Tom Miller

Sticky, slithery, squelchy, smacky: the authentic Chinese food experience

Fuchsia Dunlop enjoys a rich variety of dishes throughout China, including drunken hairy crabs, crisp pig’s ears, giant carp’s tails and delicate ducks’ tongues

The miniature creations of Cantonese dim sum can rival the technical brilliance of the finest French chefs. [Getty Images] 
issue 26 August 2023
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  • Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food

    Fuchsia Dunlop

    Particular Books, pp. 400, £25

During the early days of the pandemic, a video clip of a Chinese celebrity slurping bat soup went viral – no matter that it was taken from a travel show filmed in 2016 on Palau, a Pacific island some 2,000 miles from the Huanan wet market in Wuhan, and regardless of the fact that the Chinese don’t like munching on bats in any case.

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