American (Los Angeles) diet: Will my asian GF starve to death?

[a_block_of_wood]

Hi all. I have a question for any Americans reading this topic. First of all, my gf was given an opportunity to attend a job training in the USA (Los Angeles). It was a great career opportunity and I encourage her to give it a go, but she was reluctant because it requires months of training there.

 

Her concern is her diet. We are both Asians, while I prefer western cuisine since I was young, my gf was very traditional when it comes to food and an extremely picky eater on top of it. Food affects her mood and she didn't think she'd last 2 weeks in USA. So I thought I'd ask here and see what Americans usually eat  .

 

First thing first: She can't cook. Kitchen at home is all mine   so I guess she will have to find food somewhere, restaurant maybe.

 

What she doesn't eat:

• All red meat. No pork no beef no mutton.
• Chicken that's not breast meat. So no drumstick or wings.
• All animal skins (chicken skin and fish skin mainly, since she won't touch red meat)
• All uncooked food, veggies included, so no salad
• All dairy product, so no cheese no milk
• Mayonnaise, from my understanding a lot of american food has mayonnaise based sauce?
• Any food that's mainly taste sweet. She eats sour/spicy/salty kind of food.
• Onion, leek, chives, scallion. She picked them all out from the dish before eating.

What she need daily:

• Her specific brand of chocolate drink, I guess it's possible to find it there.
• One serving of rice, but she can't even cook rice, even with a rice cooker.
• Specific kind of veggies, depends on mood, usually spicy, sometime with oyster sauce.

Other strange cravings

• McDonald's french fries, chicken nugget. I guess no problem here but she can't eat that few months straight  :unsure:

 

She already made up her mind that all Chinese food there are fakes, but really she just said it because it's not done in a way she expect them to be. 

 

So... how many days will she last before she came back crying?  :unsure:

[Syntaxvgm]

She will have no problem finding ANYTHING she needs in a decent grocery store. The USA is a melting pot of cultures, that's why we have so much racial tension even though people elsewhere are almost more racist. 

 

A lot of people misjudge America based on what they read, the worst parts, just like Americans misjudge other countries. 

[AlwaysFSX]

IMO, she needs an attitude adjustment when it comes to food and to learn how to cook.

 

Just the two cents from someone that enjoys food and cooking it.

[Fate]

You can find all kinds of food here in murica. 

[scaryjam823]

IMO, she needs an attitude adjustment when it comes to food and to learn how to cook.

 

Just the two cents from someone that enjoys food and cooking it.

Agreed. Reminds me of my cousin, ever since he was a kid he literally was only given chicken nuggets, red hotdogs and sour cream and onion chips. Not because he couldn't eat anything else, just because nobody made him eat anything else. He was fed this way since he was 4. Now he is 16 and guess what? Those are STILL the only foods he will eat, having a preference is fine. But sometimes you have to eat things you don't want to,  hell you may even grow a love for it. But just bashing EVERYTHING because it is something different makes you sound full of yourself and needing to be slapped. Sounds like something similar happened to her. 

[AlwaysFSX]

Agreed

It's the most logical thing to do.

[Gix7Fifty]

@

a_block_of_wood

I have a special deal for her, tell her when she goes to McDonalds to mention my name and they will sell her 20 chicken mcnuggets for $4.99 plus tax.

[ohJey]

She's kinda picky, but we have all kinds of food in supermarkets in the USA.  She should be fine..if she cooks her own food, or stops being so hard headed and enjoy American chinese food

[ohJey]

@a_block_of_wood I have a special deal for her, tell her when she goes to McDonalds to mention my name and they will sell her 20 chicken mcnuggets for $4.99 plus tax.

It's not all breast meat though...and maybe not even meat at all.  I dunno

[Hidden Orange]

Traditional or not, this seems more like an eating disorder since she avoids so many types of foods and you said she has mood swings through eating them - I have never heard of that before and doubt its existence, but people are people. Back then in Vietnam and plenty of places this was the motto of food: if it moves, eat it - it's still probably the motto. Within reason of course, but some places are not that fortunate and people will eat anything to survive. Picky eaters annoy me unless they have a reason like they're allergic, diabetic, have religious reasons, etc.

 

I for one, can't eat sugary or fatty foods or I'll vomit. If I was starving, I'd probably eat whatever, but slowly so I don't throw up and waste food. Also, fish have to have their heads, fins, tail, and skin removed since I have a phobia. Everything else is a go; I actively search for food I never eaten before like chili dogs, gelatto, gefilte fish, those fried balls of octopus that Japan usually eat really hot, etc. Eating and food are aspects of culture and learning cultures allows us to open our eyes and connect more as humans rather than be isolated and xenophobic.

 

Seriously though, everything you listed is basically all foods. She would not survive in Africa, Iran, Cambodia, Portugal, much less anywhere with her pickiness. She'd have to cook for herself and basically be "that person" when you go out to eat, they don't eat anything, and then complain about it when you get home. Really? Just eat the damn thing. My dad had tiger meat once! He ate it out of respect and probably hunger!

 

Geez, she reminds me of my mom who does not like other cuisines other than Chinese and tolerates Japanese cuisine along with French since French cooking is supposedly the best. Me, I'd like to go down to Louisiana and have myself some gumbo or go to Spain and try whatever's over there.

[Gix7Fifty]

@ohJey it's her cravings

@

a_block_of_wood

what kind of asians are you two?

[techswede]

When my cat refused to eat anything other than wet food i was told to just leave the dry food out and not give him the wet food. Took a while but then he started eating that instead.

