To Asia, With Love

Book excerpt: For bestselling cookbook author Hetty McKinnon, Asian cooking is personal. McKinnon grew up in a home filled with the aromas, sights, and sounds of her Chinese mother’s cooking. These days she strives to recreate those memories for her own family—and yours—with traditional dishes prepared in non-traditional ways. It’s a sumptuous collection of creative vegetarian recipes featuring pan-Asian dishes that anyone can prepare using supermarket ingredients. Readers will learn how to make their own kimchi, chilli oil, knife-cut noodles, and dumplings. They’ll learn about the wonder that is rice and discover how Asian-inspired salads are the ultimate crossover food. McKinnon offers tips for stocking your modern Asian pantry and explores the role that sweetness plays in Asian cultures. Her recipes are a celebration of the exciting and delicious possibilities of modern Asian cooking—from Smashed Cucumber Salad with Tahini and Spicy Oil, and Finger-lickin’ Good Edamame Beans with Fried Curry Leaves, to Springtime Rolls with Miso Kale Pesto and Tamarind Apple Crisp. Featuring big, powerful flavours created from simple, fresh ingredients, these recipes are firmly rooted in the place where east meets west and where tradition charts the journey to the modern kitchen.