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The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food | 
 enlarge | Author: Jennifer 8 Lee
Publisher: Twelve
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $12.05
You Save: $12.94 (52%)
New (52) Used (16) from $10.97
Rating:  52 reviews
Sales Rank: 18802
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0446580074
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5951
EAN: 9780446580076
ASIN: 0446580074
Publication Date: March 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Early PAPERBACK! The publish date is not until 3-23-09.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
If you think McDonald's is the most ubiquitous restaurant experience in America, consider that there are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Wendys combined. New York Times reporter and Chinese-American (or American-born Chinese). In her search, Jennifer 8 Lee traces the history of Chinese-American experience through the lens of the food. In a compelling blend of sociology and history, Jenny Lee exposes the indentured servitude Chinese restaurants expect from illegal immigrant chefs, investigates the relationship between Jews and Chinese food, and weaves a personal narrative about her own relationship with Chinese food. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles speaks to the immigrant experience as a whole, and the way it has shaped our country.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 47 more reviews...
 An Interesting And Educational Read October 25, 2008
I have been eating chinese food and fortune cookies all my life. It is amazing how much I didn't know about the subjects. Until now! The Fortune Cookie Chronicles is loaded with odd and interesting tidbits including the origination of fortune cookies, Chop Suey and the relationship between fortune cookies and state lotteries. To sum it up, this is a fun and educational book. Buy it, you won't be disappointed.
 Triple 8 all the way... October 19, 2008
As a product of 1980's NYC Chinatown as well, I found myself having to pause while reading this book and interject my own similar memories to those that Jennifer describe.
Her writing style is flowing and intriguing. What is nice is that a chapter can be read every night and is practically concluded in itself. This is not to say that the book doesn't hold your attention. It does. Rather, to start the next chapter is to have to read all of it before reaching for the bookmark, as Jennifer takes you in another direction and another interesting chronicle.
To those who have read this already: I do have a authentic bottle of Kikkoman (lower sodium) in my fridge. I give the fortune cookies to my daughter, because Maria's bakery in NYC's Chinatown has the perfect light dessert. Never knew what General Tso's chicken or chop suey was til I left NYC.
If you're curious about things from lotto numbers in your fortune cookies to who actually invented them. If you wonder about those little packages of soy (or dark salty water) and duck sauce that come with your take out. You owe yourself a laugh and a read of this book.
Delightful Look at "Authentic" Food Culture October 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In The Fortune Cookies Chronicles (2008), Jennifer 8. Lee explores how dishes like these and Chinese food in general has "ceased to be ethnic" (19) and yet arguably and identifiably Chinese at the same. As one American military officer in Iraq noted, "What could be more American than beer and take-out Chinese?" (26). In order to understand how Chinese food can be both Chinese and American at the same time, Lee takes the readers throughout the United States and China to find the origins of some of our most popular dishes, and she travels around the world to find the "greatest" Chinese restaurant in the world.
Rather than a standard history of the little cuisine that could, Lee explores how Chinese food pushes the boundaries of how we define concepts like assimilation and authenticity (256-257). Lee posits that the old definitions of assimilation which emphasize minority populations blending into majority populations, the success of Chinese food demonstrates that convergence is the key to assimilation. And what actually constitutes authenticity? Potatoes are a staple in Irish food, but they are undeniably a New World food. Indian curries are enhanced by New World chilies. Lee considers all of these examples (including Chinese dishes like General Tso's chicken) to be "native foreign dishes" (257). Foreign in their inspiration, native in their creation. There are reasons why foods lend themselves so easily to blending of cuisines and ingredients. Lee points out that when people first come into contact with each other, language may be a barrier, but food lends itself immediately to opinion and evaluation (258). Food practices also tend to be one of the aspects of heritage that survives culture contact. Lee suggests that her grandchildren someday may not speak Chinese, but they will know how fry dumplings (258). Rather than the melting pot analogy that all school children are taught, stir-fry may be more apt; "our ingredients remain distinct, but our flavors blend together in a sauce shared by all" (259).
I found Lee's writing to be accessible and entertaining while at the same time theoretically interesting. While much of the book explores particular dishes, controversies, and the migration of Chinese restaurant workers, Lee keeps all of these topics grounded in her efforts to understand how food can be authentic and foreign at the same time. Lee does not hit the reader over the head with anthropological and sociological theory, but the concepts are there, grounded in the lived experiences of the people that Lee interviews and describes.
 Substance-Free October 9, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Those who want a serious, thoughtful look at Chinese food and what it means to Chinese and other cultures should look elsewhere; Jennifer 8. Lee's book is nothing but a series of shallow, (sometimes) mildly amusing extended anecdotes.
Ms. Lee's claim that "(chop suey) is still found in some urban Chinese takeouts and in scattered restaurants around the country" is patently false. From Bloomington, Indiana to Hannibal, Missouri to Austin, Texas, I've never been to a Chinese restaurant that didn't serve chop suey. What she seems to think of as an exotic rarity is, in fact, a staple.
This might be charitably chalked up as a harmless error, but it really is exemplary of the careless manner in which the entire book is written. Instead of a detailed acccount of how Chinese food developed and was then brought to the United States and elswhere, she presents what she must think is a series of utterly fascinating stories about various aspects of the cuisine: competition among take out restaurants in 1970's New York City, how fortunes get written, a story about multiple lottery winners who chose their numbers based on their fortunes at Chinese retaurants. As I said before, some of these stories are mildly amusing, but is that enough?
As a final insult, Ms. Lee spends about forty pages searching for the best Chinese restaurant in the world. What was the point in going from Paris to London to Mumbai, India to eat out, often at fancy places frequented by celebrities and Beautiful People? Nothing against Leonardo DiCaprio, but I really don't care where he goes to eat when he's in Paris. Why did this detail make it into the book, and how does eating Chinese at upscale restaurants in various world capitals and financial/cultural centers shed any light on the way Chinese food is eaten by everyday people?
An insightful and fun read October 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Jennifer Lee's "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food" is a delightful read that provides an interesting perspective of American Chinese food. The author covers the origins of Chinese food in the American society, and how it has evolved. She also touched on various aspects of Chinese restaurants in the U.S. - from Chinese delivery guys to the origin of fortune cookies.
This was a insightful read as Lee was very comprehensive in her research. She covered topics such as the origin of General Tso's chicken, the myth of chop suey, and the company that started the soya sauce packets that came with any order of Chinese food. These quirky topics make this book such a fun and delightful read. What was even more important was that she was able to show how Chinese restaurants and food have become a part of the American culture. In addition, her writing was clear and conversational, interjecting facts with personal anecdotes. Highly recommended.
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