Food For Thought: Stories To Savour!
Feed your appetite for Chinese food, culture and narratives
CRAZY RICH ASIANS, 2013
Food is at the heart of Kevin Kwan’s wildly entertaining tale of Singapore’s super-rich. Rachel’s introduction to hawker culture takes readers through chilli crab, Hainanese chicken rice, satay and laksa, while the scene in which the Youngs gather to make popiah provides a glimpse of tradition and family life behind the glamour.
GOODBYE CHINATOWN, 2026
Kit Fan’s latest novel follows a Cantonese family between Hong Kong and London, with food woven through the story as a language of migration and identity. Inspired by her father’s kitchen, Amber opens a restaurant in London, where her East-meets- West creations become a celebration of heritage and new beginnings.
GWEILO, 2004
Martin Booth’s memoir of growing up in 1950s Hong Kong is packed with the flavours of a city that fascinated him from the moment he arrived. At his first lunch, seven-year-old Booth is introduced to prawns and Coca-Cola and told to accept any dish he is offered, including hundred-year-old eggs and stir-fried water beetles.
SHARK’S FIN AND SICHUAN PEPPER, 2008
Fuchsia Dunlop’s fascinating memoir charts her journey into the world of Chinese cuisine, as she learns to cook at a Sichuan culinary school, and from home chefs and restaurateurs. Discovering the region’s fiery, fragrant and sometimes startling flavours, she is introduced to a cuisine far beyond the familiar Chinese dishes of the West.
THE BORROWED, 2014
Chan Ho-Kei’s gripping crime novel takes readers from Hong Kong’s police stations and triad underworlds to cha chaan tengs, coffee shops and covered markets. Scenes involving food are central to the action – wanted criminals grab takeaway dim sum, office workers slip out for illicit afternoon tea – bringing the city and its changing character vividly to life.
THE JOY LUCK CLUB, 1989
Amy Tan’s moving novel is steeped in the food and traditions of Chinese-American family life. The book opens with a mahjong gathering, where the Joy Luck Club women meet, eat, talk and reminisce about their lives in China. There’s also the memorable crab dinner, where the women explore family dynamics, expectations and favouritism.
