Jennifer 8. Lee: Who was General Tso? and other mysteries of

[irkenkai]

nicceee

[lavvy2585]

she gives a very good presentation, well researched and much fun to listen too.

[Flippyy1]

She was good

[mekkab]

27 people thought they were being debonair when eating "odds and ends."

/And probably can't use chopsticks, either.

[uofschs724]

The hypocrisy Americans are just like their ancestors one centernary ago. They eliminated the Indian population, but they failed to do the same thing with other westerners on Chinese. Now it is the time for them to pay the price, they will learn their lesson.

[Ligaya1980]

What a great presentation =) Thank you Jennifer!

[strudel8samurai]

She wasn't flicking anyone off when pushing up her glasses. To the Chinese, the middle finger isn't used as a vulgarity. In fact, it is actually more often used to point at things than the index finger is.

[Zareste]

get your propaganda off youtube

[grgisme]

Freudian slip? She flicks off the audience as she talks about Chinese not being allows to immigrate into the US for 100 years. 8:49

[Codex1]

@grgisme

LOL! She totally flipped everyone off. Yes, very definitely a Freudian slip, or perhaps even intentional.

[deaderReichen]

googled picture general tso.

ratio of general tso's picture:chicken

1:10

[weneedequality]

shes hella kool, why the fuck are people hatin on her

[098anne]

Really funny and interesting talk.

[twentius777]

10:45 Chowking is from the Philippines. LOL

[Sunshyne276]

Interesting! =)

[Reisguard]

Is it wrong that I hate apple pie?

[GBertho]

That was excellent!  I was roaring with laughter!

[gadogado123]

Excellent! Very enlightening!

[Horace01]

America is evil and racist and you are pissed that you are Chinese-American instead of just Chinese. Great TED talk I'm glad I clicked.

[bunkmasterflex]

@Horace01 i hope you die the most painful of deaths you blatantly pig ignorant fool. Your blanket statements based upon where someone is born is actually racist you hypocritical tool how do you get up and look yourself in the mirror in the morning considering how fucking stupid you really are.... and by the way im not american so halt your stupid american speech.

[PrestonSC]

Applause for the "apple pie" versus "Chinese food" comment...definitely fits for this red-blooded American male. :)

[PrestonSC]

Applause for the "apple pie" versus "Chinese food" comment...definitely fits for this red-blooded American male. :)

[verticalrack]

i was born in korea, and grew up in guangzhou and beijing china. i miss soup dumplings! and the spicy dried-pulled-pork fried with tons of cumin, and chrysanthemum tea, and fried bread, and and and... *cries*

[APaulA222]

im from the Fall River Area of Massachusetts, and we have "Chow Mein" which is thin crispy noodles that have a brown soy sauce flavor with bean sprouts, celery onions and all other veggies, its good !

[Fitzcard]

Lived in japan for 4 years and lived off their yakisoba,  which is pretty much chow mein with fewer vegtables a bit of dark meat chicken and generally the thinner noodles.

Both styles awesome

[CollisionSolution]

why is she so upese with telling us that ( Chinese food isn't really Chinese? So is Italians food it's not what you find in italy" so is Mexican food it's not what you find in Mexico"

The reason is ' Americans are not sefistecatede enough to eat the real deal . Americans have week palits

[FirestarOfficialTV]

smh....learn how to spell "sophisticated".

[lishun]

when my parents went to the US, they were amused to find chop suey on the menus of chinese restaurants there. chop suey is what my mother makes with left overs after a large banquet. it's usually made up of various vegetables, meat, and flavoured with vinegar and a kind of sour fruit.

it tastes best with leftover duck or pork.

[daddyrhon]

So interesting! Thanks for bringing us this info, Jennifer.

[chettd5k5k]

@NafeesLACC "past american history" is there any other kind?

[kickassmage]

wait wait wait...her middle name is the number 8?

[tubedudelive]

Yes (I just found that out from another article myself). When pronounced in Chinese It rhymes with auspiciousness or imminent fortune.