Might work on people too 

[ohJey]

@ohJey it's her cravings

@a_block_of_wood what kind of asians are you two?

Oops I must have missed that... that's odd.  Only breast meat, but it doesn't apply to McNuggets??

[AlwaysFSX]

Oops I must have missed that... that's odd.  Only breast meat, but it doesn't apply to McNuggets??

We don't even know what McNuggets are made of.

 

 

When my cat refused to eat anything other than wet food i was told to just leave the dry food out and not give him the wet food. Took a while but then he started eating that instead.

Might work on people too 

She can just suck it up if she really wants to go for job training. If she doesn't want to then it's a lost opportunity because of her mindset. Too bad so sad.

[a_block_of_wood]

IMO, she needs an attitude adjustment when it comes to food and to learn how to cook.

 

Just the two cents from someone that enjoys food and cooking it.

I know. Months of "training" and I manage to get her to eat western cuisine, even though she claim that she can't taste anything. Life long of spicy food might have burnt off her taste buds.  She *can* cook instant ramen though, that's pretty much it. I agree with attitude adjustment, but no luck yet.

 

She's kinda picky, but we have all kinds of food in supermarkets in the USA.  She should be fine..if she cooks her own food, or stops being so hard headed and enjoy American chinese food

Apparently she has relatives in USA, and they claim Chinese food there are "localized" to American taste. "Kinda" picky?   Extremely is the word...

 

It's not all breast meat though...and maybe not even meat at all.  I dunno

Ironically, she's able to accept most processed food. She doesn't eat anything over than chicken breast because she hates the texture and taste of meat.

 

Traditional or not, this seems more like an eating disorder since she avoids so many types of foods and you said she has mood swings through eating them

 

Geez, she reminds me of my mom who does not like other cuisines other than Chinese and tolerates Japanese cuisine along with French since French cooking is supposedly the best. Me, I'd like to go down to Louisiana and have myself some gumbo or go to Spain and try whatever's over there.

If it helps, she has OCD. I'm starting to think she like spicy food because it covers up the taste of a lot of stuff.

[Hidden Orange]

If it helps, she has OCD. I'm starting to think she like spicy food because it covers up the taste of a lot of stuff.

So, she does have a disorder... Also, in general, most foods are "localized" wherever since people aren't used to them and some ingredients aren't available in certain areas. You're probably not going to find that one curry from Indian that combines all the peppers in the world nor are you going to find hot dogs in say, Israel. They'll have sausages, but it's more Israelian than US hot dogs. Also, mangos here aren't from Asia, they're from South America and Mexico which leads to complaints from my mom and my dad notes it tastes different, but whatever since it calms cravings for people who miss foods from their home.

 

Spicy food isn't supposed to cover up tastes. Salty, spicy, sour, bitter, sweet, and umami are all aspects of taste. She's used to eating spicy food or foods from her area; she needs to learn to adjust and adapt. Now, if you were old, we'd blame it on aging which is why some old people add a bit more salt and such to their food.

 

Ugh, this also reminds me of my niece who does not eat vegetables, drinks milk, or eats anything foreign and she's born in the US! Oh, give her Asian junk food and she's happy, but give her Italian pasta or freaking milk and she avoids it like the plague. Did I mention that this is actually affecting her health and will probably persist along with issues in life of being very picky and restrictive on eating?

[Lavachyste]

America is the best. They are awesome and you girlfriend might just love it too!

[pk-man]

She can't be this picky about food if she can't cook.

 

Just my 2 cents

[Guest]

Not to offend but THAT picky?

What the hdhdddjdheijejshehhhdhsosjdbfhwkajsbdofkfnb

She really needs to learn to eat new foods, she Is limiting herself greatly.

[Guest]

America is the best. They are awesome and you girlfriend might just love it too!

Dutch food and my mom's cooking from Iraq is amazing. No wonder I'm fat.

[a_block_of_wood]

She can't be this picky about food if she can't cook.

 

Just my 2 cents

I remember one time her mom told her not to come home so she won't have headache thinking what to cook for her.

[a_block_of_wood]

Not to offend but THAT picky?

What the hdhdddjdheijejshehhhdhsosjdbfhwkajsbdofkfnb

She really needs to learn to eat new foods, she Is limiting herself greatly.

 

My biggest achievement so far is get her to eat fish and chips. Even then she skips the sauce.

[Guest]

My biggest achievement so far is get her to eat fish and chips. Even then she skips the sauce.

Facedesk before her.

[Syntaxvgm]

 

 

Apparently she has relatives in USA, and they claim Chinese food there are "localized" to American taste. "Kinda" picky?   Extremely is the word...

 

 

All ethnic food is localized here. You have to go to the right restaurants in the right sections of America to get authentic food. 

Hell some places are so localized it's only Asian food because it's cooked by Asians if that makes any sense. 

But we have no shortage of the foods themselves, so cooking your culture's food is no problem. In my area, there are a lot of Indians and Burmese that still live like they did at home when it comes to food and some other traditions. (Particularly the Burmese)

As far as getting it made for you, you only have 2 options.

1.) Know a friend or family member that will cook for you

2.) Move to an area with a large concentration of immigrants from your country. America is very wide and has a lot of cultures in a lot of places, but generally living the "authentic" lifestyle of your homeland requires you to move into an area with others like you. It's also a great way to slowly integrate and avoid culture shock, ESPECIALLY if you are bad at English. 

[AlwaysFSX]

America is the best. They are awesome and you girlfriend might just love it too!

No it's not. Lol, far from it. We've got jack shit for food.