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Food for Thought

Food for Thought: “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles” by Jennifer 8. Lee

Food for Thought is an occasional series covering creative works that are connected to a food issue or trend. See more.

Open Fortune Cookie

Earlier in the summer, I read Jennifer 8. Lee’s The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food. Within the first few pages, I was floored by this sentiment:

“American Chinese food is predictable, familiar, and readily available. It has a broad appeal to the national palate. It is something nearly everyone nowadays has grown up with – both young and old…Our benchmark for Americanness is apple pie. But ask yourself: How often do you eat apple pie? How often do you eat Chinese food?”

Thought-provoking, right? I enjoyed reading about each segment of her quest to understand Chinese food in America, from historical anecdotes to more personal discoveries. A former New York Times reporter, Lee turns thorough, detailed research into engaging storytelling. Here are a few paraphrased tidbits from the book:

  • A Chinese restaurant on the Upper West Side of New York pioneered food delivery in the mid 1970’s
  • Origins of the fortune cookie are disputed, but likely point back to Japan instead of China
  • One time, 110 people across 29 states all won the Powerball just from playing numbers they found on a fortune cookie
  • Chop suey exploded as a “national addiction” around 1900, which was what started the proliferation of Chinese restaurants
  • General Tso’s chicken is a completely American dish
  • One company in New Jersey makes the vast majority of soy sauce packets, chopsticks, and white cartons distributed throughout the country
  • Lee’s search for the greatest Chinese restaurant outside China culminated at a Vancouver strip mall

Fortune Cookie

You can find The Fortune Cookie Chronicles on Amazon, or watch Lee’s TED talk for her overview of the subject.