CEBU, Philippines — If you are looking for ethnic cuisines, there is perhaps none more popular than Chinese cuisine, a cuisine which has taken over the world by storm. Today, Chinese food has almost become a way of life, with China-originating dishes such as fried rice, noodles, and various chicken foods making their way to the favorite food list of many.
Whether you are going out to restaurants, or having food delivered at home, you are sure to have tried out Chinese one time or the other. And it is not just in restaurants that Chinese foods are popular. Chinese foods can be found in roadside stalls – think “siomai” and “lumpia” vendors – which are always crowded, and there are many joints all around the world that have opened up to deliver Chinese food to its customers.
In the United States, where uncountable pizzas are consumed every day, the number of operating Chinese restaurants is more than the number of Pizza Huts, McDonalds, and Taco Bells combined. This alone is an astounding fact, but bear testimony to the popularity of the Chinese foods. And it is not only the all-Chinese restaurants that serve Chinese foods. Other restaurants have Chinese food too, and customers can choose from a vast menu.
So why exactly is Chinese food so popular? The answer lies in the fact that Chinese cuisine is incredibly diverse. It is hard to imagine any other food category so diverse in its variety as the Chinese food is. Chinese food has a global appeal, with its tastes suiting people in any parts of the world. Chinese food today is not the exact sort of food that you will find in China, but has a blend of the traditional roots and a part of the culture of the present countries where they are found. Still the essence remains the same.
In spite of the discrimination against the Chinese for centuries, which might have made it difficult for Chinese restaurants to make a stand, the fact is that, simply put, the food tastes too good. And no one can resist good food, one that satisfies the stomach as well as the taste buds. In fact, one can have this cuisine as a daily meal and have a full stomach without any serious stomach ailments. One can have it as vegetarian or non-vegetarian, cook it up at home, for for one’s self, or for a group of friends. This food is grand in its simplicity. Lewis Simpson
Another fact which makes Chinese food so popular is that it is cheap. It costs as much as the average meal, even less, and certainly lesser than other cuisines like Italian or Mexican. At the cost of one pizza, you can easily buy over 60 bowls of Chicken Noodles, which goes to say a lot. This cheap cost combined with great quality and taste has raised its levels of fame.
Chinese cuisine is the oldest cuisine and is a complex food category, cumulating years of research and wisdom. The original Chinese food was rather bland, but as it has adapted to the world around, taking a few flavors and ingredients from elsewhere, it has emerged as a strong force.
This cuisine has been around, long before pizzas and McDonalds and Pizza Huts sprung up in every corner. Its taste is vastly different from that of the native American and European food, which makes it an even more unique experience. It gives you a welcome break from the blandness and uniformity of native food, and offers and an exotic burst of flavors on the palate.
In fact, in the earlier days, when the concept of home delivery was still not a reality, Chinese restaurants became the first to bring food to the doorsteps of people, and became a popular option for people wanting to eat in their homes but not willing to cook. Moreover, Chinese restaurants also remained open on Christmas holidays and other Christian holidays and people turned to these restaurants when everywhere else was closed.
Combining exotic flavors with great services and availability, Chinese food slowly climbed the rungs of the ladder to emerge as the top ethnic cuisine, and the most popular worldwide. Whether it is in their native continent, Asia, or elsewhere in the world, Chinese food is predominantly popular, perhaps for an accumulation of all the cited reasons.
While in the beginning, when Chinese immigrants first came to America, many had been skeptic about Chinese food, harboring myths like the Chinese ate rats for food, the sarcasm slowly changed to admiration as people started getting the taste of the food.
Today, even in spite of many emerging cuisines, Chinese cuisine remains safely popular and will continue to remain so. (http://whysall-lane.com)