I love to bake, but wasn’t that familiar with Chinese baking and this was a lovely introduction. I loved the personal stories combined with great recipes. As a non-American I had to do some converting like from Fahrenheit to Celsius, but other than that the recipes are easy to follow. I already tried Goong Goong’s Almond Cookies and although not (yet) perfect…they tasted amazing. Looking forward to try more recipes from Mooncakes & Milk Bread.

Mooncakes and Milk Bread is a gorgeous cookbook filled with show-stopping recipes! The variety of sweet and savory recipes is mouthwatering and some are absolutely gorgeous to behold. The recipes are of varying complexity, perfect for the person who loves to bake. I love how the introduction includes the history of Chinese baking, cafe culture, ingredients, and essential equipment. The photography and illustrations are absolutely wonderful. Mooncakes and Milk Bread is a perfect addition to your cookbook collection!

Thank you Harper Horizon and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Mooncakes and Milk Bread is a useful and beautifully curated baking book with recipes from Kristina Cho. Due out 12th Oct 2021 from Harper Collins on their Harper Horizon imprint, it's 304 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

Despite being red haired, freckly, and mostly Irish, I remember very fondly being "adopted" by the family who owned one of our local Chinese bakeries. My family were customers for many (many) years and I was happy to recently find that they're still in business and under the management of the original owners' grandchildren now. This book is *full* of recipes for those Chinese bakery goodies which I remember so fondly and never thought I could ever recreate at home.

The introduction which includes a good overview over ingredients, tools, and sourcing specialty items (including how to shop at your local Asian grocery store) is followed by the actual recipes which are arranged thematically: bread - bing - bao, not-too-sweet buns, pork buns & beyond, gao (cakes & tarts), no fortune cookies, Chinese breakfast, and sips (drinks).

Recipes contain a title and description, yields, ingredients in a bullet list in a sidebar, and step by step directions. Ingredients are listed with American standard measures only. Nutritional information is not included. There are so many gorgeous and clear color photos included. Most (but not all) of the dishes are accompanied by one or more photos. This helped me to know how to arrange and prepare the dishes with which I wasn't already familiar.

Additionally, the book is full of chatty and warm reminiscences from the author about her family and growing up as a 1st generation American in a restaurant family. She has an honest and friendly voice and I really enjoyed reading about her childhood, her family, and her family's stories.

Five stars. Wonderfully comprehensive and versatile.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Mooncakes and Milk Bread: Sweet and Savory Recipes Inspired by Chinese Bakeries is not just a cookbook, but a nod to the heritage and tradition of the author's family. Although the author was raised in Cleveland's Chinatown, her grandparents were from Hong Kong. The grandfather learned to cook, giving origin to the family tradition of owning Chinese restaurants in the United States. The family photographs that dot the pages give the cookbook a very personal feel.

The introduction has useful information, like ingredient lists, how to shop in a Chinese grocery, essential equipment and tools, and an introduction to Chinese Cooking. The author does a good job of giving step-by-step instructions on more difficult dishes, like making different shaped buns.

The recipes are divided into interesting sections, which I have listed below with some of my favorites.

Bread, Bing, Bao: Mother of All Milk Bread; Crispy Chinese Sausage and Cilantro Pancakes

Not-Too-Sweet Buns: Red Bean Swirl Buns; Coconut Jasmine Cream Buns; Asian Pear Turnovers with Miso Glaze

Pork Buns and Beyond: Char Siu Bao (BBQ Pork Buns); Miso Corn Buns; Gingery Bok Choy and Gai Lan Steamed Buns

Gao (Cakes and Tarts): Malay Cake; Chinese Sponge Cake; Shiny Fruit Cream Cake; Matcha and Jasmine Swiss Roll

No Fortune Cookies: Goong Goong's Almond Cookies; Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes; Fried Sesame Balls

Chinese Breakfast: Crystal Shrimp Dumplings; Maple Bubble Waffles; Turnip Cake

Sips: Hong Kong Milk Tea; Sparkling Lime; Lychee-Lemon Ice Tea

The Art of Mooncakes: Honey Pistachio Mooncakes; Snow Skin Ice Cream Mooncakes

Some Assembly Required (examples on how to use the cookbook for entertaining and gift giving): Building Your Own Pink Box (Bakery Box); Holiday Cookie Box

Overall, Mooncakes and Milk Bread: Sweet and Savory Recipes Inspired by Chinese Bakeries gives readers inspiring recipes to try. I wish that the author would have explained more about mooncakes, as I am not familiar. This is a cookbook that I would recommend to readers looking to make bakery style Chinese dishes.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy of Mooncakes and Milk Bread: Sweet and Savory Recipes Inspired by Chinese Bakeries by NetGalley and the publisher, Harper Horizon. The decision to read and review this cookbook was entirely my own.

