Leslie Li's paternal grandfather, Li Zongren, was China's first democratically elected vice president, to whom Chiang Kai-shek left control of the countrywhen he fled to Formosa in I949. Nine years later, Li's wife, Nai-nai, comes tolive with her son's family in New York City, bringing a whole new world ofsights, smells, and tastes as she quickly takes control of the kitchen. Nai-nai's tantalizingly exotic cooking opens up the.heart and mind of her American granddaughter to. her Chinese heritage--and to the world. Through her grandmother's traditional cuisine Leslie bridges the cultural divide in an America in which she is a minority--as well as the growing gap at home between her rigid, traditional Chinese father and her progressive American-born mother.

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Recipes

Preface: Sucking on a Stone xi

Acknowledgments xix

A Walk in Nai-Nai's Garden

Food Shame and Sand-Wishes

Chinese New Year

Three Short Fish Tales (and One Shrimp Cocktale) 

Against the Grain

The Sound of One Stone Falling

Bitter Rice, Sweet Rice

In the Forest of Osmanthus Trees

Dashao

Moon Cakes, Jade Rabbits, and Elixirs of Immortality

Seated on a Stone

Juk Sing

Clear Brightness and Hungry Ghosts

The Village with No Name

Centenary

Afterword IfStones Could Speak