Chinese Food History in America

According to Emelyn Rude's Time Magazine article "Chinese Food in America: A Very Brief History" on February 8, Chinese immigrants from the southern province of Canton arrived in the United States to work as miners in the California Gold Rush, and as railroad workers. Rude explains that laws prevented them from owning land, so Chinese workers lived together in the cities in "Chinatowns”. Soon they started small businesses, especially restaurants. In order to accommodate American tastes, they changed their cooking style and some of the ingredients to create the American-Chinese cuisine, an adaptation of Cantonese food, first found in California.

By the mid-19th century, the Chinese were believed to serve the best food in the city because of its taste and low price. However, as “gold fever” declined, an anti-Chinese sentiment arose and became the law; the “Chinese Exclusion Act” of 1882 banned new Chinese from entering America. It was repealed in 1943 but only 105 visas were issued per year. Until the 1960s, there was very little legal immigration from China. The only Chinese flavor in America remained Cantonese.

As the political relationship changed between America and China in 1970s, all kinds of Chinese cuisine from all parts of China were introduced across the United States. Rude says, now Chinese restaurants are always ranked as one of the most popular types of restaurants in America.