Chinese food allowed Jews to transition from strict kosher to incorporating non-kosher foods into their diets.
[6] Chinese cuisine is "unusually well suited to Jewish tastes because, unlike virtually any other cuisine available in America, traditional Chinese cooking
does not use any milk products whatsoever."
[5] While most first-generation Jews living in America strictly practiced
kashrut at all times, many second-generation Jews remained strict in their home observance but became more flexible in the foods they ate outside the home. The nature of Chinese food allowed them to rationalize this decision, as it is "disguised through a process of cutting, chopping and mincing. Pork, shrimp, lobster, and other so-called dietary abominations are no longer viewed in their more natural states." This process of cutting, chopping, and mincing, referred to as "ko p'eng—'to cut and cook'" in ancient Chinese texts, made the ingredients invisible and thus
safe treyf.
[5] For instance, pork was hidden and wrapped in
wontons that looked similar to Jewish
kreplach (dumplings).
[6] Ultimately this gave way to many US-born Jews rejecting kashrut altogether as "impractical and anachronistic".
[7]