[FirestarOfficialTV]

8 means luck in chinese actually. she didnt have a middle ame, so she chose 8 as her middle name

[Finiras]

heh nice

[OokamiDemon12]

This is funny! My social studies teacher is actually making us fill out a work sheet for this!

[benbored]

10:29 laff

[mazdaplz]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHa when they display the picture of the peruvian chinese food that's the chinese i always get here in lima, peruvian cantonese cooking. i can walk there from here and i would go if it wasn't past midnight

[bja6a]

so funny! ma'am, do some stand up! asian pride.

[NafeesLACC]

revisiting past american history is utterly sickening, just sad.

[NafeesLACC]

also there is no such thing as universal chinese food, most of the authentic chinese cuisine outside of China is from Canton region.

[jamthehut]

she didnt mention how chinese restaurants in italy have 1st, 2nd, 3rd courses and desserts!

[geezzerboy]

Isn't pizza, an Italian use for leftovers?

[jamthehut]

no.

[engineersofsouls]

afaik it's a variation of the arabic pita bread.

[jeezcak3]

shes trying to remind us about china influential power! im viet! xP

[rondac13]

Gosh, I thought the presentation excellent. Very knowledgeable on her history. Can't please everyone obviously. I will watch for her presentations.

[ToniMorgan14]

Entertaining, nicely paced, and informative! A very nice presentation, I want her to do another!

[chinaliew]

her english so good,

she can speak that come from her heart,

[feedrosie]

This was so awesome. A+++ on the presentation. I loved it, it was funny, it was informative, and it answered so many things that I've often wondered.

[angelinalau]

hey not only americans eat fortune cookies, english people have that too..

[6stringbadger]

Damn. And I thought I was being sophisticated for eating Chinese food. Oh well, it still tastes great no matter where it comes from.

Great presentation.

I even love the finger gesture at 8:50.

[HarshColby]

She doesn't talk too fast. She keeps it fast-paced and entertaining. Excellent.

[bEaNiFieD]

Excellent stuff and hilarious too!

[cloroxkitteneggnog]

She talks too fast and it detracts from the rythym of the comdey in her presentation.

[sambda]

Slow down, woman....

[Lockorcock]

fat chinese chik laughing about chinese food lawl

[Patignar]

i just lol'd at that irony

[Patignar]

EPIC WIN

[amithbn]

awesome!!

[ONQproductions]

Totally awesome. In fact, I'm sure I'll watch it again in an hour!

[amithbn]

haha..totally! :)

[davidmesaaz]

My favorite chinese restaraunt is Golden Canyon on Dobson and University in Mesa Arizona. But the original PF Changs in Tempe comes a close second.

[twannifufu]

She's really funny. I find that with me my least favorite dishes are the most America. The only places I go for Chinese food or any ethnic foods are holes in the wall, where I know they don't spend more attention on presentation and less on the authenticity of their food. I was so hurt in high school when I found out that nachos were a U.S. invention. The history of food is amazing.

[geezzerboy]

There's a Chinese restaurant in Vancouver called Ciao Mein.

[kentpaul65102]

that is profound!

[PowerSlouch]

i love some of jennifer 8. lee's work but she could afford to work on her presentation skills.

[cannoir]

I think she was super fine actually.Her video was captivating , and very edu-entertaining. Damn I can't believe americans are stealing everyone's culture and pass it off as the original. some of the receipe really had me SMH, anything with broccoli that ain't Italian is fishy . Kind of the things that make you go hummm

[Poron8]

agreed.

but i was actually impressed by her presentation (and skills). not only did she keep the audience well engaged, prep the audience and got a response each time, kept it WELL in time before the customary 20min mark/limit, and her speech was very clear throughout while maintaining a speed of which, fluent English-speaking listeners can easily understand. Plus her research seems to be quite thoroughly done as well as broadly within relevant parameters (including japanese and korean).^-^

[vash513]

well, you have to remember that america is comprised of various cultures. various things will be imported and often modified to suit the tastes of the majority. and i'm sure you saw the parts where she mentioned that OTHER countries had their own versions of chinese food too, not just america.

