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Chinese Heritage Cooking from My American Kitchen: Discover Authentic Flavors with Vibrant, Modern Recipes
Top Chef finalist and seasoned restauranteur Shirley Chung brings new energy to traditional Chinese cuisine, transforming familiar staples into exciting, modern dishes. Born in Beijing, Shirley immigrated to California for college before following her passion to culinary school. She then opened successful restaurants such as the award-winning CarneVino for the Batali Group, and Twenty-Eight, where she explored her roots in Chinese cuisine. In her debut cookbook, she showcases the very best of today's Chinese-American cooking, with approachable methods and simple ingredients.
These recipes are light and fresh, building flavor from spices and ancient cooking techniques. With Shirley as your guide, fatty and bland takeout Peking duck becomes Five-Spice Seared Duck Breast with Kumquat Mustard and Peas; and beef and broccoli becomes Grilled Skirt Steak with Broccolini and Onion. Each recipe is created with restaurant quality flavors, made easy for the home cook. Whether she’s sharing her ultimate comfort food, Steamed Egg Custard with Pork, or a California-inspired dish like Crab Salad with Avocado and Ginger Dressing, Shirley’s humor and energetic personality will keep readers entertained while they create winning dishes. Full of spice and sweet-savory flavors, this book comes from the heart of a top-notch chef who understands the depth of authentic Chinese flavors and is right at home in the American home kitchen.
These recipes are light and fresh, building flavor from spices and ancient cooking techniques. With Shirley as your guide, fatty and bland takeout Peking duck becomes Five-Spice Seared Duck Breast with Kumquat Mustard and Peas; and beef and broccoli becomes Grilled Skirt Steak with Broccolini and Onion. Each recipe is created with restaurant quality flavors, made easy for the home cook. Whether she’s sharing her ultimate comfort food, Steamed Egg Custard with Pork, or a California-inspired dish like Crab Salad with Avocado and Ginger Dressing, Shirley’s humor and energetic personality will keep readers entertained while they create winning dishes. Full of spice and sweet-savory flavors, this book comes from the heart of a top-notch chef who understands the depth of authentic Chinese flavors and is right at home in the American home kitchen.
192 pages, Paperback
Published October 23, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 12, 2026
Once again reading a cookbook cover to cover and reviewing without having tried anything so take my score with a grain of salt.
I have an Internet-the-Book tag; should I consider TV-the-book as one? I am not a regular Top Chef viewer though so I don't know how Shirley got to be runner up in one and winner in another (also, kinda taking me out of Andrew Zimmern writing a foreword that acknowledges the long history of American Chinese food in the face of discrimination, only for this to be published the same year he tried to launch Lucky Cricket as an alternative to the "bullshit restaurants" that serve American Chinese in the Midwest? Though it looks like it died so I shouldn't hold the grudge THIS long.)
Anyway, re: the book itself everything looks straightforward, and there's some tips gleaned from the speedy show challenges like blending rice until it's broken to make congee and rice pudding faster. One side of Shirley's mom's family is from northeastern China with its wheat and noodle recipes, her dad Cantonese with its emphasis on vegetables and rice dishes (and, she grew up in Beijing with her grandparents before moving to the US as a teenager, and her husband is Singaporean so it's a real chop suey of diaspora influences, heh) I think most of these could be made with ingredients at your grocery store (though it does help that Asian condiments are more accessible now too - soft power babyyyy), and there's some fun mixed methodology like the milk-braised napa cabbage using French techniques. I also appreciate that the dessert section doesn't involve baking- most traditional dishes aren't, though I do love those culturally influenced pastries (see Kat Lieu's 108 Asian Cookies instead for that).
I have an Internet-the-Book tag; should I consider TV-the-book as one? I am not a regular Top Chef viewer though so I don't know how Shirley got to be runner up in one and winner in another (also, kinda taking me out of Andrew Zimmern writing a foreword that acknowledges the long history of American Chinese food in the face of discrimination, only for this to be published the same year he tried to launch Lucky Cricket as an alternative to the "bullshit restaurants" that serve American Chinese in the Midwest? Though it looks like it died so I shouldn't hold the grudge THIS long.)
Anyway, re: the book itself everything looks straightforward, and there's some tips gleaned from the speedy show challenges like blending rice until it's broken to make congee and rice pudding faster. One side of Shirley's mom's family is from northeastern China with its wheat and noodle recipes, her dad Cantonese with its emphasis on vegetables and rice dishes (and, she grew up in Beijing with her grandparents before moving to the US as a teenager, and her husband is Singaporean so it's a real chop suey of diaspora influences, heh) I think most of these could be made with ingredients at your grocery store (though it does help that Asian condiments are more accessible now too - soft power babyyyy), and there's some fun mixed methodology like the milk-braised napa cabbage using French techniques. I also appreciate that the dessert section doesn't involve baking- most traditional dishes aren't, though I do love those culturally influenced pastries (see Kat Lieu's 108 Asian Cookies instead for that).
December 25, 2022
Chinese style shrimp and grits? Scallion pancakes with hazelnut pesto? Cheeseburger pot stickers? Milk braised Napa cabbage? Steamed egg custard with minced pork? Soooo many amazing recipes in this book, from very authentic to some with American twists. My only complaint is not all the ingredients are easy to find—I'm lucky enough to have an Asian market nearby but some may have trouble sourcing some items. Great book and easy to follow.
January 31, 2020
I found lots to try in this book. Can't wait.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews