Chinese Street Food: Small Bites, Classic Recipes, and Harrowing Tales Across the Middle Kingdom

by Howie Southworth, Greg Matza

Overview

"Brimming with history, food lore, and recipes that take you on a culinary journey outside of the restaurant and into the streets of regional China. Authentic flavors and techniques explode onto the page." —Chef Lee Anne Wong

Howie Southworth and Greg Matza, best friends and bestselling food authors, have been eating their way through China for over two decades. Soon after their yearly culinary journeys began, they were struck with a delicious addiction: street food! Within this entertainingly narrated cookbook, our dynamic eating duo not only fondly recalls highlights of their fascination with China’s incredible food culture, but they artfully weave in folklore, origin stories, and witty chats with the cooks, vendors, and fellow gastronomes they’ve met along the way. Recipes include:
 

• Youtiao (Fried Dough Sticks)
• Zhurou Jiaozi (Steamed Port Dumplings)
• Tianjin Jianbing (Gianjin-Style Pancake Wraps)
• Hula Tang (Black Pepper Beef Soup)
• Zhima Shaobing (Baked Sesame Buns)
• Nha Miurou Wanzi (Fried Beef Meatballs)
• Heimi Gao / Nuomi Gao Black or White Sticky Rice Fritters)
• And much much more!

Photographed entirely in China, this book beautifully presents small plates from the balmy rice paddies of Yunnan and spicy streets of Sichuan to the frozen tundra of Harbin and the imperial majesty of Beijing. This tale of two foodies is destined to change the way readers view going out for Chinese.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510728158
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	08/07/2018
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Howie Southworth is a food author, photographer, and media producer. He is a frequent speaker on education, culture, and cuisine for organizations across the globe. Though Howie has called many delicious destinations home, he and his family currently live in Barcelona, where some very serious food research is underway.

Greg Matza grew up in Los Angeles, weaned on a diet that stretched from Iran to the Philippines to El Salvador—all within a couple of miles from his home. Greg is currently the proud parent of an eighty-thousand-BTU propane burner and a collection of very nice potholders. They all live happily in the San Francisco Bay area.

Editorial Reviews

07/02/2018
In their third collaboration (after Kiss My Casserole!), Matza and Southworth present a fun collection of more than 100 recipes of Chinese street food. Street cuisine is “quickly changing yet deeply rooted in tradition,” the authors write, and this is made evident across 10 chapters that combine breezy bits of travel writing and food history with a vast variety of xiao chi, or “small eats.” The first chapter, “What’s in a Name,” includes dishes with curious names, such as “Bedspread Noodles” (named for wide noodles) and steamed “Barbarian Head Buns,”(large fluffy white buns) found in Beijing. A mostly savory collection of breakfast options include steamed eggplant buns from Xi’an and pan-fried pork pockets, which date back to the Tang Dynasty. There is an intriguing exploration of the city of Xi’an with its culinary remnants of the Silk Road trade routes. And in a chapter titled, “You’ll Love This, We Promise,” the authors showcase oddities like stinky tofu and a green fish ball soup popular in southwestern Yunnan. These quick bites do not necessarily equate to fast preparation, but a lamb shoulder and five patient hours cooking in a Dutch oven results in a hearty meal of lamb and bread soup. Augmented with 100 on-location photos, this lively cookbook brings a distant land into deliciously sharp focus. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Street cuisine is 'quickly changing yet deeply rooted in tradition,' the authors write, and this is made evident across 10 chapters that combine breezy bits of travel writing and food history with a vast variety of xiao chi, or 'small eats.' . . . Augmented with 100 on-location photos, this lively cookbook brings a distant land into deliciously sharp focus." —Publishers Weekly

“Most recipe collections aren’t entertaining. They tell a story—about the chef, the cuisine, a restaurant or two—then spill the not-so-proverbial beans. Southworth and Matza . . . take readers on a journey into China. We peer inside little towns (like those in rural Yunnan Province) and big—and bigger—cities (Chengdu, Xi’an, and Beijing) and meander through alleyways and little-known streets to find the best bites in China.” —Booklist

