Idiotic coronavirus hysteria means we should all support Chinese restaurants – Stephen Jardine

As coronavirus scares hit business, we need to show solidarity with wonderful Chinese restaurants and takeaways in their hour of need, writes Stephen Jardine.

Chinese food helps make this country's culinary scene so rich and diverse

I remember my first time like it was yesterday. On a family trip to London as a teenager, my exotic auntie who lived there took us to dinner in Chinatown.

Until that time, my only experience of Chinese food had been the odd foray into the local takeaway in Dumfries where omelette and chips seemed to be the most popular item on the menu.

In London it was different. Gerrard Street teemed with exotic sights and smells. My aunt steered us past a window filled with a giant rotisserie of bronzed ducks into the heaving interior of the restaurant which was a riot of good eating. My parents would have been happier across the road in the Aberdeen Angus Steakhouse so that made me all the more determined to enjoy what lay ahead. My aunt ordered dish after dish and I polished them all off. At that moment, knee deep in chow mein, I fell in love with Chinese food.

It has come a long way since then. Back then all Chinese food here was Cantonese but since then we’ve discovered dishes from other regions including Sichuan, Shandong and Hunan. A new wave of young entrepreneurs have also elevated the cuisine here with Hakkasan becoming the first Chinese restaurant to earn a Michelin star.

It was all going so well, until now.

The first sign of trouble came a month ago with this post on the widely read parenting forum Mumsnet. “After a couple of my friends are refusing to order their normal take aways, I’d like to know the percentage of people who will be thinking twice about eating in Chinese restaurants?” Clearly, the person posting that needs to invest in some less cretinous friends but it did hint at trouble to come.

Sure enough, within weeks, Chinese restaurants across the country were reporting a dramatic drop in business. Some operators in Chinatown itself said turnover was down 50 per cent and here in Scotland a takeaway in Arbroath closed citing fears surrounding coronavirus as one of the reasons.

The threat from the virus is clear to us all. It is the front page of every newspaper and the top story on every TV and radio bulletin but one thing that is not going to stop it spreading is hysteria.

If it does come here it is more likely to be thanks to a school ski party returning from the Alps or a businessman who has been in Thailand rather than the hard-working couple at your local Chinese takeaway who spend their evenings watching a tiny TV out front and cooking through the back so we don’t have to.

Chinese food is part of what makes our rich and diverse eating culture so spectacular in this country. If we want that to survive, we need to show some solidarity to those who feed us so well in their hour of need.

At all hours of the day and night they have always been there for us, so we should reciprocate. If the tables were turned, we would hope they would show us support so if you are undecided what to eat tonight, you know what to do.

It will be absolutely delicious but you will also have that warm feeling that comes with knowing you are helping a family business at the very moment it needs it most.