Kylie Kwong lends a great endorsement to this utterly delightful and idiosyncratic book by two talented young authors and chefs. She says Chinese-ish is ‘utterly delicious, compelling … that completely exhilarates me!’ I agree.

As immigrants of Chinese heritage, Kaul and Hu present a totally innovative and sometimes unconventional approach to learning how to cook a rich array of Asian-inspired dishes. Enticing full colour photographs, combined with lively illustrations, give the book a certain charm, along with the authors’ perceptive insights and personal experiences of food and culture. There are practical explanations of cooking techniques and where to source ingredients.

Chinese-ish includes a wealth of delicious traditional and not-so-traditional noodle, rice, and dessert recipes to try. Hard to resist dedicating the next month to Asian cooking and trying a few recipes such as the Char Kway Teow noodles; Beijing Hot Chicken; or Uyghur ‘Big Plate’ Chicken with Hand-Pulled Noodles. Yum!

Reviewed by Karen Williams

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

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.