Damn Good Chinese Food: Dumplings, Bao Buns, Hot Cakes, Sesame Noodles, and Other Delicious Dim Sum

"The absolute best dumplings in New York." —New York Magazine

From acclaimed chef Chris Cheung comes a cookbook inspired by growing up in New York's Chinatown—with a foreword by Maneet Chauhan, celebrity chef, author, and judge on The Food Network's Chopped

There is a particular region in today's renaissance of Chinese cooking that is often overlooked: Chinatown. In other words, Chinese food cooked in Chinatown for Chinese people—stir-fried noodles, bao buns, pork buns, scallion pancakes, wontons, potstickers, spring rolls, the list goes on. At the very center of this beloved cuisine were the old tea houses that served countless mouth-watering snacks and treats, providing delicious affordable fuel that fed the working-class community.

Like many great chefs, Chris Cheung was inspired by the places he grew up eating in. The food of these tea houses is the central philosophy behind Cheung's ever-popular restaurant East Wind Snack Shop, which first opened in 2015 and now has four locations in Brooklyn. There, Chef Cheung's focuses primarily on an endeavor he calls "chasing the perfect dumpling." Whether it's making the dough from scratch, grinding the meat, hand-folding each wrapper, or perfecting exact cooking temperatures, Cheung has painstakingly agonized over every specific detail that goes into cooking this understated masterpiece.

In addition to learning his technique for creating what New York Magazine called the "Absolute Best Dumplings in NY," this cookbook teaches readers how to make all kind of classic delight reminiscent of the golden age in Chinatown, such as:
 

Potstickers
Spring Rolls
Wonton Soup
Soup Dumplings
Gwa Bao Buns
General Tso's Chicken
Beef and Broccoli
Scallion Pancakes
Har Gow (Shrimp Dumplings)
Fried Rice
Cucumber Salad
Cold Sesame Noodles
Sweet and Sour Pork, Peking Style
Chicken Chow Mein
Sichuan Vegetables
Char Sui Black Cod
Black Bean Clams
Crispy Fish Mapo Tofu
Salt-and-Pepper Shrimp
Blue Crabs Dry
Barbecue Duck
Egg Tarts
Tea Eggs
Congee
Hong Kong Hot Cakes
Sesame Cookies
Bubble Tea

Like Cheung's restaurants, this cookbook is a tribute to both the food served in those wonderful Chinatown establishments and the community they fed, the food Chris loves to cook, which he says give us "a few moments of happiness that bring us back to our childhood."