The layout was fresh and fun and the photos are amazing! Quite a few recipes here I intend to try. Hunger pang inducing at the least.

The author's story and journey from architecture to a career in food writing is fun to read. Cho shares her family's story as it relates to Chinese food and shares her Chinese food forays in Beijing, and the Chinatowns of Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Cleveland where she grew up. She does a great job discussing ingredients that she uses in her recipes while providing helpful tips. Cho's recipes provide classics to modern interpretations of Chinese baked goods with mouth-watering photos.

This cookbook is perfect for people who love those blogs that give long stories before getting to the recipe. The recipes were easy to follow and really what more could I say about a cookbook? I like milk bread and thus, I will be making some thanks to this book.

Kristina Cho's Mooncakes and Milk Bread cookbook was a delight to read and I look forward to preparing her recipes as I've been fortunate enough to eat dim sum at a Chinese bakery. I loved the food and I have been looking for a cookbook to teach me how to make my own bakery delights at home. I was not disappointed by her book.

I can't wait to try making the following:

Mother of All Milk Bread
The Almighty Pineapple Bun
The Simplest Jook
Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Shen Jian Bao

Recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley.

I do not know when exactly I learned about Mooncakes, but my curiosity about them goes back as far as I can remember. Living in a tiny town in the Midwest, they weren't something I had the opportunity to try, but as a child was the entirety of my knowledge of Chinese baked goods and left me amazed because I knew they were difficult to make.

My knowledge since then has obviously grown, first with Milk, Bread, and then Dim Sum.

This book, however, covers everything my childhood would have wanted to know and so much more. So much so I have every intention of buying this book as a birthday gift to myself.

Normally I'd stray away from saying the Kristina Cho covered everything that my mind can think of, but this woman has included recipes to Ice Cream Mooncakes to her own version, "Danish Sewing Tin Cookies." (Which will be becoming a trademark of holidays in my home)

Cho also does savory recipes of many kinds in her book, enough dim sum recipes to cover my cooking adventures for at least a year. Along with dishes I've never heard mentions before, like Fan Tuan and "Savory Soy Milk with All the Fixings." I'm excited to try if I can find Chinese Donuts (Youtiao) in my area (or brave making them).

Wonderful and entertaining to read this cookbook! Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for a gifted copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Horizon for the absolute pleasure to read Mooncakes and Milk Bread so that I may provide an honest review.

This book is a complete delight full of evocative writing and wonderful recipes. Having raised my children in Asia and traveled extensively while there, we are slowly working our way through these recipes and reliving many happy memories. Kristina Cho did a wonderful job presenting this collection and it feels modern, organized and accessible. She sets the baker up for success with pictures and clear instructions. I have already pre-ordered a copy and eagerly look forward to its release date so that I can add this book to my collection and enjoy it with my family for years to come!

What a treat of a cookbook. If you enjoy baking, you will enjoy this book.

A beautiful mix of cooking science, personal anecdotes, unique recipes, and Chinese culture. The author does a great job blending all of the above into a seamless cookbook that still manages to entertain.

The recipes are detailed, but not overly technical. The photography is gorgeous. And the background text - from how to navigate your first visit to an Asian grocery to the history of mooncakes - is a fabulous addition that makes this book stand out.

You can clearly tell how much love and attention went into crafting this one. Five stars all the way!

Blogger Kristina Cho (eatchofood.com) has written a fascinating book about Chinese bakeries and cafes, including recipes and details about Chinese culture. There are recipes on classics like pork buns but also recipes that are modern - Macha and Jasmine Swiss Roll. Cho starts off with the basics in every cookbook (equipment, staple foods) and then has 6 chapters that focus on bakeries and tea houses. My favorites are Chapter 4 (Gao) and all the cool mooncake recipes - who doesn't want a honey pistachio mooncake? and Chapter 6 about Ray's Cafe & Tea House in Philadelphia. The pictures are beautiful and a nice balance of recipe photos and pictures of the bakers. Highly recommend and now following Cho's blog.

