About the author: Jen Lin-Liu was raised in Southern California, graduated from Columbia University, and came to China in 2000 on a Fulbright fellowship. A food critic for Time Out Beijing and the coauthor of Frommer's Beijing, she also has written for Newsweek, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Saveur, and Food & Wine. She is the founder of Black Sesame Cooking School in Beijing. Serve The People was published in 2008. Check out the author's website or her Black Sesame Kitchen website for more information.
Synopsis: As a freelance journalist and food writer living in Beijing, Jen Lin-Liu already had a ringside seat for China's exploding food scene. When she decided to enrol in a local cooking school - held in an unheated classroom with nary a measuring cup in sight - she jumped into the ring herself.
In Serve The People, Lin-Liu gives a memorable and mouthwatering cook's tour of today's China as she progresses from cooking student to noodle-stall and dumpling-house apprentice to intern at a chic Shanghai restaurant. The characters she meets along the way include poor young men and women streaming in from the provinces in search of a "rice bowl" (living wage), a burgeoning urban middle class hungry for luxury after decades of turmoil and privation, and the mentors who take her in hand in the kitchen and beyond.
Together they present an unforgettable slice of contemporary China in the full swing of social and economic transformation.
First paragraph in the book: In cooking class, I learned a startling array of things: Eating fish head will repair your brain cells. Spicy food is good for your complexion. Monosodium glutamate is best thrown in a dish just before it comes off the wok. Americans are fat because they eat bread, while Chinese are slim because they eat rice. If you work as a cook in America for three years, you can come back to China and buy a house.
My take: After reading Jennifer 8 Lee's book previously, I am quite fascinated with food writings and have fortunately and quickly found another highly recommended read by a professional food writer. People who love Chinese food will almost certainly hunger for this book!
I have again enjoyed another culinary journey through the writings and first-hand experiences of a young Chinese-American writer and chef, and who has generously shared some of her recipes in the book, eg, Mom's steamed pork patty, steamed corncakes, fish-fragrant pork shreds and a useful step-by-step guide to making three types of noodles like "knife-grated noodles", "cat's ear noodles" and "hand-rolled noodles". Jen's writing is down-to-earth, personal, gratifyingly honest and interspersed with entertaining anecdotes.
Serve The People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China, a non-fiction memoir, has been awarded the Best Chinese Cuisine Book, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2008. You can watch a video of Jen speaking about her experiences in China here.
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