Din Tai Fung As a Global Shanghai Dumpling House Made in Taiwan Haiming Liu
Flexible Authenticity Din Tai Fung as a Global Shanghai Dumpling House Made in Taiwan Haiming Liu Haiming Liu, “Flexible Authenticity: Din Tai Fung as a Global known in Taiwan, Hong Kong, or mainland China. Chinese Shanghai Dumpling House Made in Taiwan,” Chinese America: food in America reflected the racial status of Chinese Ameri- History & Perspectives —The Journal of the Chinese Histori- cans. The Chinese restaurant business, like the laundry busi- cal Society of America (San Francisco: Chinese Historical Soci- ness, was a visible menial-service occupation for Chinese ety of America with UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 2011), immigrants and their descendants. 57–65. Ethnic food also reflects immigration history. After the 1965 immigration reform, new waves of Chinese immigrants arrived. Between 1965 and 1984, an estimated 419,373 Chi- CHANGES IN THE CHINESE AMERICAN nese entered the United States.5 Post-1965 Chinese immi- REstaURANT BUSINESS grants were far more diverse in their class and cultural back- grounds than the earlier immigrants had been. Many were n December 4, 2007, the Taiwan government spon- educated professionals, engineers, technicians, or exchange sored Din Tai Fung, a steamed dumpling house in students. Their arrival fostered a new, booming Chinese res- Taipei, to hold a gastronomic demonstration in Paris taurant business in America, especially in regions such as O 1 as a diplomatic event to promote its “soft power.” Though the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California and Queens in the cooking show was held by a pro-independence regime, New York, where Chinese populations concentrated. the restaurant actually featured Shanghai cuisine rather than Accordingly, food in Chinese restaurants in Amer- native Taiwanese food.
[Show full text]