Salt Sugar MSG : Recipes and Stories from a Cantonese American Home

From the chef behind the groundbreaking Brooklyn restaurant Bonnie’s comes a cookbook featuring over 85 recipes that showcase his unique style of Chinese home cooking, a mashup of Americana and Cantonese classics, inspired by the flavors of his childhood.

As an American-born Cantonese kid, chef Calvin Eng grew up watching his mother, Bonnie, in the kitchen. Though he shied away from his culture as a kid, he later grew to love and embrace his unique upbringing as a primary source of inspiration in his cooking. He would go on to define his lauded culinary style through dishes that frequently defy tradition but are rooted in the Cantonese flavors of his childhood, a third-culture perspective now reflected in his debut cookbook.

Salt Sugar MSG is an introduction to Cantonese cooking through an American lens, drawing a thread from his mother’s cooking to what he cooks for his own family today. Some recipes stick closer to tradition, like Sizzling Steamed Fish with Seasoned Soy Sauce, Ham Yue Yook Beng (Steamed Pork Patty with Salted Fish), and Ginger Congee, while others upend expectations, like Salt & Pepper Pork Schnitzel with Chinese Ranch, Fuyu Cacio e Pepe Mein, and BLT Fried Rice. While these dishes may not look especially Cantonese at first glance, they certainly taste like it.

Written with his fiancée, Phoebe Melnick, Salt Sugar MSG is full of personal stories and practical tips and tricks as a loving ode to what it means to cook together as a Cantonese American family today.