Ever wonder how General Tso’s chicken got its name — or who General Tso was? In her gorgeous new book, Chinese Menu, Grace Lin tells the stories behind some of the most popular Chinese menu items. She shares these stories with us, why she wanted to tell them, and along the way, gives us a deeper understanding of resilience and triumph behind these foods, and what makes them undeniably American.
Links From This Episode
- Chinese Menu by Grace Lin
- Grace Lin’s other books
- More about Grace Lin
- Grace’s podcasts, Kids Ask Authors and Book Friends Forever Podcast
- Our episode, Wok Cooking With J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
- J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s Fried Rice recipe
About Our Guest: Grace Lin
Grace Lin is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator. You might know her work from some of our favorite children’s titles including Dim Sum for Everyone and A Big Mooncake for Little Star. She’s won numerous awards and honors for her work; her novel When the Sea Turned to Silver was a National Book Award Finalist and her picture book A Big Mooncake for Little Star was awarded the Caldecott Honor. In 2022, Grace was awarded the Children’s Literature Legacy Award from the American Library Association. Grace currently hosts two podcasts: Book Friends Forever and Kids Ask Authors. Grace lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with her husband, daughter and five chickens
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