Overseas Chinese cuisine

While Chinese cuisine may have originated in China, the legacy of the Overseas Chinese has brought the flavours, ingredients and cuisine of China all around the world. By far the most well known types of "Overseas Chinese" cuisines can be found in the sizable Chinese minorities in Southeast Asia, but there are also local styles in places like Australia and the Americas.

Understand

While Overseas Chinese cuisine is used as a very broad term to describe Chinese food that is consumed outside China, it differs significantly from place to place, and at times is hardly recognisable as Chinese food to people from China. This is particularly reflected in Western countries with a large Chinese population such as the U.S., UK, Canada or Australia, where it has been significantly modified to suit the Anglo-Celtic palate, although "Chinese Chinese" cuisine can also be found in many of these countries, particularly in large cities, parts of their wider metropolitan areas and places where there are university students from China.

In the 21st century, China's growing business ties with much of the developing world have led to a large influx of Chinese expatriates to these regions, and many places which historically had a negligible Chinese presence now have restaurants serving authentic Chinese food catering to these expatriates.

Eat

Australia

Canada

Canadian-Chinese food was similar to American-Chinese food back in the day, and that is still largely true, but nowadays, Canada is generally considered to have the best authentic Chinese food in North America, as the country welcomed large numbers of immigrants from Hong Kong around the time it was handed over from Britain to China in 1997, and has seen a large influx of Hong Kong independence activists fleeing the National Security Law since 2020. Vancouver's Chinatown is perhaps the most famous, but the Vancouver area in general is particularly famous in this respect too, with some rivalry from Toronto, and smaller Chinatowns in Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Victoria. Vancouver’s southern suburb of Richmond is the city with the largest percentage of people with Chinese ancestry in North America and as such, there are many Asian-style malls that feature probably the best authentic Chinese cuisine in the continent.

Cuba

Cuba is home to the oldest Chinatown in Latin America, Havana's Barrio Chino. Prior to the Cuban Revolution, Cuba's ethnic Chinese community was the largest in Latin America, but most of the community fled to New York City following the revolution, resulting in a large number of Cuban-Chinese restaurants through the 1990s or so. However, a small community remains in Havana, and there is still a handful of Chinese restaurants in Havana's Chinatown serving mostly Cuban-Chinese food.

India

Japan

Peru

The local variant of Chinese cuisine, known as chifa, was created by Cantonese immigrants in the early 20th century. By 1920, the first chifa restaurants opened in the capital Lima's Chinatown, or Barrio Chino in Spanish, and were immediately embraced by the city's elite. Its popularity spread from there to all socioeconomic groups, to the point that the city is now estimated to have over 6,000 chifa restaurants at all price levels, with many thousands more in other parts of the country. The cuisine has since spread to several of Peru's neighboring countries. As elsewhere, chifa is a fusion between Chinese cooking methods and local ingredients. A few of the dishes you might come across in chifa restaurants are arroz chaufa (fried rice), tallarín saltado (chow mein), lomo saltado (stir-fried steak with french fries and various vegetables), pollo tipa kay (sweet-and-sour chicken), and taypa a la plancha (stir-fry of multiple meats with seafood, tofu, and vegetables). While Lima's original Chinatown still exists, it has shrunk considerably since its heyday, and most of the ethnic Chinese have moved to the suburb of San Borja, where you can now find numerous chifa restaurants.

South Africa

South Africa has a small ethnic Chinese community, mostly of Cantonese origin, dating back to colonial times. As in other Anglophone countries such as the U.S. and Australia, South African-Chinese food is generally of the Westernised takeaway variety, being based on Cantonese cuisine, but having been heavily modified to suit the Anglo-Celtic palate, and can be found in most of South Africa's major cities. Africa's sole Chinatown dating back to the colonial era is the Commissioner Street area of Johannesburg, though most of the ethnic Chinese have either moved to the suburbs or emigrated abroad to escape rising crime rates and urban blight, and today, the area is only a shadow of its former self. Nevertheless a handful of Chinese restaurants and grocery stores remain, including the Swallow's Inn, the oldest Chinese restaurant in South Africa, and possibly on the entire African continent. That said, China's growing business ties with Africa in the 21st century have led to a new influx of Chinese expatriates to South Africa, and the suburb of Cyrildene is now known as Johannesburg's "New Chinatown", with numerous Chinese shops and restaurants in the area. As Cyrildene primarily caters to more recent arrivals from China, and from more diverse origins, the Chinese food served in Cyrildene tends to be more authentic than elsewhere in South Africa, with a variety of regional Chinese cuisines being represented.

Southeast Asia

Brunei

Like their counterparts in neighbouring Malaysia, Brunei's ethnic Chinese minority has preserved a separate cultural identity from the Malay majority. Although it is generally illegal to serve non-halal food in Brunei, an exception has been made for the Chinese community, and many of the Chinese food stalls and restaurants serve pork. Bruneian Chinese food is generally similar to Malaysian Chinese food, tracing its roots primarily to Fujian, Guangdong or Hainan, but incorporating numerous Malay influences such as sambal belacan and local spices like lemongrass and galingale.

