Chinese Food
« Previous Entries Next Entries »A fortune cookie still life, by Abbey Ryan, for sale on Ebay
Monday, October 6th, 2008Abbey Ryan, who creates a painting a day, has a fortune cookie still life on sale on eBay called Fortune Cookie No. 2. It is currently at $107. There seems to be quite a bit of fortune cookie-inspired art. My personal favorite remains a portrait of Mao, made out of hundreds of cookies.
My Fried Turkey Dumpling/Potsticker/Guotie Recipe
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008I might be making fried turkey dumplings on TV. Cross fingers. Just dropped the fried dumplings off today. Fried turkey dumplings, of course, were my family’s solutions to elementary school bake sales — as Chinese people don’t bake (as I’ve explained before). They don’t bake brownies. They don’t bake pies. They don’t bake apple crisps. […]
General Tso goes on a shopping spree?
Thursday, September 18th, 2008A style article on shopping in boutiques in Chinatown uses General Tso in the headline, even though he has nothing to do with the story. It’s interesting how General Tso has become a shorthand for “an abstract Chinese figure that Americans can relate to, ” as opposed to let’s say Mao Zedong or Confucius. Can […]
Now Available: Fortune Cookie Cupcakes
Monday, September 8th, 2008Fortune Cookie cupcakes from A Baked Creation. . As they explain: “We made fortune cookies out of gum paste and inserted her unique personal notes. The green icing relates to the company’s famous colour.”
General Tso-themed baby wear
Monday, September 8th, 2008General Tso Onesie Available from Etsy, a “General Tso onesie” — which is funny because no sign of General Tso anywhere, just fortune cookies. Which shows both have become interchangeable symbols for Chinese food. The desription: Grab this adorable “General Tso” baby onesie for your little one. American Apparel 100% Organic Cotton. Machine washable. Triple […]
A Chinese entrepreneur introduces Fortune Cookies to China
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008It’s funny to see the the way that people in China react to fortune cookies — with a mixture of confusion and amusement. As part of research for my book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, I went around China handing out fortune cookies to random people (my bellhop, people on the street, vendors) and recorded their […]
Who knew there were Greek fortune cookies? A British lottery winner strikes it big.
Monday, August 25th, 2008(From a while back. I am just catching up. An engineer in Britain played a lucky number from a fortune cookie he got in Greece four years ago and won £2,355,880 (about $5 million!). A smaller version of what happened in the United States and in Brazil. More surprising to me: That fortune cookies have […]
I was hacked (with WordPress footer Spam) but now am saved
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008In poking around my blog because of layout issues, we discovered I had a bunch of spam links in my footer. Like a hundred links to latech.edu, with horrible things like cialis and viagra. About a month ago, I started noticing some very strange search queries bringing people to my site, like “pantyhose” and things […]
ABC: The mystery of the fortune cookie’s history
Sunday, August 17th, 2008Television loves fortune cookies as a result of the Beijing Olympics. I did a segment with ABC on the history of the fortune cookie with Juju Chang. I swear, fortune cookies and “man date” are going to be part of my obituary, or at the very least the college reunion report.
Scorpions and silkworms?
Thursday, August 14th, 2008From a Chinese-American classmate: Sorry to miss your Today show appearance. Â While you’re there and talking about Chinese food, can you get them to cover something other than scorpions and silkworms? Â I understand the appeal of exoticism and all, but it’s hardly representative of Chinese food… and a little tiresome after seeing four or […]
I’m in Beijing! And it is muggy and rainy.
Sunday, August 10th, 2008The Beijing airport is supernice now. Met some nice Olympic-ish people on the plane. They stood out as they were lanky black men (track and former swimmer) that were at least 6’2″ (one was 6’7″!) among those of us who were decidedly closer to the earth. I’m excited to eat the Chinese food here (which […]
Joe Grimm, recruiter extraordinaire, departure party at Unity
Saturday, August 9th, 2008At Unity, about 100 people came to the departure of Joe Grimm, who I must say is the best newspaper recruiter that I have ever met, from his job at the Detroit Free Press. He’s touched the career of hundreds upon hundreds of young journalists (including me) — encouraging I first met him at AAJA […]
08/08/08 @ 8:08 a.m. on the Today Show
Thursday, August 7th, 2008Supposedly, I will be part of a segment that will air on 08/08/08 @ 8:08 a.m. as part of the Today show. (Though now my friends report that it did not air at that time, and I’m not sure when and if it did). I’ve also had three requests for radio interviews on the same […]
General Tso did not appear here.
