To continue my education on cuisine from “western” China I checked out this book from the library. Xi’an Famous Foods is a restaurant chain in New York City, owned and operated by a family of Chinese immigrants who came to the USA to make a go of it. The book is written by the son of the founder, and together he and his father operate the chain. Not only a collection of recipes from the restaurants and Xi’an but also it contains some memoirs of immigrant life in the United States and how the author ended up working with his father to develop the brand.
As usual I’m here for the food so the writing on the author’s experience growing up and his challenges fitting in were of little interest to me unless they informed directly on his philosophy on food. He wrote about his night clubbing days, fights with belligerent men outside his restaurant, and generally stuff that didn’t seem to fit what (I thought) this book was about.
One of the big moments in this restaurant chain’s history was a surprise visit by Anthony Bourdain, who apparently loved the place ensuring many new customers and success. It felt like the author was trying hard to channel Bourdain’s writing/speaking style with plenty of blunt language and a sort of tough guy attitude. It stood out as odd to me.
Fortunately there are lots of recipes in here and so I think it will help me to try new things when I cook Chinese food. I tried making the biang biang noodle recipe and the noodles came out better than I expected. The sauce was a bit vinegary for me but I’ll make sure it isn’t next time. There are lots of ideas for cumin skewers here too – can’t wait to try some of these in the summer.
I think fans of the restaurant will really like this book – they seem to be the target audience – but for me it’ll be a reference for trying new dishes and a starting idea for sauces and marinades. I hope to go to Xi’an someday to try some of these dishes myself. It is a lot closer than New York.
Next book on my list is “Master and Commander” by Patrick O’Brian.