[cannoir]

at vash513

That's a little bit true but generally most european coutries just copy the American styled chinese kind of food.I discovered chop suey where I live and this was in an allegedly chinese restaurant "the Mekong" The name mekong didn't ring chinese to me.I can see why they cannot import every ingredient from every part of China but I think we are being fooled into thinking we are eating chinese food.I am annoyed a bit most people can't tell chinese culture from the Korean a part.

[DamienZshadow]

I don't necessarily believe there is a group of anglo-saxons representing America and morphing food from other cultures for themselves and present it as authentic. It seems to me that America, the melting pot of cultures it is has it's own way of drawing in peoeple of various cultures who look for opportunity and a niche for their kind. How do they do this? They give the people what they want and it becomes known as a foreign food because of the creators. Welcome to a multi-cultural world.

[louman84]

The Middle Eastern Chinese food is actually a Filipino-Chinese fast food restaurant called Chow King. Caters to Filipino overseas workers.

[DutchSouthpaw]

"There's a piece of paper inside!"

Haha, good stuff =)

[iamforumm]

thanks for the upload ^ ^

[EB88]

I live in a city that has a huge chinese population, some of the restaurants are westernized for our tastes but then I've gone to real chinese restaurants and I didn't really like it hahaha! I find bugs in the food a lot, but then again they've failed their health inspection a couple of times. that's real chinese food!

[oldBull99]

"I live in a city that has a huge chinese population, some of the restaurants are westernized for our tastes but then I've gone to real chinese restaurants and I didn't really like it hahaha! I find bugs in the food a lot, but then again they've failed their health inspection a couple of times. that's real chinese food!"

-- EB88 (1 month ago)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Is your city in India or Iraq? :-)

[EB88]

Canada! :P

[Coldz2001]

Im sorry but I don't recall chinese people being enslaved for 400 years? I'm sure they would've taken verbal threats rather then physical enslavement.

[LastSingularity]

LOL @ Chinese people's reactions to fortune cookies: "What's this? There is a piece of paper inside!"

Enlightening video!

[wwwhexxycom]

DAMMMM I i want chinese food bad now

[al28283]

Most typical US foods are german, like Hotdogs and Burgers and stuff but they don't call them German

[xinlo]

yep, hamburg and frankfurt...

[Paulginz]

And I guess that germans didn't call Pretzels jewish during WWII.

Sadly many people think pizza is american.

It's strange to think that the most typical dishes in Italian cuisine would be impossible without importing tomatoes from the americas.

Same goes with belgian french-fries and chocolate.

If you try to track food back to it's roots, be prepared for a long journey ;-).

[mobilelizard]

i love American Chinese food. You can't get it anywhere else in the world, and I know this for a fact 'cause I have gone to many countries. LOL.

[sublimeLBC866]

8:38, "the only time in American history that a group was specifially excluded for its national origin or ethnicity."

Are you kidding me!? She seemed a little over the top at first, but that sealed the deal.

[flyingduck]

That was correct. Only time American immigration law specifically targeted one national origin. I can find the quote in my American History textbook for you if you want.

[al28283]

yea, i noticed that. crazy

[limescout]

are you saying she's wrong? Proof please

[semiliteratedgod]

fuck I'm hungry

[manson7375]

umm intresting subejet could of been done better.yes her middle name is really 8 thats odd and she was on cuz of her book i came across this accidently so thought it was a random subject to have wasted all the time researching just for a lecture and maybe thats y she seemed nervous about presenting shes a writer

[vaporfarts]

youre all self righteous mirror jerkers

[KhannKlan]

Alright guys, even though my comment may have hurt your feelings, you can't just pass it off as close-minded or "trivial". Although obviously it is trivial. Anyway, all of you have failed to answer my question. When there are topics like synchronization in nature and bioenergy, and even Theo Jansen's astounding creativity in the TEDtalks, why is Chinese food top rated?

[Prepoceros]

Love it! Definitely my favorite TED talk of the recently-posted ones.

[TomBobdabil]

You can see her bra thorughout the whole thing.

[nowevilivewon]

Read more books.

[Darthwillburr]

Not exactly TED worthy in my opinion. Entertaining but I doubt this talk will change anyone's life.

