In an interview on The Asian American Experience

Tell me about your first book

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles is all about Chinese restaurants. It starts with this power ball lottery draw. You know all states have a lottery draw? Well, this is when all the states are put together for a massive lottery. What happens is it’s impossible for a lot of people to win, statistically impossible. Usually there are one or two winners, but a few years ago, in March 2005 there were 110 winners. It turned out this was because the numbers had been in a fortune cookie and all the people who got that cookie entered those numbers!

Fantastic.

It shows the ubiquity of Chinese restaurants. There are more Chinese restaurants in America than Wendys, McDonalds and Burger King put together. It seems impossible but it’s true. It makes sense, I guess – I’ve never met anyone who’s never been to a Chinese restaurant. The egg roll is as American as apple pie at this time.

The book is about her journey into Chinese restaurants in the United States and how they have become such a force. She also looks at the facets of Chinese food and its origins. You know the fortune cookie is not Chinese in origin? It’s from Japan and in China they don’t have them. This is purely an American thing and the Chinese food served here is completely different from that served in China. She actually did field work and went to China to discover the origin of General Tso’s Chicken.

What is General Tso’s Chicken?

It’s this kind of greasy great-tasting chicken covered in a batter and deep fried and then served with a deep brown sauce. It’s about the same level as a Big Mac as far as calories are concerned, so it makes sense that people love it here.