QA问答：为什么第一次去中国的大部分外国人都觉得中国食物不好吃？

Norman Owen, 30 years teaching about Asian history at the university level.
They don’t. Not “most of” them.
We lived in Hong Kong for many years, and not only traveled into (the rest of) China a few times, but were a regular stop for friends of ours who were on their way into or out of China for tourism (or business).
They ALL liked most Chinese food. I don’t remember ANY of them saying that Chinese food was “terrible.” They said it was different and - as I mentioned - they liked some of it better than others.

并没有。我们在香港生活了多年，不仅去过中国大陆几次，我的很多朋友也来中国旅游或者出差。
他们都很喜欢大部分的中国食物。我不记得他们有任何人说过中国食物是糟糕的。他们只是说中国食物很不一样，有些食物他们很喜欢，有些不是那么喜欢。

Collin Spears, Lived in China for 2.5 years in two different provinces.
I do not think it is “most foreigners”.
Here is what I think. I’m sure the person who wrote this is Chinese, and when they say “foreigners” they mean WHITE PEOPLE.
Most Chinese food in the West, historically, has been some bastardized Cantonese food, that was often made by peasants.
Sometimes they even made up food that did not exist in China to suit local tastes, or they radically changed the food…such as
Egg Foo Young (Western Version)
Chinese Version
General Tsos Chicken (not something normally eaten in China)
So many Westerns think they grew up eating Chinese food, but when they come to China they find out that Chinese food can be all of this:
Chinese food is far more diverse than most Westerns imagine, and some of the food is very unusual in regard to taste and ingredients, from a Western perspective.
Obviously, some people don’t like things they are not used to or do not expect.

Hell, my mother-in-law is Chinese, pure Chinese, born in China, and she won’t eat Chinese food that is not Cantonese. LOL She thinks it is too heavy or oily. Only Cantonese is properly 清淡菜 (light)。
并非大部分外国人都这么认为。
我可以肯定的是这个问题的提问者是中国人，当他说外国人时指的是“白人”。
西方的大部分中国食物历史上而言都是不规范的广东菜，通常是乡下人制作的。
有时候他们甚至捏造中国所没有的食物以迎合当地口味，或者对食物做了很大的变动，比如
芙蓉蛋（西方版本）
中国版本
左宗棠鸡（中国的中国人一般不吃）
太多的西方人以为自己成长过程中吃到的是中国菜，但是他们来到中国后，却发现中国菜是这样的：
中国食物比大部分西方人所想象的要丰富多了，其中某些食物在西方人看来是非常独特的，就口味和食材而言。
显然，某些人不喜欢自己不习惯的或者预期之外的食物。
我丈母娘是中国人，纯粹的中国人，中国出生的，她只吃广东菜。她认为中国其他地区的菜都口味太重或者太油了。只有广东菜是清淡菜。

JT Sange
I think there is a similar misunderstanding about Indian restaurants too. A large number of dishes you get in the US are far from authentic food you will get in India. As the joke goes - If an Indian engineer gets laid off from his job, he starts an Indian restaurant.

我认为人们对印度餐馆也存在着类似的误会。在美国你吃到的很多印度菜与正宗的印度菜相去甚远。有个笑话是这么说的，如果一个印度工程师被炒鱿鱼，他就会去开印度餐馆。

David Yu
Logistic matters, the earlier Chinese immigrant can’t get their hands on a lot local ingredient from China or Locally source in USA.
biscuit and cheese in china is terrible for a lot of the same logistic reasons.

物流的问题，早期中国移民无法从中国进口大量食材，在美国本地也找不到。
出于同样的物流原因，中国的饼干和芝士也是很难吃的。

Collin Spears
Uhm I’m not sure that is true. It depends on where you live in America. In any major urban area in the coastal areas, you can get most Chinese food items. I know my wife routinely buys them and tells my mother-in-law not to bring things from HK.
However in more inland areas, rural, without a Chinese population, yeah it is very hard.
I would also say that making high end Chinese food is not really the goal. Unlike Korean and Japanese food, most Americans (due to history) don’t see Chinese food as “high end”, they see it as “fast food” so the margins are quite small for the restaurant. Why put in a lot of expensive imported ingredients? It raises cost? Also the average American doesn’t know what is missed, and doesn’t care.

我不确定你说的对不对。这要看你生活在美国的哪个地方。在沿海地区的大城市里，你可以买到大部分的中国食材。我妻子经常买，叫我丈母娘不用从香港带来。
如果是在内陆的农村地区，那里没有华人人口，那确实很难买到。
我得说制作高端的中国食物并不是目标。不像韩国菜或者日本菜，大部分美国人（由于历史原因）不认为中国菜是高端菜。他们认为中国菜是一种快餐，所以中餐馆的利润是挺小的。所以为什么要用进口的昂贵的食材呢？这会增加成本。而且普通美国人根本不知道真正的中餐是什么样子，也不在乎。

Kevin Doucet
Chinese food is good enough, but the meat has too many bones.

中国菜非常好，但是肉里太多骨头了。

Jamie Wang
whether the bone could be an issue really depends on how the meat got cooked.
Plus, we Chinese believe that the meat sticking to the bones taste better.

骨头好不好，那要看你的肉是怎么煮的。此外，我们中国人认为骨肉相连才更加好吃。

Vincent Tang
Hahahaha even many Chinese people don''t like the bones in meat (me included ). It''s just annoying.

哈哈，甚至很多中国人都不喜欢肉里有骨头，包括我。太烦人了。

Mike Digkas
Dear Ron, I live in China for 8 years now and I have met countless foreigners. Most of them come into the fast conclusion that Chinese food is terrible and Chinese food is just dumplings and noodles. This behavior amazes me because I deem Chinese food as the best in the world. I am always telling them that if you come for the first time in China and you don’t have Chinese friends with you to order for you is very challenging and they should not make fast conclusions as I guarantee that nothing is superior than Chinese food.

我已经在中国生活了8年，见过无数的外国人。大部分外国人马上得出结论说中国食物是糟糕的，以为中国食物只有饺子和面条。这种想法真是惊到我了，因为我认为中国食物是世界最棒的。我总是对他们说如果你第一次来中国，没有中国朋友为你点餐，那是非常具有挑战性的，而且他们不应该这么快下结论，因为我可以保证中国食物是世界第一等的。