英式中餐在 TikTok 爆紅，美國網友滿臉問號
British Chinese food is all over TikTok. Americans have questions

如果你請一個美國人說出他們最愛的中餐菜餚，腦中浮現的八成會是左宗棠雞（General Tso’s chicken）、炒麵（chow mein）以及塞在白色紙盒裡的蛋捲（egg rolls）。

Ask an American to name their favorite Chinese takeout dishes, and images of General Tso’s chicken, chow mein and egg rolls stuffed into white cardboard containers will likely spring to mind.

然而，在大西洋彼岸的英國，情況就大不相同了。英式中餐外帶（British Chinese takeout）——一種在英國備受珍視但在國外鮮為人知的料理——與美國版幾乎沒有共同點，這讓美國網友在社群媒體上既驚訝又困惑，有時甚至是直呼恐怖。

Things are a little different across the Atlantic, in the UK. British Chinese takeout — a much-cherished cuisine but little understood outside the UK — bears so few similarities to its US counterpart that Americans have been sharing their surprise, and sometimes outright horror, on social media.

「我知道大家通常會把咖哩醬淋在炒麵上。」一位美國抖音（TikTok）網紅在品嚐她人生第一份英式中餐時錄製影片說道：「我要先在旁邊淋一點試試看。這真的很勾起我的好奇心。」當她吃下一口配著咖哩醬的炒麵時，她挑了挑眉毛讚許地表示：「這個味道加分不少，各位，我開始喜歡上咖哩醬了。」

“I know that people typically pour the curry all over the noodles,” notes one American TikToker in a video, as she digs into her first-ever British Chinese takeaway order. “I’m just going to pour a little bit on the side. I’m very intrigued by this.” Raising her eyebrows in approval as she takes a bite of chow mein with curry sauce, she reports, “It adds a little something. I’m into the curry sauce, guys.”

在 TikTok 上搜尋「英式中餐（British Chinese food）」，會跳出成千上萬支影片，內容是英國人炫耀著他們的外賣，或是外國旅客第一次體驗這道特殊美食。這股熱潮可追溯至 2023 年的一支影片，一位英國 TikToker 展示了她平常點的中餐內容。該影片自發布以來已累積超過 1,000 萬次瀏覽量和 15,000 則評論，其中很多是美國人對此深感困惑，因為英國版的中餐跟他們在美國吃的完全不同。

A search for “British Chinese food” on TikTok brings up thousands of videos of both Britons plating up their takeaways and foreign travelers sampling it for the first time. The uptick in interest can be traced to a 2023 post featuring a British TikToker showcasing her usual Chinese takeout order. The video has since attracted more than 10 million views and 15,000 comments, many from Americans baffled that the British version of Chinese food is nothing like the typical takeout they eat in the US.

有些人取笑這道菜看起來都是清一色的棕色，有些人則直呼「可怕極了」。引以為豪的英國人則紛紛跳出來捍衛他們心目中首選的療癒美食。這場飲食文化衝突圍繞著一道特定的菜餚變得異常激烈，促使許多美國人發問：到底薯條和咖哩與中國菜有什麼關係？

Some poked fun at the presence of so many brown dishes, while others called it “horrendous.” Proud Britons rushed to defend one of their favorite comfort foods. The culinary conflict got particularly heated around one specific dish, leading many Americans to ask: What do fries and curry have to do with Chinese food?

咖哩醬搭配薯條（Curry sauce and chips）在英國中餐外賣中隨處可見。

英國第一家中國餐廳於 1908 年在倫敦開業。當時幾乎沒有留下什麼文字記載，但菜單很可能包含幾道受粵式料理啟發的菜餚，例如炒飯、咕咾肉（sweet and sour pork）、炒麵（不要跟美式炒麵搞混，它更像是美式的撈麵）與雜碎（chop suey）。如今，在英國提供的中餐主要依然植根於粵菜烹飪，並融合了一些來自北京和四川的風味影響。

The very first Chinese restaurant in the UK opened in 1908 in London. Little about it was documented, but the menu likely included a few Cantonese-inspired dishes, such as fried rice, sweet and sour pork, chow mein (don’t confuse it with the US version, it’s more like an American lo mein) and chop suey. Today, most Chinese dishes served in the UK remain rooted in Cantonese cooking, along with some influences from Beijing and Sichuan province.

指標性的品項包含帶有博餅的香酥鴨（向北京烤鴨致敬）、乾煸牛肉（受四川啟發、包裹著甜辣濃稠醬汁的牛肉條）、咕咾雞肉球（裹上麵糊油炸的雞球配糖醋醬），以及芝麻蝦多士（港式炸蝦醬吐司覆蓋芝麻）。

Iconic items include crispy duck with pancakes (a nod to Peking duck), crispy chili beef (Sichuan-inspired beef strips in sweet and spicy sticky sauce), sweet and sour chicken balls (deep-fried batter-coated chicken in a sweet and sour sauce) and sesame prawn toast (Hong Kong-style deep-fried prawn paste on toast covered with sesame seeds).

