Life’s Challenges Reminded Me to Cook With All the Flavors I Love
Welcome to Cookbook of the Week. In this series, I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While searching for a specific recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has its own magic.
This week’s selection comes from a Chinese-American family blog that I have visited regularly for many years. Not only for their dynamic and reliable recipes, but also for their advice on tools and cultural aspects. You’ve probably visited The Woks of Life’s website a few times yourself – if so, then it’s no surprise that their cookbook of the same name is a savory, crunchy and saucy slam dunk.
I remember using their scallion pancake recipe (seems like a million years ago). My new boyfriend at the time was obsessed with scallion pancakes, so I decided this would be a fun cooking project. I’ve used different recipes in the past that are more Shanghai style, including a bit of rolling and rolling, but not this one. They made something that could be scary accessible, and the results were not deceiving. The finished pancakes were flaky, crispy and covered in flavourful green rings. (Carmine isn’t the new guy anymore, but he still loves those chewy treats.)
Since then, I’ve tried even more of their recipes and even shared their tips with you all here on Lifehacker. I think this is the kind of cooking and recipe writing that is important to most home cooks: it’s approachable, but you’ll always leave having learned something. They finally published their cookbook in 2022 and it’s time to bless your kitchens with it.
A little about the book
At its core , Woks of Life is a family cookbook. The website was created as a way to record their family’s history, and in the cookbook you can feel how dedicated they are to each other, their past and future new recipes. Each person—Bill, Judy, Sarah, and Caitlin—has a different voice in the book, and I think it’s a playful and personal way to tell their recipes like stories. I can imagine what it’s like to cook in the kitchen with four people.
As for the recipes, this is a Chinese-American cookbook. This is exactly what I like because I love Chinese-American cuisine, and the cookbook carefully combines traditional dishes with takeout dishes and new first-generation recipes developed by two daughters.
A great cookbook for the cook in a rut.
I don’t think it matters whether you are a home cook or an experienced chef, everyone gets stuck sometimes. You find yourself using the same seasonings, making the same sauce, using the same recipes, and after a while you don’t feel like eating anymore. Even worse, your family complains or you roll your eyes at the table too often.
The Woks of Life cookbook is a good reminder of the possibilities of recipes. The chapter on sauce inspired me; keeping in mind that not every sauce has to be tomato-based, roux-based, or soy sauce-based. You will find many reminders in this book.
There are plenty of recipes with flavors or ingredients you may have never thought of using or have put on the back burner for a specific reason, as well as new techniques to add to your repertoire. I was reminded of several classic Thai combinations that were so simple and reliable that I wondered why I stopped doing them. I think even someone with Chinese-American heritage could flip through this book and see a dish they’ve long loved or something they’ve been wanting to try.
Recipes You Can Expect
Chapters are organized by category or main ingredient such as dim sum, noodles, vegetables and tofu, sauces and others. The book includes small sections of their family history and parts in which one writer tells his own family anecdote. (I especially liked one section where Caitlin talks about being a food blogger who can’t follow a recipe.)
Each recipe includes a manageable ingredient list that includes mostly available ingredients, plus some you might have to buy at an Asian grocery store. It’s usually a sauce ingredient like Shaoxing wine or Chinese black vinegar, but the bottles last a long time and are worth the trip. Many recipes have quite a bit of text on the page, making it sometimes difficult to read. I would encourage you to read this page carefully before you even go shopping so you know how to manage your time and consider any substitution options.
The recipe I chose this week
When I was choosing a recipe to make this week, I was incredibly torn between hand shredded chicken, lazy vegetable noodles, and chicken and oyster mushroom steamed eggs. I have a feeling that this is a common feeling every time you pick up this book. I settled on hand-shredded chicken for a few reasons: I was hungry and it’s a quick recipe, it’s a crowd-pleasing chicken-filled dish, and the photo of the chicken pieces, red onion strips, and cilantro bits makes it look rather irresistible.
The very first step is to simmer the chicken in a bath lightly seasoned with a few pieces of fresh ginger and green onions. Close ones. I removed the lid just before adding the chicken and the aroma of ginger and scallions sent me home to my mom’s house. Such a simple combination. It’s so easy to do. Why don’t I do this more?
The dish comes with a simple sauce of minced ginger, garlic, scallions and chopped Thai chilies that cooks instantly when you pour hot oil over it. Add a few more seasoning ingredients and you’ve topped the whole dish with this flavor bomb of a sauce. This recipe is going to be bookmarked.
How to buy
You can buy the Woks of Life cookbook at physical bookstores or go online and find it in many retailers, used or new. The best price I’m seeing for a new copy right now (but that may change) here at Target is about $19. This is a wonderful cookbook with recipes, flavors, clear concepts and sweet family stories that is worth the price. I can’t wait to cook with it again.