Chinese Cuisine In Poetry

By Karen Zheng

“An Hour Later, You’re Hungry Again” (2019) is a poem that speaks to those with Chinese roots. It details a family ritual that those who grew up in a Chinese household can relate to - going out to dinner with your extended family at a Chinese restaurant - and sheds light on the cultural richness of such an occasion.

Adrienne Su describes this traditional dining event in an immensely specific and personal way. Yet, I could relate to every aspect of it. Everything from your mother warning you about which sauces are hot to the rice being served in a hexagonal, lacquered box. And there was something really comforting about that - to realize that something you thought was particular to only you is actually a shared, collective experience. As James Joyce said, “in the particular is contained the universal.”

The poem is infused with a familiarity and nostalgia that tickles the soul and warms the heart. It is amusing, evocative, and poignant. Su melds the beauty of food with poetry to speak to ideas of family, culture, love, and connection. She reminds us that these family dinners are more than just a lavish feast, and we shouldn’t take them for granted.

Su really captures the essence of the Chinese-American experience (or perhaps just the Chinese experience in general) through her poetic rendering of this banquet meal.

You can find “An Hour Later, You’re Hungry Again” in The New Yorker.

Or in Peach State (2021) by Adrienne Su.