We’ve all seen questionable fusion dishes where sushi has
salsa on it or lasagna gets turned into a burrito, just because, for shock value. Sometimes, it’s a hit, like birria ramen, a
new dish that’s the perfect combination of two cuisines.
Internet personality and self-taught chef Jon Kung is
presenting the idea of the next step of fusion cuisine where it does work: third-culture cuisine.
It’s food that’s influenced by both the heritage of your first-generation parents
and the external culture you live in. For Kung, he was raised by Hong Kong parents
in both the U.S. and Canada.
In his cookbook “Kung Food: Chinese American
Recipes From a Third-Culture Kitchen,” Kung pairs recipes together that often
blend all-American dishes with Chinese flavors.
Kung explains what makes this different from fusion is “[w]hile
fusion has been associated with being superficial — especially when it’s an
east-meets-west thing — third-culture cuisine is the assumption of a complete
immersion in different cultures, which gives you access to certain types of
nuances that each culture can appreciate.” There's emotion behind third-culture cuisine, it's not just a map in a blender.
Kung did not invent the idea of third-culture cuisine, though. Sociologist Ruth Hill Useem used
the term in the 1950s to describe children who grow up in a place that is not
their parents’ homeland. Kung has brought the term to his social media channels, giving the idea new life.
Here are some recipes from
Kung’s cookbook, plus more recipes that celebrate this notion of culture-blending
to create something new and wonderful.
2. Hong Kong Chicken and Waffles
To make this dish, you can get a Hong Kong-style waffle
maker, but you can also use your trusty favorite waffle maker. The Szechuan-spiced
maple syrup is what really ties together this dish and makes it special.
3. Dan Dan Lasagna
Dan Dan noodles and lasagna both have wide, flat noodles in
common, but this take has lots of spicy pork, hot chili oil and creamy ricotta
cheese. The result is a marvelous marriage of Chinese and American comfort
foods.
4. Curry Mac and Cheese
If you’re already putting hot sauce on your mac and cheese,
you’ll love this Indian-spiced version. Garam masala, cumin and red chili
powder add so much flavor without over-complicating a simple pasta and cheese dish.
5. Faygo Orange Chicken
In this cheeky twist on Panda Express Orange Chicken, Kung
uses Detroit-based Faygo soda for its orange flavor. With lots of fresh spices
and flavors, it's anything but fast food.
6. Lion’s Head Meatball and Spaghetti
Kung’s pairing of Chinese lion’s head meatballs and Italian-American
spaghetti and sauce is brilliant. The meatballs are gigantic (like a lion’s
head!) with a tender blend of pork, tofu and vegetables, while the pasta sauce is
classic with a pinch of cayenne pepper thrown in. It’s the Italian food you
know with extra flavors and textures that elevate the dish.
7. Banana Bread Mochi
Make your banana bread bounce with the addition of mochiko,
a sweet rice flour that adds a little chewiness, like a mochi cake. This recipe
goes heavy on the bananas, too, for sweetness, moistness and taste.
8. Jerk Chow Mein
Chinese people were brought to the Caribbean in the 19th
century to work as indentured laborers, and with
it came Cantonese and West Indian dishes that blended the two cuisines. Lean
proteins and chow mein noodles are brought together here with lots of jerk
seasoning (in the form of homemade jerk sauce) for a new kind of stir-fry.
9. Smoky Tomato-Egg Stir-Fry
Stir-fried tomatoes and eggs is a Chinese breakfast staple
but this recipe uses paprika and cumin to give it a North African shakshuka twang.