When we think of American food, burgers, pizza, or maybe even a slice of apple pie come to mind.

But what if I told you that the General Tso's chicken, crab rangoons, and chop suey you get for takeout are just as American?

There are roughly 45,000 Chinese restaurants in the United States, according to the Chinese American Restaurant Association.

That's more than McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and Wendy's combined.

The story of Chinese American cuisine is a masterclass in adaptation.

Here's how a community turned a legal attempt to erase them into a seat at the head of the American table, transforming a means of survival into a cultural icon.

Before the white boxes with the red pagodas, there were chow chows.

Chau being the Cantonese word for to fry or to cook.

Around 1849, the Gold Rush brought thousands of Chinese immigrants to California.

There they opened chow chow houses, which were marked by yellow silk flags hanging outside.

These yellow flags were a beacon welcoming miners for a reasonably priced meal.

But as more immigrants arrived, anti-Chinese sentiment surged as white laborers began to view Chinese workers as unfair competition.

This eventually led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred Chinese laborers from entering the country and stripped away the rights of those already here.

Early perceptions of the food didn't help.

Because many Chinese restaurants served traditional dishes like salted fish, duck feet, and pig stomachs, ingredients and flavors Americans weren't used to, they became targets for xenophobia.

Newspapers claimed kitchens were unhygienic.

And in 1883, The New York Times even ran a hit piece falsely stating that the Chinese ate rats.

To survive, Chinese immigrants looked at the law's fine print.

While laborers were banned under the Exclusion Act, those officially recognized as merchants could still obtain visas to travel and bring their families into the country.

Being considered a merchant was a relatively privileged status.

It meant that a person had to engage in buying and selling merchandise at an official storefront, and prohibited them from engaging in manual labor unless it was strictly necessary for their business.

But that changed in 1915, when a federal court added restaurants to the list of businesses that qualified for merchant status.

Opening the door just a little bit for the Chinese community to pursue the American Dream.

From 1910 to 1920, Chinese restaurants in the United States doubled and then doubled again the following decade.

But there were heavy caveats.

To qualify for a visa, you had to be a high end investor in a fancy eatery, and you had to be the restaurant's manager.

Not a cook, not a server, a manager.

And you had to do it for at least a year.

But immigrants got creative and found clever ways to skirt around these rules.

They pooled their money together to open restaurants and rotated the management role among the investors every year so everyone could secure their legal status.

To stay profitable, chefs had to adapt to keep costs low.

Chefs got savvy, swapping traditional ingredients that were unavailable in the United States with foods that were abundant and cheap, like carrots, snow peas, green peppers and broccoli.

Enter chop suey.

The origin of chop suey is a bit of a mystery.

One popular theory is that it was made up for Chinese statesman Lee Hongzhang during his 1896 visit to New York.

Supposedly, he didn't care for the food that was being served at an event one evening.

So a chef tossed together a quick stir fry of whatever was available.

Whether the story is true or not, the mild, savory dish became a massive hit.

By the early 1900s, chop suey joints became a great equalizer.

They served all social classes and racial groups.

They stayed open late, which attracted a nightlife crowd, and during the day they were a quick and convenient lunch for a growing lower middle class whose afternoon break was too short to go home for a midday meal.

They also found a loyal following in the Jewish community.

Since Chinese food rarely mixed dairy and meat, it became known as safe treyf, a way to eat out without blatantly breaking kosher laws, especially since forbidden meats like pork were chopped so finely they were practically invisible.

As Chinese food became more popular, the flavors evolved too.

This era saw the rise of General Tso's chicken, a dish created in the 50s by chef Peng Chang-kuei.

While the original version was tart and salty, it was later heavily sweetened and deep fried to cater to the American sweet tooth.

Tiki culture was another way Chinese-American chefs adapted.

America's obsession with Polynesian culture, or at least what they assumed Polynesian culture was, really picked up steam after World War Two, when soldiers stationed in the South Pacific theater came home.

The aesthetic, which is a mash up of Hawaiian, Asian Pacific, and Chinese culture, turned into the tropical fantasy we know of today, with images of volcanoes, grass skirts and coconut cocktails served out of Easter Island stone heads.

But many iconic tiki dishes were actually created by Chinese chefs.

They saw the popularity of these restaurants and decided to add a bit of tiki flair to what they were serving.

This cross-cultural exchange led to dishes like barbecued pork, fried shrimp, and crab rangoons, which can be traced back to a Chinese American cook named Joe Young at a California tiki bar called Trader Vic's.

Even the packaging we associate with Chinese food was an American adaptation.

The iconic white folding boxes were actually invented in Chicago in 1894.

Modified versions of what were known at the time as oyster pails.

Chinese restaurants repurposed them because they were leakproof, cheap, and perfect for families looking for a convenient Sunday night dinner.

Today, Chinese-American food has transcended its survival origins to become a distinct regional cuisine in its own right.

It isn't just Chinese food in America.

It's a unique culinary language that's been exported back across the Pacific.

A cuisine born out of oppression is now one of the most popular in the United States.

Just look at the numbers.

There are roughly 5.5 million Chinese Americans in the country, making up only about 1.6% of the population.

Yet you can find a Chinese restaurant in every state.

From a per capita perspective, there are 13 Chinese restaurants for every 100,000 people, making it one of the most prevalent cultural cuisines in the country.