Mama Chan's

American Chinese Cuisine arose out of the California Gold Rush of the 1840s, when mainly Cantonese Chinese were brought in to aid intrepid Americans, and the subsequent building of the transcontinental railroad, blasted and built in large part by these same Cantonese. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 would bar further immigration and render existing Chinese second-class citizens, driving many Chinese men into “dirtier” jobs such as kitchens and laundries to survive. Over the decades these restaurants would relax their typical Cantonese culinary hallmarks to make dishes more palatable to curious Americans. Sauteed and spicy would be supplanted by fried and sweet, leafy vegetables replaced by the crunchier broccoli, cauliflower and carrot, and greater quantities of meat would be used in comparison to traditional presentations. By the ‘70s and ‘80s these new recipes would form the basis of take-out culture; General Tsao, Beef and Broccoli and Egg Rolls would be pumped out incessantly in those iconic white boxes, themselves a pop-culture icon. Panda Express would take over mall food courts, doling out their patented Orange Chicken and all the moo goos and moo shus you could name. 

But at the same time, a countering force was occurring. 1965 saw the Exclusion Act lifted, opening up immigration from all regions of China. Authentic, regional cuisine started taking root, first in the cities and then into the suburbs, exploding in popularity in the aughts. Most Cantonese-based “American Chinese” outlets seemed staid by comparison, especially as younger generations became more intrepid in their dining habits. This is where we find ourselves today, with places such as Mama Chan’s offering both traditional and creative takes on multiple regions of Chinese cooking.

Chinese Takeout Boxes almost uniformly feature the same characters on each box. Their meaning? “Delicacies from the mountains and the sea”. 

Pan Fried Rice Cakes are a Shanghainese tradition dating back over a thousand years and especially tied to Lunar New Year as its Chinese name,  nian gao sounds roughly like “higher year”. As such, they symbolize growth, progress and prosperity. Their popularity has resonated with the Chinese diaspora, with early  immigrants bringing their traditions with them and the dish, along with the arrival of more Shangainese in the late 20th century, growing more popular in suburban Chinese households and restaurants. 

Pan Fried Garlic Udon is a modern Chinese-American fusion dish that combines Japanese udon noodles with Chinese stir-fry techniques. Udon, originally from Japan, is prized for its chewy texture and is pan-fried with garlic, soy sauce, and oyster sauce, often with scallions, vegetables, or proteins. Unlike traditional Chinese noodles, udon gives the dish a heartier, “QQ” bite. Popularized in American Chinese and pan-Asian restaurants since the late 20th century, it reflects the blending of Asian cuisines and American tastes. With its bold garlic flavor, glossy sauce, and chewy noodles, it has become a comforting, versatile favorite in fusion cooking.

Sauteed String Beans is originally a Sichuan dish, where beans are blistered in hot oil until wrinkled, then stir fried with aromatics like ginger, garlic and pepper. Being from Sichuan, the dish didn’t make its debut until after the 1965 Immigration act, which re-opened America’s doors to Chinese immigration beyond the Cantonese who had been living here since before the 1882 Exclusion Act. It didn’t take long to adapt to the American palate, often being tamped down in terms of pepper spice and amped up in terms of garlic and dressed with soy for sweetness. Thus the cleaner, sweeter, garlicky version of the more traditional smoky, savory, numbing dish took root Stateside.

MC’s Fries. To hear co-owner Diana Chan say it, when brother Justin, who mans the kitchen, decided to introduce a fried chicken sandwich to the menu, Diana, who’s favorite food in the world is french fries (who’s isn’t?) made sure to add this dish. And so we have Mama Chan’s as the progenitor of its  own Chinese-American (and possibly Canadian) dish, taking that worldwide favorite and adding char siu  pork, roasted scallion mayo, and chili bbq sauce. 

Pepper Steak-.Originally a Fujian dish, Pepper Steak made its way across the pond and is now a staple of nearly every American Chinese menu. Traditional traits such as quick wok cooking and tenderized slices of meat hold true, while chili peppers have been replaced with the more common bell peppers. In China, beef had been a luxury whereas, well, we all know about Americans’ obsession with the cow. And so, over the course of the early proliferation of Chinese restaurants in America, circa the 1940s and 1950s, pepper steak was among the first, and safest, dishes these places offered beyond the ubiquitous cop suey and chow mein, even calling the dish “steak” instead of “beed” to tap into America’s love of steakhouse culture. 

Salt and Pepper Shrimp claims its origins in coastal Cantonese cuisine. Its core flavoring- salt, white pepper, sometimes Sichuan pepper, and aromatics like garlic and chili, a seasoning mix known as  jiao yan- was historically used for crispy fried foods and wok-fried to highlight freshness rather than burying the featured protein in sauce. The Cantonese- the region of China who supplied gold and railroad workers in the 19th century and their ancestors who remained here while Chinese immigration was banned over ensuing decades- introduced it to their restaurants in the early-mid part of the 20th century, though it remained less common on menus until shrimp, itself not as popular as meat in these times, grew more comfortable to the American palate. Today, you’ll see it in dim sum halls, seafood-focused Cantonese restaurants, and higher-end American Chinese establishments like Mama’ Chans.

Soy Garlic Honey Wings are very much a Chinese-American creation, drawing on both Cantonese cooking methods and American bar-food culture, with the marinade glaze very much Cantonese and the wings, well, very much  Buffalo. By the 1980s, many takeout restaurants began offering wings as appetizers, but with the more contemporary explosion of Korean wing culture, Chinese-inspired versions also began to take off. 

Sesame Chicken. Go to China and order Sesame Chicken and you’ll get blank stares. It simply doesn’t exist there.  A strictly American creation (and take-out icon) Sesame Chicken draws inspiration from Cantonese (known for its sweet sauces and sesame garnishes) and Taiwanese styles, with the dish being considered a nuttier, milder “cousin” to General Tso’s, itself created by Taiwanese chefs in New York. With the rise of “American Chinese” in the 1980s, Sesame Chicken’s invention became the bridge between the cuisine and American’s emerging taste for the sweet, the crisp, and the visually appealing.  Using meaty, white meat tenders rather than nuggets, Mama Chan’s kicks it up a notch. 

Chili Chicken Scallion Pancake Quesadilla. Scallion pancakes are a traditional flatbread dating back thousands of years to northern China, where wheat, and not rice, is the staple grain. When immigration opened up in the ‘60s, Northern Chinese began arriving, bringing the dish with them. As they are, in their most basic form, rather plain, the opportunity to bring in a little fusion abounds. Mama Chan’s is up to the task, evolving the dish with a little Mexican flare. 

Mantou Buns date back to the 3rd Century CE. A famous legend credits the military strategist Zhuge Liang, who made bread-like offerings of dough in place of human sacrifices (how kind), which became as mantou (steamed buns). In Northern China, where wheat is more common than rice, mantou would become the everyday starch. Mantou is eaten at all meals in the north, but tonight we’ll be having the version that has become most popular in the US- a dessert sweetened with condensed milk. 

Tsingtao Beer was established in the port city of Qingdao by German Settlers in 1903. Following the German Purity Law which allowed only the use of barley, hops and water, in this case spring water from local Laoshan Mountain, which was considered especially pure. After WWII, Tsingtao came under Chinese control and was later nationalized under the Communist government. With China’s market reforms in the 1980s, Tsingtao’s popularity began to grow worldwide, eventually being exported to over 100 countries and becoming the default beer in Chinese restaurants across America.