To Chinese Food what Budweiser is to beer.

Mass-produced, mostly canned Chinese foods that you can get in nearly every grocery store in the United States. Do yourself a favor and go to an Asian grocery if you have one nearby.

I have verbed this (proper) noun, and use it thus: the "dumbing-down" of Asian food by a restaurant in order to cater to the uneducated palates of the gaijin. Does not apply to offering differing levels of heat, as capsaicin is an acquired taste and I've never faulted anyone for not being able to stand spicy food.

It's a sound business move to do this, and for economic survival purposes, there's nothing wrong with it -- if a Chinese restaurant sold nothing but "real" Chinese food, I think about 80% of the menu would never be touched by most merkins. But for those of us who know better than to eat the lemongrass pieces in the tom kha kai, it's irritating to see this happen. I mostly cook my own these days for this reason.

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