Hi everyone, and welcome back to Britain Under the Microscope. 欢迎回来【闲话英伦】. Hi, 安澜.

Hi, Lulu. Hi, everyone.

The other thing I have noticed is something called special fried rice.

And so I was thinking what's so special about it? Because in China, if you say special fried rice and you think this 炒饭 must be amazing. This got like all these expensive things in it, like prawns and like seafood.

It must be like gold.

Yeah.

Gold in it as well.

Yeah. And then I realize it's just 扬州炒饭.

It is. It's just 扬州炒饭.

And I have no idea why it's called special fried rice. I think it's because in many restaurants it was a special, so it was like a speciality dish and the name just stuck, so it became special fried rice.

And if you just want like normal rice, you call it steamed rice.

Steamed rice or plain rice.

Plain rice.

But I always remember when my dad, because he loves Chinese takeaways. When my dad came to China, I asked him “what do you want to eat?” And he said “I have some special fried rice” and I just said “Dad, this is China, fried rice isn't very special”.

算不上特别美食.

I forgot does it also come in just numbers on the menu like No.68, No.57, that sort of thing.

And you know the reason for that is.

Why?

Because many of the dishes people couldn't pronounce.

Okay, well, special fried rice is not Chinese.

But these are just some of the typical dishes. They do have some dishes, for example, like a version of 麻婆豆腐. They've got a version of that, but because not many people can say that.

Mapo tofu, it's not that difficult. Kung Pao chicken, it's not that difficult.

But it is difficult for somebody who's not really traveled and doesn't really know. So what they do is they use numbers.

Another reason as well is that you have to think it was immigrants that opened these restaurants.

And sometimes not even Chinese immigrants.

Sometimes not even Chinese immigrants. Many of the takeaways were run by immigrants, and you have to think that their English was probably not completely proficient.

Emm.

So this was a way of both sides being able to communicate. So instead of saying “okay, I want crispy duck pancakes”, they'll go “I'll have number18”.

Ah, I see.

So it's very clear.

I see.

For what they want.

This is more very efficient system.

Exactly.

And to be honest, a lot of the things, a lot of the times when I had Chinese food in English speaking countries, that's when I learned all the Cantonese words, because you know, you go for dim sum就是粤式点心, dim sum that's Cantonese, and then you learn things like one of my favorites I think I know it's your favorite as well, har gow.

Oh, yes. I love har gow.

虾饺。And then you have Siu Mai. 就是烧麦.

So a lot of those are really Cantonese words.

Yeah, because again, as you say, most of the immigrants that first came to the UK were Cantonese speakers.

But having said all of these Chinese dishes that are really popular in the UK, I just want to mention that, because a lot of our listeners would watch American TV shows, or probably they've traveled to the states before, and they've heard all these weird dishes “Chinese dishes”.

Yeah.

In the US, like General Tso's chicken, 什么左宗棠鸡, 就是左公鸡, which most Chinese don't really know. Do you guys know like in the UK?

It's not a thing in the UK. I had to look this up for the episode. So it's basically chunks of chicken that are fried. And then they’re seasoned with ginger, garlic, sesame, onions and chili. But I've never tasted it. I've never tried it.

What about fortune cookies? 就是那么个幸运饼干。That's very American.

That is also very, very American as well. So fortune cookies we don't have in the UK, but I would say some restaurants have them, because same as many of our listeners that we watch American TV shows and we see fortune cookies and go “oh, that looks interesting.”

But that really not Chinese.

It’s not Chinese at all.

Yeah.

And one thing I noticed that in general when British people when they think about Chinese food, really sorry to say, you guys don't really think of the more high end really authentic Chinese food, it's always like a cheaper option, it's an inexpensive takeaway which I find to be almost insulting.

But that is changing. I would say that more authentic Chinese food is becoming very popular in the UK, when I was last in the UK, I noticed there’s lots of Sichuan and Hunan restaurants opening up in London.

There are even just dedicated hot pot restaurants.

Yeah, and I would say the price of these places are quite expensive, because obviously the ingredients are much better quality, and also probably for the ambiance is a lot better. So there's certainly a move away from the idea of a Chinese takeaways as being like a sort of cheap fast food. And they're now embracing these more modern up to date and more authentic Chinese restaurants.

I went to some really high end Chinese restaurants in London, there are some really like really high end, mostly in the city obviously around the city. And also I've been to some very interesting sort of fusion or more creative type of Chinese food and in some place it's... the vibe is really good. Everything is with like a twist, basically Chinese, but with a twist, I think is really good.

Yeah. The thing that I found really surprising is when I was last in the UK, but I could actually buy a 煎饼.

Wow~ on the street?

Yeah, there was actually a place where you could buy a 煎饼. Now I got really excited because I love 煎饼.

And then I kind of looked at the menu and I realize it cost one hundred RMB.

One hundred RMB for 煎饼 just you know just fly back to China.

Exactly. It's probably a lot cheaper, it's probably a lot cheaper if I just buy a plane ticket and just fly back.

And eat all the 煎饼 you want.

Exactly.

I remember some of the authentic Chinese food, but that's mostly around those inexpensive ones, they are mostly around university area, like around your old uni, like UCL that area, because there were many Chinese students around that area.

Yeah.

I went to this place, it's called I think Yang’s or whatever, they have really authentic 烩面.

Yes.

Exactly how you would have it in China.

Oh, I've been there quite a few times actually, and really really authentic food, it’s really really good. But the only thing is London prices.

Yeah, well of course. They have to pay the rent.

Yes.

And I believe they only take cash for some reason. Anyhow, and another trend. I've observed, I don't know if this is true. But like before let's talk about maybe ten fifteen years ago, probably generally people in the UK would think Chinese food as like inexpensive takeaway, greasy takeaway, but Japanese food as some sort of like really sort of exotic high end thing.

But now I think I see like a reverse trend. Chinese food you are now seeing more authentic more expensive restaurants with, like you said the ambiance and everything authenticity. But Japanese food has sort of got more down to earth, because you can see like sushi stand everywhere, like sushi fast food.

Oh, yeah. Exactly.

So you're absolutely right. I would say in the UK that's things like katsu or tonkatsu are becoming really, really popular.

Tonkatsu就是炸猪排，日式炸猪排那种, 就是basically Japanese fast food.

Woo, and also Japanese curry got really, really popular.

Yes.

So to finish this off, I would like to ask 安澜 what about your friends? I'm not gonna ask what's your favorite Chinese food, because you've been living in China for so long and you eat absolutely everything. What about your friends back in London? How do they feel about Chinese food? What is their general perception?

I would say that's among my friends and also my family, because you have to think my family been to China quite a few times now. They love authentic Chinese food, but sometimes they do have a little bit of a hankering for so called British Chinese food.

Oh, I guess that's what you grew up with.

Exactly. And I would say that this whole episode is not to say that the food is bad or the food is good. But this is the wonderful thing about food that is always changing.

Culinary fusion.

Exactly.

Yeah. That's why you know Chinese people would always love our durian pizza. I love it actually.

Yeah. Okay.

Let's finish the episode there.

Alright. So if you have ever been to the UK or other countries and had some interesting versions of Chinese food, leave us a comment in a comment section. Thank you, 安澜 for coming to the studio.

And we'll see you next time.

We'll see you next time.

Bye.

Bye.