Nelson Wang (born 1950) is an Indian restaurateur of Chinese descent and the founder of China Garden, a restaurant in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Kemps Corner Kemps Corner is an upmarket neighbourhood in South Mumbai. It is flanked by Altamount Road on one side and Malabar Hill on the other. It lies at the intersection of Breach Candy, Warden Road, Pedder Road Gopalrao Deshmukh Marg formerly kno ...

neighborhood. Various sources credit him with the invention of the popular Indian/Chinese dish " Chicken Manchurian".

Personal life

Wang was born in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. He is the son of a

Chinese immigrant Waves of Chinese emigration have happened throughout history. They include the emigration to Southeast Asia beginning from the 10th century during the Tang dynasty, to the Americas during the 19th century, particularly during the California go ...

. However, within a few days of his birth, his father died, and he was sent to live with a foster family by his mother. His foster father was a chef, to whom Wang attributes his own love of cooking.

Early career

Wang came to

in 1974, with just

₹ The Indian rupee sign ⟨₹⟩ is the currency symbol for the Indian rupee (ISO 4217: INR), the official currency of India. Designed by D. Udaya Kumar, it was presented to the public by the Government of India on 15 July 2010, following its ...

27 in his pocket. His first job there was in a small restaurant in

Colaba Colaba (; or ISO 15919, ISO: Kolābā) is a part of the city of Mumbai, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other three are Worli, Bandra and Malabar Hill. During the Portuguese rule in the 16th century, the island was ...

. He also worked a variety of other odd jobs, including being a limbo dancer, at which he claims to be skilled. According to Wang himself, he was a cook at the

Cricket Club of India Cricket Club of India (CCI) is a cricket club located on Dinsha Wacha Road, in Churchgate of Mumbai, India. It was conceived as India's counterpart to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It is considered one of the most prestigious clubs in the na ...

, when in 1975, a customer asked him to create a new dish, different from what was available on the menu. He started by taking the basic ingredients of an Indian dish, namely chopped

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

, and

green chili Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli ( ), are varieties of berry-fruit plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. They are used as a spice to add pungency ( ...

s; but next, instead of adding ''

garam masala Garam masala (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ''garam masālā'', ) is a Spice mix, blend of ground spices originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is common in Indian cuisine, Indian, Pakistani cuisine, Pakistani, Nepalese cuisine, Nepale ...

'', he put in

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

instead, followed by

cornstarch Cornflour, cornstarch, maize starch, or corn starch (American English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken s ...

and the chicken itself. The result was Chicken Manchurian.

China Garden

Wang branched out from his job at the CCI in 1983 to start his own restaurant. His restaurant gained popularity, and won various awards proclaiming it "India's best restaurant". Wang and China Garden have also been credited with inventing or popularizing a number of other Indian Chinese dishes, including Creamy Corn Cream, Chicken Lollipops, Date Pancakes and

Hot and Sour Soup Hot and sour soup is a popular example of Chinese cuisine. Although it is often said to have originated in Sichuan, this is actually a variant of ''hulatang'' or "pepper hot soup" (胡辣汤) with added vinegar to enhance the sourness. This vari ...

. He and his sons Henry and Eddie would go on to open several restaurants in various parts of India, including

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Gurugram Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest o ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

and

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

. It is available in Nepal also in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

. The restaurant encountered trouble in 1999, when a court ordered him to close it for violating Coastal Regulation Zone rules about building floor area, in a case that took more than fourteen years. A

Rediff Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

columnist criticised the ruling as making "no sense". He reopened the restaurant at the Crossroads Mall in August 2000. Since then, China garden has reopened in its original location at Om Chambers.

References

External links

China Garden
Wang's restaurant {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Nelson Living people 1950 births Indian chefs Indian people of Chinese descent Businesspeople from Kolkata Indian restaurateurs