[marzbarz4321]

I had Sudanese Chinese food expecting to tast the American version, I was surprised to find a different tast. The world works in mysterious ways hehehe truly the most globalized food is Chinese food, a great example for a business oriented mind....

[loturos]

theres nothing wrong with mcdonalds. if you eat almost anything for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 30 days, like in the movie "super size me", you're likely to get sick. it was bullshit.

[NoFreeSpeechonYT]

Just like McDonalds, the thousands of Chinese restaurants in the US all suck. If you want real Chinese food, go to China. There sure as hell isn't any here.

[wongathon]

wrong. there are plenty of great Chinese restaurants established for Chinese, by Chinese, and quality ingredients are much more available in the US, some would say Chinese cuisine is better here.

[NoFreeSpeechonYT]

Not where I live! I did find one good place in St. Louis, but that's been the only place I've found.

[GregYong]

i agree; for the middleman of course. not the chinese full course though, china wins in that.

[takingcare]

Interesting!

Seeing the little things that impact the larger views in their full significance. I think her talk is very informative. However I too don't watch TV, so I wonder if that has any bearing on my relating to how she relates to life's big picture in this video.

As A Lover Of Truths, I Am Thankful For Her Ability To Express The Realities We Often Never Think About.

[moodrumwolfcow]

Im actually really glad i watched that. The powerball thing made me stand up, It was just that crazy.

[KhannKlan]

I must be missing something big here, but I see no reason why that was number 1 on the TEDtalksDirector channel. I found her speech to be completely pointless, trivial history and stupid jokes galore. Why would someone waste their life travelling around the world and limit themselves to such a small and irrelevant subject such as chinese food?

[SiriusOrion267]

maybe that's what she loves to do. who are you to question her career choice?

[KhannKlan]

I am one who expects TEDtalks to be full of useful and interesting information. The fact that this was top rated disturbed me. But I suppose she has a right to explore her own interests, however odd they may be.

[iceheart920]

TED is not just about technology talks you know. TED does stand for Technology, Entertainment and Design you know. So maybe you should reconsider your baseless claim.

[rapperyz]

KhannKlan, ur not open minded enough to understand. so just stfu...

[speakoutloud]

Understanding culture in the minute and finite aspects of the choices people make is incredibly important, actually. Just because Chinese food is "small and irrelevant" as a subject matter in YOUR life doesn't negate it's worth as a topic of intellectual conversation. History is rarely trivial-- there are always consequences to everything, be it sociological or whatnot.

[speakoutloud]

Sorry, this was in reply to KhannKlan's comment below...

[jorge1234]

you do have a point in that much of the information she gives is trivial, but i think you can rescue some important points of the presentation.

First, is the notion of descentralized system in which all this innovative ideas spread without apparent coordination in a way that also works as an organized and centralized system. This kind of questions are applicable to anything, from cooking to other more "relevant" social issues.

[tooberwoober]

I like how the thumbnail of this video is of her giving the finger. HAHA

[callsignHUSKER]

lol, the better question is, why is her middle name an 8??

[ilikeicecreamandcake]

she knows a lot about food and it shows on her chubby body.

[yastepdaddy]

besides from the sesame seeds wuts the difference between sesame and general tso's chicken

[79wx9z]

Very very interesting! I had to stop at 3 minutes unforunately because of the machine-gun talk! Wow! This must be a record! Syllables per second!

[owling9]

I tried to calculate how many thousand syllables per minute you spoke .......I'm sure your English is immaculate however I did find your presentation a little fast-paced. Please slow down a little and let me digest your ideas.

[karshhc]

i disagree, i loved it

[theclownslaugh]

every time you reas a fortune cookie just put in bed after it

[sabiki74]

very interesting!

[mahafetissi]

That was so cool O_O I never knew those things about "chinese" food. That lottery thing was amazing.

[lizjaymit]

Ah, now we know!

[NeedlesSTKane]

pretty damn cool

[falak010]

8 is her middle name, wtf?

[julian1000]

Great speech, loved it.

Is her middle name actually 8? If so, her parents are winners for creativity.

