The Mandarin Way

by Cecilia Sun Yun Chiang

A native of China, Cecilia Chang is one of thirteen children born into a family of great wealth. She was brought up in an ancient palace in Peking, in sheltered, luxurious, and invincibly exotic circumstances. Now, in collaboration with Allan Carr, she has recalled the Mandarin Way as she knew it in a memoir that eludes conventional classification—at once a fascinating account of growing up in Old China, a re-creation of its festivals and customs, and a treasury of recipes from the classic Chinese cuisine. The way of life that she recaptures in these pages no longer exists. It combined modernity and ancient tradition in sometimes startling juxtaposition: foot-binding and jazz dancing; dramatic extremes of wealth and poverty since time immemorial. But the timeless pattern was broken forever in the final, violent years of the Japanese occupation, and in 1943, fresh from the university, Mme. Chiang embarked on a harrowing, six-month, twenty-five-hundred-mile journey, under primitive, often perilous conditions, from Peking to Chungking in Free China. As one would expect, given Mme. Chiang's exceptional qualifications, much of her text is devoted to the glories and secrets of Chinese cuisine, in all its variety and irresistible savor. Between the chapters of recollections there are interludes, specifically for the gourmet cook, in which Mme. Chiang presents many of her most treasured recipes and menus. Here are T'ang-ts'u Yü (Mandarin Sweet-Sour Fish), Chiao-hua Chi (Beggar's Chicken), Pa-szu P'ing-kuo Hsiang-chiao (Mandarin Glacéed Apples and Bananas), and other superlative dishes that will be nostalgically familiar to patrons of her restaurants, and that will inspire any reader with a taste for grand cuisine to try them at home.

Genres: Food, Cooking, Cookbooks

274 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Cecilia Sun Yun Chiang (Chinese: 江孫芸; September 18, 1920 – October 28, 2020) was a Chinese-American restaurateur and chef, best known for founding and managing The Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco, California.

Reviews

[Rene Salomon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very easy read, 1930's China from the ground. Ms Chiang knows more that I will ever know about food. I was hoping to get a glimpse into her San Francisco restaurant days, but its all set in the East.
Chiang's family was a very food oriented one and they were exrtremely connected with a fleet of servants and cooks.
Quite enjoyable.

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cecilia makes life sound too heavenly in China, which, is far from reality. I find it hard to follow her thoughts throughout the book. As for her recipes, they lack details for people like me to try to follow.