India meets China at Asiana Fusion in Cornelius

By Tom Hanchett

Like Indian food? Like Chinese food?   Well, there's a traditional cuisine that combines both -- and you can find it in Charlotte's north suburbs.

Chef Michael Huang's father left Canton, China in the early 20th century to seek his fortune and wound up across the Himalaya Mountains in India's metropolis of Calcutta (now called Kolkata).  So many others followed a similar path that Chinese - Indian restaurants are now common across India.

Michael, in turn, departed Kolkata to find opportunity in Charlotte. "When I came in the '80s there was only one Hindu temple. Indian people here got to know me and I did much catering."

After a stint at Fu Lin, Charlotte's main Indo-Chinese eatery on Independence Boulevard, he started his own place called Asiana Fusion Sushi in 2010. Ask for the special Indo-Chinese menu and you’ll find:

* Haka Noodles take their name from the Haka people, the main ethnic group that made the Canton-Calcutta journey.
* Kati Rolls wrap buttery, flakey Indian paratha bread around meat kabobs. 
* Chicken Lollipops are chicken wing appetizers crispy-fried in subtle Indian spices.  The meat is pulled to the end of the bone, which becomes a handy handle.
* Chicken 65 features chicken chunks fried in a chickpea-and-spice mix, then served with a thick soy sauce gravy over rice.  “Lots of explanations for the name,” laughs Huang, “like maybe 65 spices to make.”  But really it was number 65 on the menu of a beloved restaurant back in India.

While all these dishes are traditional classics at Chinese eateries in India, none is actually found in China, Huang points out.   Much like Chop Suey or General Tso’s Chicken in the U.S., they’re Chinese specialties created to please palates in a new land.

Asiana Fusion Sushi
Monday – Thursday 11:30am – 10pm
Friday 11:30am – 10:30pm
Saturday  noon – 10:30pm
Sunday  noon – 10pm

20601 Torrence Chapel Road  (just west of I77 exit 28)
Cornelius, NC  28031
www.asianafusionsushi.com
(704) 896 – 8887