The Evolution of Chinese Cuisine in the West

Chinese food is popular and successful around the world. But is it afforded the respect it deserves?

In some countries Chinese food has been seen as something tasty, but ultimately cheap and not very healthy, despite it being a cuisine with a focus on health, seasonality and gastronomic skill for centuries.

In this programme Ruth Alexander meets Fuchsia Dunlop, a British food writer who has spent a career studying Chinese cuisine. She argues that the food has long been undervalued in the West, and it’s time for that to change.

Ruth also meets chef Andrew Wong, whose restaurant A.Wong in London holds two Michelin stars, the first Chinese restaurant outside of Asia to receive that accolade. A.Wong operates on the same site as Andrew’s parents’ Chinese restaurant in the 1980s and he talks about how the business, and Chinese food in the UK, has evolved.

And she hears from Rica Leon, CEO of ‘Chifa’, a restaurant in LA that celebrates her family’s Chinese and Peruvian heritage. Rica explains how Chinese flavours and ingredients have influenced Peruvian food.

If you’d like to contact the programme, you can email the foodchain@bbc.co.uk

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

(Image: A table of tofu dishes prepared by Fuchsia Dunlop, including mapo tofu, smoked tofu salad, shredded tofu leather, silken tofu with avocado, an imitation roast duck dish made from layers of tofu, and deep fried tofu served in a soup. Credit: Fuchsia Dunlop/BBC)