Books & arts

来源于《图书与艺术》版块

Immigration on a plate

餐盘上的移民

A bao in every steamer

蒸蒸日上

The development of Chinese-American cuisine reflects the community’s own upward trajectory

美籍华人烹饪的发展反映了华人社区自身的上升轨迹

For several years, beginning in the mid-2000s, devotees of Chinese food on America’s east coast obsessed over a mystery: Where was Peter Chang? A prodigiously talented—and peripatetic—chef, Mr Chang bounced around eateries in the south-east. One day diners at a strip-mall restaurant in suburban Richmond or Atlanta might be eating standard egg rolls and orange chicken; the next, their table would be graced by exquisite pieces of aubergine the size of an index finger, greaselessly fried and dusted with cumin, dried chillies and Sichuan peppercorns. Or by a soup made of pickled mustard greens and fresh sea bass, in its way as hauntingly perfect and austere as a Bach cello suite. A few months later, Mr Chang would move on.

从2005年前后，有那么几年美国东海岸的中餐迷一直对一个神秘事件津津乐道：张鹏亮在哪里？作为一名天赋异禀、四处奔波的厨师，张鹏亮在美国东南部的餐馆里奔波。某天在里士满郊区或亚特兰大的一家购物中心餐厅用餐的顾客，可能会吃到标准的蛋卷和橙汁鸡；接下来，他们的餐桌上将会出现食指大小的精致茄子，无油煎炸，撒上孜然、干辣椒和花椒。或者用酸菜和新鲜海鲈鱼做成的汤，就像巴赫的大提琴组曲一样完美而又简朴，令人回味无穷。几个月后，张鹏亮就会离开。

 

He now seems to have settled down, running a string of restaurants bearing his name between Rockville, Maryland, and Virginia Beach. His latest—Q by Peter Chang—in the smart Washington suburb of Bethesda, may be his finest. The space is vast and quasi-industrial, with brushed concrete floors, massive pillars and not a winking dragon in sight. Order a scallion pancake, and what appears is not the typical greasy disc but an airy, volleyball-sized dough sphere. Jade shrimp with crispy rice comes under what looks like an upturned wooden bowl (perhaps, you think, for the shells). On inspection the bowl turns out to be the rice. Thumping through it with a spoon reveals perfectly cooked shrimp floating in shamrock-green sauce.

现在他似乎已经安定下来了，在马里兰州罗克维尔和弗吉尼亚海滩之间经营着一系列以他的名字命名的餐馆。他最新的餐馆Q by Peter Chang位于漂亮的华盛顿郊区贝塞斯达，可能是他餐馆中最高档的。餐馆里面非常宽敞，打磨混凝土地面和大柱子营造出工业风，看不到眨着眼的龙。点一道“葱油泡饼”，端上来的不是通常那种油腻的圆形薄饼，而是排球大小的轻盈的炸面球。“锅巴葱汁虾贝”上面貌似倒扣着一只木碗（你也许以为那是扔虾壳用的）。细看才会发现那“木碗”正是锅巴。用勺子敲碎锅巴，精致烹调的虾浮现于三叶草绿色的酱汁中。

A tab for two at Q can easily top three figures—several times the outlay on an average Chinese meal. Nor is Mr Chang’s the only such restaurant in the area: like many big American cities, Washington has seen a rise in high-end Chinese cuisine. That is good news, and not just for well-heeled gourmands who can tell shuijiao from shuizhu. The culinary trend is underpinned by two benign social ones. Chinese-Americans are becoming wealthier and more self-confident; and customers are shedding old stereotypes about Chinese food. To put it another way: sometimes a dumpling is more than just a dumpling.

在Q by Peter Chang餐厅，两个人的价格很容易超过三位数——是普通中餐价格的好几倍。张鹏亮的餐厅也不是该地区唯一一家这样的餐厅：和许多美国大城市一样，华盛顿也见证了高端中餐的崛起。这是好事，不止是对那些分得清“水饺”和“水煮”的阔绰老饕而言。在这股餐饮潮流背后有两个良性社会趋势在支撑。一方面，美国华裔变得越来越富有，也越来越自信；另一方面，顾客也在逐渐消除对中餐的刻板印象。换句话说，有时候饺子不只是饺子了。

trajectory  n. 弹道，轨道

peripatetic adj. 徒步的，流动的，漫游的

obsessed   adj. 心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

prodigiously  adv. 异常地，惊人地，巨大地

eatery n. 饭馆，饮食店

strip mall n. 单排商业区，购物中心（美）

exquisite adj. 精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的

aubergine n. 茄子 adj. 紫红色

austere adj. 艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的

cello n. 大提琴

Quasi adv. 似乎，宛如

greasy adj. 多脂的，油脂的

dough n. 生面团；钱，现款

jade n. 玉石；碧玉；翡翠

inspection n. 检查，审查，检阅

thumping adj. 重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的 adv. 极端地；非常地 

v. 重击(thump)

outlay n. 费用，经费，支出；v.花费

well-heeled adj. 富有的，衣着考究的

gourmand n. 喜欢吃喝的人，贪吃的人；美食主义

culinary adj. 烹饪的

underpin v. 用砖石结构等从下面支撑（墙等）；加固（墙等）的基础；为（论据、主张等）打下基础；加强

Notes: 

a bao in every steamer 蒸蒸日上

bounce around 乱跑，上蹿下跳，来回反弹