The Economist - USA (2019-12-21)

122 Books & arts The EconomistDecember 21st 2019

2 willingtopaythroughthenoseatFrenchor

Italianjoints(where,infact,Latinosoften

domostofthecooking).Andeverycityhas

itspriceysushibarsandexorbitanttapas

restaurants (tapas, as one joke goes, is

Spanishfor“$96andstillhungry”).

ButMrHuangisrightthatAmericans

have long expected Chinese food to be

cheapandfilling.Onestepupfromtheur-

bantakeaway,withitsfluorescentlighting

andchippedformicacounter,isthestrip-

mallbistrowithitsimposingreddoorsand

fakelionsstandingguard—sufficientlyex-

otic to be special, but still affordable

enoughfora familytovisitoncea week

whennobodyfeelslikecooking.

Americandreams

Eventhesuperioroutletswerecheapfor

whattheyserved(andoftenstillare).Con-

siderthehand-rippednoodleswithlambat

Xi‘anFamousFoodsinlowerManhattan.A

tangle of long noodles, each about the

width ofElvis Costello’stiesinthelate

1970s,istossedwithcurlsofbraisedlamb

anda complex,incendiarysaucelacedwith

cuminandchillies—allforjustover$10,a

fractionofthepriceofcomparablyaccom-

plisheddishesatsmartrestaurantsnearby.

True,Xi‘anFamousFoodshasnowaiters

(dinerscarrytheirplatesonplastictraysto

benchseating).Butitsnoodlesarehand-

made,andthelambdishmaybethesingle

bestthingtoeatinNewYorkatanyprice.

Butnowthingsarechanging.MrHuang

sellsdeliciouslypillowystuffed bunsin

New York and Los Angeles for $5.50

each—or, as he puts it, “full fucking

price”—andencouragesotherimmigrants

nottoundervaluetheirwork.Restaurants

inQ’sbracketarecroppingupnotjustin

America’sChinatownsbutinthesuburbs,

whereChineseimmigrantsandtheirfam-

ilies have settled, following the classic

strivers’path.ThemedianincomeofChi-

nese-Americans’householdsisnearly30%

higherthan theaverage.They aremore

thantwiceaslikelyasotherAmericansto

haveanadvanceddegree.

Meanwhile, althoughracism persists,

thepervasivediscriminationofearlierages

haswaned.Witnessthepresidentialcam-

paignofAndrewYang,inwhichhisethnic-

ityhasscarcelybeenmentioned.Sincethe

Chinese-Americanpopulationissixtimes

asbigas 40 yearsago,Americansoverall

aremuchmorefamiliarwithChinesepeo-

pleandtheircooking.Allofwhichmeans

that,inyourcorrespondent’sfairlyexten-

siveexperience, thenewfancybreed of

Chineserestaurants draws a heartening

mixofChineseandnon-Chinesediners.

Noteveryoneisenticed.Thesamecult

ofauthenticitywhichdecreesthatgoodta-

cosonlycomefromtruckspositsthatthe

bestChinesefoodisfoundinhumbleset-

tings.Thatisasinaccurateasthesnobbery

thatMrHuangdecries.Chinesechefsareas

ambitiousasanyothers;a bowlofnoodle

soupnomorestandsforallofChinesecui-

sinethana sliceofpizzadoesforItalian.

Inanycase,authenticityisaslippery

commodity.Recipesconstantlyevolveas

peoplemoveandmingle.Thechilliesnow

considered essential to Sichuan dishes

wereactuallybroughttoChinabyIberian

tradersinthelate16thcentury.Hotdogs

wereoriginallyGerman,pizzaNeapolitan,

bagelsPolish—butnowtheyareallAmeri-

can,andlikeAmerica,infinitelyvaried.

ThegoatribsatDuck,DuckGoat,inChi-

cago’s trendy meatpacking district, are

moreChinese-ishthanChinese.Soisthe

placeitself—headedbya non-Chinesechef

and kitschily decoratedwithpaper lan-

ternsandbrightredwalls.Theribscomeas

a meshofburnishedmeatstilettoswitha

wonderfulchew,thesweetnessoftheglaze

givingwaytothegoat’sirresistiblegami-

ness.Theysparkfightsoverwhogetsthe

lastone.Theyareasinauthentic,andas

imaginativeand lovinglycreated, asMr

Chang’sscalliondoughsphere—andasdel-

icious,whichintheend,iswhatcounts. 7

Chef ’s special relationship

S

eishiyokomizowasoneofJapan’smost

popular and prolific mystery writers.

His first novel appeared in 1935, but it was a

tale he published 11 years later that made

his reputation. “The Honjin Murders” in-

troduced Kosuke Kindaichi, an amateur

sleuth, and launched a bestselling series of

77 titles, many of which were adapted for

stage or television. Hailed as a classic of its

genre in Japan, it has only now been trans-

lated into English (by Louise Heal Kawai).

The setting is the grand residence of the

wealthy and illustrious Ichiyanagi family.

It is November 1937 and in two days Kenzo

Ichiyanagi, the eldest son and heir, will

marry Katsuko Kubo. Kenzo’s family are

united in their objection to his choice of

bride: Katsuko may have her own fortune

and career, but as the daughter of a tenant

farmer, her lineage is wrong.

The ceremony goes ahead, but that

night the newly married couple are found

stabbed to death, “soaked in the crimson of

their own blood”. The police are stumped:

the room is sealed; a samurai sword stands

upright in the snow outside; footprints

lead in but not out. Eventually Kindaichi is

summoned to solve the puzzle—but not

before tragedy strikes again.

An aficionado of Western detective nov-

els, Yokomizo offers a fresh spin on famil-

iar ingredients. The locked-room mys-

tery—not just a whodunnit but a

how-done-it—pays homage to past mas-

ters such as John Dickson Carr and Gaston

Leroux. The rural setting and denouement

bring to mind Agatha Christie. But the de-

tective at its centre is a singular creation:

scruffy, with “bird’s-nest hair”, yet possess-

ing brilliant powers of observation, deduc-

tion and insight into human behaviour.

The killer’s meticulous planning and

the author’s fiendish plot fulfil one of Ray-

mond Chandler’s “ten commandments”

for the detective novel: “It must baffle a rea-

sonably intelligent reader.” Those readers

will delight in the blind turns, red herrings

and dubious alibis, as they sift the evidence

with Kindaichi. Who was the masked,

three-fingered man seen in the vicinity?

What was a sickle doing in a nearby cam-

phor tree? And is there any truth to the ru-

mour of a family curse?

Yokomizo (who died in 1981) saves his

biggest surprise for the end. If the whole se-

ries is as ingenious and compelling, this

translation should be the first of many. 7

Murder mysteries

Sword in the snow

The Honjin Murders.By Seishi Yokomizo.

Translated by Louise Heal Kawai. Pushkin

Vertigo; 192 pages; $14.95 and £8.99