Thursday, August 7th, 2008George Vescey writes about how General Tso did not show up at the Times’ Olympic banquet for everyone who was sent to cover the games. As he writes: “Those of us who have never been to China have always heard that Chinese food is vastly different from what we get in the States — takeout […]
A Fortune Cookie Chronicles book club at the Fortune Cookie Chronicles Powerball Restaurant
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008This is very adorable. I got a great email leading me to the photo above. “I’m the organizer for my neighborhood’s book club. We read your book last month and then ate at King Buffet, which is one of the fortune cookie winning restaurants here in Lawrence, Kansas.” The photo is of them holding up […]
WONTONT Lust?
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008I got this funny wonton story over e-mail: I just moved to a new place, and as part of my move, I had to pick a new phone number. So of course, being the kind of person I am, I spend 3 hours last week when I should have been unpacking a) doing research into […]
General Tso’s potato chips from Terra Kettles, available at Whole Foods
Monday, July 28th, 2008This photo was sent to me by a reader. General Tso continues with his brand extension. He has his own type of chip available at Whole Foods. I’ve seen now, General Tso’s tofu, General Tso’s pizza, General Tso’s chipotle sauce, General Tso’s sushi, General Tso’s duck and now General Tso’s potato chips. (My favorite of […]
The CommArts Design Award for Anne Twomey for the Cover
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008Fortune Cookie Chronicles is now technically an award-winning book! (Though not because of me.) The cover, done by Anne Twomey, won in the book cover illustration category of the Communication Arts Magazine’s 49th Annual Design Competition. Being a word (and not a design) person, I went to suss out what this competition was all about. […]
Book Publishing Industry Panel on July 22
Monday, July 14th, 2008This is next week… Harvardwood is pleased to present our first-ever publishing industry panel event! The panel will feature authors Ceridwen Dovey ’03 (Blood Kin), Jennifer Lee ’99 (The Fortune Cookie Chronicles), and Nancy Redd ’03 (Body Drama), publishing manager and acquiring editor at Penguin Publishing Molly Barton, and Jennifer Joel ’98, book agent at […]
My cameo in The Killing of the Chinese Cookie
Monday, July 14th, 2008I saw Derek Shimoda’s The Killing of the Chinese Cookie this week, and I make a brief cameo (as do some of my fortune cookies from around the world). It is when I am in Japan (Kyoto/Osaka area)Â getting my fortune cold at a shrine connected with fortune cookies through the tsujiura technique of watching […]
Chinese chicken in the New York Times Crossword Puzzle?
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008Clues from July 1, 2008 New York Times crossword. 39 Down: General on Chinese menus 60 Down: Kung _____ chicken Crossword writer must have been hungry.
The Killing of a Chinese Cookie is Coming to New York City
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008Derek Shimoda’s The Killing of a Chinese Cookie is playing in the Asian American International Film Festival in New York City this month. Two screenings: July 12, Saturday, 1 p.m. @ The Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue and again on Monday, July 14 @ 7:30 p.m. at the Maysles Cinema @ 343 Malcolm X Blvd, […]
Maybe they serve Maryland Crap Cakes too
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008Another humorous Chinese menu typo, send to me by a blog reader.
Take Out: “General Tso’s Chicken Meets 24”
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008I was flipping through Time Out New York yesterday when I saw this ad for Take Out, a feature film about a Chinese delivery man, and was amused that it quotes me: “General Tso’s chicken meets 24 — Jennifer 8. Lee, The New York Times.” This may be the first and only time I will […]
The official Chinese menu translations, a revealing look at Sweet and Sour
Friday, June 20th, 2008I just did a post for the Times Olympics blog on the translation, which I will essentially put in a modified form below This is what they are trying to avoid: This month, the Chinese government has officially released its very long list of suggested translations for Chinese dishes in preparation for a tourist-friendly Olympics. […]
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