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Review: Chinese Menu

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By Grace Lin
New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2023. Informational. 288 pages.

Have you ever wanted to know more about the food that you find at a Chinese restaurant? This book, which is laid out like a takeout menu with sections for tea, appetizers, soups, and "chef's specials," tells the stories behind more than twenty Chinese dishes. Some of the foods have stories based in folklore, in mythology, in historical fact, and all are shared with vivid detail. Each section includes the author explaining a little about the dish and her personal connection to it before digging into the origin story behind our feast. Line drawings and full-color gouache images bring the stories and foods to life. 

This is an ambitious kind of project and it pays off. The resulting book is highly unique and very special. The resulting spread of dishes examines Chinese culture, Chinese folklore, and even relates to the history of Chinese Americans --touching on the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Gold Rush, and even Henry Kissinger's secret visit to China. If you think this may be a lot for a child audience, you'd probably be right. But the layout of this book is perfect for treasuring as a family keepsake and revisiting favorite dishes as part of your takeout order. If you read this book hungry, you may end up with your biggest ever takeout order --but it will be so, so worth it.

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