Chinese Immigrants

Since the late 1800s, Chinese immigrants have come to our country bringing with them a rich culture, that not only included art and poetry but they brought with them their very unique style of cuisine. Chinese food has had a unique influence on American cuisine, with over 40,000 restaurants across the United States, there are more Chinese restaurants in America than all the McDonald's Burger King's and KFC's combined. The Chinese culture has truly made a huge imprint on the American food industry.

Chinese immigrants came over to the United States for many reasons, some came for the tales of gold that flowed in the rivers with nuggets the size of a man's face, they rush to Gold Mountain to change their lives and the lives of the families they left behind in China. Among the immigrants were the men and women who practice the culinary art of cooking. Chinese food is unique and traditional it mainly consists of grains such as rice and wheat which is usually made into bread and noodles. Vegetables especially cabbage and tofu rank second Chinese diet pork and poultry are the favorite meets in China one of the most popular Chinese dishes in America is Chop Suey. Though chop Suey originated in China it is truly an Americanized meal and staple in most Chinese restaurants even to this day.

There are several legends on the original chop Suey as the most of the famous American Chinese dish. According to one telling of the story, some of the men who came over to work on the railroads were hired on not as laborers but as Cooks, to feed the many thousands of workers required in the labor camps. The workers were hired to be the cooks did not know much about cooking so they just put rice, vegetables, and a little bit of meat together for a simple Chinese mill called Chop Suey. A Chinese American historian Iris Chang in her book the Chinese America gives a version of how the American Chop Suey came to be. According to folklore, there was a group of drunken American minors that entered a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco late one night just as the shop was about to close. The owner, in an effort to avoid a confrontation, decided to serve them. Quickly he threw together a few handfuls of leftover table scraps to create the dish we now know is Chop Suey. These American minors spread the word of the wonderful dish they received at that Chinese Chop Suey house. Chop Suey quickly became the business sign of almost every Chinese