- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Mariner Books; 1 edition (April 24 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0156033747
- ISBN-13: 978-0156033749
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.8 x 2.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#203,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #54 in Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Asian > Chinese
- #98 in Books > Travel > Asia > China
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Chinese-American journalist Lin-Liu's delightful mixture of memoir and cookbook records her years living and working in Shanghai and Beijing, when she attended a vocational cooking school and discovered a passion for Chinese cooking and culture. Growing up in the U.S. to Taiwan-born parents, the author admits feeling alienated from her heritage when she first moved to China in 2000; a graduate of an American journalism school, she eventually became the food editor at TimeOut Beijing. Moving between Shanghai and Beijing, she begins her account with her frustrating yet ultimately rewarding study at the Hualian Cooking School in Beijing, where she apprenticed to one of the school's instructors, Chairman Wang, an old-style cook raised during the Cultural Revolution, who taught the author the rudiments of chopping, shopping and how to pass the cooking exam. Despite the flimsy certificate, bias against women working in professional kitchens and the reluctance to hire foreigners, Lin-Liu found work at Chef Zhang's noodle stall serving migrant workers and at the popular dumpling house Xian'r Lao Man; she later snagged a plum internship at Jereme Leung's upscale Shanghai restaurant, Whampoa Club. Incorporating stories of many of the Chinese she worked alongside (and their recipes), as well as trips to the MSG factory in Henan or to the rice-growing Guangxi province, Lin-Liu offers a thoroughgoing, spirited celebration of overcoming cultural barriers. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
"Lin-Liu is a charming guide to modern China and its kaleidoscopic cuisine." (People )
"Lin-Liu's book is highly entertaining, in part because she manages in the end to truly delve into the culture and history of the country and its food." (Toronto Star )
"Chinese-American journalist Lin-Liu's delightful mixture of memoir and cookbook records her years living and working in Shanghai and Beijing...Incorporating stories of many of the Chinese who worked alongside (and their recipes), as well as trips to the MSG factory in Henan or to the rice-growing Guangxi province, Lin-Liu offers a thoroughgoing, spirited celebration of overcoming cultural barriers." (Publishers Weekly )
"Lin-Liu's book is highly entertaining, in part because she manages in the end to truly delve into the culture and history of the country and its food." (Toronto Star )
"Chinese-American journalist Lin-Liu's delightful mixture of memoir and cookbook records her years living and working in Shanghai and Beijing...Incorporating stories of many of the Chinese who worked alongside (and their recipes), as well as trips to the MSG factory in Henan or to the rice-growing Guangxi province, Lin-Liu offers a thoroughgoing, spirited celebration of overcoming cultural barriers." (Publishers Weekly )
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
A light diversion. Not a lot of substance,
By C. J. Thompson "Arctic John" (Pond Inlet, Nunavut Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China (Paperback)
I enjoyed this book on the whole but I cannot really rave about it. There is no real focus here, no unifying theme of any sort but, then, maybe there isn't supposed to be. I don't know if the author intended this book to be a journey of self-awareness or a literary exploration of some aspect of her life, but if either is the case it is not readily apparent what she is trying to say. If, on the other hand, one reads this book as nothing more than an account of what happened to the author when she moved to China, then it can be enjoyed for just that. Foodies can vicariously enjoy the meals made and experienced by the author and everyone can get an armchair tour of an interesting place and meet some interesting people. A reader who wants more than that may end up being disappointed but I, thankfully, really wasn't looking for anything but a good 'food read'. I'm not sure if the recipes really added all that much but they certainly didn't diminish the book.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Serve the people,
By
This review is from: Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through Today's China (Hardcover)
It is fun to read. And you can learn some Chinese cooking which is better than the one in the cookbook. For it is more practical.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews) 33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Chinese-American learns China through its Food,
By Lynn Harnett - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through Today's China (Hardcover)
A Chinese American whose family fled to Taiwan (and later the US) after the revolution, journalist, food-writer and now cooking school owner, Lin-Liu knew little about cooking when she came to China in 2000. She soon realized that food was such an integral part of Chinese life, she would better understand the culture if she understood the food.Enrolling in a Beijing vocational cooking school teaches her just how alien and American she is. The other students are male, they question nothing in class and do the minimum to get by. She, in contrast, seems loud, pushy and rich. Humorous and energetic, her account of getting through school (with much help and great difficulty) and then apprenticing first at a noodle stall and later, in Shanghai, at a fancy restaurant, illuminates much about everyday life in China's cities. Staffed by migrants from China's rural provinces, restaurants offer diverse cuisines and backbreaking labor, perfectionalism and cut corners. Lin-Liu learns stories about the Cultural Revolution while cooking, finds a long history of hardship in "exotic" ingredients like eyeballs and jellyfish, discovers China's cultural diversity in its many cuisines, and Chinese provincialism in tourists' unwillingness to eat anything but their own foods. Her enthusiastic culinary tour of the culture is peppered with recipes for dumpling fillings, noodles and traditional favorites like Drunken Chicken and Fish Fragrant Pork Shreds as well as the (mostly difficult) stories of the individuals she meets. Entertaining and eye-opening, Lin-Liu's portrait of modern China reflects its changing trends and attitudes and its timeless cuisine. 9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved this book and the recipes,
By Mark Satlof - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through Today's China (Hardcover)
Between this wonderful book and another I'd also highly recommend, Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories, I have become immersed in Chinese food culture recently, to the point that my kids tease me about becoming Chinese. Luckily I live in NYC and have a few Chinatowns to choose from, so it's been congee on the way to work for a couple of months now.Jen's personal search to learn Chinese cooking (and to practice it) is inspiring...telling about her travels and travails through a China in a tug of war between its culinary past and its current rush towards modernization. I could tell just by looking at them that the dozen or 20 recipes, relating to each chapter of Jen's journey, would be delicious and the few I've tried so far more than live up to their promise. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but seems to fizzle towards the end,
By G. K. Sauer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China (Paperback)
I really liked the beginning of this book. In the beginning I felt I was learning more complete stories about the people of China and the culture. I loved the recipes throughout, though I have not tried any - I can tell that they are possible and would taste pretty good. Towards the end, it almost felt like she just wanted to get the book done with. I didn't feel the engagement towards the characters as I did at the beginning and it hopped around a bit more. I didn't feel complete at the end, it just kind of ended. Overall, it was a good read with great recipes.
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