chinese enough
In an exploration of her own experience as a first-generation American, Kristina Cho, author of the award-winning baking book Mooncakes and Milk Bread, offers over 100 recipes that blend the flavors of traditional Cantonese cooking with California ingredients and a midwestern sensibility.
In Chinese Enough, Cho turns to the savory side of cooking with recipes that are neither entirely Chinese nor entirely American, but Chinese enough. Here is an array of dishes to pair with rice, the cornerstone of Cantonese cuisine, including Triple Pepper Beef, Miso Pork Meatballs, and Seared Egg Tofu with Honey and Soy. Recipes like Smashed Ranch Cucumbers and Saucy Sesame Long Beans honor the Cantonese focus on vegetables. There’s a chapter dedicated to the joy of noodles, with creative takes on traditional dishes, birthed anew in a California kitchen—from San Francisco Garlic Noodles to Creamy Tomato Udon. Plus, a chapter of Banquet-Worthy Dishes teaches the Chinese art of food as celebration, a step-by-step guide shows how to employ friends and family in the kitchen to make dumplings, and the fruit-focused dessert section acts as a lesson on finishing a meal with a small, sweet act of affection. Woven throughout, Cho’s stories of her grandmother’s Chinese garden situated in the middle of Cleveland and falling in love over dim sum are a warm tribute to the nuanced and personal ways in which one can discover and define their own culture.
where to buy it:
Mooncakes & Milk bread
2022 James Beard Award Winner - Baking and Dessert
2022 James Beard Award Winner - Emerging Voice, Books
ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker Magazine, The New York Times
ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time Out, Glamour, Taste of Home
This book will introduce you to Chinese baking with fresh, simple interpretations of classic recipes for the modern baker.
Inside, you’ll find sweet and savory baked buns, steamed buns, Chinese breads, unique cookies, whimsical cakes, juicy dumplings, Chinese breakfast dishes, and drinks. Recipes for steamed BBQ pork buns, pineapple buns with a thick slice of butter, silky smooth milk tea, and chocolate Swiss rolls all make an appearance--because a book about Chinese bakeries wouldn’t be complete without them
In Mooncakes & Milk Bread, Kristina teaches you to whip up these delicacies like a pro, including how to:
Knead dough without a stand mixer
Avoid collapsed steamed buns
Infuse creams and custards with aromatic tea flavors
Mix the most workable dumpling dough
Pleat dumplings like an Asian grandma
This is the first book to exclusively focus on Chinese bakeries and cafés, but it isn’t just for those nostalgic for Chinese bakeshop foods--it’s for all home bakers who want exciting new recipes to add to their repertoires.