What Made You a Chinese Food Fan?

"On our first date, Dan picked me up at work for lunch, which I insisted must be quick. Enthralled by his good looks and conversation (really!) I didn't notice until he'd parked that we were at a nearby Chinese restaurant. My only experience with Chinese food had been canned chow mein. I'd decided I hated Chinese food.
I thought "I'll just not eat". Dan ordered an appetizer platter to share. Well, I took a nibble of this and a taste of that and suddenly I was hooked. I ate at least half of everything. Some of our most memorable dates after that were at Chinese resturants. Dan and I are now married. I cook Chinese dishes quite often, and my favorite restaurants are still Chinese."
From Linda Thomas

"Back in 1939-1940, shortly after Canada went to war with Germany, my best friend's brother and sister returned to Canada from China, where they had been missionaries for many years. After being home a few months, they took my friend Bob and myself to Toronto's Chinatown. In those days Toronto's Chinatown was confined to Elizabeth Street, but it still had quite a few good restaurants. We entered one of them, and Clarence, after speaking to the owner, went into the kitchen and placed an order with the chef.

At age fourteen, this was my first experience with Chinese food, and I was hooked! We had a rib dish, along with low mein and vegetables, and of course, rice.

We continued to visit that restaurant for quite a few years afterward. Indeed, I took my girlfriend there in 1947, for her first venture into Chinese food. I had met a kindred spirit! In 1949, we married. We are still very involved with Chinese and Asian food; I usually prepare an Asian meal at least three times per week, and sometimes more often. I have taught Chinese cooking classes quite successfully in the past, but no longer do so."
From Doug

"My parents would take my brother and I to Chinese restaurants, and while I liked the food, I could take or leave it. What I didn't realize was that it was Americanized. We never really went to a real Chinese restaurant. Then my brother married a Taiwanese woman - one day, she made a Chinese dinner for us. Wow, what a difference in taste. It was delicious and not at all like the restaurant food I was used to. I became a fan of real Chinese food from that moment on."
From Beth

"Your question made me smile - I can't answer precisely what made me a Chinese food fan. I used to live in a small town in the province of Quebec, Canada. The few restaurants we had served either hotdogs or pizza. Then, along came a Chinese family... and the restaurant. The crunchy vegetables did the trick for me: I was seduced and so were my parents. We became regulars.

After a few months of "restaurant" Chinese food, my father's natural curiosity took over. Expecting the answer to be no, he asked if, instead of something on the menu, we could have the same thing the owner was eating that night. And the miracle happened...What had been our favorite food suddenly became ordinary, while what we were now eating was unbelievable. We were eating a dish of cellophane noodles and fresh vegetables - it was love at first taste.

From then on, twice a year, we managed to travel to Montreal's Chinatown to get all the special ingredients for the dish: noodles, fresh greens, fresh ginger, etc. We had no clue as to what the greens were called: in our small town, broccoli was considered exotic. The owner of the restaurant was more than happy to teach my mother how to properly steam rice, and slice and stir fry vegetables.

That was back in the early 1960s. I now have a family of my own, and live close to Montreal. My kids grew up eating stir fries, Chinese sausage and other Chinese foods. And, of course, our favorite, cellophane noodles. I cook Chinese food two or three times a week, and managed to convince the owner of a Chinese restaurant close to cook something "different" for us when we go. He calls it our "surprise du jour," since he gets to chose what we will eat.
I'm not a Chinese food fan, I'm an addict!" From Maryjo