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A review by vanreads
Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food: Deliciously Doable Ways to Cook Greens, Tofu, and Other Plant-Based Ingredients by Hsiao-Ching Chou
5.0
Hsiao-Ching Chou's first cookbook, Chinese Soul Food, will always be my favorite cookbook to refer to, and Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food is no different. It's perfect as a standalone cookbook, and as a pair to Chinese Soul Food.
This cookbook is a uniquely Chinese American cookbook. It covers a lot of recipes that tend to be home food for Chinese families, and it also encompasses Chinese chop suey style foods. Chou also knows the American food landscape, and will offer suggestions on where to get ingredients, and what American alternatives can be substituted when the Chinese version is unavailable. I love this, because it is reminiscent of what I ate growing up. In a similar vein, it's a very flexible cookbook. Chow offers examples of different food pairings and a whole page that describes how to mix and match different flavors and veggies so that you can modify the recipes to fit your own needs and taste buds. I love this because it take the pressure off from feeling like you have to cook the exact recipe she offers. Instead, it feels like Chou is a beloved family member that is showing you the way of Chinese home cooking, which like all home cooking, is often a hodge podge of different available ingredients. You just get to learn how a Chinese person would mix and match ingredients to make Chinese style dishes.
The reason this is vegetarian is because some of the recipes have eggs in it. You can easily still use this recipe book as a vegan by omitting eggs, using egg substitutes, or just cooking the dishes that don't include eggs (there's a lot that don't have eggs in them!).
Anyways, as a Chinese American, this book has my stamp of approval! I love it so much. There were so many different dishes I ate growing up that I have no idea how to cook, and Chou has solved that problem for me. I'm also not a chef, so this is easy enough to follow for the non-chef like me. She explains how to clean and prep all the different veggies in here, so there's really nothing she leaves out.
P.S. I did try some of the recipes before I wrote this review, and I can confirm it tastes amazing!
Thank you to Sasquatch Books who sent this eARC to me and granted my NetGalley wish. I really need to get a physical copy of this book when it comes out!
This cookbook is a uniquely Chinese American cookbook. It covers a lot of recipes that tend to be home food for Chinese families, and it also encompasses Chinese chop suey style foods. Chou also knows the American food landscape, and will offer suggestions on where to get ingredients, and what American alternatives can be substituted when the Chinese version is unavailable. I love this, because it is reminiscent of what I ate growing up. In a similar vein, it's a very flexible cookbook. Chow offers examples of different food pairings and a whole page that describes how to mix and match different flavors and veggies so that you can modify the recipes to fit your own needs and taste buds. I love this because it take the pressure off from feeling like you have to cook the exact recipe she offers. Instead, it feels like Chou is a beloved family member that is showing you the way of Chinese home cooking, which like all home cooking, is often a hodge podge of different available ingredients. You just get to learn how a Chinese person would mix and match ingredients to make Chinese style dishes.
The reason this is vegetarian is because some of the recipes have eggs in it. You can easily still use this recipe book as a vegan by omitting eggs, using egg substitutes, or just cooking the dishes that don't include eggs (there's a lot that don't have eggs in them!).
Anyways, as a Chinese American, this book has my stamp of approval! I love it so much. There were so many different dishes I ate growing up that I have no idea how to cook, and Chou has solved that problem for me. I'm also not a chef, so this is easy enough to follow for the non-chef like me. She explains how to clean and prep all the different veggies in here, so there's really nothing she leaves out.
P.S. I did try some of the recipes before I wrote this review, and I can confirm it tastes amazing!
Thank you to Sasquatch Books who sent this eARC to me and granted my NetGalley wish. I really need to get a physical copy of this book when it comes out!