From the Book - First American edition.
PROLOGUE: A kind of Chinese food : sweet-and-sour pork balls
HEARTH: THE ORIGINS OF CHINESE FOOD. Naked flame: cha siu pork
Sacred grain: steamed rice
The harmonious geng: Mrs Song's fish stew
The nourishment of life: bitter melon and pork rib soup
FARM: CHOOSING INGREDIENTS. Farm to chopsticks: Anji bamboo shoots with Jinhua ham
The joy of vegetables: stir-fried Chinese broccoli with ginger
Farming the water: sliced perch and water shield soup
The miraculous bean: mapo tofu
The whole pig: Dongpo pork
Food without borders: rinsed mutton hotpot
The marvels of qu: drunken crabs
What is an ingredient? Braised pomelo pith with shrimp eggs
Tongue and teeth: "catfish basking in honours"
The lure of the exotic: "surpassing bear's paw"
KITCHEN: CULINARY TECHNIQUES. Tasting the invisible: "top-ranking pot"
The bold and the bland: sweet-and-sour Yellow River carp
The subtle knife: shunde raw sliced fish
The power of steam: steamed reeves shad
Fire and time: stir-fried "jade" shrimps
A vocabulary of methods: Shandong guota tofu
Transforming dough: knife-scraped noodles
Kindling the spirits: steamed "soup" dumplings
TABLE: FOOD AND IDEAS. There is no dessert: Chaozhou "mother duck" twists
The impossible map: Chongqing chicken in a pile of chillies
Food without a meal: dry-fired "eels"
Rural idylls: stir-fried sweet potato leaves
Cultural appropriation, Chinese-style: "Russian soup"
Food and the heart: loving mother's red-braised pork
EPILOGUE: Past and future : chop suey.
