China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese Food (2014)

Re:China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese ... by sooheon on Monday May 01, 2017 @03:13AM (#14236066)

I guess that makes sense. The value-add of a sushi chef to good fish is almost nothing, they just have to cut it and make sure to serve it fresh. The variability the chef introduces to rice is a lot bigger (i.e. rice can be really shit if you cook it wrong), so in order for sushi to rise from its piece-of-fish-on-rice street food beginnings to cult cuisine status of today, they had to pick some part to idolize and ritualize (in typical Japanese style), and rice was it.

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Re:China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese ... by m_mueller on Monday May 01, 2017 @05:07AM (#14236371)

You could at it this way, yes - Sushi is a bit like Pizza in that

a) it was born a few hundred years ago (Edo period) as a take-away food / fast food

b) some forms of it have become a high craft or even art that you can spend a lot of money on (compare to high status Pizzerias in Napoli)

Now whether that's legitimate or not is of course up for discussion - in my opinion it's a legitimate and fulfilling experience that you can have by going to a Sushi master if you can appreciate this kind of craft.

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Re:China Doesn't Understand the Concept of American Chinese ... by sooheon on Monday May 01, 2017 @10:54AM (#14237950)

Good comparison. They both are delicious, simple, affordable foods widely enjoyed by the "peasant" class, which nonetheless have a rarified purist/snobbish following as well. I enjoy both, hope I can one day afford to judge for myself whether the high falutin varieties are worth it :)

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