The diversifying revolution in Britain’s Chinese restaurants is complicated. On the one hand, most of us now know that the beloved monstrosities in the wider Anglo-Cantonese repertoire — the crispy beef, and the curry spring rolls and the chicken in radioactively-orange sweet and sour sauce — have more to do with the mutating influence of Western palates than any long-standing Chinese dining traditions.
On the other, there is the nagging sense that we have perhaps swapped one narrow view of a complex food culture for another. Steamy-windowed hotpot franchises, revivalist Hong Kong cafés and Sichuan joints abound. It is undoubtedly a richer, more varied and culturally-faithful landscape, but it is also one that is largely a product of trend-chasing, financial viability and the influential dining proclivities of Weibo-scrolling overseas students.
