The Adventures of Fat Rice: Recipes from the Chicago Restaurant Inspired by Macau [A Cookbook]

With 100 recipes, this is the first book to 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.

Located just an hour away from Hong Kong on the banks of the Pearl River in China, Macau is one of the wealthiest cities in the world-the so-called Las Vegas of the East, and the only place in China where gambling is legal. However, Macau’s modern-day glitz belies its rich, centuries-old history as one of the greatest trading ports in the world. Ruled by Portugal from the 1600s until 1999, Macau was a crossroads along the spice route, and a place where travelers from Europe, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and mainland China traded resources, culture, and food-making Macanese cuisine one of the most eclectic and deliciously unique food traditions in the world.

Abraham Conlon and Adrienne Lo are the chefs and owners of the wildly popular and critically-lauded Chicago restaurant Fat Rice, where they serve their own unique take on the food of Macau. The Adventures of Fat Rice is a fun and whimsical tear through modern-day Macau-and the minds of two wildly creative chefs. Dishes like Hong Kong French Toast (Macau’s version of dim sum), Po Kok Gai (a Portuguese chicken curry), and the titular Arroz Gordo (if Spanish paella and Chinese fried rice had a baby) are enticingly exotic yet accessible and even playful. Featuring a mish-mash of classic and interpretative dishes, plus comic book-style illustrations and edgy location photography, The Adventures of Fat Rice will be the first book to bring the eclectic, richly satisfying, and previously unheralded food of Macau to the mainstream.