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I did not take over the family restaurant when I had the chance to, decades ago, and I was never asked to. Instead, I now have the privilege of dining at restaurants considerably more frequently than my pay grade should allow, as long as I write about those meals.

Chinese food and my family are on my mind this week. Chinese New Year, which begins Saturday, encompasses many traditions and superstitions, and perhaps above all, it is a time for families to come together, honour ancestors and feast.

But even if your ancestry isn’t Chinese, you too might feel like celebrating soon with a Chinese meal. Analysis released this month by the website chefspencil.com found that the top “ethnic” cuisine in Canada was Chinese, followed by Italian, Thai, Indian and Mexican.

The international food website generated its rankings through Google Trends analyses. Drilling down into the results, you do find that input from B.C. contributed heavily to Chinese cuisine coming out on top. Still, when I asked Chef’s Pencil for data exclusive to Ottawa, Chinese food again topped the list, followed by Indian, Thai, Italian and Mexican. For all of Quebec, Chinese food was again No. 1, according to the website.

That kind of popularity is reason enough to ponder what’s meant by Chinese food in 2020, particularly in Ottawa.

Photo by Jean Levac / Postmedia News

Although Chinese-Canadian fare hasn’t died out entirely, we are a long way from chop suey. Waves of immigration from China have brought a succession of new, diverse dishes, served not just to fellow expats but to non-Chinese with curious taste buds.