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Posts: 226

Shifu

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Q: Which Western dish would spread like wildfire in China if it was actually done properly?

To make me happy, a number of Chinese friends have, individually or collectively invited me to 'Western restaurants'. These were restaurants where dishes were cooked 'ala Western' (big chunck of meat, mashed potatoes, lasagna, etc.) while still affordable. Unsurprisingly, these meals turned out to be culinary torture sessions for me.

Seeing as how most of China is still relatively ignorant of any non-Asian food, which Western dish do you think would be a huge success in China if it was more widely available, properly done without being extravagantly expensive?

12 years 7 weeks ago in  Food  - China

 
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Posts: 2604

Shifu

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Pizza. I get pizza back home at little ceasar's for 5 dollars for a large. Also, sometimes they have special deals where you can get free crazy bread. That's one that would spread like wild fire in China. 

sorrel:

Changsha has "Pizza Pizza" - best authentic pizza in China - the owner REALLY cares about getting it right

10 years 41 weeks ago
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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3025

Emperor

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In my mind, there is a small chance of any Western type dish to be really succesful in China mainly due to different eating habits.

Chinese nationals, and asians in general, get their stomach full by eating rice and vegetables while nibbling with some small portions of either beef, pork, chicken or fish.  We Westeners get our belly full by eating large portions of beef, chicken, pork, etc, with a few vegetables and hardly ever rice.

It is because of this difference that to me no particular dish will be a total success here from abroad.  I have tried many different ones, I have done meat loaf, my own hamburger mix, grounded meat, baked fish, roasted pork leg, and many others.  Yes, they do like some, and others they don't.  But I have never received a request for an encore.  Two of my worse failures were spaghetti and meat balls, and a red beans soup.  So, now I cook Western for me only, and when Chinese friends come to my place they can do the cooking.

Have you noticed that they do not eat dessert here ?.

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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Re: the dessert point that Happy made.....The other day I was at dinner and my inlaws and they were all chowing down to the traditional fare including a large bowl of those bottled peaches. They would eat some fish, then some rice, maybe a piece of beef then out of the blue.....a slice of peach! From there back to the dumplings, some seafood, slurp some noodles and again, a slice of peach. This resonated with me as strange at the time.

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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A good gumbo would do well.  It's potentially cheap to make and minor adjustments to the spices could win over each of the regional flavors.  The appearance wouldn't scare them away, the rice and soup combo isn't an alien idea for them.

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 458

Shifu

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I'd love to say a traditional roast, but I think I'm dreaming on this one.

MissA:

Traditional... you mean WITHOUT soy sauce and vinegar?

12 years 7 weeks ago
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mrpopular:

I was about to write that Roast Beef, Roast Pork, Roast Chicken, Roast Lamb with roast potatoes and gravy and of course yorkshire pudding with the beef, mint sause with the lamb, and apple sause with the pork

12 years 7 weeks ago
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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 22

Governor

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Here are a few:

Jambalaya!!! It's rice based and spicy.

Chicken Wings, especially Spicy Garlic Buffalo flavor. (I know the Chinese eat Chicken wings but they are not as saucy)

The Salad.

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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It's not western food as such (just popular in the west), but surely Thai food ought to be more popular here than it seems to be. Thai food is awesome and since spicy Sichuan food is so popular, the spice in Thai food would be an attraction.

Also, chilli con carne with loads of rice ought to work well.

Shining_brow:

Damn, you beat me to it!!! Thai basil and chilli dishes would be obvious, as well as green chicken or pork curry... fairly easy to make (not easy to get lemongrass though, or candlenuts).

12 years 7 weeks ago
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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Ooohh, another thought. What about good quality, well cooked fish: minus bones?

den:

I would think "Fish n Chips"...deep fried battered fish

12 years 7 weeks ago
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MissA:

Yum!

12 years 7 weeks ago
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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 24

Governor

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Proper Cornish pasties might go down well. Finely diced beef, onion, potato and swede baked inside a pastry shell. Not a million miles away from a dumpling. 

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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I knew some foreigners who had been here forever and had an oven (lucky bastards). So I went to their place and made a bunch of plane white bread. Just normal bread, but better than that lifeless tasting stuff in the bakery. I brought some to work when it was still fresh from the oven and my former Chinese colleagues went nuts for it.

How can those bakeries not do bread right?

MissA:

They seem to think that bread should taste of sugar.

12 years 7 weeks ago
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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 40

Governor

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i am pretty sure pizza have already been a wildfire in China , becoz  evey time me and my gf go out to eat pizza we just cant find one restaurant that have seats for us  

Shining_brow:

You're not missing much... (unless you're in Shanghai or Beijing, where you might find a few places that do it right)

12 years 7 weeks ago
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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 960

Shifu

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Pizza is in my experience well appreciated by Chinese. They actually prefer Dominos and like 6 meats or Hawaiian the most. Everyone who tastes it says that they like them much better than the ones they get in China although I personally prefer the ones from speciality Pizza places.

