Abstract
TikTok has become a popular source for trend, news, and controversy, pushing out constant videos catering to a new age of digital information. From TikTok came the Chinese food debate, a war between American Chinese cuisine and British Chinese cuisine on which is “better”. Americans, disgusted by British Chinese cuisine’s excessive use of curry sauce and seemingly inauthentic Chinese dishes of prawn crackers and other fried staples, encouraged British diners to expand their palates beyond their seemingly bland and saucy dishes. Even large creators such as Soogia, a Korean American TikToker prominent in Asian American spaces, commented on the debate. Brits, on the other hand, defend their unique cuisine claiming that while it may not be “authentic”, its history born from Chinese diaspora in Britain makes it not as different from American Chinese cuisine as it may seem.
By tracing Chinese American food, focusing on egg foo young, I hope to show viewers how online debates about Chinese American food's surface level "superiority" over British Chinese food ignores the complex racial history of Chinese America and involves the question of authenticity, whether intended or not.
Why egg foo young?
When trying to think of what food to use for my research, I wanted to pick a food that goes beyond of what Americans today view as American Chinese food. Egg foo young has lost much of the popularity it had in the past, with many Americans today not even knowing what it is. Egg foo young also becomes almost a paradox of American perceptions of American Chinese cuisine. While many Americans view British Chinese food as worser than American Chinese food because of its overuse of sauce/gravy, especially curry sauce, and its bland, monochrome appearance, egg foo young fits exactly into perceptions of British Chinese food, while also being an entirely American Chinese staple.
Egg foo young is still enjoyed today in some parts of the US today, such as in the popular St. Paul Sandwich from Missouri, and continues to be an important part of American Chinese food history.