good stories and histories, nice father and son team, detailed recipes
5 stars
I like to read cookbooks for the stories, and there isn't as much of that as I would like, compared for example to The Woks of Life and the Nom Wah Cookbook, but there are still some good ones here from this father and son team, especially the former's reminiscences of food from his native Hong Kong and Shanghai. (The son's stories are good too, but his ephiphany about the orange chicken at Panda Express just doesn't compare to the wonton noodle soup his dad got from a street vendor who had an all-in one kitchen operation in a cart). The son's essay on Chinese (American) New Year is right on the money, though (this is how UBS should be implemented). And I always appreciate when all the dishes have their Chinese names listed.