‘Salty’ or ‘healthy’, taste in Chinese food belongs to the palate of the consumer

When I have Chinese food in the United States, I sometimes go for something lighter, like chicken with garlic sauce. But other times, I may want Sichuan-style dumplings in hot oil, or a crunchy, deep-fried, spicy dish, such as sesame chicken.

I think you can find something on any Chinese restaurant menu in the US that will suit your dietary needs.

But a New York health blogger who recently began serving what she calls “feel-great” Chinese food got a heaping serving of social media outrage this month.

Nutritionist Arielle Haspel opened the tackily named Lucky Lee’s restaurant in Manhattan on April 8. (Lee is her husband’s first name.)

“We heard you’re obsessed with lo mein but rarely eat it,” Lucky Lee’s wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post. “You said it makes you feel bloated and icky the next day? Well, wait until you slurp up our HIGH lo mein. Not too oily. Or salty.”

And: “This entire menu is glutenfree, dairy-free, wheat-free, corn-free, peanut cashew & pistachio-free. … We use non-GMO (genetically modified organism) oil & never refined sugar, MSG (monosodium glutamate) or food coloring.”

Netizens lashed out, accusing Haspel of disrespecting Chinese food and culture. Here’s a sampling: “Not only is she using Chinese food stereotypes/naming, she is shaming traditional Chinese food cooking with MSG/grease/starch.”

“Do it without dragging down an entire, diverse cuisine representing billions of people.”

“If you are going to take up a cultural group’s food, do it some justice by not marketing your ‘differentiation’ with language that further reinforces stereotypes/racist perceptions.”

“I’m also trying not to gnash my teeth at the name ‘Lucky Lee’s’ … this superficial understanding of luck and fortune in Asian culture is really common among non-Asian Americans for some reason.”

The restaurant responded on Instagram on April 9, acknowledging “there are cultural sensitivities related to our Lucky Lee’s concept”.

Chinese-American food was a “big and very happy part” of the couple’s childhoods, they said, coming together in “the ultimate melting pot” of New York.

“We thought we were complementing an incredibly important cuisine, in a way that would cater to people that had certain dietary requirements,” Haspel told The New York Times. “Shame on us for not being smarter about cultural sensitivities.”

The uproar was similar to when celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay recently announced plans to open a restaurant in London called Lucky Cat, an “authentic Asian eating house and vibrant late-night lounge, inspired by the drinking dens of 1930s Tokyo and the Far East”. He soon found himself on the receiving end of some vitriolic tweets.

Maybe Haspel should have avoided words such as “bloated”, but if she or anyone else wants to sell what they consider healthier Chinese food, isn’t that a business strategy in a very competitive market?

It’s not unusual for chefs to experiment with dishes from any national cuisine to reduce calories, sodium, fat, etc, or maybe just because they truly fancy that cuisine.

But what both sides fail to comprehend is that some of us want some dishes to be SALTY, FRIED and FATTY!

General Tso’s chicken, anyone? Eggfried rice? Kung pao chicken?

I wonder what people in China think of this controversy, but something tells me they couldn’t care less, mainly because they’re not busy virtue-signaling on social media, nor would they recognize a lot of traditional ChineseAmerican dishes.

Chinese restaurants have prospered in the US for more than 150 years.

Canton Restaurant, the first Chinese restaurant in the US, opened in San Francisco in 1849 during the Gold Rush.

The cuisine’s long, successful history is not going to be affected by a marketing ploy, so ease up on the keyboard. Kong Wenzheng in New York contributed to this story.

STEVEN G. JOHNSON