Your comment about how most communities new to America tends to adopt the Thanksgiving turkey but add their own touches really strikes a chord w me.
My niece was born in Korea and was adopted by my brother and SiL when my niece was a baby. She has no memory of Korea.
I happen to like Korean food so i brought a container of my favorite kimchi to Thanksgiving Dinner at my nieces place one year. And it was a hit with all of my family members especially my niece.
So every year since then i have brought a quart of H Mart Kimchi for Thanksgiving. And it is as much a part of our dinners as the stuffing at this point.
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I report on HO about many different kinds of food. But if someone wants to start a discussion about where to get the best General Tso’s Chicken, then I do not participate. Or all those discussions about franchises. I’ll say the same for pad thai, authentic or not, it is everywhere.
It’s just not interesting for me to talk about.
And is that something you might still crave today?
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I haven’t eaten it in a long time, but have thought about making it now and again… we have a ton of veggie hot dogs, so maybe it will show up on WFD one of these days 
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Do you not like General Tso’s? Most versions are not good to my taste. Sticky sweet but when you get a proper version that balances the sweet and tart its very good. Have you seen the documentary The Search for General Tso’s? Gave me a new found appreciation for Chimerican cuisine. I wish I had the opportunity to try the original version.
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“Ethnic” is a weak word. Doesn’t have to be watered down, because it has little meaning to begin with. Though they share similar meaning, one is a noun, which has value. The other is an adjective that is very hard to use with much specificity with regard to food.
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I only like authentic, artisanal G Tso’s. Then, I love it!! It is a great Chimerican invention…when it’s authentic.
“Authentic” as used in food circles , reminds me of a thing my mom used to do when she was making a meal of leftovers, and we’d ask what we were having for supper . If the leftovers included chicken meat, she would say “chicken deluxe”. Repurposing pork chops ; “pork deluxe.” That’s about all “authentic” means to me in the food realm. More a selling point than commentary on the origins of said food.
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Why? So you’ll look more like me?
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La Choy-style chow mein was a weekly offering in my middle school’s cafeteria on Long Island, late 1960s. It was the most unappetizing thing I’d ever seen, mostly celery in a chicken cornstarch sauce. I didn’t see the alternative until I got to the west coast.
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The Chimerican egg rolls of my youth were glorious. The rest I am not so sure about.
I have eaten many a GTC in my past. If I never have it again that will be fine with me. I did have GTBS a couple of years back. Brussels sprouts. Served at a Spanish tapas place. Very well executed and I remember it having a more pronounced vinegar component that you are referring to. Still, I will not be ordering GTC anytime soon. At the places I go, there are so many more enticing dishes to order.
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So “good” is not one of your criteria. I’m not sure I get that. I can’t make recommendations for food I don’t eat (General Tso’s Chicken being in that category), but I’m not so fancy that I won’t tell you where to get a nice shrimp with lobster sauce. Which is to say that ALL good food is interesting to me.
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Will it get me the “secret” menu? I’ll give it a shot!
Many years ago, I had dinner with a couple - he’s Jewish, she’s Chinese (so they’re a cliché). We saw other tables getting big bowls of hotpot. Our menu did not list any big bowls of hotpot. So Steven asked for the menu everyone else apparently had. The waiter said that was just for Chinese people. Lan protested that SHE WAS CHINESE. Just not Chinese enough, I guess! (We got the menu, and the “stony wok,” and it was awesome.)
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Ethnic is a noun?
I’m gonna guess “ethnicity” was meant?
I just kept rolling “an ethnic” over in my head, and…
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Hey, I thought you said you wouldn’t tell anyone …
