A review by sumatra_squall
Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States by Andrew Coe

4.0

Another surprisingly good read on Chinese food. I'd expected Chop Suey to delve into the origins of such well-loved American standards like moo goo gai pan, egg fu yong, General Tso's chicken and well, chop suey. Not unlike the Fortune Cookie Chronicles which was, unfortunately, a rather ghastly book. But Chop Suey surprised me by starting its exploration of the history of Chinese Food in the US with the Americans' first contact with China, when the Empress of China sailed to China in 1784 on a trading mission. Chop Suey is much more than a study on the origins and evolution of Chinese-American food; it also discusses American attitudes towards China and the Chinese over the centuries.