[mikedubya]

She added the 8 herself. I always thought that was pretentious, like people who give themselves nicknames or insist on including their middle names when people address them. Like, who cares if 100 other people are also named Jennifer Lee? Maybe it's just me but I know three other guys who have my name and it never bothered me.

[devourerofbabies]

8:50 bitch gave me the finger

[OkashaSH5]

And that's the picture for the video too!

[profetas]

dam it, I had not noticed it, now because of you she gave me the finger too!

[MrFireAss]

wtf! i didnt notice! thats it, i gotta find her and slap her now...

[gerhang]

very educational!

[ivanisavich]

Surprisingly interesting!

[xMexLovinx]

Very funny presentation Jen! big ups lol

[ctastrophe]

Is her middle name 8?

[freedomnow2012]

I can do the same thing with Mexican food.

[vysehrad]

I enjoyed that immensely.

[lovelara2]

I recall learning that fortune cookies came about during WWII, instead of fortunes there were actually secret messages being sent to evade the nazis. Has anyone heard this? Can this be verified?

[TroyOi]

Not much of a journalist, is she? Here she is, after having traveled halfway around the world, encounters chickens crossing the road, and fails to ask that most fundamental question: Why?

Actually, great presentation, Jennifer!

[Zeldovich]

Trivial

[iceheart920]

Your comment is trivial.

[Zeldovich]

Apparently, not trivial enough for you to refrain comment,

[santitos2001]

awesome!

[juanmreynoso]

BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[moocaltrain]

As a food enthusiast, I LOVE this. LOL.

[crimsoncitizen]

the only problem? she spoke too fast. other than that i absolutely loved it.

[lilcryingangel]

its your problem

[mikezephyr]

spontaneous self-organization = anarcho-taoism

[LegendSaber]

Very interesting. I had actually always found it rather weird that so-called "Chinese" food never seemed as exotic as one might expect. Now I know why. xD

[TomPaineII]

soooo hungry now..........

[KittyGotSued]

why the hate? she's human, you're too. well, I think you might be closer related to monkeys then most of us are.

[aquamammal]

Fuck America~

You fucking Hick.

- an American.

XVX for life, R.A.S.H. 'til death.

[kittykattykoo]

I live in Japan and I've never had any fortune cookies here. Seems like the culture of eating it has disappeared.

[ticktockfool]

Me too, I've never seen one here either.  Did she say they were made in Kobe or something? Mie Ken is a little far though...

[kittykattykoo]

She said it's in Kyoto. Been there, didn't happened to see any shop selling that either. Are you in Mie? I'm going there next month!

[lisha590]

This video makes me hungry for general tso's chicken and a cheese steak rol l...ummmmm

[mapp2tube]

Interesting...

[pornoopel]

haha! chinese food = linux!?

ill have to eat more "chinese food" now then! ;)

[jjmm112]

would love to fuck...so sexy...........

[Cosmoline]

I remember reading about a Chinese place that sprung up out of the ruins in Iraq within a few months of the US takeover. Nobody seemed to know how it got there, but there it was.

[alfvahua]

yay!!! Peru was mentioned where it is not called Chinese food, but Chifa...yeah the Fortune Cookie, totally American. I also cannot believe that there are more Chinese Restaurants than McDonalds

[swingbabu2006]

8:50 LOL

[hann992]

funny, I always wondered about chinese food, you know... why they call it the same names, but everywhere it can be QUITE different... now I know. Thanks

[bennyman5]

is the '8' part of her name???

[ratholin]

I wonder if Lee's china of omaha is connected with the house of lee in omaha near the mutual of omaha campus. The house of Lee is the best fast chinese you can get. One of the only things I miss about omaha.

[chunkybutt420]

ya know what... i do love my Chinese food

[144md]

<3 it. so great, very informative. I love TED.

Much love jen. xie xie ^_^

[ChariotRider]

did anyone else notice on the thumbnail that she looks like she's flipping us all off!

[RainMan52]

she flip you all motafokaz !!

[ratholin]

yeah I thought her flipping offness is intentional it's actually her moving her glasses at 8:50

[Satori1800]

thanks for great video:)

[phosoxrad]

cause it isnt theirs