What is British Chinese food?

By Adam White, house special noodle connoisseur

Unlike the US, Chinese food in the UK hasn’t diverged hugely from its origins. You won’t find General Tso’s or orange chicken on the menu – least of all in London’s Chinatown, whose restaurants are by and large authentic to their mainly Cantonese roots.

Indeed, most Chinese food in the UK is Cantonese-influenced, and menu mainstays – especially when it comes to take-out – are of the stir-fried noodles or rice varieties. (Incidentally, they all come in plastic takeout boxes, not waxed cardboard)

There is one uniquely British-Chinese dish, more’s the pity. It’s crispy aromatic duck, which consists of deep-fried shredded duck meat, which you’re meant to wrap in thin pancakes with hoisin sauce. I find it dry and chewy. My advice? Stick to the infinitely better Peking duck and you’ll be much happier.

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