Chinese New Year 2022: The best Chinese cookbooks for tasty noodles, dumplings and more

Best: Overall

Containing an encyclopaedic wealth of knowledge about China’s different regional cuisines, Terry Tan’s award-winning cookbook is a revelation. Chef Tan manages to cover a broad spectrum of dishes from across China’s 23 provinces.

The recipes are divided into four regional sections – northern, eastern, southern and western China. Each offers an overview of the history, geography, culinary traditions and main festivals, giving the reader some context and understanding of what they will be cooking and where it comes from.

There are a whopping 300 recipes in this book, accompanied by maps and lots of photographs. We believe this will become your go-to book for Chinese cooking for years to come.

Although the book is currently out of stock, you can still sign up to be notified when it makes its return.

Best: For restaurant food made simple

Hunan, a restaurant located on London’s Pimlico Road, is revered among its patrons who rave about the nearly four-decade-old eatery where owner Mr YS Peng and his son Michael serve up course after course of Chinese dishes – all without a menu. It’s been hailed as the best Chinese restaurant in London, so, in 2014, when the Pengs decided to create a cookbook based on their signature dishes, it was welcomed with much excitement.

The result is an endearing homage to Mr Peng’s many years in the industry. The dishes featured are restaurant-quality, yet simple and accessible enough for someone cooking at home.

Best: For dumplings

Every culture has dumplings – but it must be said that the Chinese do them particularly well, and in a stunning array of flavours, shapes, and textures. From delicate and deliciously moreish soup dumplings to beautifully translucent shrimp parcels, to the more robust, crispy-bottomed potstickers and pillowy soft BBQ pork buns, they are a beloved element of Chinese cuisine.

Brendan Pang’s ode is therefore a must-have for dumpling lovers. We especially liked the sections on dumpling wrappers and folds, which are the most important steps when making these delicious morsels. They can be fiddly and tricky to get right, but once you do, it’s highly rewarding – and this cookbook is perfect for helping you achieve dumpling nirvana.

Best: For simplicity

Fuchsia Dunlop’s expertise in Chinese food – especially Sichuan cuisine – is highly regarded among chefs and cooks alike, and for good reason. Every Grain of Rice won Dunlop her fourth James Beard Award, and it teaches home cooks how to plan a Chinese meal, which is very different to how a standard Chinese takeaway order looks.

As she writes, a typical home-cooked Chinese meal “consists of a few simple dishes made mainly with vegetables, with relatively small amounts of fish, meat or poultry”. Her recipes are clear and easy for anyone to follow, and the extensive glossary at the end of the book is wonderfully helpful.

Best: For western kitchens

The bestselling cookbook by the beloved Ken Hom is a great resource for anyone keen to get into Chinese cooking. It features in-depth guides to ingredients, cooking equipment and techniques that can be easily adapted to a western kitchen, as well as 250 recipes covering both classic Chinese dishes as well as lesser-known, more adventurous meals.

We especially liked Ken’s “useful hints” throughout the book, telling readers how to get the most out of the ingredients – for instance, he advises you to soak dried fish or seafood to make it easier to chop, or to be gentle with fragile beancurd so it keeps it shape when cooking. It’s little notes like this that make cooking more enjoyable and approachable.

Best: For fusion dishes

Although not strictly focused on Chinese cuisine, Australian-born Hetty McKinnon’s collection of stories and recipes is a beautiful love letter to Asia. She explores the flavours of her childhood growing up in a Chinese household, juxtaposed with her experience of being a third-culture kid – those who are raised in one culture while living in a significantly different environment throughout their childhood.

Growing up in the diaspora means that McKinnon’s take on some dishes are what she calls a “cross-pollination of ideas and techniques... not distinctly Chinese, not Australian, but rather a third interpretation”. The results are sometimes surprising (such as the tomato and egg “shakshuka”), sometimes intriguing (butter miso Vegemite noodles, anyone?), but always delicious.

Best: For vegetarians

Chinese takeaways can sometimes be a bit disappointing for vegetarians and vegans, but Kwoklyn Wan’s cookbook puts a delightful veggie-first spin on these popular dishes. Contrary to the popular belief that Chinese cuisine is meat-heavy, vegetarianism is a hugely important part of Buddhist and Taoist practices followed by many Chinese people. Wan’s cookbook takes its cues from the Buddhist temples of Hong Kong and their humble vegetarian fare to serve up delightful veggie options.

He does include some non-Chinese recipes, such as Thai tom yum soup and Vietnamese fried spring rolls, but these dishes are often found in Chinese takeaways across the UK. Although some recipes in this book are not vegan, they are easily veganised.

Best: For vegans

Vegans, rejoice! The charming Ching-He Huang’s latest cookbook is filled with plant-based delights, inspired by her husband’s veganism. Not all of her recipes are Chinese – she has taken cues for her dishes from across Asia – but this cookbook is filled with plenty of nourishing meals that are focused on one’s health and wellbeing.

She makes full use of fresh produce and flavours from the different regions in China, and, with some ingenuity (see: “chia egg”), manages to make cooking Chinese food for or as a vegan that much more possible.

Best: For Chinese cooking methods

If perfecting the art of homemade noodles is a goal you’ve set for yourself this year, then this cookbook is essential. Pippa Middlehurst, formerly a cancer research scientist, uses her noodle to understand the science behind making them. She goes into great detail about molecular processes that take place in the dough, the importance of hydration and kansui (lye water), and the ins and outs of gluten science.

That all might sound a bit intimidating, but this cookbook is anything but. Middlehurst does an excellent job of breaking down the information into short, digestible pieces and her warm, encouraging tone throughout the book will leave you feeling like anything is possible.

Best: For Xi’an cuisine

The rise and rise of Xi’an cuisine in North America can be traced back to Xi’an Famous Foods, a family-run chain of restaurants based in New York City. The business is headed by Jason Wang, whose family migrated from Xi’an – one of the oldest cities in China – to the US when he was eight years old. This book tells the story of his family and their journey towards founding and owning one of the most well-loved Chinese restaurant chains in the Big Apple.

Wang takes readers through a brief guide to the flavours of Xi’an, which is especially famous for its spicy-sour combinations, before introducing us to essential pantry ingredients, must-have sauces and chilli oils, and the different types of noodles and breads traditionally used in Xi’an cuisine. This cookbook takes you on a proper journey both through the region and the life of an immigrant family in the US.