Guanlin Situ EWS 301.02 Prof Banh 5-14-2013

The Westernized Panda

As the melting pot, “the United States has the largest ethnic Chinese population outside Asia” (Zhou 43). When people choose to step in the melting pot, their original identities will be blurred in some ways, languages, daily habits, religions, and the most important element, which is food.

Panda Express, a fast casual restaurant serving American Chinese cuisine, is one of the most popular places that serving orange chicken. The company was founded in 1983 by Andrew Cherng, Peggy Cherng and Ming Tsai Cherng. It is also the largest chain of Asian fast food restaurants in the United States. As of year 2011, the company has approximately 1500 restaurants covering 42 states and Puerto Rico. To a sector that was used to be dominated by American fast food, burgers and fried chicken, the invention of Panda Express found a good market niche. The success of the company relies heavily on its unique concept, quick-service Chinese restaurant, and its locations, shopping mall food courts, supermarkets, key intersections, college campus, airports and casinos (Panda Management Company, Inc. History). Dishes featured in Panda Express are originated from different regions of China. Usually, adjustments have to be made in order to allow the dishes to be more acceptable by Americans. For example, cuisines from Hunan and Sichuan are usually “spicy and oily, often featuring a sophisticated blend of intense flavors” (Coe 99), so Chinese chefs in America have to make such dishes to be milder. The popularity of orange chicken is not just a coincident. The preparation of orange chicken is not very complicated. The meat will be battered, deep fried and then stir fried in a sweet orange flavored chili sauce. For many Americans, meat is a big part of their lives. The crispiness and sour taste cause orange chicken to not only can be enjoyed during meals but also for snacks, pairing up with beer.

Before trying anything from Panda Express, most of the people will categorize the company as Chinese restaurant, because of its name and logo. Panda, the unique animal from Szechuan, China, is used as the symbol for this company. However, how often can we see Chinese immigrants will be lining up in front of Panda Express? Rarely. In most of their mind, Panda Express is far away from what they so-called “authentic Chinese food”; it is so different from what they used to have in their hometowns. They might be sometimes judging Panda Express is a bad representative of Chinese food, downgrading the Chinese cuisine in America. Ironically, how often could we see Panda Express in ethnoburbs, Monterey Park and San Gabriel. Rarely. Comparing to Cantonese restaurants or Hong Kong style café, Panda Express offers far less options of food. Comparing with restaurants from Szechuan and Beijing, dishes from Panda Express are a lot milder. Comparing with food from most of the regions in China, Panda Express focuses much more on deep fried food, which is very popular in the United States. So, what kind of cuisine is Panda Express exactly serving? “There is a popular saying that the Chinese eat anything mobile on the land except for cars, anything flying in the sky except for airplanes, anything swimming in the sea except for submarines” (Lai, 290). Imagine, if Panda Express is selling what majority of Chinese like to eat, for example, chicken feet, pork intestines, and roasted duck, how the company will be different. For sure, it will be more favored by Chinese immigrants but not main stream in America. “Through food history, we see how the formation of Chinese American ethnicity was not a simple blending of Western and Asian cultures but a process in which Chinese immigrants and their descendants adapted to their social environments, built new identities and new cultural sensibilities” (Liu 3). Yes, Panda Express is actually adapted Chinese food in order to make the dishes to be suitable for Americans. It is a company, which has an ultimate goal to make profit. In order to survive during the 80s, when the population of Chinese immigrants was much less comparing with nowadays, Panda Express chose to make something new, something that can be accepted by the mainstream

The imbalance between original Chinese cuisine and adapted Chinese American cuisine is also reflected in Chinese immigrant families with American born children, where “parents are convinced that their own ways are the best recipe for success and constantly worry that their children are becoming too Americanized too soon” (Zhou 188). People describe American Born Chinese as bananas because they share similar characteristics, yellow on the outside but white on the inside. Similarly, Panda Express is also a banana, a restaurant providing Chinese food with American adaptations in American society. Many people accused that orange chicken is not authentic Chinese food; however, what is authentic Chinese food? Food is always the best representative of a culture; but for China, there is no absolute definition of what real Chinese food is because “there is a multitude of expressions to denote different aspects of China and Chineseness” (Chun, 111). People’s lives are not recipes so actually there are no exact ways we should follow in order to become successful. They know they are Chinese because either they were born there or their closed family members were born there. After that, whether or not they will value such Chinese identities are their own options, which cannot be forced. Same as dishes from Panda Express, whether or not they will be viewed as authentic Chinese cuisine is really not that important. As long as they are welcomed by the main stream of Americans, the company will become successful.

