Chinese Food: Chinese American Food: Changing Chinese Immigrant Food Habits

Some immigrants seek the American dream and try Western food when they first arrive in the United States. Frequently those with children in school do so at first and then realize that they want their offspring to know about their own heritage. A few years after arriving in the United States, Chinese-born parents typically revert to serving traditional Chinese meals. They do so at least at dinnertime and almost always at festivals and life-cycle events, such as birthdays, weddings, and funerals. When immigrant families go back to eating more Chinese food, they use foods of the region from which they came. If they did not come directly from China, they eat their Chinese food with touches of the places from which they came.