Cover Image: Mooncakes and Milk Bread

Mooncakes and Milk Bread

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Member Reviews

Enjoyable cookbook covering lesser known (to general Chinese food diners) dishes that are beloved mainstays to Chinese families. Nostalgic and relevant.

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"Mooncakes & Milk Bread" by Kristina Cho is a delightful exploration of Chinese bakery cooking, offering a fresh and modern take on classic recipes. Cho's cookbook, recognized with a 2022 James Beard Award, introduces readers to a world of sweet and savory baked buns, Chinese breads, cookies, cakes, dumplings, breakfast dishes, and drinks. The book's strength lies in its accessibility, with Cho providing clear instructions for even the most novice bakers. The inclusion of tips on techniques like kneading dough and pleating dumplings adds to its practicality. Cho's unique approach to infusing creams and custards with aromatic tea flavors makes this cookbook stand out. Whether you have a nostalgic connection to Chinese bakeshop foods or simply seek exciting new recipes, "Mooncakes & Milk Bread" is a must-have for your collection, offering a delightful culinary journey into the world of Chinese bakery delights.

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Wonderful! Love cookbooks with some stories and cultural influence. This cookbook is filled with treats everyone will love. I can't get milk bread in my area, so it was nice trying some of these recipes out. The food photos are so beautiful and mouth-watering.

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This cookbook combines thorough recipes and photos with features on important bakeries/bakers, adding some additional interest to an otherwise solid cookbook. The author does a good job of explaining the instructions and the types of ingredients needed. Looking forward to trying out several recipes with my new mooncake molds!

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A great format, full of simple, easy to follow recipes. I can't wait to begin trying these out at home and adding more variety to dinnertime

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Wow! This book was beautiful and moving. I loved that the recipes were personal to the author and included background information and cultural details. This is a gorgeous and welldone recipe book.

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I ended up buying a copy of this for myself because I just loved it. I was only able to make a few recipes from it before it was archived, but each one was delicious and the recipe was easy to follow. Beautiful photos - including ones of some of the technical steps. Really pleased.

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Easy to follow recipes that lead to great results. Most of the ingredients are pantry standards. I've seen Kristina Cho on many of my favorite cooking shows so was very pleased to receive her cookbook. It has a place on the most used shelf in my kitchen.

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4/5

This is a very personal cookbook that gave me inside to food and culture that I had not previously explored. It contains pages delving into culture and is full of pictures (a must)!

It contains traditional and familiar recipes but also has an American-ized spin on some dishes reflecting the author’s Chinese American history. The instructions were well thought out. The way the recipes did not seem as intuitive to me but everything else was amazing!!

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for the honest review.

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As a hobby baker addicted to watching the Great British Baking Show, I've been wanting to try my hand at making classic milk bread for a long time. I'm so thankful I took the plunge and bought a physical copy of this book (in addition to the eBook ARC I had received) because the recipes, history, and ease of use make it well worth its price! I will be certainly buying more cookbooks by Kristina Cho in the future!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Horizon for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

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A very beautifully made cookbook for a wide variety of dishes with a focus on bread and pastry recipes. I really enjoyed the stunning photographs, which make the dishes look both beautiful and appetizing. It‘s something completely new for me and I’m excited to try some of the recipes.

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Thank you to Netgalley, Kristina Cho, and Harper Horizon for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

Filled up with interesting information about Chinese food culture. The recipes are well-explained and less intimidating than expected. A broad variety of sweet and savory bakes are provided. I enjoyed this book quite a lot and the resulting food even more.

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Kristina Cho’s Mooncakes and Milk Bread is a delicious and comprehensive recipe collection of Chinese bakery goodies. I love the impressive range of sweet and savoury treats and the beautiful pictures and personal stories. I learned so much about Chinese culture and cuisine. This excellent and comprehensive book will be a perfect gift for the chef in your life!

