americans usually eat very simple meals. Maybe they are just like us. Dinner will be more sumptuous when we return home, and family members will have dinner together on the weekends!

In short, I realize that the differences between Chinese and Western food are related to culture, tradition, habits and even values.

This year when I traveled to the United States, I learned more about eating in the United States.

In a large bar near the Toyota Center, home of the Houston Rockets, our daughter ordered large burgers with different flavors and contents and Budweiser beer for us. This was the first time we had such a large burger. , the beef patty, vegetable fried bacon and cheese are all a little different. They are large in size and the bread is burnt. It tastes more delicious than ordinary fast food burgers.

This is eating hamburgers at a restaurant near the Toyota Center in Houston.

It happened to be my birthday in Houston. I don’t know how my American friends knew about it. On my birthday, my friend’s daughter specially invited us and my wife to have a meal at an American vegetarian restaurant. It was a buffet style. There were 7 of us. .

(To be continued)