Al Roker Explores America's Changing Chinatowns On "Family Style"

there are dozens of chinatowns all across america with interesting architecture diverse restaurants and specialty shops it's no wonder they're popular with locals and tourists alike they also provide places for new immigrants and for families to create communities but with gentrification and all sorts of problems from the pandemic it's no wonder that all these chinatowns are rapidly changing it's time to head out of studio 1a and hit the road for a new kind of culinary adventure follow me as i taste some of the most iconic foods around the country and meet the families behind them together we're going to learn how a good meal has the power to connect us to our past our future and each other [Music] okay so it's no surprise there's incredible food to be found here in manhattan's chinatown folks lining up all the time but there used to be chinatowns in cities and towns big and small all across this country in fact the longest-running family-owned chinese restaurant is in a place you might never think of butte montana at the turn of the century butte montana was a bustling mining town the invention of electricity leading to a demand for conductors like copper mining boom the city flourishing the demand for labor brought thousands of immigrants to butte they came from so many different countries including italy ireland and china it was the classic portrait of the american west with gambling saloons even a red light district by 1914 buttes chinatown was thriving with over 60 chinese-owned businesses now we're going to prepare broccoli beef my name is jerry tam and i'm the owner of the pecan noodle parlor the pecan first opened as a tobacco shop and casino run by jerry's great uncle ham yao two years later i'm adding a restaurant and the pekin noodle parlor was born this building has three different levels the top level obviously is the pika noodle parlor and then the second level on the main street used to be a herbal medicine shop that shop was run by jerry's great grandfather tam guang yi it's crazy to think that you know everything came over from china at one time like they didn't make soy sauce in america the noodles were fried and brought over on ships because they didn't make fresh noodles so the history of this place really holds true that this is a chinese restaurant you know from chinese immigrants i met up with culinary historian grace young to learn more about america's earliest chinatown where was the first chinatown and how did it get started the first chinatown is san francisco the first chinese came to california for the gold rush and that was 1848 and they came because america needed cheap labor and so from gold rush they ended up doing farming manufacturing and then eventually they worked on the transcontinental railroad and the first chinatown formed because america wanted cheap labor but they didn't want the chinese to live with whites so they were ostracized from white communities [Music] talk to me about that first wave of chinese immigration to the u.s the chinese came from southern china from principally from the area of canton and there was tremendous prejudice against the chinese they were lynched and because the chinese were willing to work for lower wages they were seen as the reason why americans were suffering so much so the blame was unfairly placed on the chinese in 1882 congress signed the chinese exclusion act into law it banned chinese from migrating to the u.s it marks the only time in american history that an entire race or ethnic group was banned from immigrating but the interesting thing about this exclusion act was that there was actually exemption for chinese tourists students teachers and also merchants a landmark court case in 1915 classified chinese restaurant owners as merchants and it gave them a way to circumvent the exclusion act of 1882. it was this exemption that allowed jerry's great uncle to open pekin noodle parlor in butte paving a path for more family members to immigrate to the u.s and help the business jerry's father danny wong arrived in the u.s in 1947 as a teenager ever since he was 14 years old he's been working at topeka noodle parlor and he just started with the simple roles of washing dishes and then he learned how to cook and then he slowly just started integrating himself into you know managing it and working with the waitresses and the staff danny taking over the restaurant in the 1950s spending years turning it into a pillar of the local community well i've been coming here for at least 50 years and they give me plenty of food i never walk away hungry i love coming to work because of all the people i work with like they choose really nice people and i mean my father probably employed over 10 000 people at this you know throughout his whole entire life so it's interesting to know that there's nearly five to six generations of people that you know have worked here the menu at pekin noodle parlor hasn't changed much over the years we do a thing called chop suey and what chop suey is is tidbits of leftover vegetables that were kind of mixed together in its own gravy and served on top of chow mein noodles we've been serving it for over 110 years chop suey is in large part why chinese food became so popular across the united states chop suey was the first time america experienced a culinary craze a food crate and it's starting at the end of the 19th century that there are americans who are venturing into chinatown the way they got them to even experiment with chinese food was to make a stir fry that was actually quite bland so they used bamboo shoots water chestnuts onions oftentimes there was celery for many years chinatowns were the only places where non-chinese americans could sample asian flavors americans were going to chinatown some were curious they wanted to experience curio shops chinese operas with increased tourism china towns and large cities grew but it was a different story in montana like many mining towns butte lost many of its workers as production slowed in the 1950s once the copper ran dry then the people started to pick up and just kind of move up move on and move back to their families and the bigger states as miners left butte for new opportunities its chinatown disappeared in the early 1900s there were seven chop suey restaurants listed in the butte city directory today only the pekin noodle parlor remains open [Music] jerry tam runs the pekin noodle parlor in butte montana people may know this is the oldest chinese restaurant in america but below it is so much history [Music] despite pekin's historic status jerry says he was never pressured by family to join the business i never learned to cook until i came back back in around 2009 because like any asian american my parents wanted all of their kids to go to college so we all went to colleges around the nation and to get a better education become a lawyer a doctor and what have you but i went to fashion and what was great