Cambodia

Indonesia

Malaysia

Malaysia is home to the third largest overseas Chinese community in the world after Thailand and Indonesia. Unlike in many other countries, Malaysia's Chinese community has resisted assimilation and is fiercely protective of its distinct communal identity. Despite having settled in Malaysia for much longer than the ethnic Chinese communities in Western countries, the Malaysian Chinese community is widely considered to have preserved Chinese culture and language the best among all the overseas Chinese communities of the world. Malaysia's large Chinese population has resulted in a large range of Chinese food. The type of Chinese cuisine that is mostly eaten in Malaysia is the Chinese food from southern China – in particular, the provinces of Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan. Unlike many other places, the Chinese food in Malaysia uses a lot more chilli in it, and Malaysian-Chinese cuisine also typically incorporates more shrimp paste (known as belacan in Malay) and local aromatic spices (lemongrass, galangal, etc.), too. Even restaurants in Malaysia that serve otherwise straight Cantonese cuisine are likely to have kangkung belacan (water spinach wok-fried with shrimp paste and red chillis) and often a curry or two on the menu. Asam dishes (spicy and made with a sour sauce redolent with the juice of the Malaysian tamarind fruit) are served and enjoyed by Chinese and Malays alike, and the same is true of various noodle dishes.

Malaysian food is highly flavorful, and Chinese Malaysian food is far from an exception. Any large city and many smaller cities will have delicious Chinese eateries (stalls, coffee shops and/or restaurants), and among the Malaysian cities renowned for their Chinese food are Ipoh, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Muar, Malacca, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.

Many Chinese traders arrived and settled in the Malacca Sultanate following the visit of Chinese Ming Dynasty Admiral Zheng He in the 15th century, and married the local Malay women. Today, their descendants are known as the Peranakan, or Straits Chinese, and as you would expect, their culture is a blend of Chinese and Malay cultures. This is also reflected in their unique cuisine, with signature dishes such as ayam buah keluak and babi pongteh that extensively fuse Chinese and Malay flavours. Malacca is the natural place to go if you want to sample some Peranakan cuisine, but Peranakan restaurants can also be found in Malaysia's other major cities, as well in neighbouring Singapore.

Myanmar

Ethnic Chinese have been settling in Myanmar since the colonial period, and Yangon has a Chinatown where many of these ethnic Chinese live, and numerous seafood stalls serving barbecued seafood in the evenings. Numerous Chinese-style dishes have also made it into Burmese cuisine, with baukci (derived from Chinese baozi) being a popular dish at traditional Burmese tea houses. Mandalay is also known for its large ethnic Chinese population, who constitute about half the city's population. While the ethnic Chinese in Yangon are mostly descended from immigrants from Guangdong and Fujian, those in Mandalay are mostly descended from immigrants from Yunnan. You can also find tea stalls selling ikrakwe, derived from the Chinese youtiao, in the local markets, though in Myanmar, it is usually dipped in some strong, sweet milk tea before eating.

Philippines

Singapore

While ethnic Chinese form the majority in Singapore, Singaporean Chinese food also draws substantial influences from Malay and Indian cuisine. Singaporean Chinese food is thus very similar to Malaysian Chinese food, having mostly originated from the provinces of Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan, but incorporating numerous local ingredients such as sambal belacan (shrimp paste with chilli), lemongrass and satay sauce. Singapore's Chinese community has also enthusiastically adopted the tradition of eating curry from their Indian neighbours, and you will often see numerous fusion dishes such as fish head curry and curry noodles. Many of Malacca's Peranakans settled in Singapore during the colonial period, and there is also no shortage of Peranakan restaurants for people looking to get their fix.

Thailand

Vietnam

South Korea

United Kingdom

Main article: Cuisine of Britain and Ireland

Chinese food in the United Kingdom is generally of the Westernised takeaway variety, having been heavily adapted to suit the British palate, making it similar to American-Chinese and Australian-Chinese cuisine. Due to the history of British colonial rule in those areas, most ethnic Chinese in the United Kingdom are immigrants from Hong Kong or Malaysia and their descendants, with the United Kingdom being the most popular destination for Hong Kong independence activists fleeing the National Security Law since 2020. Therefore, British-Chinese cuisine is typically based on Cantonese and Malaysian-Chinese cuisine. That said, London is regarded as one of the best cities in the world for dim sum and Cantonese-style roasted meats due to the large number of immigrants from Hong Kong, and there are also numerous Malaysian restaurants in London that serve fairly authentic renditions of Malaysian-Chinese cuisine. Naturally, a good place to look for Chinese food in London is Chinatown, though there are other areas too such as Bayswater, which is home to Four Seasons, one of the most famous Cantonese roast duck restaurants in the world (to the point that they have also expanded overseas with a branch in Bangkok, Thailand). Other British cities with notable Chinatowns include Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Newcastle.