Fortune cookies, Chop Suey, and General Tso’s chicken are not Chinese foods. They are Americanized Chinese food, which has become a national obsession. This is proven by the enormous sum of 40,000 Chinese restaurants operating in America. The foods served in these restaurants – deep fried meat, broccoli, cream cheese wontons – are foods that are not eaten in China. America would not be enthralled by authentic Chinese food. The seaweed, squid, turtle, chicken feet, duck’s eggs, shark’s fin, jellyfish, sea cucumbers, and pig’s ears would not appeal to the average American gourmand. Instead, we eat these Americanized versions that are, at best, loosely based on Chinese cuisine, prepared by men and women who were likely smuggled into this country, and brought to our doors by deliverymen who are fairly likely to end up murdered. In her engrossing book, Lee explores how an amazing 110 people won the inter-state Powerball lottery in 2005 based on the lucky numbers found inside of fortune cookies, why Jewish people became so attached to Chinese food, how Chop Suey and General Tso’s chicken came to be thought of as “Chinese”, how human smuggling has become such a profitable business and is the backbone of the Chinese food industry in America, and why the number one brand of soy sauce in America doesn’t actually contain any soy. Lee then goes on to choose the best Chinese restaurant in the world, and her decision, and reasoning, are likely to surprise you!