Over 200 years since Tong Ah Chew, India’s first Chinese immigrant, arrived in Kolkata, then Calcutta, the impact of that moment in history remains profound on the city’s palates. While Ah Chew arrived in the then capital of British India in 1778 with loads of tea and ended up setting up a sugar mill, he was followed by thousands of Chinese who not only came to work at the city’s tanning and leather industries but also found work as dentists, carpenters and silk traders.
And they brought with them their food, which intermingled sumptuously with the local cuisine while retaining its authenticity. That is clearly visible in the city’s small Chinese food joints and the bigger restaurants alike.
Take for instance, the two Chinatowns—Tiretta (also called Tiretti) Bazar and Tangra. While Tangra boasts of some popular Chinese food joints like Beijing, Big Boss and Golden Joy, among others, Tiretti Bazaar is famous for its 5-am breakfast, when the pavements of this old neighbourhood come alive with people selling authentic Chinese food, some known, others disappearing. With the baos and the dumplings, wanton, noodle soup and sweet sesame balls, among others, the experience remains strong in the city’s culinary scene.
While authentic Chinese food has found a space in Kolkata’s culinary landscape, the influence that resonated far and wide is the amalgamation of those with Indians’ propensity for spices, leading to the genesis of what is called Indo-Chinese. While it originated in Kolkata, the food travelled far and wide giving us dishes such as schezwan dosa, chilli chicken and Chinese bhel. Not just that, schezwan sauce, hakka noodle flavour packets and packaged hot and sour soup can be found easily in grocery stores.
No wonder, at Wykiki, the Asian restaurant at the Taj City Centre New Town, Kolkata, 70% of the menu is Chinese. “The Chinese culinary influence is prominent in Kolkata, spanning from the authentic food joints at the two Chinatowns to the local food stalls selling chow mein, hakka noodles, chilli chicken and manchurian,” says Subrata Debnath, executive chef at the Taj City Centre New Town, Kolkata.
That blend of authentic Chinese and the Indo-Chinese kind, which has mass appeal across India, is prominent on the Wykiki menu. It offers crystal dumplings, Cantonese creamed corn soup and dou ban jiang string beans on one hand, and sichuan chilli chicken, kung pao chicken, and hakka noodles on the other. “With the intermingling of the two cultures, the people in Kolkata have developed a taste for Chinese food, which they cannot do without. It is now a part of the culture—the Chinese Tangra Bazar, the dim sums and baos, and the morning breakfast at the Tiretti Bazar,” the chef explains.
Some similarities between Bengali and Chinese cuisine also warrant a mention here. “Such as the use of cinnamon, fennel, chili paste, green chillies, ginger and garlic,” the chef says. The ‘five-spiced fried rice’ on Wykiki’s menu is the most prominent example of that, which offers a beautiful blend of jasmine rice, cinnamon, fennel and star anise, among other ingredients.
While the popularity of Indo-Chinese dishes remains high, the shrinking Chinese population in Kolkata can be concerning, especially with respect to the continuation of authentic cuisine. From over 20,000 people in the early 20th century, the numbers have shrunk to just 2,000.
“Tangra was bustling once, one of the reasons being that there were not many restaurants then, and also these food joints were run by the Chinese people. Of late, either those people are no more, or their families could not carry forward the tradition, also leading to the dilution of the cuisine. It is still authentic at some places, like at some places in Tangra that are still run by the Chinese ladies. However, that is not the case everywhere,” chef Debnath explains.
Multiple factors played a role in the population’s gradual decline, starting with the Indo-Chinese war in 1962, when many Chinese were looked upon with suspicion, driving many to migrate. Then the shutting down of tanneries, which was crucial to the business, also impacted the people economically. Finally, there were those who migrated to the US, Canada, Australia, among other countries, for better education and job opportunities.