如同所有的移民美食，英國的中國菜也隨著當地的口味與可取得的食材而演變，其中最著名的莫過於薯條（Chips）——也就是平常在炸魚薯條中吃到的那種厚切薯條。對於曼徹斯特知名中餐廳「甜柑橘（Sweet Mandarin）」的第三代傳人海倫·謝（Helen Tse）來說，有一道菜完美捕捉了這種演變：「椒鹽薯條淋咖哩醬，再搭配一份蛋炒飯。」

Like all immigrant cuisines, Chinese food in the UK evolved according to local tastes and available ingredients, not least chips — the classic thick-cut fries usually found in fish and chips. For Helen Tse, the third-generation owner of Manchester Chinese restaurant Sweet Mandarin, one dish captures that evolution perfectly: “Salt and pepper chips and curry sauce, with a side of egg fried rice.”

與美國中餐習慣用紙盒包裝不同，英式中餐外賣多以透明塑膠盒或鋁箔容器盛裝。

其他不太可能在美國見到的英式中餐還包括「香酥海藻」（實際上是油炸切絲包心菜）與沙嗲雞肉。甚至某些城市還擁有自己的招牌特色料理。例如，在倫敦時一定要嚐嚐「Jar Jow」，這是一道將蜜汁叉燒切片、薑片、青蔥與其他蔬菜放入濃稠番茄醬中快炒的料理。近年來風靡全英、甚至擁有專屬臉書粉絲團的愛爾蘭式名菜「香料袋（spice bag）」，則是將炸椒鹽薯條、雞肉與蔬菜混合拌入多種辛香料。

Other British Chinese dishes you aren’t likely to find in the US include crispy seaweed (actually deep-fried cabbage) and chicken satay. Certain cities also boast their own specialty dishes. When in London, for example, be sure to sample jar jow, which is a stir-fried sliced honey-glazed barbecue pork (char siu) with ginger, spring onion and other vegetables in a thick tomato sauce. The spice bag (a mix of fried salt and chili chips, chicken and vegetables with different spices) is a classic Irish Chinese dish that has amassed a cult following in recent years and is now found throughout the UK.

雖然有些菜色與美國菜單共享相同名稱，但調味與呈現方式通常大相徑庭，例如宮保雞丁和蛋捲／春捲。其他受歡迎的美式中餐如左宗棠雞或蟹肉雲吞（crab Rangoon），在典型英國菜單上完全找不到。而且，打開你的外賣時不要被嚇到，正如 TikTok 上展示的那樣，它並非盛裝在適合發上 Instagram 的可愛白色紙盒中。

While some dishes may share names with ones found on US menus, they often differ in seasoning or presentation, such as kung pao chicken and egg rolls/spring rolls. Other popular American Chinese dishes like General Tso’s chicken and crab Rangoon aren’t found on typical British Chinese menus at all. And don’t be alarmed when you open your order. As the many TikTok videos show, it’s not served in quaint Instagram-ready cardboard containers.

📜 關於生存的美味傳奇：郭莉莉的「水泥咖哩」

當郭莉莉（Lily Kwok）於1950年代在曼徹斯特開設她的第一家中餐外賣店時，當地的中國城甚至還未成形。

倫敦大學聖喬治學院研究英國華人社區的葉迪安（Diana Yeh）表示：「我想這顯示了外界對我們有多麼不了解。」她認為英國的中餐完美反映了該社群本身的一部奮鬥史。

“I guess it goes to show how little is known about us,” says Diana Yeh, reader at City St. George’s, University of London, whose research focuses on the British Chinese community. In the case of Chinese food in Britain, she feels it reflects the history of the Chinese community itself.

幾乎沒有哪道菜能比淋上咖哩醬的薯條更能概括這段迷人的過往——這也是海倫的外祖母郭莉莉（Lily Kwok）的故事。郭莉莉於 1918 年出生於中國廣州。搬到當時受英國統治的香港後，她那原本從事醬油買賣的外祖父遇害，讓家庭陷入困境。為了養家餬口，當年僅 11 歲的莉莉開始在富裕的英國伍德曼家族裡擔任幫傭。二戰結束後，這家人準備搬回英國西部的薩默塞特郡，並邀請莉莉一同前往。

Few dishes encapsulate this fascinating past better than chips drenched in curry sauce. And few curries tell that story better than the one served up by her grandmother, Lily Kwok. Born in Guangzhou, China, in 1918. After moving to the British-ruled Hong Kong years later, Kwok’s grandfather — a successful soy sauce trader — was murdered, leaving the family in distress. To support the family, Kwok, then just 11 years old, began working as a maid for a wealthy British family, the Woodmans. When World War II ended, they returned to their home in Somerset, and invited Kwok to join them.

