FOOD BLOGGERS with a taste for ASIAN CUISINE

Image credit: Omnivore’s Kitchen

Asian cuisine is popular with food lovers around the globe. With the rise of blogging and the buzz of social media channels, it has become easier for people to share their favourite dishes and recipe creations with a wide audience across the seas.

Whether experimenting with cooking techniques, sticking to traditional methods, or blending flavours from East and West, a tight-knit community of Asian food bloggers have opened up the world of Eastern cuisine to many people.

Cook up some delicious dishes with help from the vast catalogue of recipes on these five blogs.

 

Appetite for China

Surrounded by a plethora of tastes and flavours growing up, Diana Kuan was inspired by her cultural upbringing to set up Appetite for China. Now based in New York, the food blogger and cooking teacher’s love of food began in her childhood city of Puerto Rica where her family ran a Latin-Chinese restaurant, and later a Polynesian-style take-away restaurant and Cantonese bakery in suburban Boston.

Staying true to her blog name, Diana offers a fusion of Asian cooking, with traditional Chinese dishes alongside more modern and creative updates from across the Far East.

She released The Chinese Takeout Cookbook in late 2012, and has since appeared in plenty of food journals and key publications around the world, including Gourmet, Food & Wine, and Time Out New York, as well as a special feature in the book Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe, alongside other food aficionados.

Recipe of choice: Try her Kale and Sesame Soba Noodles, for a healthy, leafy alternative to noodle dishes. The dressing of soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar gives the dish a classic Chinese flavour.

Blog:  www.appetiteforchina.com    Instagram:    @dianakuan

 

The Woks of Life

Living between China and the US, Bill, Rudy, Sarah, and Kaitlin share their united love for cooking and trying new foods with their blog The Woks of Life. The family have travelled the world together and utilise their combined 140-odd years of serving meals to welcome both newcomers and natives into the world of Chinese cuisine.

Created by Bill and Rudy to continue their family’s heritage and pass on the traditions to the next generation (their daughters Sarah and Kaitlin), the blog is an amalgamation of dinners, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, noodles, and even simplified Chinese take-out recipes. They’re also not afraid to add Chinese twists to well-loved dishes from other cultures, such as pizzas and sandwiches.

Between the four of them, they also provide a wealth of information and advice to help you get started, from understanding Chinese cooking methods and tools, right up to how to navigate a Chinese supermarket and how to use chopsticks.

Recipe of choice: Try their classic Chinese Seafood Bird Nest recipe designed especially for Chinese New Year. The clever design uses the root vegetable taro to create a twig-like ‘nest’, filled with seafood and vegetables, drizzled with a chicken stock and sesame oil sauce.

Blog:  www.thewoksoflife.com     Instagram:   @thewoksoflife

 

Dumpling Sisters

As the blog name suggests, Amy and Julie are food-loving sisters. Championing the classic dishes they grew up with, as well as introducing new flavour pairings and techniques, the Dumpling Sisters recipes cover the best of both traditional and modern Asian cuisine.

Hailing in New Zealand, the sisters have built a strong following locally and internationally, due to their easy-to-follow recipes, delicious-looking imagery, kitchen tips and tricks, and charming YouTube videos.

Their debut book, The Dumpling Sisters Cookbook, features over 100 of their favourite recipes, straight from a Chinese family kitchen. Structured in a way that takes you on a journey through Chinese cooking, the recipes are gradually introduced so beginners can work their way between easier dishes before tackling more elaborate ones.

Recipe of choice: The Easy Chilli ‘n’ Soy Chicken Traybake is a fiery dish full of flavour from various herbs and spices. The recipe takes very little preparation, letting the bake time in the oven do its magic, ensuring the final taste doesn’t compromise on flavour.

Blog: www.dumplingsisters.com     Instagram: @dumplingsisters

 

China Sichuan Food

Growing up in the Sichuan province of China, Elaine had a joy for cooking from a young age, heavily influenced by her mother and grandmother in the kitchen. Her travels across China introduced her to a wider selection of cuisines, which is exactly what she shares on her blog China Sichuan Food.  Exploring the culture of her homeland and her own heritage, Elaine also shares plenty of Chinese culture guides, including a definitive introduction to Chinese sauces and pastes, how to use bamboo shoots in cooking, and a background to tea drinking.

Her Chinese Hot Pot e-Cookbook is available to download through her website, and features a wide range of heart-warming recipes, perfect for all seasons.

Recipe of choice: Her take on one of the key meals of Szechuan cuisine, Mapo Tofu, invites food lovers to try the spicy and aromatic flavours of the versatile dish – whether you choose to keep it vegetarian or add beef.

 

Blog:   www.chinasichuanfood.com

 

Omnivore’s Cookbook

With a flair for finding complementary flavours, Maggie Zhu shares her culinary background on Omnivore’s Cookbook. Originally from Beijing but now living in Austin, Texas, Maggie’s straight-forward approach to Chinese cuisine makes her blog the perfect starting point for those looking to excel in the kitchen.

Injecting each of her recipes with guidance and education about the principles of the dish, the blogger opens up a limitless world of authentic cuisine, taking away much of the daunting pressure that often comes with complicated-looking dishes. Originally starting as a way to reconnect with her roots, Maggie’s blog has since grown rapidly, catering to an international audience keen to embrace real Chinese food.

She’s been busy over the years, sharing recipes and advice in leading publications such as Good Housekeeping, Huffington Post, and her local daily newspaper, Austin Statesman. You can even buy certain Chinese sauces and spices directly through her website to fill up your pantry.

Recipe of choice: A mix of modern and traditional, her Asian Seafood Pizza recipe ticks all the boxes for deliciousness. The colourful toppings of shrimp, crab, pineapple, peppers and onion perfectly blend with the creamy wasabi honey mayo sauce.

 Blog: www.omnivorescookbook.com  

Instagram:    https://www.instagram.com/omnivorescookbook/

Whether you plan to start small with simple noodle and soup broth dishes, or aim to impress your family and friends at a dinner party, an abundance of recipes are waiting for you to embark upon in the kitchen.