Chinese Food and Foodways in Southeast Asia and Beyond

8. Transnational Cuisine: Southeast Asian Chinese Food in Las Vegas

175 8 In฀ less฀ than฀ 15฀ years,฀ Las฀ Vegas฀ has฀ been฀ transformed฀ from฀ “a฀ dining฀ wasteland,”฀ or฀ a฀ place฀ where฀ “money฀ could฀ buy฀ anything฀ except฀ a฀ good฀ meal”฀to฀one฀of฀the฀top฀restaurant฀cities฀in฀the฀world฀(Apple฀1998:฀F1,฀F6).฀ In฀ her฀ description฀ of฀ the฀ wide-ranging฀ selection฀ of฀ restaurants฀ clustered฀ within฀ a฀ few฀ blocks,฀ food฀ columnist฀ Heidi฀ Rinella฀ captures฀ the฀ diversity฀ of฀the฀local฀dining฀scene: I฀was฀stopped฀in฀front฀of฀the฀parking฀lot฀for฀a฀Vietnamese฀restaurant฀ and฀ was฀ thinking฀ about฀ the฀ Indian฀ restaurant฀ across฀ the฀ street.฀ If฀ I฀ had฀ parked฀ my฀ car฀ in฀ the฀ lot฀ and฀ taken฀ off฀ on฀ foot,฀ I฀ could’ve฀ easily฀ reached฀ two฀ more฀ Indian฀ restaurants,฀ an฀ Ethiopian฀ restaurant,฀ a฀ Brazilian฀ restaurant,฀ a฀ derivative฀ Spanish฀ restaurant,฀ a฀ Japanese฀ restaurant,฀ a฀ Chinese฀ restaurant,฀ a฀ Caribbean-style฀ restaurant฀ and฀ a฀ couple฀ of฀ Italian฀ restaurants,฀ not฀ to฀ mention฀ a฀ handful฀ of฀ American฀ restaurants฀ in฀ different฀ styles฀ (2007:฀ 40). This฀ setting฀ can฀ be฀ read฀ as฀ an฀ index฀ of฀ Las฀ Vegas฀ dining฀ culture.฀ Some฀restaurants฀offer฀exotic฀food,฀others฀gourmet฀fare,฀still฀others฀comfort฀ food฀ and฀ good฀ value฀ for฀ the฀ money.฀ One฀ can฀ dine฀ at฀ Chinese,฀ Japanese,฀ Transnational Cuisine: Southeast Asian Chinese Food in Las Vegas Jiemin฀Bao C H A P T E R 09 CFFW.indd 175 7/13/11 6:06:40 PM 176฀ Jiemin฀Bao Korean,฀and฀Indian฀restaurants,฀of฀course,฀as฀well฀as฀a฀range฀of฀Southeast฀ Asian฀restaurants฀including฀Thai,฀Vietnamese,฀Laos,฀and฀Filipino.฀ In฀the฀Las฀Vegas฀Metropolitan฀Area,฀Southeast฀Asian฀restaurants,฀like฀ Mexican฀ or฀ Indian฀ eateries,฀ often฀ are฀ referred฀ to฀ as฀ “ethnic฀ restaurants”฀ and฀their฀cuisines฀as฀“ethnic฀food.”฀Southeast฀Asian฀cuisines฀only฀became฀ ethnic฀ food฀ when฀ they฀ crossed฀ certain฀ borders.฀ For฀ instance,฀ French฀ cuisine฀ is฀ rarely฀ conceived฀ of฀ as฀ ethnic฀ food฀ but฀ rather฀ as฀ bourgeois฀ cuisine.฀ These฀ Southeast฀ Asian฀ restaurants,฀ on฀ the฀ one฀ hand,฀ do฀ bear฀ ethnic฀markers฀and฀distinctive฀cultural฀characteristics;฀on฀the฀other฀hand,฀ classifying฀them฀as฀“ethnic฀restaurants”฀reproduces฀and฀reinforces฀ethnicity฀ as฀ a฀ category,฀ which฀ tends฀ to฀ be฀ negatively฀ applied฀ to฀ immigrants.฀The฀ discourse฀ on฀ food฀ reflects฀ hierarchies฀ embedded฀ in฀ the฀ presentation฀ of฀ food฀ in฀ Las฀ Vegas฀ in฀ particular฀ and฀ the฀ United฀ States฀ in฀ general.