Mala to global mojo: Regional cuisines, tastiest forms of China's soft power

Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan and other provincial fare are taking over the world, spreading gastro-diplomacy one delicious morsel at a time.

- Tan Dawn Wei

In 1972, the world watched as then US President Richard Nixon deftly wielded a pair of ivory chopsticks while sitting next to his smiling host, then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, working his way through an extravagant eight-course banquet with exotic dishes that included shark's fin soup, spongy bamboo shoots in egg-white consomme and fish fillets in pickle wine sauce.

The televised dinner for 600 guests at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, and Mr Nixon's historic eight-day visit, marked the end of decades of the disconnect between the two countries and a momentous beginning of engagement in what has been described as "the week that changed the world".

It might as well have been called "the week that changed the world's view of Chinese food", as Chinese restaurants across the US—from Los Angeles to New York City—quickly reported brisk business from curious diners hankering for a taste of this exotic oriental cuisine fed to their president.

Yet, for much of the next 50 years, the world's understanding of and love for Chinese cuisine—outside of East and South-east Asia—was mostly confined to orange chicken, chow mein, chop suey and other abominations pretending to be Chinese food.

and localised in so many countries," writes Chinese food specialist and cook Fuchsia Dunlop in her 2023 book, Invitation To A Banquet.

Yet, the wild popularity of a dumbed-down, bastardised menu of Cantonese cuisine that started in North America, then spread elsewhere "clouded appreciation of the diversity and sophistication of Chinese gastronomic culture", says Ms Dunlop.

That diversity is now exploding across the globe, following in the footsteps of food trends in a rising China.