This mouthwatering cookbook has chapters on Bread, Bing, Bao; Not-Too-Sweet Buns; Pork Buns and Beyond; Gao (Cakes and Tarts); No Fortune Cookies; Chinese Breakfast; and Sips. There is also an informative introduction which gives insight into Cho’s life and family, briefly explores Chinese cafe culture, and lists essential Chinese pantry items and equipment like rice flour, sesame oil, bamboo steamers, and mooncake molds. I love that the book also has brief but interesting highlights on iconic Chinese bakeries in America. It is a wonderful appreciation for these places and the people involved and reflects their impact.

I learned so much from this book! I love Cho’s writing because you can really feel the love and dedication to Chinese culture and cuisine in every single page. She carefully shows us how to fold dumplings, make mooncakes without molds, make Chinese puff pastry, and whip our (baked) buns into shape! There are many helpful picture guides and tips to make the perfect Chinese goodie. The book includes recipes for the ubiquitous Youtiao (Chinese Doughnut), Fried Sesame Balls, and Char Siu Bao (BBQ Pork Buns) as well as Dim Sum staples like Classic Egg Tarts and Egg Custard Buns. There is also more unique fare like Black Sesame Souffle Cheesecake, Mushroom Mushroom Buns (indeed shaped like mushrooms and spiced up with cocoa and cayenne!), and Everything Bagel Bao. Fun drinks include Hong Kong Milk Tea, the bright and fizzy Sparkling Lime Matcha and Yuenyueng (a fascinating blend of Hong Kong Milk Tea and coffee).

The recipes are meticulously detailed and easy-to-follow. Most of the ingredients are fairly accessible and moderately inexpensive although there are a few specialty items like Chinese sausages, matcha powder, and tapioca starch. Each recipe begins with an informative write-up. Some are brief while others are lengthier but all are so interesting! Through the write-ups, we learn about the background of the dish, Chinese culture and cuisine, as well as tasting notes and helpful tips. Additionally, Cho often includes relatable personal stories which add a heartwarming touch.

Although this book has approachable recipes, some of the dishes are very time and labour intensive with numerous steps and also require lots of ingredients. I think this book would be more suitable for those with intermediate cooking skills.

The book’s overall design is clean, simple, and effective. I love the abundance of beautiful and bright full-colour pictures! The wonderfully simple staging effectively highlights the beauty of the food. Although not all the recipes have pictures, I didn’t mind because the book definitely makes up for it with many step-by-step photo cooking guides, the lovely family pictures, as well as the pictures of the Chinese bakeries in America.


🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮 out of 5 mooncakes!

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This was a nice cookbook. I liked the variety of recipes and found them to be easy to follow. I will check out more from this author.

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I love cookbooks, and enjoy learning about foods from other cultures. To be honest, I didn't, and probably won't make anything from this book, but it has a bunch of recipes that sound wonderful! Love the pictures and all of the information.

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Love, love, LOVE a good recipe book and this one is great! The recipes are phenomenal! Will definitely be purchasing a physical copy!

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Thank you Harper Horizon and NetGalley for e-ARC of the book.

Mooncakes and Milk Bread were written by the same author of the Eat Cho Food blog, Kristina Cho. Kristina grew up at a restaurant that was owned by her family, and later she pursued her dream of being an architect, where eventually it all circled back to food but with her own twist.

I loved this book and enjoyed every page of it. Kristina made a fantastic work by not simply listing out ingredients and instructions, but rather showcasing beautiful photos of how to roll and cut, and explaining along the way why and how to use specific tools or ingredients.

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I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
This cookbook covers different foods found at traditional Chinese bakeries. They are a mix of sweet and savory dishes. The author gives tips on how to make the perfect bread dough, how to make mooncakes without a form, and many others. There are plenty of pictures to illustrate the different methods and show the finished product. Throughout there are entries about specific Chinese bakeries. This book makes some of the more complicated-looking dishes appear easy to make.

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For any novice or curious baker, Mooncakes and Milk Bread is part-recipe book and part-love letter to the traditional Hong Kong and Chinese bakeries. Really lovely to see all the traditional recipes all in one book and brings back all the joys and excitement of entering a Chinese bakery - something that should never be forgotten.

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This book was an absolute delight and I loved it so much, I bought an ebook on Amazon to support the author. The recipes have all been knockouts and the pictures and instructions in the book are top notch. Highly, highly recommend!

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