CHOW: MAKING THE CHINESE AMERICAN RESTAURANT

round white ceramic plate filled with waffle

Overview

Chinese Americans were once told they did not belong in the United States. They went on to create one of the country's most beloved cuisines. Chow: Making the Chinese American Restaurant celebrates the birth and evolution of Chinese American restaurants, tracing their nearly 170-year history and sparking conversation about food culture, immigration, and what it means to be American.

Take a tour of Chinatown with MOFADCITY

Museum of Food and Drink

65 Bayard Street, Brooklyn

Exhibition Dates

2018-2020

Purchase Tickets

Museum of Food and Drink

65 Bayard Street, Brooklyn

Exhibition Dates

2018-2020

Purchase Tickets

Highlights/Installation Images

MOFAD's Curtain of Many

Exhibition Highlights

Curtain of Many

Immerse yourself in this larger-than-life installation of 7,250 Chinese takeout boxes. Each one represents seven of the nearly 50,000 Chinese American restaurants in the country.

Curtain of Many

Immerse yourself in this larger-than-life installation of 7,250 Chinese takeout boxes. Each one represents seven of the nearly 50,000 Chinese American restaurants in the country.

Menu Timeline

View a stunning timeline of Chinese American restaurant menus dating back to 1910. Beautifully designed and lovingly curated by MOFAD, these artifacts show the evolution of the cuisine, decade by decade.

Menu Timeline

KitchenAid Culinary Studio

Enjoy tastings created by the country's most talented chefs who specialize in Chinese American cuisine. Each month, MOFAD will feature a different tasting.

KitchenAid Culinary Studio

Enjoy tastings created by the country's most talented chefs who specialize in Chinese American cuisine. Each month, MOFAD will feature a different tasting.

Exhibition Advisors

Yong Chen

Professor, School of Humanities, University of California, Irvine; author of Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America

Andrew Coe

Culinary historian and author of Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States

John Eng-Wong

Special Advisor, American Studies, Brown University

Madeline Hsu

Professor, Department of History; Core Faculty, Center for Asian American Studies, University of Texas at Austin

John Doe

Professor Emeritus, John Hopkins University

Heather Lee

Assistant Professor of Global China Studies, NYU Shanghai

Mike Lee

Food Futurist, The Future Market; born and raised in Chinese-American restaurants

Anne Mendelson

Culinary historian and author of Chow Chop Suey: Food and the Chinese American Journey

Robert Sietsema

Senior Critic, Eater.com

Robert Sietsema

Senior Critic, Eater.com

Emma Teng

T.T. and Wei Fong Chao Professor of Asian Civilizations, MIT

Cedric Yeh

Associate Curator, Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Peter Madsen

Operations Manager

Jessica Ann Vaughn

Curatorial Fellow

Ryan Cioffi

Educator

Yong Chen

Professor, School of Humanities, University of California, Irvine; author of Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America

Andrew Coe

Culinary historian and author of Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States

John Eng-Wong

Special Advisor, American Studies, Brown University

Madeline Hsu

Professor, Department of History; Core Faculty, Center for Asian American Studies, University of Texas at Austin

John Doe

Professor Emeritus, John Hopkins University

Heather Lee

Assistant Professor of Global China Studies, NYU Shanghai

Mike Lee

Food Futurist, The Future Market; born and raised in Chinese-American restaurants

Anne Mendelson

Culinary historian and author of Chow Chop Suey: Food and the Chinese American Journey

Robert Sietsema

Senior Critic, Eater.com

Robert Sietsema

Senior Critic, Eater.com

Emma Teng

T.T. and Wei Fong Chao Professor of Asian Civilizations, MIT

Cedric Yeh

Associate Curator, Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Peter Madsen

Operations Manager

Jessica Ann Vaughn

Curatorial Fellow

Ryan Cioffi

Educator

Chefs

The following chefs and authors have contributed recipes to the KitchenAid Culinary Studio.

Yong Chen

Professor, School of Humanities, University of California, Irvine; author of Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America

Andrew Coe

Culinary historian and author of Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States

John Eng-Wong

Special Advisor, American Studies, Brown University

Madeline Hsu

Professor, Department of History; Core Faculty, Center for Asian American Studies, University of Texas at Austin

John Doe

Professor Emeritus, John Hopkins University

Heather Lee

Assistant Professor of Global China Studies, NYU Shanghai

Mike Lee

Food Futurist, The Future Market; born and raised in Chinese-American restaurants

Anne Mendelson

Culinary historian and author of Chow Chop Suey: Food and the Chinese American Journey

Robert Sietsema

Senior Critic, Eater.com

Robert Sietsema

Senior Critic, Eater.com

Emma Teng

T.T. and Wei Fong Chao Professor of Asian Civilizations, MIT

Cedric Yeh

Associate Curator, Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Peter Madsen

Operations Manager

Jessica Ann Vaughn

Curatorial Fellow

Ryan Cioffi

Educator

Yong Chen

Professor, School of Humanities, University of California, Irvine; author of Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America

Andrew Coe

Culinary historian and author of Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States

John Eng-Wong

Special Advisor, American Studies, Brown University

Madeline Hsu

Professor, Department of History; Core Faculty, Center for Asian American Studies, University of Texas at Austin

John Doe

Professor Emeritus, John Hopkins University

Heather Lee

Assistant Professor of Global China Studies, NYU Shanghai

Mike Lee

Food Futurist, The Future Market; born and raised in Chinese-American restaurants

Anne Mendelson

Culinary historian and author of Chow Chop Suey: Food and the Chinese American Journey

Robert Sietsema

Senior Critic, Eater.com

Robert Sietsema

Senior Critic, Eater.com

Emma Teng

T.T. and Wei Fong Chao Professor of Asian Civilizations, MIT

Cedric Yeh

Associate Curator, Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Peter Madsen

Operations Manager

Jessica Ann Vaughn

Curatorial Fellow

Ryan Cioffi

Educator

Watch Grace Young’s Award-Winning Video: “The Breath of a Wok.”

Inspired by Grace Young and Alan Richardson's award-winning cookbook The Breath of a Wok, this video shows how the wok's ingenious design (concave shape, sloping high sides, 5-quart capacity, and broad surface) is ideally suited for the eight classic Chinese techniques: stir-frying, pan-frying, braising, steaming, boiling, poaching, deep-fat frying, and smoking.