Chinese-ish: Home Cooking Not Quite Authentic, 100% Delicious

by Rosheen Kaul, Joanna Hu, Joanna Hu (Illustrator), Armelle Habib (Photographer)

Overview

A cookbook celebrating the blending of cultures and identity through food, with a bounty of Chinese-influenced dishes from all over South-East Asia

As immigrants with Chinese heritage, Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu spent their formative years living between (at least) two cultures and wondering how they fitted in. Food was a huge part of this journey; should they cling to the traditional comfort of their parents’ varied culinary heritage, attempt to assimilate wholly by learning to love mashed potatoes, or forge a new path where flavor and the freedom to choose trumped authenticity? They went with option three.

Chinese-ish celebrates the confident blending of culture and identity through food—take what you love and reject what doesn't work for you. You’ll find a bounty of inauthentic Chinese-influenced dishes from all over South-East Asia, including all the best rice and noodle dishes, wontons, and dumplings. There are also plenty of tips and shortcuts to demystify any tricky-sounding techniques, and a reassuring list of pantry staples and where to find them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623717995
Publisher:	Interlink Publishing Group, Incorporated
Publication date:	11/08/2022
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	518,006
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Rosheen Kaul was born in Singapore to parents of mixed Asian heritage (Kashmiri, Peranakan Chinese, Filipino). She grew up between Australia, Malaysia, China, and Indonesia. To her parents’ horror she pursued a career in cooking, working at new-style Chinese diner Lee ho Fook and Smith & Daughter, followed by Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.

Joanna Hu is an illustrator and ex front-of-house at Vue de Monde, Saint Crispin, and Fat Duck. The daughter of Chinese–Australian parents, she eschewed a career in law for something she was truly passionate about: learning to taste and being surrounded by creative geniuses.

Joanna Hu is an illustrator and ex front-of-house at Vue de Monde, Saint Crispin, and Fat Duck. The daughter of Chinese–Australian parents, she eschewed a career in law for something she was truly passionate about: learning to taste and being surrounded by creative geniuses.

Table of Contents

Introduction: On feeling Chinese-ish 9

Part 1 Chinese Cooking 101 17

Key information for successful Chinese-ish cooking 18

Chinese cooking techniques 20

How to cook rice without a rice cooker 22

How to cook nearly every type of noodle and some great ways to eat them 26

How to make stock 50

How to make wontons 56

How to make dumplings 62

How to make fried rice 70

How to make congee 84

How to make some iconic condiments 90

How to stir-fry vegetables 96

Part 2 The Rebellion: How to Disappoint Your Parents 121

There and back again 122

The solo diner 125

An ode to eggs 126

Chinese-ish snacks that feel kinda wrong 145

Part 3 My Love Language is a Fruit Flatter 165

On the love of an immigrant parent 166

Old Chinese favorites and fond food memories 171

Great dishes for a crowd 183

A few desserts we don't hate 195

Acknowledgments 216

Index 218

Editorial Reviews

12/05/2022

Chef Kaul and illustrator Hu (The Isol Cookbook) offer up a colorful and proudly inauthentic survey of Asian recipes. Drawing on her diverse ethnic background and experience as head chef at Etta in Melbourne, Kaul delivers on her promise of a “Chinese-ish story—vibrant, crispy, tasty, colorful, and incredibly delicious.” The recipes are enlivened by whimsical depictions of delicacies by Chinese Australian illustrator Hu as the pair measure out handy tips (their take on XO sauce is a home-based recreation as easy on the budget as it is on time) and classic favorites, including fried corn with spiced salt, and mango dessert pudding. The dishes are rich in heritage and individuality, with staples like pork and prawn wontons that employ ready-made wrappers, Beijing hot chicken based on the Nashville classic but modified with a Northern Chinese spice mix, and a slew of noodle dishes that pay homage to taste and tradition—none more so than Sichuan favorite “ants climbing a tree,” where clingy bits of minced pork evoke ants on the noodles. A solo dining section overflows with single-serve choices, and, for balance, Kaul and Hu offer up “great dishes for a crowd,” including dong po pork, which is braised in rice wine and aromatics. Hu’s illustrations amplify fanciful musings, as in the essay tracking her path away from what her parents considered an “acceptable” career and toward one in hospitality and later in art. Far-away flavors feel close to home in this delectable spread. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Hu’s watercolor illustrations play so nicely with the vivid photography throughout and the recipes are remarkably accessible. Get yourself a carbon steel wok (as my husband did recently; he’s loving it), hit up the supermarket’s international aisle or your local Asian market, and you’ll be dishing up variations on fried rice, Sichuan-style noodles and chiffon omelets in no time.

BookPage

Chinese-ish takes questions of culinary identity, tosses them up in the air, and lets them land where they may. Australians Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu confront their blended-Chinese heritage by exploring classics of home cooking like wontons, fried rice and stir-fries—while also going where nobody’s grandma has gone before, with ‘very inauthentic Shrimp Toast’ and ‘Microwave Cheong fun’ rice noodle rolls. Refreshingly uninterested in purity tests and irresistibly illustrated by Hu, Chinese-ish is an irreverent charmer and more evidence (if more were needed) of the unending global love affair with Chinese cuisine.

T. Susan Chang

Chef Rosheen Kaul and illustrator Joanna Hu’s collection mashes classic Chinese cooking with personal culinary influence collected from all over Asia. Whimsical illustrations, vulnerable storytelling, and easy-to-follow instructions support technique building.

Epicurious

Chef Kaul springs from mixed Asian ancestry and has a passion for all sorts of Chinese-influenced dishes passed down from previous generations ... the result is this lively collection of personal cooking that home cooks can appreciate ... Along with the book's photographs, bright, light-hearted illustrations from Joanna Hu perfectly match the recipes.

Booklist

Chinese-ish is a vibrant collaborative cookbook ... with a captivating variety of recipes for stocks, condiments, rice, noodles, wontons, and dumplings, alongside the wry, heartfelt advice ... [and] an enticing assortment of desserts ... Chinese-ish is illustrated by Hu’s quirky, delightful artwork. Crafted out of a desire to share family and personal experiences, new tastes, and a legacy of adapted recipes, Chinese-ish is a cultural and culinary testament.

Foreword Reviews

Nominated for the 2023 James Beard Foundation Awards

From the Publisher

★ 10/01/2022

This unique and beautifully illustrated cookbook offers a combination of cuisines spanning Southeast Asia that reflect the authors' immigrant heritage. Kaul (born in Singapore to parents of Kashmiri, Peranakan Chinese, and Filipino descent) and Hu (whose parents are Chinese Australian) each offer moving introductions to their experiences growing up and how they became interested in cooking. They also include anecdotes throughout the book to give readers insight into their lives and the meaning of the food they detail. The first part of the book includes a section on useful ingredients and kitchen tools/appliances one will need for the recipes. They offer useful guidance on recipe basics like making stock and easy, step-by-step instructions for forming their wontons and dumplings—which are not to be missed. Among the book's other recipes are Sichuan-style cold noodles, blistered green beans, and dong po braised pork. VERDICT Kaul and Hu have written an excellent introduction to Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisine, recommended for intermediate to advanced cooks. Readers who just love reading cookbooks, even if they never step foot in the kitchen, won't want to miss it either.—Holly P. Skir

Library Journal