The Truth About “Americanized” Foods
“Americanized” food—the phrase uttered with the same disgust normally reserved for people who microwave fish in the break room. Food purists sneer at the mere thought of General Tso’s Chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, or a beefy, cheese-smothered enchilada. “That’s not real [insert cuisine here],” they cry, clutching their passports from that one summer abroad, where they learned to pronounce words like “croissant” with a level of smugness previously thought unattainable.
But here’s the thing: these so-called “inauthentic” dishes didn’t emerge from some corporate test kitchen looking to trick the masses. They were born from immigrants making the best of what they had, adapting cherished traditions to new lands, new ingredients, and new (sometimes aggressively bland) palates. In short, they weren’t ruining their food—they were surviving.
So, before we write off every Americanized dish as a crime against culture, let’s take a closer look at how immigrant ingenuity shaped the way we eat today. Because, spoiler alert: the story of Americanized food is way more interesting than just, “they added too much cheese.”
Chinese-American food has a long and rich history, dating back to the mid-19th century when Chinese immigrants, primarily from Guangdong (Canton), arrived in the U.S. for work, particularly during the California Gold Rush and the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. Many opened restaurants or worked as cooks, adapting their traditional flavors to what was available locally.
American-Chinese restaurants were generally loyal to the authentic Chinese cooking, but swapped out original ingredients for local fare out of necessity, such as swapping out the traditional mustard green, kailan, and shiitakes for peas, carrots, broccoli, and white button mushrooms.
With the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Chinese workers were heavily discriminated against, but their restaurants remained one of the few ways they could sustain themselves. To survive, they modified further to cater to American palates, toning down certain flavors and sensations, particularly bitterness, numbing and spice (because nothing says “freedom” like demanding your food taste like a beige sweater dipped in syrup).
Mass Italian immigration to the U.S. (primarily Southern Italians and Sicilians) peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Unlike northern Italy’s wealthier regions, Southern Italians had little access to meat and other luxuries like sugar and wine in their homeland. But in the U.S., meat was cheap and plentiful, leading to a transformation in how Italian food was made.
Italians adapted their cuisine using larger portions, more cheese, and heavier sauces, eventually giving birth to what we know as Italian-American food. These dishes were not “wrong” but rather a result of adaptation and survival in a new land.
Your cousin Ted who went to Italy in the 11th grade can’t stand the thought of spaghetti and meatballs or a New York slice of four-cheese pizza. But in the end, “Americanized” Italian cooking is a celebration of Italian immigrants’ access to foods that were economically prohibitive back at home. It was the entire reason they immigrated in the first place!
Ted, tragically, has never recovered from the sight of a deep-dish pizza.
Before Korean immigrants arrived in large numbers, beef was not traditionally a big part of Korean diets. Pork and chicken were more common, and when beef was eaten, it was usually in soups, stews, or thinly sliced for bulgogi.
But when Koreans immigrated to the U.S. in the 20th century, especially in Los Angeles in the 1960s-80s, they encountered a meat-heavy American diet. They wanted to keep their grilling traditions alive but had trouble finding the right cuts of beef for traditional galbi (갈비), which is short ribs cut thick and butterflied off the bone.
Here’s where Mexican butchers come in.
How Did Koreans End Up Buying Meat from Mexican Butchers?
The result? LA galbi (엘에이 갈비), now one of the most famous Korean BBQ dishes worldwide.
It’s a perfect example of how immigrant communities adapt, innovate, and create new food traditions based on what’s available. LA galbi wouldn’t exist without Mexican butchers, Korean ingenuity, and the melting pot of Los Angeles.
And today? Even in Korea, many BBQ restaurants use the “LA Galbi” cut—a full-circle moment where an Americanized version of a dish influences the original cuisine.
Korean BBQ purists might scoff, but the truth is LA galbi is just as authentic as anything from Seoul—it just has an immigrant backstory.
Before we even talk about “Mexican food in America,” let’s get one thing straight: Mexicans didn’t immigrate to the U.S. at first—Mexico was already here.
