Good Food
The Kitchen God
Grace Young is the author of several wonderful books on Chinese cooking including, The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen , The Breath of a Wok and, most recently, Stir Frying to the Sky’s Edge .
By Evan Kleiman • • 1 min readis the author of several wonderful books on Chinese cooking including,
The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen,
The Breath of a Wok and, most recently,
Stir Frying to the Sky’s Edge.
In Chinese culture, the Kitchen God is the official guardian of the family. Young's kitchen has four Kitchen Gods: two statues, the photo, and the plaque which displays the four Chinese characters "Reserve Fortune Kitchen God." Traditionally, families only place one Kitchen God at their altar. It is traditional to make an offering at Chinese New Year's of a plate of oranges or tangerines as a sweet bribe for the Kitchen God.
