The corrupt Chinese Cuisine!

The corrupt Chinese Cuisine!

It is no longer the best-kept secret of Indian food industry that Chinese food arrived in India somewhere in 70's and settled here royally from then. Though according to some profound food experts, original Chinese food differs drastically from the Indian-Chinese food. Original Chinese is hard to stay on Indian palate. These judgments come straight from Indian hearts and Chinese kitchens that they have experienced.Hence, they become as trustworthy for me as any other holy epic! Based on food writings, self-experience and research carried by such professionals, original Chinese food has regional variations and is also very bland. One will be surprised to see absolutely no sauces given at a table in any china’s restaurants unlike India.

Needless to say, when such cuisine had to be introduced to Indians, who are known for their spicy masalas, should undergo some amount of transformation. In order to do that, keeping our countrymen’s taste-buds in mind, our best chefs of 5 star restaurants made suitable changes in it. And whoa, it worked! This Indo-Chinese cuisine soon became popular and was also made available on every street of India. It won people’s hearts as much as its mobiles. It adopted Indian incarnation with ginger-garlic paste, Indian vegetables and three signature sauces like soya sauce,chili sauce and vinegar.(well,schezwan sauce is the new kid on the block from last few years !) Rice is never a main dish in China but in India various forms of Chinese rice like fried rice, schezwan rice were introduced. Chili sauce is mostly of chilies and garlic, perfect for Indians who put chili powder and smashed garlic cloves in most of their dishes. Lime or lemon water is the souring agent in Indian food. It was replaced by vinegar as lemon has a sharp flavor unsuitable for Chinese food.

In short, authentic Chinese was made scandalous by Indian hands to make it acceptable for us. There is no doubt that  we do get authentic Chinese food in some of the fancy, hot-shot restaurants of India but the question is how far it is edible or palatable? I bet, we can hardly bear its peculiar aroma that wafts when we enter these restaurants. (Believe me, while walking on the streets of Bangkok, I would hold my nose sometime!) I accept that I am no expert and just a mere eater and in no position to pass  any reasoned judgement, I heartily accept this ‘dishonest’ journey of Chinese cuisine. For that matter, I am also proud of our Indian chefs who made it possible and edible. I wish this Indo-Chinese cuisine finger-licking long life.

Kirti Pataskar