The Adventures of Fat Rice: Recipes from the Chicago Restaurant Inspired by Macau by Abraham Conlon

The Adventures of Fat Rice: Recipes from the Chicago Restaurant Inspired by Macau Reviews

• 
  Lili

  I received this book as an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exhange for an honest review.
  
  This is my third restaurant cookbook in under thirty days. One of these did more promotion of the restaurant itself than education in the style of cuisine, which I found very frustrating. Since I know nothing about the cuisine of Macau, and very little about Macau itself, I had hoped that this one would provide an education as well as interesting recipes to prepare in my kitchen.
  
  The book instantly endeared itself to me with its Introduction, which began with a quaint episode in which the authors discovered Macanese cuisine. The Introduction also included a brief history of Macau, as necessary to understand the wide variety of influences on Macanese cuisine. In short, because Macau was a Portuguese trading post straddling the East and the West for over five hundred years, the influences on its cuisine are myriad. Based on the section about the Fat Rice mission in the Introduction, it was clear that this book would be more educational than promotional.
  
  The fact that the book began with an Equipment and Techniques chapter was a good omen that the authors were more interested in educating about Macanese culinary traditions than in promoting their Chicago restaurant. The entry about procuring, seasoning, preparing and cleaning a wok was one of the best that I’ve read. The entries in the Techniques section of the chapter were also excellent, as they each provided the most basic instructions for blanching, poaching, frying, stir frying, braising, steaming and so forth so that the authors could use these terms in their recipes with confidence that the reader knew what was expected of them. The “How to Cook Vegetables” chart was extremely informative and useful, as was the series of photographs illustrating the various knife cuts. Some of these knife cuts - like brunoise, horse ear and unicorn ear - I had never heard of so it was useful to have a photograph.
  
  The Ingredients Glossary is the final section of the book, although it felt like it should be up front with the Equipment and Techniques section because there was so much useful information that enabled better understanding and better preparation of the recipes. By reading the Table of Contents, I knew that it was there so I read it before I started reading the recipe chapters. I was glad that I did, as there were several ingredients that otherwise would have made me scratch my head.
  
  The recipes are grouped into nine chapters: pickles and preserves, appetizers, rice, noodles, vegetables, fish and seafood, birds, meats, and sweets and desserts. Each chapter begins with an informational introduction, and each recipe begins with a similarly informational headnote. The ingredient list is easily discernible in distinctly colored text, and is measured in American measurements only. There are often odd ingredients, but the majority of these are explained in the Ingredients Glossary, which has both discussion and sourcing information. The ingredients that are subrecipes are clearly cross-referenced to the page where the recipe is to be found. The ingredients requiring special knife cuts are referred back to the photograph of all the knife cuts (page 27!) The recipe steps are written in paragraph format, which can be a little challenging to follow while preparing a dish. But the recipe steps were clearly written and fairly straightforward. There is good humor sprinkled through out the recipe steps to keep the mood light, which is especially important when you are staring at a page full of small print detailing how to make a more complicated recipe. Occasionally, the recipes are printed on top of photographs, which makes them harder to read because they may be in white text or yellow text rather than black text.
  
  The photography is predominantly a mix of location and action photographs from Macau and stylized photographs of finished food. It is all quite lovely. The photographs of Macau really ground the book as a tribute to the Macanese culinary tradition, while the food photograph gives good ideas for serving suggestions and an overall feeling for how the finished dish should turn out (if done properly!) In addition to the photographs are the illustrations, which are a mix of the humorous and the instructional. The humorous full page illustrations are usually “posters” for a specific dish – like the Jumpwater Pickle or the Chilli Squid – although there are little graphic Buddhas sprinkled throughout the book which offer commentary on the recipes. The instructional panels are something else! They are like graphic novel adaptations of the recipe steps, with some funny commentary thrown in. For example, there is a two page spread illustrating how to fold chamucas (which are like samosas) that is particularly well done because the illustrations are clear and the labels leave no doubt as to what is to be done. The two page spread illustrating how to shape minchi croquettes was equally well done. There is a terrific illustration of vegetables used in Macanese cooking (specifically Buddha’s Delight) and the preparation required for each group. There are other illustrations for folding and cooking potstickers, stir frying fried rice, making fat noodles, butchering a surf clam, and preparing a number of specific dishes in a wok. Actually, there are so many instructional illustration panels that I lost track of them!
  
  Overall, I really enjoyed this cookbook. I learned a lot about Macanese cuisine from the Introduction and the recipe headnotes. And I learned a lot about cooking techniques from the recipe steps and the phenomenal graphic instructional panels.
  
  I have yet to prepare any of the recipes from this cookbook. When I do, I will update this review.
  
• 
  Catherine Woodman

  I don't know how we missed it, but this cookbook came out in 2016 and it wasn't until we were on a recent return visit that we saw that it existed. I put a hold on it on my library card before our food hit the tacle.
  