When adults move to the states as the first generation immigrants, they tend to live in ethnoburbs, where “the suburbanization and residential re-concentration of an immigrant group may not necessarily be accompanied by complete assimilation” (Zhou 81) because of the lack of English communication skills. There have been debates about the advantages and disadvantages provided by ethnoburbs. In my opinion, I think living in ethnoburbs is beneficial for immigrants because it allows the people there to make livings more easily and have a stronger sense of belonging even they cannot catch up with the majority. Panda Express is an great example of the recent Chinese American community because of its trend “as integral to, rather than separate from, the main stream society, and view Chinese cultural heritage, despite its distinct internal dynamics, as essentially contributing to, rather than competing with, the main stream culture” (Zhou 53).

To me, my changing opinion about orange chicken reflects my view on the coexistence of Chinese and American identities on a single person. I came to the United States when I was a high school freshman. The most exciting moment for me on the first day of school probably was the one hour lunch break. My cousins, who were here two weeks earlier than I did, took me to the quad and asked me what I would like to get. I looked around and saw a long line next to a red cart. Out of curiosity, I approached the cart and saw a sign written “Chinese food”. Without hesitation, we got into the line as well. There were only two options offered for the meat, teriyaki chicken and orange chicken. “Orange Chicken?” the name sounded interesting to me. So I picked that with white rice. After taking the first bite, I realized that it was something I never had before when I was in China. “Is this really Chinese food?” I questioned about it. But to my surprise, orange chicken is one of the most popular Chinese dishes in the states. Before, I really didn’t like people talk to me with English when they know both of us can speak Chinese. In my mind, when this happened, I would be thinking these people were trying to deny their Chinese identity. Later on, I realized I was totally wrong. As people live longer and longer in a community, assimilation will eventually happen; however, the degree and the length of time needed might be different. Many immigrants are “becoming Americans while maintaining Chinese ethnicity”, which is not “just a possibility but an increasingly preferred choice among Chinese Americans” (Zhou 52). And same as orange chicken, its recipe also has been through the stage of assimilation; and now it has been accepted by the main stream of the United States. Similar with pizza, which originated in Italy, and hot dog, which was from German, they were also modified after being introduced to the United States. And now, along with Chinese food, they have become big parts of American culture (Wong).

References:

Chun, Allen. “Fuck Chineseness: On the Ambiguities of Ethnicity as Culture as Identity”. Boundary 2, Vol 23, No. 2(Summber, 1996), 111-38. http://www.jstor.org/stable/303809 .

Coe, Andrew. Chop Suey. Oxford University Press. New York. 2009.

Lai, Cheng Chung. “Beef taboo in Chinese Society”. International Journal of Social Economics, Vol 27, Issue 4, 286-89.

Liu, Haiming. “Chop Suey as Imagined Authentic Chinese Food: The Culinary Identity of Chinese Restaurants in the United States”. eScholarship. Journal of Transnational American Studies, Vol 1. 2009. http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2bc4k55r#page-1

Liu, Haiming. Lianlian Lin. “Food, Culinary Identity, and Transnational Culture: Chinese Restaurant Business in Southern California”. Journal of Asian American Studies, Vol 12, June 2009. 135-62.

Panda Management Company, Inc. History. Fundinguniverse. 09 May 2013. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/panda-management-company-inc-history

Wong, Rosaline. "History and Culture: Chinese Food." New University, 02 June 2008

Zhou, Min. Contemporary Chinese America. Temple University Press. Philadelphia. 2009.