International Chinese Culinary Competition

Chinese-Americans have been battling the legacy of General Tso / Tzo / Tao / Dau / Chou / Chow / Joe’s chicken since the 70s. Most have resigned themselves to its popularity, knowing that the damage has already been done. Tony Dai, the Director of the International Chinese Culinary Competition, explains,

“I remember when I first came to the United States, I asked an American friend who loved Chinese food, ‘Which Chinese dish do you like the best?’ He said to me, ‘General Tsao’s Chicken.’ I was so surprised to hear this, not because of how much he loved Chinese food, but because I have never heard of this dish before. I have never seen this cuisine in China or Taiwan or any other Asian country… It was invented in the USA.”

(At this point, my mother would probably insist that I remind you that fortune cookies are also not Chinese.)

So Dai has called upon chefs from around the world—you don’t have to be from China, you just have to know your stuff—to compete in cooking one of five different authentic Chinese cuisines: Sichuan, Shandung, Cantonese, Huaiyang, and Northeastern. The winner will be determined by a panel of judges and cash prizes will handed out (the winners in each category get $10K), and then afterward, naturally, an enormous feast.
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International Chinese Culinary Competition
Peking Hunan Park Restaurant, 100 Park Ave.

North American Preliminaries: November 17, $50
Global Finals: November 18, $70
Award Ceremony and Banquet: November 19, $180-280

Epoch Times: True Chinese Flavors Come to New York

-Stephanie Shih