  | Mami King : how Ma Mon Luk found love, riches, and the perfect bowl of soup Author: Chio-Lauri, Jacqueline | |
| Price: $23.98 | ||
Summary:
The true story of an intrepid young man, Ma Mon Luk, who leaves China for the Philippines, desperate to earn a living-and the approval of the parents of the woman he loves.
| Illustrator: | Sorra, Kristin |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (05/01/24)
Booklist (03/01/24)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 03/01/2024 Kneading together scanty documentation and a few admittedly invented details, Chio-Lauri dishes up a delicious true tale. Ma Mon Luk arrived in Manila’s Chinatown in 1918 and started out as a street vendor selling mee, a kind of chicken soup with noodles measured and cut with scissors according to how much his customers paid. As his reputation for generosity grew, so did his business, so that at last, as the “Mami King” and owner of a chain of popular restaurants, he was allowed to marry the love of his life. Sorra depicts the energetic, neatly dressed young man refining his recipe, hauling clanking vats of broth and noodles down city streets on a long pingga (bamboo pole), and serving crowds of happy diners. The closing notes definitely qualify as “value added,” as the author stirs in not only more biographical details and a yummy recipe but comments on the history of Chinese immigration to the Philippines and even on pingga and scissors as examples of simple machines! A savory success story. - Copyright 2024 Booklist.
