The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food is a 2008 non-fiction book by Jennifer 8. Lee, published by Hachette/Twelve. It discusses the significance of Chinese American cuisine.

Publishers Weekly described the book as a "travellike narrative".^[1] The work discusses the sheer prevalence of American Chinese restaurants,^[2] and the genesis of said cuisine. Lee also describes how the cuisine is fundamental in American culture.^[3]

Lee traveled to East Asia to do research. She, in a 16 day period, went to Mainland China and Hong Kong as well as Taiwan. Between the three areas she traveled to 16 different cities.^[4]

The chapter "Open-Source Chinese Restaurants" compares the cuisine to open source software as restaurants shared recipes.^[3]

The book discusses origins of particular Chinese food items, and it also discusses human trafficking involved in the restaurant trade.^[5]

The bibliography has five pages.^[6] Mark Knoblauch of Booklist described the bibliography as "Extensive".^[7]

Leslie Cauley of USA Today described the book as a "sweet treat"; she stated sometimes there was excess "mind-numbing crush of details"^[5]

Jacqueline M. Newman, editor of Flavor and Fortune, praised the extensive research and described the work as "a fine chow down".^[6] Newman stated that she wished that the author had cited some articles in the magazine Newman edited, and that Lee "did not always delve deeply enough."^[6]

Kirkus Reviews described the book, metaphorically, as "Tasty morsels delivered quickly and reliably."^[2]

Martha Cornog of the Library Journal "[h]ighly recommended" the work, describing it as a "detailed and fascinating documentary".^[8]

Tim Kindseth of the Far Eastern Economic Review criticized the book for having an overall lack of focus and for, at times, focusing too much on the author; he stated that the contents "only faintly resemble those of more serious academic studies" although he stated the content was "ravenously researched".^[9] Kindseth stated that the content about the abuse of restaurant workers is the "most compelling", and a chapter about woes facing a Chinese immigrant family running a restaurant is "The most wrenching".^[9]

Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review and stated that the work is "a winner".^[1]