CULTURAL APPROPRIATION, FROM PAD THAI THROUGH PHO TO XIAO LUNG BAO

Apparently many people twist their knickers over Caucasians eating stuff that isn't originally "white". The latest outrage being what some food video did to Shanghainese soup dumplings. Which was horrible, and they are justifiably infuriated. It's "cultural appropriation", "white-splaining food",
"racist culinary imperialism", and many more such concepts.
Whitey being patronizing and arrogant.
And ignorant.

Did I mention that they are furious?

Which I understand, but do not sympathize with.

I have seen what they eat.

Spam.


Really, when anyone takes food ideas from another culture and does weird things with these that seem suitable to them at that time, it's on the whole a rather good thing. The Spam Musubi may not be your cup of tea, but don't bother telling that to a Hawaiian, and satay is not Pan-Asian, but strictly Indonesian in origin, as is the peanut sauce that accompanies it.
There are now Malaysian versions, Thai versions, and sundry others, but if you are a purist you need to abstain from those ghastly heresies quite as much as you avoid phở cooked by Tyler Akin or pad thai prepared by television chef Gordon Ramsey.

We gave you ice cream. You turned it into green tea gelato, and purple taro gloop. That's NOT what we intended at all when we borrowed it from the Italians who had stolen a brilliant idea from the Arabs!

Green tea gelato, good lord!


Say, how many Asian countries have breweries?

Please understand that we Dutch people invented shitty beer (Heineken), and that we are hideously offended by Singha, Bir Bintang, San Miguel, Asahi, Kirin, and Tsing Tao. Kindly stop drinking that!
As well as Budweiser, Coors, Michelob.


DOT - DOT  - DOT


The Vietnamese baguette is a splendid invention, and I am extremely fond of Hong Kong style Baked Portuguese Chicken Rice at a chachanteng.
Still on the fence about the Spam Musubi, though.
It seems like it's missing something.
Mayonnaise?

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