The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food

By John | Sunday, March 9, 2008 | 3 Comments

Thanks for visiting 8Asians, a blog about Asian American issues. If you find this interesting, subscribe to the RSS feed, visit our Facebook Page or add us on Twitter!

In The New York Times article, “Wok,” writers Jane and Michael Stern review a fellow New York Times writer Jennifer 8. Lee’s book (yes, 8, as in “8 Asians“) “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food“:

“Lee rides her obsession on a three-year, 42-state, 23-country journey during which she discovers that fortune cookies, like so much about America’s Chinese restaurants, aren’t really Chinese…On the way to finding the origin of fortune cookies, she pinpoints the beginning of door-to-door delivery in New York and its attendant scourge of free menus. And she gives us the possible origin of chop suey (a joke played by a Chinese chef in San Francisco whose boss wanted him to concoct something that “would pass as Chinese.”) Lee travels to Hunan to see if the actual General Tso had anything to do with the chicken dish that bears his name, only to discover it most likely began as General Ching’s chicken, named after General Tso’s mentor.”

Another interesting “factoid” from the article is that “There are twice as many of these [Chinese] restaurants as there are McDonald’s franchises, and the food they serve is every bit as predictable.” 8Asians.com also did blog about Jennifer 8 Lee’s article on “Fortune Cookies Not From China or America, But Japan.”

I first learned about The Fortune Cookie Chronicles the other day because I saw my friend was going to attend Lee’s book tour in San Francisco on Facebook at this event Wednesday, March 26, 2008 from 7:30pm – 10:30pm.

There is also this hilarious interview by Stephen Colbert, of The Colbert Report, with Jennifer 8. Lee this past Tuesday, March 4th, 2008.

The book reviews on Amazon.com make the book sound quite interesting, and I just ordered the book today.

Categories:

Current EventsFood & DrinkObservations

NOTE: 8Asians.com is a community, and we thank you for being a part of it. While we welcome and appreciate differences in opinion, if you're rude or you're promoting spam, we have a right to edit or delete your comment. Read our comment policy for more information.

If you see a comment that violates the 8Asians.com comment policy, you may flag the comment by mousing over the comment and clicking "FLAG."

0 comments 1 person listening

Comment help
Get Livefyre

Sort: Newest | Oldest

Trackbacks

8Asians.com » The spin on Chinese laundries: An Asian American/Asian Canadian Blog says:

April 24, 2008 at 12:47 am

[...] to Survival on Gold Mountain.” The article reminded me of a recent book I read, “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food” and how the Chinese in America in [...]
8Asians.com » Panda Express: Ugly Talking Pandas Pitching Chinese Food says:

October 19, 2009 at 6:01 am

[...] cost to make a decent looking panda suit or something in CGI? Enough of the ugly talking pandas! Jennifer 8. Lee, do [...]
Congress Forced to Eat Chinese Food While Averting Debt Crisis | (simple) | 8Asians.com says:

August 3, 2011 at 9:01 am

[...] if you want to read an interesting book on the history of Chinese food in America, you should check out The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee. It’s no surprise that the rise of China and our economic decline is striking fear into [...]