฀ Moreover,฀ associating฀ the฀ category฀ ethnic฀ food฀ with฀ “authenticity”฀ has฀ had฀a฀profound฀impact฀on฀the฀operation฀of฀ethnic-themed฀restaurants.฀By฀ emphasizing฀ authenticity,฀ a฀ cuisine฀ becomes฀ frozen฀ in฀ time฀ and฀ space.฀ I฀ argue฀that฀we฀need฀to฀pay฀special฀attention฀to฀the฀creativity฀of฀the฀chef,฀ not฀ the฀ origin฀ of฀ the฀ dish. To฀challenge฀the฀category฀ethnic฀food฀and฀the฀notion฀of฀authenticity,฀ I฀treat฀Las฀Vegas฀Southeast฀Asian฀Chinese฀food฀and฀Chinese฀Thai฀food฀as฀ transnational฀cuisine.฀Southeast฀Asian฀cuisines฀had฀absorbed฀Arab,฀Chinese,฀ Indian,฀ French,฀ or฀ Spanish฀ influences฀ long฀ before฀ arriving฀ in฀ the฀ United฀ States.1 ฀ Thus,฀ foodways฀ can฀ serve฀ as฀ markers฀ of฀ deterritorialization฀ and฀ reterritorialization.฀In฀other฀words,฀foodways฀can฀be฀uprooted฀in฀one฀place฀ and฀then฀take฀root฀somewhere฀else.฀For฀example,฀spring฀rolls฀and฀noodles฀ from฀Guangdong฀and฀Fujian฀in฀China฀were฀carried฀to฀Southeast฀Asia฀by฀ Chinese฀traders฀and฀(im)migrants,฀took฀root฀in฀Southeast฀Asia,฀and฀then฀ were฀transformed฀into฀Vietnamese฀spring฀rolls,฀Filipino฀lumpia,฀and฀Thai฀ kway฀teow.2 ฀At฀the฀same฀time,฀foodways฀are฀“powerful฀markers฀of฀territories฀ and฀ places”฀ (Avieli฀ 2005:฀ 283).฀ They฀ capture฀ local฀ flavours,฀ ingredients,฀ and฀styles.฀The฀processes฀of฀deterritorialization฀and฀reterritorialization฀are฀ intertwined฀(Inda฀and฀Rosaldo฀2002:฀12).฀ In฀ the฀ following,฀ I฀ will฀ analyze฀ the฀ ways฀ in฀ which฀ the฀ local฀ dining฀ culture฀ has฀ shaped฀ the฀ cookery฀ introduced฀ by฀ (im)migrants,฀ and฀ how฀ the฀ emerging฀ fusion฀ cuisine,฀ in฀ turn,฀ reshapes฀ the฀ local฀ dining฀ and฀ food฀ culture.฀It฀is฀crucial฀to฀understand฀the฀connection฀between฀migration฀and฀ food.฀ Migration฀ contributes฀ to฀ global฀ change฀ not฀ just฀ in฀ terms฀ of฀ labour฀ but฀ also฀ in฀ the฀ movement,฀ adaptability,฀ re-creation,฀ and฀ transformation฀ ฀ of฀cuisines.฀ 09 CFFW.indd 176 7/13/11 6:06:41 PM Southeast฀Asian฀Chinese฀Food฀in฀Las฀Vegas฀ 177 Reterritorializing Chinese Food in Southeast Asia For฀ centuries,฀ the฀ Chinese,฀ who฀ travelled฀ to฀ Southeast฀ Asia฀ to฀ trade฀ or฀ to฀ work,฀ brought฀ their฀ cuisine฀ with฀ them.฀They฀ operated฀ food฀ stalls,฀ or฀ opened฀restaurants,฀or฀sold฀dishes฀and฀snacks฀along฀the฀street฀as฀vendors,฀ for฀ such฀ occupations฀ did฀ not฀ require฀ advanced฀ language฀ skills฀ or฀ much฀ capital.฀ Chinese฀ (im)migrants฀ have฀ introduced฀ new฀ foods,฀ noodles฀ for฀ example,฀and฀cooking฀techniques,฀such฀as฀stir-frying,฀throughout฀Southeast฀ Asia.฀ Salted฀ soy฀ beans,฀ bean฀ curd,฀ and฀ bean฀ sprouts...