Mexican Chinese Food

TRANSCRIPT
Mexican Chinese Food

NARRATOR:
Mexico isn’t usually the first place people think of when talking about exceptional Chinese food. But in the border city of Mexicali, visitors from around the world come to try a style of cuisine that has developed over more than a century. Just across from California, USA, Mexicali became home to a large Chinese community in the early 1900s.
In 1903, Chinese labourers settled here after being banned from entering the United States. This ban came from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 — the first American law to block immigration from a specific ethnic group. In Mexicali, the community grew, bringing traditions, language and food that would become part of the city’s identity. When early immigrants couldn’t find familiar ingredients, they adapted. Fried rice was made with avocados, peppers were seasoned with salt and lemon, and limes appeared on every table — flavours that were new in traditional Chinese cooking. 
Today, Mexicali has over 200 Chinese restaurants, many serving dishes found almost nowhere else. One of these restaurants is China Town, managed by Mexicali native Tony Woo, who speaks Spanish, Cantonese and English. He says that although Chinese and Mexican cultures can appear quite different, they share key values, particularly a strong focus on family and food, and these connections helped shape the Mexicali-Chinese style. According to Woo, many of the dishes made here remain close to what you’d find in mainland China, just with a local twist. Other dishes are completely unique. 

SOUNDBITE - Tony Woo:
"This is the prime example of the fusion of China culture and the Mexican culture of food. It’s pepper mixed with lemon juice and you would not find this in China.”

NARRATOR:
One of the most popular foods is barbecued meat.

SOUNDBITE - Tony Woo:
"Local people really like this dish and the way they eat it is combined ketchup with some hot Chinese mustard and then they just mix it up and eat it".

NARRATOR:
Across Mexicali, reminders of its Chinese heritage are easy to spot. But it’s the food that keeps this history alive, continuing to attract travellers who come to experience a culinary story unlike anywhere else.