I’ve been mildly obsessed with a particular kind of fusion food for a while now: “Indian-Chinese.” Before I explain, I’d like to point out that what we in the U.S. refer to as Chinese food is fusion and not the kind of food you might find in China. Dishes like chopsuey, General Tso’s chicken and fortune cookies were invented in the U.S. Similarly, Indian-Chinese food has been developed by Chinese immigrants living in India. It’s Chinese food tailored to Indian palates. If you’re ordering it in India, you’d just call it Chinese food. We have access to it in America because of the growing Indian immigrant population.

I recently went to Monsoon Express in South Plainfield, NJ where some friends and I ordered Chili Paneer, Vegetable Manchurian and Singapore Noodles with some white rice (counter clockwise, from 9:00). Love these names, by the way: can you get any more fusion-y? As for the flavor, I can’t really describe it. The end products are entities sui generis and don’t really resemble Indian or Chinese food, as I know them. It’s great food though, and unlike a lot of trendy fusion food that combine French and Asian ingredients and techniques (saag and goat chese pizza, anyone?), it’s usually tastier than it is interesting.


Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Chinese_cuisine