Highly recommend the book and author. Great knowledge on the food subject. Lovely photos and great explanations. Will try the red bean bun as described so precisely on how to make it. Can’t wait for more books from this fab author.

A must have for anyone who bakes, loves baked goods, or loves Chinese food. Kristina Cho has made a beautiful, simple, and fun cookbook for any level of baker to learn modern Chinese baking. This book has made a special place in heart because I grew up eating these foods and now,Cho has helped me learn how to make them myself at home!

This book is everything I was hoping it would be. So many beautiful, high quality photographs (a must for me), illustrations to teach you how to pinch and tuck the different types of doughs, and sweet and savory recipes at varying degrees of difficulty.

In addition to baos and buns, there are cakes, cookies, sui mais, potstickers, and SO MUCH MORE. Plus, there are a few "fusion" dishes (such as the Everything Bagel Bao).

The recipe for Milk Bread Doughnuts with Salted Egg Yolk Creme particularly makes my mouth water so I'll be trying that asap and will report back soon.

Looking forward to cooking from this one and having it on my shelf!

Mooncakes and Milk Bread is such a special book! I know so little about the world of Chinese Baking and I found a lot of useful information, inspiration, and guidance in these pages. The author did an excellent job of providing the history and context while also weaving in her own personal stories of her family and upbringing in Cleveland and beyond. I particularly loved the spotlights on Chinese bakeries across the country.

The book is broken up into the following sections:
Bread, Bing, Bao
Not-Too-Sweet Buns
Pork Buns and Beyond
Gao (Cakes & Tarts)
No Fortune Cookies
Chinese Breakfast
Sips

Each chapter presented the classic "building block" recipes and then riffed beyond that. I love that each chapter featured a traditional version + some Western mash-ups like After School PB&J Buns or Everything Bagel Bao.

I was really excited to learn more about Asian bakery staples such as Chinese Sponge Cake, sweet & savory dumplings, and Mooncakes. The first thing I want to make after reading this is Milk Bread!

Highly recommend for the person who loves to bake and explore in your life. Even as a coffee table book, this would be beautiful, educational, and inspiring.

My social media feed has been full of people making milk bread lately and the thought of making it myself felt overwhelming. I picked to read this book in hopes of overcoming my fears. I was happy to find the instructions to be clear and easy to follow. There was also a full range of recipes from sweet to savory to choose from. Additionally, the photos were beautiful and inspiring.

Thank you to NetGalley for an RC of Mooncakes and Milk Bread.

I love this cookbook! It was wonderful!

And I'm not just saying that because I'm Asian, born and bred in NYC and one of my favorite pastimes, past and present, is walking into a bakery.

I love all things bakery and love going to bakeries, whether they're Asian or Western or in Patagonia.

The author writes with such love and respect for her family of chefs and bakers; her loving grandparents who taught her how to bake with skill and artistry, the support of her own family and how her architectural talents translates so well into baking because baking requires precision and details.

Mooncakes and Milk Bread is comprehensive; it covers all the familiar baked goods you see in an Asian bakery and each page filled me with such glee and excitement.

I won't lie; some of the recipes are time consuming but anything worth doing takes time to do.

The author has great instructions, step by step photos for some, and even includes tips on how to store your delicious baked goods (if you're lucky to have any left), flavor variations and how to decorate your scrumptious dumplings, buns and so much more!

Each chapter has a memorable story from the author's past and/or a throwback to a famous Chinese bakery with an illustrious past. There was so much I didn't know, like who started the first Cathay Bank! I loved these sections almost as much as I loved the food porn.

Even if you've never been in an Asian bakery or you have and have always been intrigued by their pastries, this is the cookbook to gift to any baker looking to try something new.

I wish there were more photos!

Awesome cookbook. I love bad buns, but don’t know how to make it, this book give you very detail instructions to shapes all buns and bread you need. Moon festival is coming so I’ll try to make some moon cakes.