What do you think?
Rate this book
House of Nanking: Family Recipes from San Francisco's Favorite Chinese Restaurant
From a beloved San Francisco culinary landmark, a showstopper cookbook that honors a family legacy and celebrates ingredient-driven, multi-regional Chinese cooking in America
Since it opened in 1988, House of Nanking has been a popular spot for countless tourists, honeymooners, celebrities, and everyday San Franciscans who have lined up—for decades—for their legendary Shanghai and Chinese American dishes. This will be the first time their recipes have appeared in print and adapted for the home kitchen. But it’ll be the stories behind them, which few have heard—of Peter Fang’s ingenuity and his early adventures in the kitchen, how he imported and adapted his favorite Shanghai dishes for America, and Kathy’s experience growing up with parents who bet it all on the restaurant, under the tutelage of all these rich Chinese culinary traditions—that will capture the heart.
The 100-plus recipes in this book include all the greatest hits from three generations of Fang family cooking from Canton to Shanghai, and readers will learn how to pan-fry, steam, cook in a wok, shop for ingredients, and prep vegetables the Chinese way. With accessible recipes that are adaptable to any type of home kitchen, anyone will be able to make these dishes, wherever they are.
Since it opened in 1988, House of Nanking has been a popular spot for countless tourists, honeymooners, celebrities, and everyday San Franciscans who have lined up—for decades—for their legendary Shanghai and Chinese American dishes. This will be the first time their recipes have appeared in print and adapted for the home kitchen. But it’ll be the stories behind them, which few have heard—of Peter Fang’s ingenuity and his early adventures in the kitchen, how he imported and adapted his favorite Shanghai dishes for America, and Kathy’s experience growing up with parents who bet it all on the restaurant, under the tutelage of all these rich Chinese culinary traditions—that will capture the heart.
The 100-plus recipes in this book include all the greatest hits from three generations of Fang family cooking from Canton to Shanghai, and readers will learn how to pan-fry, steam, cook in a wok, shop for ingredients, and prep vegetables the Chinese way. With accessible recipes that are adaptable to any type of home kitchen, anyone will be able to make these dishes, wherever they are.
- GenresCookbooks
304 pages, Hardcover
Published September 30, 2025
8 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 15, 2026
4 stars
Amazing cookbook. The dishes are well introduced and well written. You can almost smell the hot wok and see the dishes coming to the table with the descriptions and the photos.
Amazing cookbook. The dishes are well introduced and well written. You can almost smell the hot wok and see the dishes coming to the table with the descriptions and the photos.
December 14, 2025
Perfection
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews