Digital List Price:	$15.99
Kindle Price:	$9.99 Save $6.00 (38%)
Sold by:	Amazon.com Services LLC

Promotions apply when you purchase

Add an

audiobook with Audible narration for $12.99

Audiobook Price: $22.04

Save: $9.05 (41%)

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the author

Ann Mah

+ Follow

More books from this author

Kitchen Chinese: A Novel About Food, Family, and Finding Yourself Kindle Edition

by Ann Mah (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.1 453 ratings

See all formats and editions

“Ann Mah’s Kitchen Chinese is a delicious debut novel, seasoned with just the right balance of humor and heart, and sprinkled with fascinating cultural tidbits.”
—Claire Cook, bestselling author of Must Love Dogs

Kitchen Chinese, Ann Mah’s funny and poignant first novel about a young Chinese-American woman who travels to Beijing to discover food, family, and herself is a delight—complete with mouth-watering descriptions of Asian culinary delicacies, from Peking duck and Mongolian hot pot to the colorful, lesser known Ants in a Tree that will delight foodies everywhere. Reminiscent of Elizabeth Gilbert’s runaway bestseller Eat, Pray, Love, Mah’s tale of clashing cultures, rival siblings, and fine dining is an unforgettable, unexpectedly sensual reading experience—the story of one woman’s search for identity and purpose in an exotic and faraway land.

From the Publisher


	Jacqueline in Paris	The Lost Vintage	Kitchen Chinese

Customer Reviews	1,302	5,218	453
Price	$13.94	$11.63	$10.82

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After her magazine career craters, Isabelle Lee, the narrator of Mah's super sharp debut, leaves New York to reconnect with her family roots in China. Her familiarity with the language and culture limited to kitchen Chinese, Isabelle lands a job at a magazine for the expatriate community in Beijing and finds a circle of friends. However, her relationship with her big-shot attorney sister, Claire, who's lived in China for a while, gets off to a rocky start, with the two not knowing quite what to make of each other. Isabelle's Beijing immersion, coupled with her chick lit arc, provides a refreshing and fun narrative, helped along by a fantastic heroine whose insights into modern China and the expatriate experience will intrigue readers. It's a great start for a writer with much promise. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

After getting fired from her job and being dumped by her boyfriend, Chinese American Isabelle Lee decides to leave New York for Beijing in the hope of reigniting her stalled journalism career. She moves in with her older sister, Claire, a studious lawyer turned glamorous expat dating a powerful, married man. After failing to score a job at one of the high-profile foreign bureaus, Isabelle settles for a job as a food critic at an expat magazine called Beijing NOW. As she settles into her new job, Isabelle draws the attention of two men: a dashing Chinese pop star named Jeff and her charming neighbor Charlie, who works at the American Embassy. Though she’s taken with both, Jeff’s attentions threaten to cost her an important story for the magazine. The vibrant depiction of Beijing, lush descriptions of sumptuous Chinese meals, and Isabelle’s struggle with how others perceive her distinguish Mah’s first novel. --Kristine Huntley

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0035D9URI
Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; 1st edition (January 21, 2010)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 21, 2010
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1199 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 370 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #426,691 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #242 in Cooking Humor
- #867 in Asian American Literature & Fiction
- #1,961 in Cultural Heritage Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.1 453 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Ann Mah

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Ann Mah is an American food and travel writer based in Washington DC and Paris. She is of several books, including Jacqueline in Paris (coming soon in September 2022), and the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller, The Lost Vintage. She contributes regularly to the New York Times Travel section and her articles have also appeared in the Washington Post, Condé Nast Traveler, The Best American Travel Writing, The New York Times Footsteps, Washingtonian magazine, Vogue.com, BonAppetit.com, Food52.com, TheKitchn.com, and other publications.

As the recipient of a James Beard Foundation culinary scholarship, Ann studied in Bologna, Italy. She also holds the Level 2 Award in Wine and Spirits with distinction from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET).

