Chinese Food
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Saturday, March 29th, 2008I flew into the Burbank Airport and was amused to observe it was called Bob Hope Airport, named after the comedian who lived nearby and kept his plane stored there. But of course, it made sense given that it serves Burbank and is close to Hollywood. It’s an amazing airport: small, easy to get in […]
Alcohol makes people buy books…the San Francisco launch party
Friday, March 28th, 2008On Wednesday night we had an amazing book event in San Francisco, spearheaded by Dave Lu of Fanpop (and aided with Jimmy, Ben, Lydia and James). It was 150+ people at Swig Bar on Geary Street, and it was a new promising model for a book event.
Authors@Google and Chefs@Google
Friday, March 28th, 2008I went to speak at Google as part of their awesome Authors@Google program. As we drove by, I noticed that Google has its own street sign. Not Google Blvd or Google Parkway or Google Avenue — Just “Google.”
Fortune Cookie Chronicles’ Amazon rating is back up to five star
Monday, March 24th, 2008I woke up today to discover that my Amazon rating is back up to five stars because two new contributors pulled the average up. I thought I should take a screenshot of it while it lasts.
Thank you for whoever fixed my Chinese name on the Wikipedia page
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008Someone fixed my Chinese name on my Wikipedia entry so it is traditional rather than simplified. Thank you.
Cashew chicken, also Chinese American
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008A reader sent me the Wikipedia post on cashew chicken (腰果鸡ä¸), which I had not realized, originated in one of its forms in Springfield, Missouri when Chinese restaurateur David Leong was looking for something to appeal to the local palate, so made this dish with fried chicken-type bits in the 1960s. (again the secret in […]
14k Fortune Cookie Jewelry (why?)
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008Sent to me by a coworker. A Rachel Leigh fortune cookie necklace, which is made of 14k gold, so this is not the cheap costume stuff. (Who is Rachel Leigh, I don’t know, but it’s these kinds of Web sites that make me feel like I should). Just goes to prove how iconic fortune cookies […]
Cary Goldstein is on vacation, so Carolyn Mimran is publicity woman for the week
Saturday, March 22nd, 2008Twelve’s publicist, Cary Goldstein, is on a (much needed) vacation — and totally unreachable (yay). Working on 12 books a year on an unrelenting pace is incredible task, and he has done an admirable job. Anyway, so people needing to reach a publicist this week can reach Carolyn Mimran, his assistant, at carolyn dot mimran […]
Derek Shimoda’s The Killing of a Chinese Cookie
Thursday, March 20th, 2008Derek Shimoda’s documentary, The Killing of the Chinese Cookie, is playing in the International Asian American Film Festival. I convinced Derek to come with me to Japan to document the Japaneseness of the cookies when I heard he was working on a documentary. I have a funny story about when we first talked on the […]
The Library of Congress Flyer
Monday, March 17th, 2008I know, if I had my act together, I would have posted this before the event at the Library of Congress. But notice the iconic use of fortune cookies (which are more recognized in America than anywhere else)
Someone added my Chinese name to my Wikipedia entry in simplified :( form
Monday, March 17th, 2008So someone added my Chinese name to my Wikipedia entry (gleaned, I suppose, from the coverage of the book in Chinese language media). I actually find it a bit grating because they used the simplified character of my name instead of traditional character which is 2x the simplified character (which is what I grew up […]
Harvard Advocate poster with Chinese Take-out Carton
Monday, March 17th, 2008I think the posters for my events are quite adorable and amusing. This one from The Harvard Advocate (and another one I will show from the Library of Congress) uses symbols of Chinese-ness (fortune cookies and takeout boxes) that are actually things largely indigenous to America. The takeout boxes are so American they are not […]
Amazon ranking #8×8
Sunday, March 16th, 2008So this was a couple of days ago (on the Tuesday, March 11), where a nice convergence of the tail end of Colbert and a favorable write-up in the New York Times Book Review sent it up to #64 (which my friend Shawn noted is 8-squared) for part of the day.
Confucius say, you will be arrested today for something stupid
Monday, March 10th, 2008Police were able to arrest two robbery suspects in Tulsa, Oklahoma because they found matching fortune cookies from the robbed Chinese restaurant and in the crooks’ pockets, according to this Associated Press story. The crooks loved fortune cookies so much, that not only did they take money they grabbed fortune cookies on their way out […]
Wisconsin Public Radio on the origin of the fortune cookie
Saturday, March 8th, 2008Here is the mp3 of an interview I did on the origin of the fortune cookie on Wisconsin Public Radio a week ago, along with Eric Hagiwara, for their Friday food program. (I know. Delay. Book craziness. Why else am I catching up on blogging on a Saturday morning at 6 a.m.?!). They liked me […]
NYT on MSG and Umami
Saturday, March 8th, 2008Julia Moskin has a lovely explanatory piece on MSG in Wednesday’s Times. (Sorry for delay, but book craziness). I do touch on MSG and the concept of umami, the fifth taste, in my book in the soy sauce trade wars chapter. I use MSG in my cooking sometimes. We call it weijing. China is actually […]
Introducing fortune cookies to China
Thursday, March 6th, 2008During my trip to China, I took along boxes of Wonton Food’s fortune cookies and gave them out to Chinese people along the way. This is a compilation of their reactions. (The people here are from Houyu, Kaifeng, Shenzhen and Changsha).
Associated Press: “Go buy this wonderful book”
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008The Associated Press has moved a review that ends by telling readers “Go buy this wonderful book” (okay, but only if they want to find the greatest Chinese restaurant in the world). It is a really flattering review and it will be picked up by papers across the country slowly over the next few weeks. […]
Newsday says book smacks like chop suey: rich medley of flavors, odds and ends
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008Newsday’s review is more mixed, generally positive with its main criticism (which is not unfair) being: “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles” offers a rich medley of flavors that would be more delicious had the chef exercised some restraint: A clearer chronology and narrative line would allow each ingredient to sing. As it stands, Lee’s concoction, although […]
More Fortune Cookie Memoir: from Bill Stephens
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008I’ve become quite the magnet for fortune cookie tales both real and fictional. Bet you didn’t know there was a whole genre of fortune cookie writing, but there is. Bill Stephens sent me an excerpt, chapter 25, for book proposal, ‘Uncorking & Forking: It’s Been a Good Life.’ www.billstephensbooks.com.” Uncorking & Forking: It’s Been a […]
A meta-fortune cookie fortune
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Barbara Brown sent this photo to me and a message: “Heard your intrview on NPR yesterday and wanted to share my favorite fortune ever. After a birthday dinner one year I opened my fortune cookie and read, ‘Ignore previous fortunes.’ I’ve never met anyone else who has gotten that fortune, nor do I want to. […]
A childhood of Chinese moms and dessert struggles
Sunday, February 24th, 2008In my Food and Wine piece, I talk about how desserts totally mystified my family growing up — specifically these “bake sales.” Then I got a note from Patricia Ryan telling a sweet but sad story of her mother struggling with making desserts in her childhood.
Video: Watch fortune cookies being handmade in Japan
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Here, on the New York Times site, is the video of fortune cookies being made in Japan that went with my article. I’m not sure why they only put some videos on YouTube (about 150 at last count). Sadly, they don’t give you the ability to embed it either in the blog.
Welcome to General Tso’s hometown! Xiangyin, Hunan
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008This is the billboard from when I visited General Tso‘s hometown in rural Hunan province in my journey to find the source of General Tso’s chicken. (yes he is real, he played a huge part in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion, started by a guy who thought he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ) It […]
You CAN judge a book by its cover. So what does mine say?
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008The Fortune Cookie Chronicles cover gets a shout out by designer Christopher Tobias on his Outerwearforbooks blog as part of his Non-fiction Cover Genius Awards, launched Feb. 14. As he puts it: Why do fiction books get all the glory? In my experience non-fiction is often more of a challenge to design than fiction. I […]
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