Why Is There No “I” In Chinese Food?

I love Chinese food.  Yes, I do.  I love it so much!!  You know that it’s true.  But, did you know that that there is no “I” in Chinese food?  Why is that?  What does that even mean?

Oh how I love me my Chinese food. Let me first spell it all out for you:

C is for Chop Suey, Chow Mein, Char Siu Biao

 

H is for Hot and Sour Soup, Hot Pot, Honey Walnut Prawns (or Shrimp)

 

I is for ???  Oh my gosh!  I am not aware of any Chinese dish that starts with the letter “I”!

 

N is for Noodle Soup, Nian Gao (how appropriate, it’s Chinese New Year Cake!)

 

E is for Egg Rolls, Eggplant Shu Mai

 

S is for Spareribs, Sweet and Sour Pork, Shark Fin Soup

 

E is for Egg Foo Young, Eight Precious Pudding

 

 

F is for Fried Rice, Fried Wontons, and, umm, Fortune Cookies

 

O is for Orange Beef, Oyster Omelette

 

O is for Orange Chicken, Old Duck Stewed with Bamboo Root & Ham

 

D is for Dumplings, Dim Sum, and of course, Drunken Chicken

How many of these dishes have you had? I listed 25 dishes above.  How many have you had?

[polldaddy poll=9625464]

Do you know of any Chinese food that starts with the letter “I”?

My guess is that there’s no “I” in any Chinese dish, because Chinese food is not about “I, but always about “us”, as in Family and Friends!

And now you know the rest of the story.

Humbly submitted for your consumption,

—Mee Magnum  (“Chop! Chop!”)

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