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

453 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Bee

love this book

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2023

Verified Purchase

I wasn’t sure what to expect when begging this book but it was wonderful! Caught my interest immediately and could imagine all the adventures, Isabelle went thru. Kept my interest!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Very interesting book

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

I really like Chinese Kitchen, Ann Mah wrote a very interesting novel that takes place in China. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

jr

OK

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2016

Verified Purchase

Kind of a chick-lit book. I enjoyed it, and it was a quick, light read. The parts about discovering Beijing are interesting, but it is a rather fluffy story, and the end is totally predictable.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Mary

Great read!

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2016

Verified Purchase

I bought this book as a discounted Kindle ebook because the premise was interesting - an American-born woman, Isabelle, with Chinese parents, reluctantly seeks out her cultural background when her world seems to crumble around her in New York.

She moves to Beijing to live with her sister, Claire, a very successful lawyer who is a complete mystery to Isabelle. As Isabelle adjusts to life in Beijing (knowing very little Chinese), we meet a variety of interesting characters, and her world comes to life. It is lovely to see her transition throughout the book - she starts as a self-doubting, sad person and ends up with a lot more confidence and joy about her life. She finds her passion in writing about culture and cuisine in China and forms important friendships along the way. You'll love the author's descriptions about the food and atmosphere in China, too!

I definitely recommend this book. I think it an original and warm story.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Chinese Kitchen

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2012

Verified Purchase

This was a good sister book. There was enough cultural information contained in the book to also make the story interesting.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Sarah

Really enjoyed this book

Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2010

Verified Purchase

Kitchen Chinese is a page-turner that is fun from start to finish. The main character is funny and lovable and her time in Beijing is filled with zany adventures, embarrassing moments, and cultural misunderstandings. She makes some great (and hilarious) friends and enemies -- the book's cast of supporting characters is fantastic. Kitchen Chinese has a serious side, too. I have never visited China, but I felt like I ended the book with a much better picture of modern life in Beijing, especially the glamorous life enjoyed by Beijing's rich and famous. (There are glimpses into what life is like for those who have not been so fortunate, too.) I almost always love books about expat life and this was no exception. In Kitchen Chinese, the author really captures the mix of emotions--fascination, confusion, frustration, and love--that expats feel toward their temporary homes. Isabelle's observations and adventures are even more interesting because she is often mistaken for a native of China. I'm no foodie (I usually skim food descriptions to be honest), but more than once I wished I could join Isabelle for a meal. Definitely recommend.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Laura

Delicious Writing

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

Fictional story about a drifting Chinese-American New Yorker who moves to China for a couple of years and lives with her upwardly mobile sister. She gets a job writing about Chinese cuisine for American ex-pats and explores the diverse country and her friendships while sampling foods from all over the vast Chinese culture. You can't read it without salivating.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

S. Lew

a real page-turner

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2010

Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down, and when it was over, I wanted more. It's a fun story about a young Chinese American New Yorker, who, upon getting sacked from the dog-eat-dog world of fashion magazine publishing and dumped by her on-and-off boyfriend, decides to take off and go stay with her sister in Beijing. Adventure, romance and hilariousness ensue, horizons are broadened, and meaning is found. Although everyone would enjoy this book--it's got a bit of everything and reads a bit like a movie (in a good way)--as a Chinese American woman about the same age as the protagonist, I sunk comfortably into the familiarity of her experience and existence, imagining myself in her shoes, laughing and almost crying as she deftly described the challenges of 2nd generation Chinese Americanhood.

Read this book! You won't regret it!

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Lilimuhu

Cannot relate

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2014

Verified Purchase

Well, I suppose you CAN relate if yoû've lived and worked in China, and/or if you are Chinese-American. Don't agree that it allows you to "feel" what it's like to someone unprepared for the culture shock. Come on, how many of these expats have high-flying sisters (or other) living in great places and elbow-rubbing with the hob-nob world. "Real" China, you've got to be kidding. It was ok. Chick-lit . It's not hard to know what's going to happen. I much preferred Miss Mah's "The Sharper the Knife". I bought this one after reading The Knife because I had really enjoyed it. Was rather disappointed in this .

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Follow the author

Image Unavailable

Kitchen Chinese: A Novel About Food, Family, and Finding Yourself Kindle Edition

Customers who bought this item also bought

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From Booklist

Review

From the Back Cover

About the Author

Product details

Videos

About the author

Ann Mah

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries