The Secret Menu

A culinary and philosophical memoir about the secret menus in every aspect of immigrant life, and what it really means to be 'Chinese'

What is the secret menu? Hidden from view but commonly known, it’s the menu that insiders pick from to be assured of a delicious, authentic meal—often in immigrant-run restaurants. But there are secret menus in every aspect of life, cheat codes that promise to help us navigate a new home, or a new life in the best possible way: a promise that, if you just follow this formula, everything will be all right. Even if we know that things don’t always work out that way.

From her childhood in Malaysia to her family’s immigration to the United States and her years in China, Kwa’s descriptions of food are lush and vivid, plumbing the historical, personal and philosophical depths of dishes and bringing in the difficult histories around Chinese immigration to America in complex and illuminating ways.

In delicious prose that reads with the swiftness of a novel and the depth of a philosophical treatise, The Secret Menu shows us how thinking and cooking lives are connected and how the hunt for harmony, success and a sense of belonging have helped generations of immigrants find their own menus for a delicious life filled with delights, against the odds.