In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War and ceded nearly half of Mexico’s territory to the U.S. (including Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming). The border may have moved, but Mexican grandmothers stayed firmly planted, wielding tortillas like shields against historical revisionism.
Tex-Mex cuisine begins here. Early Tex-Mex food was not Americanized—it was Tejano food, using locally available ingredients. For example, flour tortillas replaced corn in Texas because wheat flour was easier to source in the region. Beef became more dominant—Mexico was a pork-heavy cuisine, but Texas had an abundance of cattle. Chili con carne emerged, influenced by Spanish and indigenous chili stews, but developed uniquely in Texas.
During this period, the first “Mexican-American” foods were born, not because of immigration, but because Mexican communities in U.S. territory had to adapt.
Then in the early 20th century, the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) sent waves of immigrants into the U.S., especially to California, Arizona, and Texas. These immigrants brought regional Mexican dishes but had to modify them because of ingredient availability, segregation, and economic hardship. Thus:
But here’s the thing: these so-called “inauthentic” dishes didn’t emerge from some corporate test kitchen looking to trick the masses. They were born from immigrants making the best of what they had, adapting cherished traditions to new lands, new ingredients, and new (sometimes aggressively bland) palates. In short, they weren’t ruining their food—they were surviving.
So, before we write off every Americanized dish as a crime against culture, let’s take a closer look at how immigrant ingenuity shaped the way we eat today. Because, spoiler alert: the story of Americanized food is way more interesting than just, “they added too much cheese.”
Chinese-American Cuisine
Chinese-American food has a long and rich history, dating back to the mid-19th century when Chinese immigrants, primarily from Guangdong (Canton), arrived in the U.S. for work, particularly during the California Gold Rush and the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. Many opened restaurants or worked as cooks, adapting their traditional flavors to what was available locally.
American-Chinese restaurants were generally loyal to the authentic Chinese cooking, but swapped out original ingredients for local fare out of necessity, such as swapping out the traditional mustard green, kailan, and shiitakes for peas, carrots, broccoli, and white button mushrooms.
With the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Chinese workers were heavily discriminated against, but their restaurants remained one of the few ways they could sustain themselves. To survive, they modified further to cater to American palates, toning down certain flavors and sensations, particularly bitterness, numbing and spice (because nothing says “freedom” like demanding your food taste like a beige sweater dipped in syrup).
Italian-American Cuisine
Mass Italian immigration to the U.S. (primarily Southern Italians and Sicilians) peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Unlike northern Italy’s wealthier regions, Southern Italians had little access to meat and other luxuries like sugar and wine in their homeland. But in the U.S., meat was cheap and plentiful, leading to a transformation in how Italian food was made.
Italians adapted their cuisine using larger portions, more cheese, and heavier sauces, eventually giving birth to what we know as Italian-American food. These dishes were not “wrong” but rather a result of adaptation and survival in a new land.
Your cousin Ted who went to Italy in the 11th grade can’t stand the thought of spaghetti and meatballs or a New York slice of four-cheese pizza. But in the end, “Americanized” Italian cooking is a celebration of Italian immigrants’ access to foods that were economically prohibitive back at home. It was the entire reason they immigrated in the first place!
Ted, tragically, has never recovered from the sight of a deep-dish pizza.
Korean-American Cuisine
Before Korean immigrants arrived in large numbers, beef was not traditionally a big part of Korean diets. Pork and chicken were more common, and when beef was eaten, it was usually in soups, stews, or thinly sliced for bulgogi.
But when Koreans immigrated to the U.S. in the 20th century, especially in Los Angeles in the 1960s-80s, they encountered a meat-heavy American diet. They wanted to keep their grilling traditions alive but had trouble finding the right cuts of beef for traditional galbi (갈비), which is short ribs cut thick and butterflied off the bone.
Here’s where Mexican butchers come in.
How Did Koreans End Up Buying Meat from Mexican Butchers?
