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A review by anabel_unker
Modern Asian Baking at Home: Essential Sweet and Savory Recipes for Milk Bread, Mooncakes, Mochi, and More; Inspired by the Subtle Asian Baking Community by Kat Lieu
5.0
*I received an electronic copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity.*
I am the perfect example of a novice baker. I can somehow scrabble together a loaf of bread, my cakes hold up at family birthday parties, but my macrons are ALWAYS wrong. While I enjoy shouting at my TV during the Great British Bake Off (who in their right mind would start a curd with five minutes to go??) I could never, ever be an actual competitor.
This book, however, has made even the incredibly intimidating jiggly Japanese cheesecake and elaborate mooncakes seem within my reach. I follow Kat Lieu on instagram (@subtleasian.baking), and have enjoyed her wit and humor for months now. I was so happy to find the book littered with awful puns and her trademark quips, as well as personal anecdotes and heartfelt thanks to the recipe's initial inspiration.
As far as the recipes go-- they are clear, concise, and many offer alternatives for dietary restrictions (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan are the most common). She offers step by step instructions that break down hard-to-replicate techniques. There is a great balance between popular and traditional recipes and it's obvious they were chosen with great care.
There is a section in the beginning of the book that details some of the less common Asian ingredients in Western cuisine (and some common ones as well), and also suggests places these ingredients should be available for purchase. The three central flavors (ube, black sesame, and matcha) are present in almost every recipe, with suggestions on how to personalize your bakes or change the flavor profiles.
Lieu did a wonderful job of simplifying a complex and rich history of baking into a manageable book-- ready for a wider audiences' consumption. This is a wonderful book for anyone looking to expand their baking repertoire beyond their standard recipes and dip into the world of subtle Asian baking.
I am the perfect example of a novice baker. I can somehow scrabble together a loaf of bread, my cakes hold up at family birthday parties, but my macrons are ALWAYS wrong. While I enjoy shouting at my TV during the Great British Bake Off (who in their right mind would start a curd with five minutes to go??) I could never, ever be an actual competitor.
This book, however, has made even the incredibly intimidating jiggly Japanese cheesecake and elaborate mooncakes seem within my reach. I follow Kat Lieu on instagram (@subtleasian.baking), and have enjoyed her wit and humor for months now. I was so happy to find the book littered with awful puns and her trademark quips, as well as personal anecdotes and heartfelt thanks to the recipe's initial inspiration.
As far as the recipes go-- they are clear, concise, and many offer alternatives for dietary restrictions (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan are the most common). She offers step by step instructions that break down hard-to-replicate techniques. There is a great balance between popular and traditional recipes and it's obvious they were chosen with great care.
There is a section in the beginning of the book that details some of the less common Asian ingredients in Western cuisine (and some common ones as well), and also suggests places these ingredients should be available for purchase. The three central flavors (ube, black sesame, and matcha) are present in almost every recipe, with suggestions on how to personalize your bakes or change the flavor profiles.
Lieu did a wonderful job of simplifying a complex and rich history of baking into a manageable book-- ready for a wider audiences' consumption. This is a wonderful book for anyone looking to expand their baking repertoire beyond their standard recipes and dip into the world of subtle Asian baking.