  Fat Rice is more than just a restaurant. It's essentially a cultural and food experience reflecting the various influences at work on the island of Macau. The Portuguese were world class ship builders in the 15th century and so the cuisine is a cross between Chinese, Portuguese, Southeast Asian with a hint of India. "Macau was the last established territory in the Portuguese empire; therefore, its cuisine had influences from all of the places Portuguese traveled along the way," the authors write. And I do recommend taking some time to read the story contained within this cookbook, because it is both fascinating and it captures the vibe of the restaurant itself.
  
  Then there are the recipes. Wow, just wow. Everything that i have had there is contained with in. not only that, there are drawings, cartoons, and gorgeous photographs throughout. The first recipe we made was the Hong King French Toast, which is a peanut butter and banana sandwich dipped in an egg batter, deep-fried, and served with a coconut and sweetened condensed milk sauce. Our youngest had it on his first trip to the restaurant and has been dreaming of it ever since.
• 
  Mary

  A visual delight!
  Ate at the restaurant a couple times before leaving Chicago. Delish!
• 
  Harris

  The Adventures of Fat Rice is a beautiful and fascinating compilation of the influences, history, and recipes of the eponymous prominent Chicago restaurant, Fat Rice. Focusing on the fusion cuisine of the city of Macau, pulling together influences from Chinese traditions as well as those of Portugal and its various colonies from India to Africa, it really made me want to visit next time I’m in Chicago. Put together by the Fat Rice chefs Abraham Conlon, Adrienne Lo, and Hugh Amano and illustrated by cartoonist Sarah Becan, this is a cookbook that is really interesting enough to read on its own even if you aren’t planning to try out its delicious-looking recipes. Describing the fascinating history of the cuisine of Macau, tracking down the most obscure influences and dish origins, and describing the unique culture of this city, I really enjoyed reading it in this time when a trip anywhere seems a distant dream.
  
  In addition to this interesting background information, The Adventures of Fat Rice clearly and enticingly lays out everything you need to do to cook any of their dishes right down to each sauce or pickle, including the “Arroz Gordo” of the namesake, kind of a fusion between a paella and fried rice. I haven’t tried any of the dishes here yet, this is definitely one that would reward more advanced cooking skills, but the authors add a lot of great instruction, from various methods of chopping vegetables to Becan’s detailed diagrams of the cooking processes. I’m hoping to try out the brinjal sambal (spicy sweet and sour eggplant) soon.
  
  I write about some other interesting cookbooks I checked out from the library, which has given me plenty of culinary experiments to try out during our quarantine times in
  this entry of Harris' Tome Corner!
• 
  IE

  Interesting concept for a cook book, definitely original with the drawings and I liked the write up of the Macanese history. I was slightly disturbed at some of the photographic imagery (I may be sensitive but it caught me off guard), I guess I am not used to seeing images of birds being cooked with their heads still on (that is not my experience with my own culture), in particular I found the image of the plucked dead bird with its head and face intact, in the snow, to be upsetting and while I do eat meat, I don't find it appetizing to view artsy images of dead animals. I have made one recipe from this book - being the Macanese rice vermicelli stir fry, which was nice and I would make it again, however none of the other recipes appealed to me.
• 
  T

  The title caught my eye, what's "fat rice"? And the cover looks like a comic book....
  
  The authors explore Macanese food while on a whirlwind trip through Asia and bring back the food to the US by recreating those tastes and flavors in their Chicago restaurant.
  
  Interesting contrast to Chinese cooking, recipes look somewhat complex with a long list of ingredients of which the majority are already in my kitchen but with other items that I'm not familiar with.
  
  Hand drawn diagrams show how to fold items, a little too small to be read on an electronic device, but then again I don't know that I'll try recipes that need to be folded and fried. I did see a couple I would like to try, however.
• 
  Peggy

  Loved the pickles and other condiments. Most recipes were pretty meat-heavy for me and way too involved for a single person to make for just themselves.
  Loved the historical and cultural reference. Hated how small the type face was.
• 
  Beth Kakuma-Depew

  In addition to the lovely full color photos of food and historic sites, there's a photo page showing the different ways to cut vegetables! And then there's the graphic novel panels demonstrating how to stir fry rice! I had no intention of cooking any of this, but now I'm intrigued!
• 
  Andréa

  Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
• 
  Pixie

  Great stories, great art, great recipes to read even if you don't think you will want to make anything that elaborate. Love!
• 
  Alain Harvey

  A proud owner of this newly released and captivating book! Abraham Conlon and Adrienne Lo, authors of The Adventures of Fat Rice, created a cookbook that looks like no other. With it in hand, I began to uncovered the roots and explore the vibrant food culture of Macau—an East-Meets-West melting pot of Chinese, Portuguese, Malaysian, and Indian foodways—as seen through the lens of the cult favorite Chicago restaurant, Fat Rice.
  
  If you’ve spent much time eating in Chicago since 2011, you’ve likely braved the lines to eat at Fat Rice, an insanely popular restaurant that specializes in the food of Macao. Macanese food is intensely flavorful mash-up food, a hybrid of Southern Chinese and Portuguese dishes, with influences also from Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. Which is to say, this is fun food, so it is only fitting that the cookbook to come out of that restaurant should be equally fun.
  
