Mooncakes and Milk Bread: Sweet and Savory Recipes Inspired by Chinese Bakeries

2022 JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER • Baking and Desserts

2022 JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER • Emerging Voice, Books

ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker Magazine, The New York Times

ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time Out, Glamour, Taste of Home

Food blogger Kristina Cho (eatchofood.com) introduces you to Chinese bakery cooking with fresh, simple interpretations of classic recipes for the modern baker.

Inside, you’ll find sweet and savory baked buns, steamed buns, Chinese breads, unique cookies, whimsical cakes, juicy dumplings, Chinese breakfast dishes, and drinks. Recipes for steamed BBQ pork buns, pineapple buns with a thick slice of butter, silky smooth milk tea, and chocolate Swiss rolls all make an appearance–because a book about Chinese bakeries wouldn’t be complete without them

In Mooncakes & Milk Bread, Kristina teaches you to whip up these delicacies like a pro, including how to:

Knead dough without a stand mixerAvoid collapsed steamed bunsInfuse creams and custards with aromatic tea flavorsMix the most workable dumpling doughPleat dumplings like an Asian grandma

This is the first book to exclusively focus on Chinese bakeries and cafés, but it isn’t just for those nostalgic for Chinese bakeshop foods–it’s for all home bakers who want exciting new recipes to add to their repertoires.

From the Publisher

Mooncakes & Milk Bread is a one-of-a-kind culinary adventure through the world of Chinese bakeries

For all bakers looking to upgrade to their skills

Discover all-new recipes, traditional recipes reinterpreted for modern bakers

This is the first book to exclusively focus on Chinese bakeries and cafes

Kristina teaches you to whip up these delicacies like a pro

Knead dough without a stand mixerAvoid collapsed steamed bunsInfuse creams and custards with aromatic tea flavorsMix the most workable dumpling doughPleat dumplings like an Asian grandma

Featured Recipes

The Almighty Pineapple Bun (Bo Lo Bao)

Every Chinese bakery must have a pineapple bun in their case. Despite the name, the bun has no pineapple—it’s a soft milk- bread bun with a sweet, buttery, crackly cookie-like top that, after it’s baked, resembles pineapple skin. The simple, iconic treat has a loyal following, even beyond Asian cultures: everyone loves a good pineapple bun.

Honey Pistachio Mooncakes

The biggest challenge of making a mooncake filling is ensuring that it’s firm enough to keep the mooncakes from deflating in the oven. This filling can be pressed into a ball and withstand the weight of the mooncake pastry. Pistachio, or any nut really, is perfect for that very reason.

Rose Siu Mai

Siu mai are open- faced dumplings, traditionally filled with pork and shrimp and topped with a little fish roe. Creating open- faced rose- shaped dumplings seemed like a natural combination of two concepts— siu mai and the folded rose dumpling— with each petal slightly open and the filling revealed. But because these dumplings are open- faced, you can only steam or pan- fry them. I prefer to steam them— it’s the gentlest way to cook dumplings and preserves all the work you put into shaping each dainty, edible rose.

Goong Goong’s Almond Cookies

These cookies are soft in the center, crisp around the edges, and perfectly sweet, with just enough almond flavor to fill your kitchen with the intoxicating scent of buttery almonds. Better yet, they have the seal of approval from my mom and the rest of my family, which is all I really needed.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Horizon (Oct. 12 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0785238999
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0785238997
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 1.13 kg
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 19.81 x 2.29 x 26.16 cm