"Chinese Street Food is brimming with history, food lore, and recipes that take you on a culinary journey outside of the restaurant and into the streets of regional China. Authentic flavors and techniques explode onto the page in a way that first make you salivate, then motivate to roll up your sleeves and get cooking." —Chef Lee Anne Wong

"This book is an inspiring culinary atlas of China, an enticing guide to eat your way through China, street by street." —Martin Yan, Yan Can Cook

"From noodles to steamed buns, traditional dishes and sweets, Chinese Street Food is a true celebration of Chinese cuisine. Howie and Greg's experiences and travels take you on a tour of Chinese street food stalls and provide a true authenticity these dishes deserve. Peace and Good Eating." —Chef Ming Tsai

"Howie and Greg have long been my dynamic duo when it comes to introducing the gastronomic splendor of regional Chinese cuisines, complete with juicy and nourishing vignettes from five thousand years of history." —Laszlo Montgomery, host of The China History Podcast

"Who better to guide us than Howie Southworth and Greg Matza, whose love and excitement brings Chinese street food alive with carefully crafted recipes you can make in your own kitchen?" —Chef Ken Hom, OBE, author and TV presenter

"There is nothing like the sights, sounds, and smells of street food in China! Howie and Greg tap into that electricity and condense it into a book where, with each picture and recipe, my mouth waters and my senses are stirred." —Megan McCormick, TV presenter, Globe Trekker

"Reading all these stories really takes me back to the amazing trip I took with Howie and Greg. I can't wait to recreate the spicy crayfish that we enjoyed after visiting the Forbidden City. So good!" —Ray Hechavarria, the guy on page 141

"Street cuisine is 'quickly changing yet deeply rooted in tradition,' the authors write, and this is made evident across 10 chapters that combine breezy bits of travel writing and food history with a vast variety of xiao chi, or 'small eats.' . . . Augmented with 100 on-location photos, this lively cookbook brings a distant land into deliciously sharp focus." —Publishers Weekly

“Most recipe collections aren’t entertaining. They tell a story—about the chef, the cuisine, a restaurant or two—then spill the not-so-proverbial beans. Southworth and Matza . . . take readers on a journey into China. We peer inside little towns (like those in rural Yunnan Province) and big—and bigger—cities (Chengdu, Xi’an, and Beijing) and meander through alleyways and little-known streets to find the best bites in China.” —Booklist

"Chinese Street Food is brimming with history, food lore, and recipes that take you on a culinary journey outside of the restaurant and into the streets of regional China. Authentic flavors and techniques explode onto the page in a way that first make you salivate, then motivate to roll up your sleeves and get cooking." —Chef Lee Anne Wong

"This book is an inspiring culinary atlas of China, an enticing guide to eat your way through China, street by street." —Martin Yan, Yan Can Cook

"From noodles to steamed buns, traditional dishes and sweets, Chinese Street Food is a true celebration of Chinese cuisine. Howie and Greg's experiences and travels take you on a tour of Chinese street food stalls and provide a true authenticity these dishes deserve. Peace and Good Eating." —Chef Ming Tsai

"Howie and Greg have long been my dynamic duo when it comes to introducing the gastronomic splendor of regional Chinese cuisines, complete with juicy and nourishing vignettes from five thousand years of history." —Laszlo Montgomery, host of The China History Podcast

"Who better to guide us than Howie Southworth and Greg Matza, whose love and excitement brings Chinese street food alive with carefully crafted recipes you can make in your own kitchen?" —Chef Ken Hom, OBE, author and TV presenter

"There is nothing like the sights, sounds, and smells of street food in China! Howie and Greg tap into that electricity and condense it into a book where, with each picture and recipe, my mouth waters and my senses are stirred." —Megan McCormick, TV presenter, Globe Trekker

"Reading all these stories really takes me back to the amazing trip I took with Howie and Greg. I can't wait to recreate the spicy crayfish that we enjoyed after visiting the Forbidden City. So good!" —Ray Hechavarria, the guy on page 141

From the Publisher