agree; haven't been to Dallas, but in Westminster/Garden Grove and San Jose, where latin american communities and Viet immigrant/vietnam communities happen to live in close proximity, the cultural mashups and innovation have been striking in both ways. Some of the most remarkable dishes in one of the most remarkable restaurants in SoCal that I've eaten in the past few years were conceived of and cooked by a Mexican-american chef who grew up surrounded by Vietnamese food in Garden grove

A significant part of Peru's government, for instance, has Japanese heritage. And that's just one corner.

A neat fact I share in this regard: the country with the most Japanese people besides Japan? Brazil!

I think that’s overstating it. There are pockets in the largest cities, but that’s about it. Very few Latin Americans would be like, hey let’s go get some Chinese food, outside of the largest cities. It’s not like Canada or the US where even in towns in the middle of nowhere you can find a Chinese joint.

Now, some do call nannies “Chinese”, so presumably, many decades ago, some very poor Chinese took a voyage across the sea to poor countries because China was even more desperately poor. Also some Chinese as well as Philippine folks were brought over to Mexico as slaves and they were all labeled ‘Chinese’ kind of like how chino fabric originated in the Philippines but is called ‘chinos.’

That's a shame, I was hoping for a pozole blanco/pho mashup. I feel like that should really work. And carnitas on banh mi would be fantastic. The coffee culture would probably also be excellent.

FTA:

> The Viet Chicanos are wary of attracting the wrong type of followers as well, who may be in pursuit of a different kind of lifestyle. Despite their fierce appearances, many of the barbers who work at Liem’s shops are soft-spoken and humble and reject any perceptions of violence and crime. They say they want to perpetuate cultural appreciation, rather than appropriation.

Reminds me of the meme: "My teacher told me to turn in my essay. But I ain't no snitch." LOL

San Diego is similar.

If you're back down there, the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art in Riverside is awesome - Cheech collected Chicano art all throughout his career and worked with the City of Riverside to open a museum to house it. It's a really beautiful collection - truly unique art, and provides a great view into the iconography and history of Chicano culture.

(Bonus points for hitting Tio's Tacos afterwards.)

It happens to food too. The "traditional" foods are never from just one place and it's always evolving and somewhere along the way someone adds their local cultural twist to something from the outside and it's suddenly so much better.

I cooked a recipe recently that was based on a dish that was made for American GI's in Japan after WWII ended. Okinawan Taco Rice

Now that's the only way I want to eat taco meat ....

We're at the point now that you can get better espresso in Amsterdam than Rome! I suppose the disposable income of the average Dutch citizen helps.

Non existence immigration, even expatriates aren't significant enough.