1950 年，莉莉踏上了為期 35 天前往英國的航程，在旅程中，她向船上的廚房工作人員學到了更多的烹飪技巧。這艘船停靠過很多地方，在新加坡，她學到了椰奶基底的叻沙咖哩；在印度，她認識了各式各樣的香料。到了航程終點，她調配出了專屬自己的咖哩：一種溫和辛辣、帶有蘋果甜味與椰香回甘的咖哩醬。

In 1950, Kwok embarked on a 35-day sea voyage to England, during which she learned more cooking techniques from the ship’s kitchen staff. The ship stopped at different places. It stopped in Singapore, where my grandma learned about Laksa curry with a coconut base. It stopped in India where she learnt about all kinds of Indian spices. By the end of this journey, she had made her very own curry, which is a mild spicy curry with a coconut base with fruity apple notes and a bit of a kick.

海倫說：「那醬汁非常濃稠，簡直像水泥一樣。伍德曼先生之所以喜歡它，是因為它能夠緊緊附著在薯條和雞肉上，而不是像英國人吃週日烤肉時配的稀薄肉汁那樣滑落下去。」

“And it was very thick — like cement,” says Tse. “The reason why Mr. Woodman liked it was because it stuck onto the chips and chicken, instead of rolling off like the thin gravy that the English have on their Sunday roast.”

幾年後，伍德曼夫人去世，莉莉帶著一份微薄的遺產搬到了曼徹斯特附近的城鎮。當時英國雖早有中餐館，但種族排外、嚴格的移民法以及英國大眾對外國事物的排斥，使得它們幾乎是處於隱形狀態。莉莉在 1959 年開設了曼徹斯特第一家外賣店「龍鳳」，她非常清楚自己該賣什麼：薯條與咖哩醬。菜單上的其他內容也完全配合英國人的口味。

After a few years in Somerset, Mrs. Woodman died and Kwok relocated near Manchester. At this time, xenophobia, tight immigration rules and general British suspicion kept Chinese restaurants mostly invisible. Enter Kwok. In 1959, she opened Lung Fung, Manchester’s first Chinese restaurant and takeout. She knew exactly what she’d sell: chips and curry. Everything else on the menu bent to British taste buds.

「擦窗工人走進來對我阿嬤說：『我想來點牛排配薯條。』阿嬤就說：『好，我有牛排。』然後又有人說想吃牛肝。」海倫解釋她阿嬤早期的外賣菜單是如何成型的，甚至為此加入了牛排與各式英式派（pies）。到了 1960 年代，生意興隆，莉莉一共開了六家外賣店與一家餐館。

“John, the window cleaner, came in and said, ‘Oh, I fancy some steak and chips.’ And my grandma said, ‘I’ve got steak.’ Then, someone said, ‘I’d love a liver,’” Tse says, explaining how her grandma’s early Chinese takeout menu took shape, leading to the inclusion of dishes like steaks and pies. By the 1960s, Kwok had opened six takeout joints and a restaurant. Business was booming.

雖然郭莉莉的家族事業幾經波折，但由這類外賣店首創的商業模式在 70 和 80 年代迎來了爆發性成長。估計到了 1984 年，全英約有 7,000 家中餐館與外賣店。作為對比，1986 年時全英國的麥當勞也才只有 200 家。

Though the family faced ups and downs, the business model pioneered by takeaways like hers surged in the 1970s and 1980s. It was estimated that there were about 7,000 Chinese restaurants and takeouts by 1984 across the UK. For comparison, there were only 200 McDonald’s by 1986.

多年來的調查顯示，中式外送一直被評為英國人最喜愛的外賣，但在背後撐起這項產業的社群卻長期被忽視。海倫的姐妹們原本苦讀想「遠離餐飲業」，分別成為律師、金融人士與工程師，但 2004 年她們大膽決定辭去高薪工作，重啟傳奇的「甜柑橘」，端出郭莉莉當年名聞遐邇的特製咖哩醬。

Over the years, surveys consistently ranked Chinese food as Britain’s favorite takeout, yet the community behind it stayed mostly invisible. Tse and her sisters studied hard to “deliberately get away from food,” becoming a lawyer, entering finance and engineering. But in 2004 they made a bold decision to quit their jobs, and open Sweet Mandarin, serving Lily’s famed curry sauce.

面對網路上所有針對英式中餐的負面評價，她們並不氣餒。「我想人們有時候忘記了，這個世界大到足夠容納各種不同的飲食風貌。」海倫說道。她也確信，如果她外祖母還健在，絕對會親自端上一碗熱騰騰的咖哩登上電視新聞，對著所有人說：「在你開口批評前，先給我嚐一口試試看！」

As for all those negative comments about British Chinese food online? She’s undeterred. “I think people sometimes forget there’s enough space in the world for different offerings,” she says. She's also confident if her grandmother were alive, she would bring a pot of curry to national TV and say: "You try this first before you say anything!"