Turkish Pides and Doner Kebabs are also on their like lists when they taste different foods when visiting Australia. I've got plenty of Chinese I know hooked on toasted ham and cheese sangas as well.

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Poutine!!  It is easy to make and cheap and is oooohhhh so good.
I think it would spread like wildfire and it can be eaten with chopsticks.

mmmmmmm

woody:

WTF is that? Looks like chips and gravy with some fetta cheese.

12 years 7 weeks ago
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thedude:

Cheese kurds actually. It's a French-Canadian thing.

12 years 7 weeks ago
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HugAPanda:

I haven't had that since I was in Montreal. yum! But I didn't think cheese was big in China?

12 years 7 weeks ago
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thedude:

It's really not that popular but is getting more popular all the time. They love pizza now.

12 years 7 weeks ago
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MissA:

I've been told that poutine is delicious, but it looks awful! Is it hangover food?

12 years 7 weeks ago
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Posts: 1084

Shifu

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A dish of fish fingers,

another dish of potato waffles,

and a bowl of baked beans.

Generally, I think if you separate the food it will be a bigger hit.

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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I don't know about the actual food itself, or any of them, appealing to the mass, BUT, I do know, at least to several people used to eating breads and for those who actually like meat, Schlotzky's sandwich and Rudy's barbecue (extra moist brisket) actually got me some points.  Of course, they were visiting me in Texas at that time...But, they still talk about those foods.

Trouble with beef in China, is that it's all wrong, AND expensive.  Otherwise, I think more Chinese would actually like beef.

MrTibbles:

Beef in China isn't aged like beef in western countries, so it's tougher and has less flavor.

12 years 7 weeks ago
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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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North Carolina pulled pork. <drool>
The sauce is a apple cider vinegar base instead of tomato base with a little sugar and you can make it as spicy or not as you want with peppers. A cool slaw on the side could be made with a more asian flavor, using asian cabbage and veggies.

(I'm actually surprised our *friend* from North Carolina didn't suggest this, but perhaps he's been in Beijing China too long.)

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Take any western dish, make it sweet, add a ton of corn on it, and ta-dah!
I'm serious, almost every time I went to a cheap "western" restaurant, it was a sweet version of the dish with corn in it. And I hate corn with all my heart.

Tartiflettes would be popular, no-one can resist their divine taste!

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Pizza would have been my first choice, but given what the Chinese will eat,, I think Haggus or made goats head soup, the good stuff that smells like a goats bath water

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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I'm surprised Indian food hasn't taken off here, especially in the spicy belt of China.

As for more western foods - given I can't even get a steak cooked how I want it, I'd be too worried about how it would turn out!

I'd suggest risotto! Not much different to what they already have here, but getting them to use cheese and butter could be a problem - and they'd bitch about having to use foreign rice!

I'm a little surprised that hamburgers haven't taken off much. No, not McD swill, but REAL hamburgers... extremely easy to make, very healthy, and damn tasty!!!

And, lastly, Pavlova (for those Aussies and Kiwis amongst us)

MissA:

I thought about risotto, but I think the cheese would be a problem. My Chinese friends actively pick the cheese out of meals when they decide to eat western (and this is rarely).

I made risotto at home the other week and the next day tried to explain what it was to my colleagues: "er, its like thick rice soup, but with butter and lots of cheese, and chicken flavoured water and wine and some other stuff..." The looks on their faces clearly expressed: "what? you people eat that crap! why?"

Mmmm pavlova!

12 years 7 weeks ago
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Shining_brow:

I'd say it's more like a thicker congee (粥 zhōu) with butter and cheese - they might go for it then (if you don't mention the cheese :p)

12 years 7 weeks ago
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GuilinRaf:

Ugh! Curri....

12 years 6 weeks ago
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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 49

Governor

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Proof!  Many of my Chinese friends who visited America really liked Mexican food minus the sour cream and cheese!  We have Chipotle and Qdoba restaurants which offer huge rice and bean filled burritos or served as a Mexican salad that my friends really enjoyed.  I came to Sichuan, tasted the food, then said "man someone should really open a Chipotle restaurant here."  Unfortunately, I contacted Chipotle, and they don't franchise!  Ha!  If anyone wants to open a successful restaurant in SW China, then please respond.  I'm looking for partners!

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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One of my favourites I would like to see is cornish pasties, but I wonder what their reaction to pastry might be, the rest should be fine.  Beef, potato, onion are all here already.

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12 years 6 weeks ago
 
Posts: 211

Governor

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Black-eyed peas & cornbread.

   (well, for me anyway...)

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12 years 5 weeks ago
 
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