Can a new wave of restaurants help China to win hearts?

Grilled fish on a generous bed of numb chili and pepper from the southwestern metropolis of China, Chongqing; Fastened cumin from the lamb from Xinjiang in the far north; And fiery rice noodles with flavored snails from the famous Guangxy rivers in the south.

All this on a walk down Len Sita Street in Singapore.

Chinese food has a moment outside China, caused by great success and intensive competition home. And nowhere is it more clearly than in Singapore, where ethnically the Chinese make up more than three quarters of the multicultural population.

The tendency is not surprising, given that the soft power of Chinese seems to be increasing – think that viral dolls, humanoid robots and futuristic cities that impress travelers.

Chinese cooking for centuries and is not difficult to go on the list of Beijing’s priorities to transform the country into a “power plant in culture” until 2035.

And yet, as increasingly authoritarian China is trying to defeat the world, the luxurious table may just be its most effective and undervalued.

In March 2023, in China, which responded to Starbucks, opened its first overseas shop in Singapore. Two years, last month last month, the network debuted with two New York shops.

Five major Chinese brands, included in Luckin, currently hold 124 outlets in Singapore, twice as high as they owned in 2023. It is difficult to miss the evidence: huge, bright ad dishes, and sometimes Chinese phraseologisms, in shopping centers, buses and subway stations.

From the created networks to the shops of Mom and Pop and the chic restaurants that dispute the tired stereotypes, they all flew here before jumping further, elsewhere in Southeast Asia, and then around the world.

Singapore is “proof of the concept for the subsequent expansion, convincing potential investors is that the network is ready for global,” says Thomas Dubois, a historian of modern China.

This is a light enough place to create a new restaurants store. And this is diverse that makes it a great test kitchen for a variety of lips, from South -Asian to European.

And most importantly, Singapore is a travel center where, according to the Dubois, food is almost like a national pastime: “People go to Singapore to eat.”

And what they will find is a menu that goes beyond ubiquitous dumplings and a hot pot. Entrepreneurs standing behind a new Chinese culinary wave want to show people how huge and diverse China. And they can’t fake it.

Many visitors to Singapore are ethnic Chinese – not only from China, but also from Bangkok, Kuala -Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta and so on – with a difficult understanding of Chinese cuisine.

There is no kind of fiery, says Claire van, a Nong Gen Gi Marketing Manager, a Hunana network in Central China, which is famous for its spicy dishes.

The huenana tariff has “a sharp postpone, reached through the sour milk peppers,” she says, unlike the “numbing scene of Sychuan or sour cut.”

After launching more than 100 restaurants in China, Nong Geng JI opened its first Zamora in Singapore at the end of 2023. Since then, he has created six more, five in Malaysia, one in Canada, and is now looking at the capabilities in Thailand, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

This is definitely a proof of a growing appetite for Chile, especially a Chinese kind – a trend that will appeal to former Chinese leader Mao Zedong. He was born and raised in the Hunan, he believed, “You can’t be revolutionary if you didn’t eat chili.”

For the less revolutionary among us, there are many more on the table: steam buns, red meat, canned vegetables, rice, seasonal fries and seafood with delicately cleaned.

This is completely spread compared to the “Chinese food”, which became addictive, especially in the West-Ezha, cooked by Chinese immigrants in the 19 and 20th centuries, whose scrub, non-working restaurants were often regarded as low eyebrows.

The food was simplified according to the local tastes, and that’s how the USA turned out to be with non -Kitan brackets, such as orange chicken and Chop Sue, and the UK with his balls of chicken and sweet chicken balls.

These very basic, largely invented dishes “clouded the gratitude for the diversity and sophistication of Chinese gastronomic culture”, writes Fuchsia Dunlop in his new book “Invitation to Banquet”. Ms Dunlop, a British nutrition writer, held her career, preparing in China’s kitchens and studying her food.

Then there is a stereotype, called Chinese restaurant syndrome, partly xenophobic myth that food can make people feel bad with -for the alleged high concentration of supplements, especially in MSG mass. New studies believe that MSG does not make you sick, and while old Chinese restaurants have probably used laundry shortcuts, they are unlikely to be unique to use supplements.

Now the growing diaspora allows the Chinese restaurants to remain true to their roots, knowing that they have customers who require “proper Chinese food”. And this coincided with more adventurous tastes in the largest cities in the world.

When Thomas Dao was a student in New York in the 2010s, he said he rarely got into a Chinese fine, but the Americans were very ready to pay, say, Japanese Sashai.

He is now the vice president of the Green Tea Restaurant, which has more than 400 outlets in China, where fresh seafood and spicy soups are served. It will open its first outpost in Singapore at the end of this month.

And this goes beyond food with “exciting” restaurants. The snacks listen to Guzhong, Chinese zig, while they are sitting at a boat -shaped tables surrounded by landscapes around West Lake, an icon of the coastal province.

“We want to help people more accept our culture and correct the idea that Chinese cuisine is” lousy “,” says Mr. Tao.

This is not the only chain that will try it. Sichuan -Alya, which opened its first outlet in New York last year, inspired by the “culture of the alley”, characteristic of Chengdu in the early 20th century -Warren from the old streets where people stirred and fasted.

Food tells about the people, and there is not enough space, this is probably the best idea of it.

So can the Chinese table help mitigate the image of the country, which often face the western powers and neighbors?

In his book, Dunlop refers to one of her readers, believing that Beijing can more effectively design its soft power by changing its conflicting foreign institutions at the highest Chinese restaurants. “

Beijing is Fighting a lot of On the International Front: Trump tariffs presumably the spy sections And the world that is wary of its economic force.

Even this explosion in the Chinese restaurant networks is upset by local business in Singapore, which can be asked if they can keep up.

Hard competition in China and costs to force these networks on the shore. And their points of expansion are insatiable – they bring with them a reliable chain of supplies, marketing and deep pockets that allow them to sacrifice profits.

And they have a game book. First, you are advised to subscribe to a free membership that makes you discount. Nutrition comes with free stream of tea, dipping sauces and pickled vegetables.

Winner? Unlike most Singapore restaurants, the fabrics are needed after spicy foods.

This is not the first time exports of success in China caused anxiety in its smaller southeastern neighbors. This has already happened with a lot of Chinese imports: from clothing to gadgets.

But food, some believe, can sweeten the business.

“The Chinese are very proud of their culinary culture, which also serves as a powerful form of diplomacy,” says Felix Ren, director of Singapore Countering Wedia.

Its recommended Table tennis matches that helped to thaw historical tensions Between Beijing and Washington in 1971.

“Chinese cuisine,” he says, “can just be a new diplomatic pong.”