Panda Express May Open in ... China

But chain's 'Chinese' food is very different from traditional fare
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 25, 2011 9:51 AM CDT
Panda Express May Open in ... China
General Tso's chicken isn't familiar to General Tso's family.   (Shutterstock)

Panda Express is weighing an expansion to China—but it could be tough sell for the Chinese food chain, given that American-style Chinese food here is “very alien” in China, writer Jennifer 8. Lee tells NPR. Indeed, American-Chinese food is a cuisine all its own, she notes. Take General Tso’s chicken: “I actually went to the home town of General Tso,” says writer Lee. “I showed them pictures of General Tso's chicken,” and “they were like, 'Huh, we've never seen this!'”

American-Chinese food veered off from traditional Chinese fare around 1900, when chop suey “took off like wildfire” in the US, says the curator of the "Sweet & Sour" exhibit at the National Museum of American History. Chop suey is seen as a US dish, but it’s similar to real Chinese food. The name roughly means “extra bits,” like leftovers, he says, and “who doesn't have leftovers?” A tip for those seeking authentic Chinese taste: Stop by a restaurant serving jellyfish. “No fully American-Chinese restaurant would serve jellyfish,” Lee notes. (More Chinese food stories.)

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