Chinese-ish: Home Cooking Not Quite Authentic, 100% Delicious, written by Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu, features Chinese-influenced recipes from throughout Southeast Asia along with helpful tips and fantastic illustrations. A few highlights include Roast Duck Noodle Soup, Fish Congee, Blistered Green Beans, Beijing Hot Chicken, and Mango Pudding. I will also be sharing their recipe for “Ants Climbing a Tree” Noodles following the review.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Interlink Books in exchange for my honest review. All comments and opinions are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
Rosheen Kaul & Joanna Hu
Rosheen Kaul is the head chef at Etta restaurant in Melbourne, Australia. In Spring 2020, she “began documenting all the inauthentic Asian recipes she loved to eat and asked her friend Jo to illustrate them.” She was born in Singapore and is currently based in Melbourne.
Joanna Hu is an illustrator. She was born in Hunan province in southern China and is currently based in Melbourne.
Together, they created The Isol(Asian) Cookbook which was the basis for this book.
Chinese-ish
Rosheen and Joanna begin Chinese-ish with a short introduction into their lives and the background behind the meaningful recipes in this book.
The book is divided into three parts: Chinese Cooking 101, The Rebellion: How to Disappoint Your Parents, and My Love Language is a Fruit Platter.
They have put together a helpful guide to get started with descriptions of Chinese cooking techniques, utensils, and different ways to prepare rice (I especially appreciate this since I grew up using the rice cooker and am still hit/miss with making it on the stove).
The photography is provided by Armelle Habib with illustrations throughout the book by Joanna Hu. Most of the recipes are paired with a full-page photo of the finished dish. There are also step-by-step photos to demonstrate how to fold dumplings.
Measurements are listed in US Customary and Metric. Titles are written in English and occasionally the original language. Each recipe includes a headnote with background information, personal stories, yield, helpful tips, and serving ideas.
Ants Climbing a Tree Noodles
I wanted to finally try making “Ants Climbing a Tree” Noodles (蚂蚁上树, Ma Yi Shang Shu) at home after seeing the recipe in Chinese-ish. It comes together so easily and the flavors were so good!
This Sichuan dish pairs mung bean noodles with ground pork and a light sauce for an easy and delicious meal. The name refers to the appearance of “ants” when you lift up the noodles and ground pork pieces are stuck to them.
Simply cook the ground pork until browned, then combine with a doubanjiang-based sauce and stock before tossing with the softened mung bean noodles to soak up all that flavor.
Serve immediately with a sprinkling of sliced green scallions.
A Few Tips
Have all the ingredients ready before starting. Once you turn the heat on, the steps will move quickly.
Soak the mung bean noodles in a bowl of cold water for about an hour before cooking. This will soften the noodles and help them have the perfect texture after soaking up the sauce.
As you cook the ground pork, make sure to break it up into tiny pieces. The bigger pieces will be too heavy to stick to the noodles.
Notable Ingredients
Doubanjiang (豆瓣酱, Toban-Djan) is a spicy fermented bean sauce. It can be found in the pantry section of markets with East Asian ingredients.
Dried Mung Bean Noodles (glass noodles, cellophane, bean thread) are made from starch (mung bean in this case, but yam or potato are also common) and water. They do not have much favor on their own, but pick up the flavors of other ingredients in the dish. You can find them in the international section of larger grocery stores and many markets with East Asian ingredients.
For those in the Northern Virginia area, I was able to locate both items at Lotte Plaza Market in Chantilly.
Other Dishes
I also made the Smashed Cucumber Salad, Burnt Scallion Oil Noodles, Sichuan Sausage Sangas, and Pumpkin Cakes.
The Smashed Cucumber Salad is fun, easy, and packed with flavor. A cucumber is smashed into bite-size pieces, then tossed in a light dressing with soy sauce, sesame oil, chile oil, garlic, and Chinkiang black vinegar.
The Burnt Scallion Oil Noodles were such a favorite. Scallions are fried until fragrant and deeply golden, then tossed in noodles and a savory soy sauce mixture. It was perfect for a quick lunch.
The Sichuan Sausage Sangas were Chad’s favorite. A homemade Sichuan peppercorn-spiced pork sausage mixture is cooked until golden brown, then served with white bread slices, Kewpie mayonnaise, cilantro, mint, and lime wedges. The combination of flavors were absolutely fantastic.
I first came across Pumpkin Cakes at Jiayuan Dumpling House in Redondo Beach, California and was so excited to see the recipe in this book. Pumpkin pieces are cooked until soft, then pureed and combined with sugar and glutinous rice flour before frying. The result is a delicious blend of sweet and savory with a chewy/crunchy texture.
Chinese-ish is a great pick for those interested in Chinese-inspired recipes developed with the home cook in mind. Many of the recipes come together quickly in as little as thirty minutes while the homemade stocks and wontons take a little more time.
Having a market nearby with Chinese ingredients will be helpful in locating items such as rice noodles, dark soy sauce, Sambal oelek, Chinkiang black vinegar, ya cai, Sichuan peppercorns, fried tofu puffs, rock sugar, glutinous rice flour, agar agar strips, dark palm sugar, and more.
Ants Climbing a Tree Noodles Recipe
Excerpt from Chinese-ish
Ants Climbing a Tree Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 7 ounces (200 grams) ground pork
- 2 1/2 tablespoons doubanjiang
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 inch (4 centimeter) piece ginger minced
- 4 scallions sliced, green and white parts separated
- 3 cups (750 milliliters) stock or use a good-quality store-bought stock
- 12 ounces (350 grams) mung bean (glass or cellophane) noodles soaked in cold water for 1 hour to soften, then drained
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce
Instructions
- Heat 4 teaspoons of the oil in a wok or frying pan over medium heat and fry the ground pork until golden.
- Push the pork to the side of the pan and add the remaining oil, doubanjiang, garlic, ginger, and sliced white scallions and stir-fry until aromatic.
- Toss the pork into this sauce, then pour in the stock and bring to a boil.
- Add the softened mung bean noodles, sugar, and light soy sauce and stir to combine, 2-3 minutes.
- Transfer to a plate, sprinkle with green onions, and serve immediately.
Elizabeth
What a clever name! This looks so tasty. I can’t wait to give it a try.
Jill
This looks so flavorful and delicious. Easy to make. Thanks for sharing!
Mindy
These noodles looks incredibly tasty! Cannot wait to make.
Holley
Super flavorful dish and easy to make! Great recipe!
Tayler
These noodles look absolutely amazing! So quick and easy to make and packed with flavor!