Description

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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.

About the Author

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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.

Praise For…

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Nominated for the 2023 James Beard Foundation Awards

“This unique and beautifully illustrated cookbook offers a combination of cuisines spanning Southeast Asia that reflect the authors’ immigrant heritage … They also include anecdotes throughout the book to give readers insight into their lives and the meaning of the food they detail … 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.”
— Library Journal, Starred Review

“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

“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

“Chef Kaul and illustrator Hu offer up a colorful and proudly inauthentic survey of Asian recipes … The recipes are enlivened by whimsical depictions of delicacies … The dishes are rich in heritage and individuality … Far-away flavors feel close to home in this delectable spread.”
— 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, NPR’s BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR