The Mission Chinese Food Cookbook Hardcover – November 10, 2015

This is a fun book. There are only 49 recipes, but they are incredibly good!Pictured below:1) Sweet Potato Leaves with Kabocha Squash – p 264. Holy wow! I had no idea you could eat sweet potato leaves. This is a fantastically complex dish. A huge bunch of sweet potato leaves, roasted kabocha squash, mushroom powder, garlic, tofu, adzuki beans, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin oil, and salted chili condiment. It's crazy delicious like something truly naughty, but pure health food. He calls Mushroom Powder the gentlemen’s MSG. I licked my fingertip and dipped it in the powder to taste it on its own, and he’s not overselling it with that name. I’m going to try some on fresh popcorn.2) Smoked Beef Brisket with Smoked Cola BBQ Sauce – p 36 and 304 with pickles and cheap soft white bread. Delicious!3-4) Dumplings – p 104 with Pork Filling – p 107, and garnished with Chili Crisp, Chili Oil, and Cilantro. Awesome! The edges of my dumpling wrappers were a little thick this time, so I’ll be careful to roll them thicker towards the inside, and thinner towards the outside next time. He works parmesan and wine into the wrapper dough that’s similar to making pasta. It’s understated with the nice strong flavors of the dumpling filling, but these nuanced complexities in his food make it just so special. My kids ate 10 each and wanted more, so I think I’ll have to double it next time.5) Mongolian Long Beans – p 258. So fragrant and just a bit spicy.6) Some subrecipes needed for other recipes and pickles, just because they need to be made ahead. Chili-Pickled Pineapple – p 199, Chili Crisp and Chili Oil – p 290, and Salted Chili Condiment – p 302. Everthing’s awesome but that Chili Crisp is crazy good! Chiles, peppercorns, ginger, garlic, mushroom powder, spices, fried garlic, fried shallots and fermented black beans. The wheels are spinning on how to tweak green bean casserole for Thanksgiving now that I know fried garlic and shallots exist.I just saw an announcement that he’s going to be the next Mind of a Chef! I can’t wait to see the show.Some other recipes I have flagged to try are: Mapo Tofu p 62 with the Meat Variation on p 65 (pork belly) * Thrice Cooked Bacon – p 96 * Westlake Rice Porridge – p 117 (chicken, rice, soft cooked eggs, lump crab, beef cheeks, and herbs) * General Tso’s Veal Rib – p 232 * Squid Ink Noodles with Minced Pork and Peanut Sauce – p 245 * Beggar’s Duck – p 275

I love cookbooks. I own close to a hundred of them. Some I love and use frequently. Some I just like to look at. I have never had a cookbook that I couldn't stop reading, until this one.This is more than just a great cookbook. It's a great book, period. It's a compelling story, a great narrative, and the bonus is the recipes.The book is written in a chronological style, with the recipes that came from the time period bring discussed. I haven't had the chance to try any yet, but I love that there are suggestions and options to make things easier for the home cook. I can tell from reading them, that the recipes make sense. And they make me hungryI saw an earlier review and had to laugh. If that person had read this book, they would know it was never the intention of Mission Chinese to make traditional Chinese food. It follows that the recipes in this book wouldn't be for traditional Chinese food either.I can't wait to give this as a holiday gift!

I have been reading about this restaurant for years! And seeing I live on the wrong coast, it is unlikely I will be able to visit it myself.But this cookbook covers many delectable-looking dishes that I look forward to making myself!We plan to host a "luau" this summer, and the glazed pork belly with the quick-pickled pineapple/chili mix looks perfect for it. The pickled pineapple itself is delicious and not very hot at all (I think it could use a bit more heat!). It was delicious with ham.I've bookmarked a lot of recipes here, and look forward to making them. All seem do-able, with few weird ingredients that one will need to mail-order (note that I did have to mail-order the seaweed for the pineapple pickles).And- it's just a fun, mouth-watering read!

I almost cancelled my pre-order of this cookbook, because I assumed it would have too many recipes. When it arrived, I read 30 pages in one sitting! His story is an inspiration - and perfect for those who are considering cooking professionally or even giving up. This cookbook has his passion - but I hope he does write another one. I'm planning on buying more copies for gifts for real foodies. If you are wanting a Chinese cookbook with only recipes, then this book is not for you. But if you liked the first publications of Lucky Peach magazines, then buy this book.

I really enjoyed reading the book, as an account of how the restaurant came about and the journey to get there. But as a cookbook, I won't be doing any of the recipes soon as it's too involved.

Great book and even better cook book. Look, if your into American style chinese food then look no further. The author admits this isn't classic chinese. It's new age, its bold, spicy and great food. Is it easy to cook? No. Are the ingredients readily available? No. But your on Amazon now, and you can order most of the ingredients online. You can use the ingredients on other recipes. If you like David Changs MomoFuku, then this is right up your alley. You want easy to cook, everyday asian style recipes? Then look at Lucky Peach's 101 Easy Asian Recipes. Great read, great cook book, good times.

I CRAVE Mission Chinese's cooking ever since I left NYC 3 years ago. Thanks to this book I now can recreate the food at home! Yes, it takes serious effort (a smoker and deep fryer are both helpful), but the writing is lively, even during the instruction portion, and the recipes turned out great (the ingredients aren't too hard to procure). 49 recipes are more than enough in my opinion, and Mr. Bowien's story is fascinating. Highly recommended for fans of the restaurants and lovers of creative Asian cooking.