about that is i got to see the world because of it in 2004 jerry even appearing on bravo's project runway but a few years later family duty calling him home and unfortunately my mom had a stroke so my dad needed help you know taking care of her and take care of the restaurant i think it was really hard on my father because they were in a generation where they loved each other every day and they were just best friends after jerry's mom passed jerry and his dad began operating pekin together he never stopped working so he was working here all the way until 85 until he couldn't make up the stairs anymore my father and i spent every day together i made sure he was uh he was healthy all the way till the end the best of my ability i can do my father passed in november and it was really you know heartbreaking he didn't want to say goodbye to my sisters or me or this restaurant or the community he loved you montana jerry now runs pekin noodle parlor with his cousin nelson together they're working to preserve a family legacy and keep a piece of chinese american history alive in an unlikely place i've been asked the question was the future of the pecan and the best answer i can give you is let's just keep it the same let's not change anything because that's what people come here for they need to have their parking spots they have their booths they have their favorite place to sit at the bar i don't think they want any change because this is a place that feels like home [Music] while new york city is home to america's largest chinatown the honor of the oldest goes to san francisco and that's where the far east cafe is located it is one of the last remaining historic chinese banquet halls [Music] after a two-year hiatus this celebrated venue hosted the 64th annual miss chinatown usa pageant a lunar new year tradition the occasion marking a triumphant milestone for this century-old institution bill lee has owned the far east cafe since 1999 his daughter kathy working by his side as the manager he brought me into the restaurant to kind of understand the roots of our culture he wanted me to remember that you know chinatown is about community it's about traditions it's about culture for many in the community chinese banquet halls are more than just venues for special events i feel that far east is kind of like a second home for you know a lot of our patrons that come in because they feel so comfortable so much history and so many memories you know a lot of patrons that have been here they told me they're like oh my parents had my red egg ginger party it's very similar to like a baptism and that was like 50 something years ago and that history is everywhere you look at far east the ceilings that like my dad mentioned the high ceilings the moldings the moldings are all original and the lanterns were all imported from china uh in the 1920s so they're over 100 plus years old for the last few decades there were five giant banquet style restaurants in san francisco's chinatown but with rising rents and gentrification most have since closed their doors by early 2020 only two banquet halls remained the far east cafe planned to celebrate its 100 year anniversary with a big celebration instead it's now planning to close its doors at the start of the pandemic the restaurant stayed afloat by cooking meals for senior citizens and low-income residents in chinatown we applied for a ppp loan and we got over two hundred thousand dollars we also received money from the feed and fuel program then our landlord gave us six months of free ride beyond covid a different type of virus brought more harm to chinatowns across the country anti-asian hate crimes soaring by nearly 340 in 2021. when this started happening i felt very very sad and also very angry because i'm like why is this happening to chinatown why is it happening to our community you know for these people to target elderly people to push them down to rob them don't they realize that they have grandparents too or they have parents that are that age and if that happened to their parents how would they feel then people saw the attacks when they watched the news and heard reports and they got even more scared they don't want to go out even for special events like the mid-autumn festival we tried to invite them but they didn't want to come we used to be open until 10 o'clock before pandemic sometimes we would stay out here until midnight if we had events now we can't we can't do that we change the business hours to close at seven seven thirty because safety is the most important thing business owners across chinatown still face hostility george and cindy chen opened china live in 2017. we've been lucky we've only had a couple instances where you know people scream anti-asian slurs and we're concerned about our employees you know coming to work and and being harassed i i think that ignorance is uh very unfortunate china live is a massive marketplace with multiple restaurants it's in a building that once housed a banquet hall like far east i remember coming to a wedding here when i was in college and i think i think literally 5 000 people in like six restaurants but unfortunately you know real estate was getting very expensive so it's not very cost effective if you don't have that business but two years ago the couple had to lay off 200 workers however with the support of partners george and cindy were able to pivot their business on a few fronts we did you know the ghost kitchen was selling outside our box so we have 10 locations in the bay area from san jose to berkeley and and they can order food from those ghost kitchens ghost kitchens prepare restaurant quality food exclusively for delivery or takeout we sold so many pecan ducks we didn't know what to do with all the duck fat so what do you do you make popcorn with it so that's why we have a dick fat popcorn [Music] as business picked up china live was able to rehire 100 workers despite an uncertain future these restaurants remain hopeful that business will rebound more police presence people are more as a community standing up for ourselves making sure that we have like the buddy system making sure that we're together and we feel safe that we're walking together that we have each other's back i mean dining out is an essential part of life right i mean one more fun is to look forward to having dinner with friends you haven't seen at a new place where a full favorite place but some old favorites just can't be replaced wire during the pandemic many restaurants have shut down far east is now the biggest restaurant in chinatown if far east closes there won't be space big enough to host large events for the community we were overjoyed having that miss chinatown usa event here a press conference and just being able to reconnect with the community it warmed my heart and my dad was just like so overjoyed that people are coming in just to celebrate [Music] to learn more about the future of chinese american restaurants i went to visit chef lucas sin in new york