The Vegan Chinese Kitchen
Recipes and Modern Stories from a Thousand-Year-Old Tradition
I am so thrilled to finally share the details of my first cookbook, The Vegan Chinese Kitchen, which is available September 13th, 2022! Order now via the links below.
Reviews
“An invaluable contribution to the canon of vegan and vegetarian home cooking. With recipes like braised winter melon, fish-fragrant eggplant, five-spice vegetarian chicken, kung pao mushrooms, and a chorus of steamed buns, Che offers food that nods respectfully to the past while pointing forward to a dazzling future.” (Eater)
“Rich visuals, history, stories, and recipes make this the go-to cookbook for vegan Chinese cooking and will likely become a favorite for all levels of cooks and vegetarians.” Library Journal (Starred Review)
“An invigorating collection of recipes that put a plant-based spin on the dishes of her heritage. The Chinese word for vegetarian, su, connotes foods that are “simple, quiet and plainly unadorned,” exemplified here by delectable dishes.” Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
“Like many cuisines, both Chinese and vegan cooking can be complicated or time-consuming—but Che’s book proves that neither have to be.” (Epicurious)
“An expansive look at the plant-based traditions of China.” (Thrillist)
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100+ fresh, plant-based, umami-packed recipes that show the range of traditional and modern Chinese vegan cuisine.
This book is a love letter to the vibrant traditions of plant-based cooking in China.
Through the photography and stories, you’ll get a glimpse into the rich history of a cuisine that originated in ancient longevity practices and developed in Buddhist monasteries and imperial palaces, and is now being modernized among chefs in the vegan restaurant scene in China today. Mostly, this book is dedicated to the food of lao baixing, ordinary families, who turn humble ingredients into whole spreads of nourishing, delicious dishes on a daily basis. It’s the type of resourceful Chinese cooking that made me fall in love with vegetables.
The book is divided into plant and ingredient types. I share recipes celebrating fresh produce in the Leafy Greens, Root Vegetables, Stems Shoots & Flowers, and Mushrooms chapters. You’ll learn about Tofu, Tofu Skin (yuba), and Gluten (seitan) in their original context, not just as substitutes for meat but wonderful ingredients in their own right, passed down through generations of artisans.
In the essay and stories throughout the chapters, I write about going to culinary school in Guangzhou, interview chefs and makers, and share my own journey rediscovering my Chinese heritage through my vegan identity. Ultimately, this book is a tribute to my parents, who immigrated from China in 1990 to make a life in America, and who were the first people to teach me how to cook. I ended this journey, fittingly, in my parents’ house in Indiana last summer, where I cooked and shot all the recipes with my mom and had my family there to eat it all. I hope the food in this book brings you as much joy and comfort as it did for us.