How to Cook a Dragon: Living, Loving, and Eating in China

When Linda Furiya decided to move to China with her boyfriend at the age of thirty, she hoped to find romance and ethnic kinship. Expecting common ground with locals as an Asian American, Furiya struggled with her ambition as a food writer in a nation where notions of race and gender are set in stone. During the six years she lived in Beijing and Shanghai, Furiya experienced a wide range of experiences--loneliness, isolation, friendship, and love--tied together by one common theme: food.

Ultimately, Furiya surpassed these challenges and found inspiration from the courageous Chinese women who graced her life. The sensuous experience of preparing and eating authentic Chinese cuisine follows Furiya throughout her journey, and ultimately reveals the intimate, nurturing side of the Chinese culture and people. Part insightful memoir, part authentic cookbook, How to Cook a Dragon is a revealing look at race, love, and food in China.

Linda Furiya is the author of Bento Box in the Heartland, which had strong and consistent sales out the gate. She has a large readership base in the Bay Area, where, since May 2000, she has written a monthly column in the food section of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Linda has been writing about ethnicity and food since 1992, when she wrote a syndicated monthly column titled ＂From Where I Stand, essays about my upbringing in a small town in Indiana,＂ for San Francisco’s Nichibei Times, Los Angeles’ Rafu Shimpo, Sacramento’s Nikkei West, Seattle’s Northwest Nikkei, and Montreal, Canada’s Montreal Bulletin.

She’s been a freelancer for the past fourteen years and has published numerous food and travel articles in various newspapers and other periodicals such as United Airlines’ Hemispheres, the South China Morning Post, Kikkoman’s Chef Forum, Asiaweek (an AOL/Time Warner business publication), and Silkroad, a publication of Hong Kong-based Dragon Airlines.

In July 2002, Linda completed a Chinese culinary program in Shanghai, China. She currently lives in Vermont, and travels to the Bay Area regularly.