7 Comments

Well said. I never really craved Japanese food in. China or Chinese food in Japan because each country does its own cuisine so well. Rather, in the in between spaces where a lack of confidence in identity is where one starts to see this—in Taiwan, still quite Chinese, but anti-China, and strangely pro Japan despite being colonized by them for decades, there’s plenty of sushi..but most of it is not very good. I wasn’t a big fan of much of their interpretation of dim sum, either.

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Fascinating! And now I’m feeling hungry. Sadly, it’s just a cheese-and-pickle sandwich in front of me today...

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Soon it'll be a succulent Chinese meal

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Completely agree. The concept of yum cha is completely wrong in Yokohama Chinatown. Those are mostly set menus instead of moving trolleys from where you can choose dishes. And yes, I’m yet to find the authentic Cantonese food in Japan. Interestingly in Sydney yum cha is real.

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Have you been to Yokohama? The biggest Chinatown in Japan is supposedly there, although I’ve heard that the food is not particularly authentic and is tailored more toward Japanese palates.

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Absolutely right! Yokohama has nice food and the photo of Chinatown was from my last visit there. Lots of Japanese Chinese food but none that would be traditional

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Oct 1Liked by Leon

I am not a fan of Japanese Chinese food. I am, however a huge fan of American Chinese food. In another life, I would go to Japan and open up an American style Chinese Take Out restaurant in Tokyo.

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