THE FORTUNE COOKIE CHRONICLES: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food
Jennifer 8. Lee
Twelve Books
Sociology
ISBN: 9780446580076

• Read an Excerpt

As American as apple pie? How about as American as General Tso's chicken? Are hamburgers and fries the quintessential American dish, or is it chop suey? If, like so many Americans, a visit to your favorite Chinese restaurant just isn't complete without cracking open a fortune cookie at the end of the meal, then Jennifer 8. Lee's exploration of Chinese-American food is the book for you.

THE FORTUNE COOKIE CHRONICLES traces the origins of these familiar dishes back to their creation and examines the American restaurant industry and culinary tastes, all the while delving into the Chinese immigrant experience. The author also tries once and for all to solve the mystery of who really invented the fortune cookie.

Lee's professional interest was first piqued when across the country over 100 people won an interstate lottery after all picking the same numbers. When asked how they came to do so, they all credited the lucky numbers they had found in recently enjoyed fortune cookies. What, Lee wondered, gave the little cookies, and the scraps of paper inside, such power to charm and inspire? Her inquiry took her first to the restaurants where the lottery winners got their food and from there on a journey into the history of Chinese immigration to the U.S. (including that of her own family) and across the world to places as diverse as Dubai, Australia and Brazil in search of the world's best Chinese restaurant. In fact, every question Lee raised about Chinese food led her to even more questions.

After tracking down the lottery winners, the book becomes a series of related topics concerning Chinese food. Lee covers the advent of urban Chinese food delivery, the relationship between Jewish culture and Chinese food, the real identity of General Tso and the politics of soy sauce, among other topics. Still, she always comes back to the fortune cookie and its sweetly delivered wisdom.

THE FORTUNE COOKIE CHRONICLES is witty and thoughtful, and an interesting blend of genres: history, memoir, cultural studies, culinary interest. As a narrator and guide, Lee is personable and charming, even when her debut is occasionally repetitive and meandering.

At heart, this book is about the relationship between the Chinese and American cultures. When the Chinese came to this country they brought their taste buds and traditional foods with them. Over time they adapted their dishes, or created new ones, for the American palette. Today Chinese food is the most popular ethnic cuisine in America (“there are nearly forty thousand Chinese restaurants in the United States,” Lee writes, “more than the number of McDonald's, Burger Kings and KFCs combined.”) These days, she relates, distinctive Chinese-American dishes are being introduced into China where they are classified as American food.

For Lee, food is part and parcel of ethnic and cultural identity. What kind of Chinese food do Chinese-Americans eat --- the dishes brought from the various regions of China, or the meals inspired by them, modified for American tastes? What are the characteristics of a good Chinese restaurant, and do Chinese and non-Chinese people agree on them? Why do so many Chinese immigrants go into the restaurant business in the first place? Lee raises many compelling questions about American culture, the minority and immigrant experience in general and the story of the Chinese in America in particular, while still giving her audience something fun to read. And for the truth behind the fortune cookie itself, THE FORTUNE COOKIE CHRONICLES is a worthwhile tale.

    --- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

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