'Atlanta's Savory Stories': Chinese-American cuisine

We’ve known for a long time now that Atlanta’s food scene goes far beyond BBQ and fried chicken. Our city has food offerings as diverse as its population. Today, we debut “Atlanta’s Savory Stories,” a new series about our area’s rich culinary history, some restaurants and recipes to try from the comfort of your own home. Today, WABE introduces its new food contributors, culinary historian Akila McConnell and chef Asata Reid.

Our premiere episode focuses on our Chinese-American food community for Asian-American Pacific Islander Month. McConnell explained the most common misconception about Atlanta’s Chinese food — that it’s relatively new here. ”We hear a lot about America’s historic Chinese communities in places like New York and San Francisco, but not in Atlanta,” she said. “But the reason that there was an influx of Chinese immigration nationwide in the 1800s also impacted Atlanta, and that reason was, of course, the railroad.”

When the railroads became the trade nexus that gave rise to Atlanta’s first wave of growth as a city, Chinese immigrants joined them. By 1865, Chinese workers made up 90% of those employed in building the first Transcontinental Railroad. As their families grew, the community established what was then called  “Atlanta Chinatown” in 1903, with pioneering Chinese restaurants like Joe Jung’s Chop Suey Restaurant and Oriental Café.