- Many Korean immigrants settled in Los Angeles, particularly Koreatown.
- Mexican butchers (carnicerías) were abundant in LA and had experience preparing meat for Latin American grilling styles.
- Koreans looking for short ribs went to Mexican butchers, but instead of thick-cut, bone-in short ribs (the Korean style), they were given flanken-cut short ribs—a thin, cross-cut style of butchery popular in Mexican and Argentine cooking.
- Rather than reject it, Koreans embraced it—the meat cooked faster, absorbed marinade better, and came with built-in edible nunchucks.
The result? LA galbi (엘에이 갈비), now one of the most famous Korean BBQ dishes worldwide.
It’s a perfect example of how immigrant communities adapt, innovate, and create new food traditions based on what’s available. LA galbi wouldn’t exist without Mexican butchers, Korean ingenuity, and the melting pot of Los Angeles.
And today? Even in Korea, many BBQ restaurants use the “LA Galbi” cut—a full-circle moment where an Americanized version of a dish influences the original cuisine.
Korean BBQ purists might scoff, but the truth is LA galbi is just as authentic as anything from Seoul—it just has an immigrant backstory.
Mexican-American (Tex-Mex & Cal-Mex) Cuisine
Before we even talk about “Mexican food in America,” let’s get one thing straight: Mexicans didn’t immigrate to the U.S. at first—Mexico was already here.
In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War and ceded nearly half of Mexico’s territory to the U.S. (including Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming). The border may have moved, but Mexican grandmothers stayed firmly planted, wielding tortillas like shields against historical revisionism.
- Tejanos (Mexicans in Texas) and Californianos (Mexicans in California) did not cross the border—the border crossed them.
- These communities maintained their cultural and culinary traditions, but they were suddenly cut off from Mexico and had to adapt their food based on what was available.
Tex-Mex cuisine begins here. Early Tex-Mex food was not Americanized—it was Tejano food, using locally available ingredients. For example, flour tortillas replaced corn in Texas because wheat flour was easier to source in the region. Beef became more dominant—Mexico was a pork-heavy cuisine, but Texas had an abundance of cattle. Chili con carne emerged, influenced by Spanish and indigenous chili stews, but developed uniquely in Texas.
During this period, the first “Mexican-American” foods were born, not because of immigration, but because Mexican communities in U.S. territory had to adapt.
Then in the early 20th century, the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) sent waves of immigrants into the U.S., especially to California, Arizona, and Texas. These immigrants brought regional Mexican dishes but had to modify them because of ingredient availability, segregation, and economic hardship. Thus:
- Corn tortillas were harder to find in the U.S. Southwest, so flour tortillas became even more popular.
- Cheese became more common—in Mexico, cheese wasn’t heavily used in most dishes, but in the U.S., cheddar and Monterey Jack were widely available.
- More fried foods—American tastes and cooking methods influenced dishes like chimichangas (which are rumored to have been an accident that took off like wildfire).
Mexican-American food is not fake—it’s a living, evolving cuisine that reflects the struggles, adaptations, and creativity of Mexican communities in the U.S..
Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex, Chicano food—all of it is authentic to the people who created it.
Final Thoughts
I could go on for so much longer: Japanese-American, Jewish-American, Greek-American, the list goes on, but we’re already pretty deep, and I think I’ve made my point:
Pretty much every cuisine in the U.S. has been transformed by immigrant creativity and necessity, not corporate gimmicks. There’s no shame in these adaptations—they represent ingenuity, survival, and cultural fusion.
So next time someone rolls their eyes at "Americanized" ethnic food, remind them that these dishes weren’t stolen or ruined (I promise, nobody’s Italian grandmother is haunting the Olive Garden in a fit of supernatural rage)—they were adapted by immigrants to survive and thrive in their new home. And, in most cases, their communities embraced these dishes just as much as outsiders did.
In the end, “Americanized” versions of food are as real as the people who make them.
Matthew Christensen
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2023
Email the author! matthew@dvo.com