city this savvy chef is on a mission to save mom and pop shops from closing and putting a spin on the classics hey nice to meet you see you all right can't wait to come in here come in here lucas was born and raised in hong kong growing up he had never heard of dishes like general so's chicken what was your first experience with chinese americans yeah and did you go what the heck is this i was here for summer camp and uh on tuesdays at 10 o'clock or so right before bedtime this van would pull up in the front of the school and you could pick between sesame chicken generous chicken orange chicken with broccoli and fried rice or white rice or whatever it was the first thought was that this is ridiculously delicious whereas it's been my whole life and the second thought is that what in the world is the difference between orange chicken and jello so chicken and sesame chicken why is there so much that i don't understand about this if last time i checked i was chinese lucas actually studied cognitive science at yale but he always had a passion for cooking his summers spent training in award-winning restaurants in hong kong in japan after graduating in 2015 lucas opened his first restaurant with yale classmate yang zao junzi kitchen is a fast casual chain that serves modern chinese fare but lucas remained passionate about the chinese american cuisine he first tasted as a boy so so how did chinese-american food the food that we have become uh familiar with how did that develop how did that happen now chinese takeout is interesting right because it's all over the united states so these folks come in they apprentice in a restaurant right they learn those recipes and they go somewhere else right to open their own exactly and then their cousins come from fujian and then those recipes are passed on and there's a remarkable similarity too to to these dishes despite the popularity of chinese american food many family-owned restaurants that once dotted chinatowns and other urban areas have been closing for years opening restaurants is really difficult and running restaurants is perhaps even more difficult these moms and dads open these restaurants with other kids can go to university and become lawyers and doctors and television hosts and whatnot and now they're they're finally able to do that they don't need to run these restaurants anymore right suddenly livelihoods have changed that's a good thing lucas and young hatched an idea to help smaller businesses in 2019 nice day seeks out restaurants facing closure then works with the owners to remodel the space and update the menus the pandemic stalled the team's initial plans but the second location in long island is slated to open this spring it's important to me that these new chinese american takeout restaurants that we're building called nice day work with the previous generation of owners because they have a lot of knowledge that we don't they know their customers they know what sells they know how to cook these dishes they have recipes you raise an interesting point in that you talk to these retired chinese restaurant owners is that part of the the sense of trying to memorialize what could be lost now preserving recipes is part of it but the other important part is preserving the way business is done can you take our restaurants at one of the few restaurants in the world that if they're open from let's say 11 to 10 the work hours are 11 to 10. they don't have any prep hours the same cooks that do the walk stir fries are also prepping during the day it's ridiculously efficient and it's got to do with the setup and the way that the kitchens are run but it's also important to us that we give back to those last generation and that we can make sure that owners who want to retire can retire well and that that legacy can be preserved in a new type of american chinese restaurant while nice day pays homage to popular chinese-american recipes lucas has been celebrated for his innovative fusion dishes in 2021 he was named one of food and wine's best new chefs we serve a mapo mac and cheese here which is a variation on that dish it's fusiony and it's silly and it's just an attempt to do something ridiculous it doesn't make any sense it betrays every chef sensibility that i have but unfortunately it's delicious and it's interesting and it gets people talking finally it's time to eat lucas showing me how to make his signature dish how do we get started so the maple mac and cheese the mac and the cheese elements are rigorously american these are this is elbow macaroni right cooked halfway and this is velveeta but the mapo element is going to be in the form of a mapo sauce if you will the last two elements that really sort of take this over the edge is um chinese sausage oh it can function like bacon and some dried shiitake mushrooms that we've rehydrated so to start off with we're just going to cut a couple of things and this tofu we will then put into the deep fryer this concludes the chopping portion of our progress next garlic and ginger are cooked till fragrant then spicy bean paste and soybean paste are added to start the sauce mushroom broil is added the mixture brought to a boil so the flavors infuse can i give that a try yeah absolutely here we go so your left hand is on the wok yeah that's why the pros do it baby [Music] at this point everything's smelling quite good so the macaroni is going to go in as well as the soup we just made once it's boiling and happy two slices are the best of the best velveeta velveeta american cheese wait for that velveeta to melt you'll see that that sauce is already beautifully tied together [Music] we like to play this dish in the chinese takeout box oh wow that's silly oh why not it's fun some fried tofu puffs as croutons go over the top that's a little bit of texture and the homage to the original maple tofu these fresh scallions are actually really important because they cut through the heaviness of the original dish wow there's a little spice the creaminess the crunch of the the tofu i hope you guys yeah get a little bit of sauce yeah well you've never had mac and cheese like this amid a global pandemic changing family dynamics and anti-asian racism chinatowns across america and the communities that sustain them face a challenging road ahead every business that is open right now is still fighting for its life and i think that the best way to fight the anti-asian hate is to show our love for the community come to chinatown or your local asian american pacific islander restaurant store market give them your business we have lost so much during the pandemic and i think it makes us all so much more conscious that we have to protect what we love [Music] hey thanks for watching our youtube channel find your favorite recipes celebrity interviews uplifting stories shop our favorite deals and so much more with the today 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Length: 25min 38sec (1538 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 24 2022