Chinese Soul Food: A Friendly Guide for Homemade Dumplings, Stir-Fries, Soups, and More

Any kitchen can be a Chinese kitchen with these 80 easy homestyle recipes--plus tips and techniques for cooking with a wok, stocking your pantry, making rice, and more

Chinese food is more popular than any other cuisine and yet it often intimidates North American home cooks. Chinese Soul Food draws cooks into the kitchen with recipes that include sizzling potstickers, simply but delicious stir-fries, saucy braises, and soups that bring comfort with a sip. These are dishes that feed the belly and speak the universal language of ＂mmm!＂

In Chinese Soul Food, you’ll find approachable recipes and plenty of tips for favorite homestyle Chinese dishes, such as red-braised pork belly, dry-fried green beans, braised-beef noodle soup, green onion pancakes, garlic eggplant, and the author’s famous potstickers, which consistently sell out her cooking classes in Seattle. You will also find helpful tips and techniques, such as caring for and using a wok and how to cook rice properly, as well as a basic Chinese pantry list that also includes acceptable substitutions, making it even simpler for the busiest among us to cook their favorite Chinese dishes at home. Recipes are streamlined to minimize the fear factor of unfamiliar ingredients and techniques, and home cooks are gently guided toward becoming comfortable cooking satisfying Chinese meals.

Hsiao-Ching Chou is an award-winning food journalist, a cooking instructor, and communications consultant. She is a member of the James Beard Foundation cookbook committee and Les Dames d’Escoffier. Chou has been a guest on local and national shows, including Public Radio’s The Splendid Table, the PBS documentary The Meaning of Food, and the Travel Channel’s Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. In her spare time, she teaches popular everyday Chinese home cooking classes at the Hot Stove Society. She lives with her family in Seattle.