Celebrity Chef David Chang of the Momofuku restaurants in New York, thinks Americans are missing out on the real article when it comes to Chinese food.

Question: What is the most underrated cuisine?

David Chang:  I think the most underrated cuisine might be Chinese food.  People think that Chinese food is just; it’s funny. 

Perception has changed.  A decade ago, people would be like, “Oh food . . .  I just got back from China and the food was terrible.”  They were basing their food memories on American, sticky, crappy Chinese food.  But by going to China and getting the real stuff, it’s something that they’re not used to.  And also they don’t realize that China is a lot larger than Europe, and look how many flavor cuisines that Europe has.  China has so many different flavors and different cuisines within their region, and it’s not really represented at all in America.

Question: Will that change with Chinese ascendancy?

David Chang:I don’t know.  Americans are pretty stubborn.  They like their Panda Express and their egg rolls and General Tsao’s chicken, which is delicious still. 

Real Chinese food is totally different, whether it be Shanghainese, or Szechuan, or what. 

It’s underrated in this country because I think that it’s not marketable.  It’s not aesthetically what Americans are used to in terms of western palate.  But the skill level and the fact that some of it is just so damn delicious is not represented.