“If our benchmark for Americanness is apple pie, you should ask yourself, how often do you eat apple pie, versus how often do you eat Chinese food?” asks Jennifer 8. Lee as she stumps her audience in her TED talk, “The hunt for General Tso”. Jennifer 8. Lee, a reporter from the New York Times and author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, gives a riveting speech on the origins of what Americans think of Chinese food, bringing her research on Chinese food to the table while incorporating history in a manner that captivates her audience.
Lee reaches out to a wide audience, ranging from scholars and academics whom are familiar with the subject to both scholars and non-scholars whom are not familiar with the topic. She approaches her wide audience by discussing well-known Chinese food items such as fortune cookies, General Tso’s chicken, and chop suey and uses them as a medium to discuss the evolving perception of Chinese immigration since the 1850s into America and the acculturation of Chinese food into American culture.
Lee makes it clear that the purpose of her talk was “to make people think twice” when they eat Chinese food, but ultimately ends up proving more than that. She takes into account the experiences of Chinese and Americans’, both past and present, and their takes on present-day Chinese food to show the relationship between Chinese assimilation/immigration to America and the changes in Chinese food. She covers the details behind each of the food items she talks about, using historical evidence, such as fortune cookies and their Japanese origins, anecdotes, chop suey as a defense mechanism for anti-Chinese immigration during the late 19th and 20th century, and interviews, such as displaying the reaction of the creator of General Tso’s chicken on his product today (in short, he was very disappointed). From there, Lee analyzes how each influenced the other to form our perception of Chinese food today by connecting the lack of authenticity in Chinese food to the acculturation of Chinese people in the United States, changing their traditional food ways into something Americans would find more acceptable, like fortune cookies, General Tso’s chicken, and chop suey.
Lee makes her argument very strong and very clear while providing interesting and compelling evidence. As mentioned earlier, the content of her lecture is easy to understand and easy to follow, with each of her points discussed completely and structured logically. She also does a great job of discussing Chinese immigration and food acculturation both vertically and horizontally; she analyzes both the historical aspects and implications of Chinese food in America and also ties in the present day Chinese food in other countries (virtually every country) as evidence for the Chinese food revolution that not only changes the way people view Chinese food, people, and culture, but also changes the eating habits and culture of different groups of people.
Although her argument and lecture overall is very powerful and succinct, I feel that she overlooked another aspect that could’ve made her argument even more interesting. She spent the lecture proving and showing her audience that the Chinese food they think is Chinese is really not Chinese at all; she interviewed people in China and showing them what Americans (or rather, everywhere else in the world) think is Chinese food and showing their shocked expressions, debunked the origins of American Chinese food and brought up the different versions of Chinese food in different countries (fried ice cream in Italy, very Chinese!). What if she were to show her audience pictures of authentic Chinese food? If she did, her argument would be even stronger; the audience would experience the shock factor that she displayed with her interviews and learn about authentic Chinese food in the process, ultimately providing a “solution” to the lack of knowledge China’s original food products.
“The Hunt for General Tso” took Chinese food past the initial level of human consumption. It serves as strong evidence for the dichotomy between authenticity and assimilated cultures, with substantial evidence on the differences between the two. It gives the average American an eye-opening opportunity to realize not only the influence of other cultures on their own, but also their own culture on other people. Lee gave Chinese food an identity and showed how the identity of Chinese food changed based on the timeline of Chinese immigration in the United States. Initially, Chinese food was despised in popular American culture, something that was very much influenced by the anti-Chinese attitudes of Americans during the 1850s, to the point where advertisements, academic works, and other media were used to convince the US government to create policies banning Chinese migration. Over time, the Chinese (and Asians in general) became viewed as the model minority and looked upon as favorable to the United States population, and thus influenced the identity of Chinese food. Because the Chinese were now favorable, Americans took Chinese food and made it favorable to their tastes, creating a new Chinese food for the non-Chinese, a strong example of acculturation and assimilation.
Overall, I would rate “The Hunt for General Tso” a 4.5 out of 5 stars; she discussed a topic that others may deem not educational or worth learning about and brought in substantial evidence and research, including things that would be considered taboo, in a stimulating and eye-opening fashion, a seminar worth watching. Potential viewers should be familiar with both Chinese food and immigration history and should keep an open mind and a healthy appetite on Chinese food and its functionality past the dinner table.
Click here for the link to “The Hunt for General Tso” TED talk
Samantha Chiu