  Fat Rice chef-owners Abraham Conlon and Adrienne Lo, and their former sous chef Hugh Amano, have written a book just out that reads a little like a Lucky Peach issue crossed with a graphic novel: Yes, there are conventional recipes and lovely photography (by Dan Goldberg), but there’s also pages of graphics (by Sarah Becan) woven throughout that drive the book. A recipe for chili clam thus provides a fairly traditional recipe, albeit one with a talking Buddha, then adds a graphic series called Butchering the Surf Clam, then segues into a short account, with graphics, called “Attack of the Chili Clam!” Yes, I swear this is all as fun — and as appetizing — as it sounds.
  
  Featuring a mish-mash of classic and interpretative dishes, plus comic book-style illustrations and edgy location photography, The Adventures of Fat Rice is the first book to bring the eclectic, richly satisfying, and previously unheralded food of Macau to the mainstream. Go ahead and judge this beautiful cookbook by it’s cover—things are about to get funky in the kitchen.
• 
  Lara

  I love international foods but know little about Macau. So, I was excited when I was able to receive an electronic version of this cookbook through NetGalley. The book is by the owners of a Macanese restaurant in Chicago that I had not known when I lived there. The book provides some history of the restaurant and information about the cuisine of Macau. It also includes recipes for ingredients in the main dishes that are included.
  
  The style of the book is colorful and fun. There are some step-by-step cartoons that provide clear visual instructions for how to make some of the items. Each recipe has a description to introduce it and provide useful information. The ingredients may require a trip to an Asian grocery store (I needed to go). The instructions were clear and easy to follow. The recipes I made didn't require special equipment, but some use a wok or other common Asian kitchen items.
  
  This is slow cooking. While some of the recipes may come together quickly, they are mostly not simple and quick. I made two recipes: Stewed oxtail with tomatoes and Portuguese rise, and Almond gelee. The first was a delicious stew that was richly flavored. The second a gelatin dessert that was light and not-too sweet.
  
  There were a number of other recipes I would like to make, if I had the time. However, I now would really like to visit the restaurant.
• 
  Leyla Johnson

  This book is very good, first of all it does explain some of the influences that made this book what it is - a very different cookbook. I like the introductions "How to cook Vegetables" and the photos of how things are cut. The book is divided into sections from Pickles/preserves, dumplings, rice, noodles ,vegetables, fish/seafood, poultry, meat and sweets. The photos are great, as are the diagrams, and comic book type demonstrations, it is a real fun book.
  The recipes are pretty easy to follow and a lot show the Portuguese influence in Macau food. The first chapter covers fermentation which is very popular in the world of food today. A very healthy, flavoursome cook book which should appeal to a lot of cooks both by its presentation and simplicity of recipes.
  
  This book was provided to me in return for an honest and unbiased review
• 
  Kristine

  The Adventures of Fat Rice: Recipes from the Chicago Restaurant Inspired by Macau by Adrienne Lo, Abraham Conlon, and Hugh Amano, et. al. is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early October, not even three days before going on a road trip to Chicago.
  
  So, now, I need to adjust some pre-existing dinner plans to make time for a visit to Fat Rice, only on the condition that my boyfriend not enter the restaurant, saying "That's Macau! And that's m'horse, that's m'duck, that's m'cat, that's m'chickens...." ANYWAY, I thoroughly enjoyed this cookbook's vibrant collage-style graphics, bold and front of the mouth flavor-forward recipes that're Southeast Asian infused with funky fresh Portuguese/Indian/African influences, and spunky simple assembly sketches.
• 
  Kate

  I have a rule that I can't review a cookbook without making at least one of the recipes, but I didn't make any of the ones in this book, so technically I'm breaking it right now. I bookmarked the shrimp and okra curry, but to tell the truth I really just wanted to read Sarah Becan's comics, look at the pictures, and read some of the background on Macau. My desire to actually make fat noodles is not really that great, to be honest. But I'd definitely visit Fat Rice if I lived in Chicago!
• 
  Kyrie

  I picked this one up off the display shelf at the library, because I thought it was some sort of new manga.
  
  Turns out it's a cookbook.
  
  The bits about how they came about as a restaurant and some of the cooking techniques were pretty cool. The artwork was interesting. I would have liked captions with some of the pictures.
  
  This style is not my way of cooking, so I couldn't say how good or bad the recipes are.
• 
  Laura

  Definitely in the category of "food porn".
  So excited as i loved the food in Macau.
  This book makes you feel that that the reciepies are possible
  I am mostly excited to have a recipe for some of my favorites - turnip cake and pig's ear salad... mmm...
• 
  Elizabeth Judd Taylor

  First of all, this is a fun book. Photos of some amazing street art, comic strips to help explain techniques, and quirky illustrations abound (I admit the cover is what first drew me to the book). Secondly, there is a good overview of the history of Macau and of how many foods we enjoy today came about as a result of the Age of Exploration. And finally, the recipes--yum. Can't wait to start cooking my way through this!
• 
  Riegs

  The recipes will be challenging for beginners. Lots of special ingredients, but that’s kind of the point. The design is stunning, wish I could give extra stars for that. I am going here.