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Chop Suey Nation by Ann Hui book cover
Chop Suey Nation Reading Guide

Chop Suey Nation Reading Guide

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Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Cafe and Other Stories from Canada's Chinese Restaurants by Ann Hui is the winner of the 2020 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction.

Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Cafe and Other Stories from Canada's Chinese Restaurants (Douglas & McIntyre) weaves together Huiʼs own family history with the stories of dozens of Chinese restaurant owners from across the country. Along her trip, she meets a Chinese restaurant owner who is also small-town mayor, the owner of a Chinese restaurant inside of a Thunder Bay curling rink, and the woman who runs a restaurant alone, 365 days a year, on remote Fogo Island. Hui also explores the history behind “chop suey” cuisine, explaining the invention of classics like “Newfoundland
chow mein” and other uniquely Canadian fare such as the “Chinese pierogies” of Alberta..

Included in this guide: 

Learn more about Edna Staebler, her award and the genre of creative non-fiction.

Synopsis

In 2016, Globe and Mail reporter Ann Hui drove across Canada, from Victoria to Fogo Island, to write about small-town Chinese restaurants and the families who run them. It was only aZer the story was published that she discovered her own family could have been included—her parents had run their own Chinese restaurant, The Legion Cafe, before she was born. This discovery, and the realization that there was so much of her own history she didnʼt know, set her on a time-sensitive mission: to understand how, aZer generations living in a poverty-stricken area of Guangdong, China, her family had wound up in Canada. Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Cafe and Other Stories from Canadaʼs Chinese Restaurants weaves together Huiʼs own family history—from her grandfatherʼs decision to leave behind a wife and newborn son for a new, to her fatherʼs path from cooking in rural China to running some of the largest “Western” kitchens in Vancouver—with the stories of dozens of Chinese restaurant owners across the country.

About Ann Hui

Ann Hui, who grew up in authenticity-obsessed Vancouver, began her journey with a somewhat disparaging view of small-town “fake Chinese” food. But by the end, she came to appreciate the essentially Chinese values that drive these restaurants—perseverance, entrepreneurialism and deep love for family. Using her own familyʼs story as a touchstone, she explores the importance of these restaurants in the countryʼs history and makes the case for why chop suey cuisine should be recognized as quintessentially Canadian. Hui is the generations reporter at The Globe and Mail, where she previously covered food, Toronto city politics, and national news.

Discussion Questions

  1. How do the stories of small-town Chinese restaurant owners resonate with your own family stories? Did any of their experiences remind you of your own?
  2. How does Chop Suey Nation illustrate the role of food in shaping identity, both personal and cultural? How has food has played a similar role in your life?
  3. What do you think about the concept of “Westernized Chinese food”? Do you see it as an example of cultural adaptation, a dilution of tradition or a bit of both?
  4. Huiʼs book highlights the struggles and triumphs of immigrant families. Which story stood out to you the most, and why?
  5. What did you think about Huiʼs journey to understand her father and family history? How did it make you reflect on your own family narratives?
  6. How did Huiʼs relationship with her father evolve throughout the book? How did it lead you to reflect on your own family relationships?
  7. Many of the Chinese restaurants in the book are in small towns. How did these settings add to the stories? What do they say about the role food plays in creating a sense of home?
  8. The restaurant ownersʼ stories often centre on sacrifice and resilience. How do these themes play out in your own life?
  9. Chop Suey Nation shows how food brings people together despite cultural differences. When have you experienced a similar moment when food bridged a gap between you and someone else?
  10. How does the book challenge stereotypes about Chinese restaurants and the people who run them? How did your assumptions change after reading the book?
  11. If you were to write a similar book about your favourite food or dining experiences, which cuisine or stories would you focus on?
  12. Did reading Chop Suey Nation affect how you think about Chinese restaurants and their place in your community? How might it influence your choice the next time you dine out?

What the Judges Said

In Chop Suey Nation, Ann Hui traces the experiences of Chinese immigrants through the ubiquitous small-town restaurants that specialize in the titular style of cuisine that is readily identifiable to Canadians but would be unrecognizable to most diners in China. Speaking with entrepreneurs and cooks from across the country, Hui illustrates the racism and challenges they faced and the contributions they have made to their communities and to Canadian cuisine. This is personal for Hui, whose parents immigrated to British Columbia in the 1970s and operated a chop suey restaurant in
Abbotsford before she was born. These interwoven narratives mix the personal and the cultural and tell an engaging story about family, food and traditions.

Further Resources

Stirring Up My Chinese Family History
The Agenda, TVO (Posted July 8, 2019)
Ann Hui speaks with host Nam Kiwanuka about the surprising and emotionally challenging family history she discovered while researching Canadian Chinese restaurants.

Why Ann Hui documented the history of Chinese restaurant owners in small-town Canada
The Next Chapter, CBC Radio One (Posted April 5, 2019)
Read an interview with Ann Hui about the inspiration for Chop Suey Nation.

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