BAO

by Erchen Chang, Shing Tat Chung, Wai Ting Chung

Overview

The first cookbook from London’s cult favorite restaurant BAO offers a taste of Taiwanese food culture with 100 signature recipes for steamed buns, noodles, xiao chi, fried chicken, and more.
 
Since its humble beginnings as a London food stall, BAO has amassed a cult following of hungry fans with its Taiwanese-inspired cuisine and sleek design sensibility. BAO’s first book reveals the top-secret recipes behind 100 of its most beloved dishes – from the traditional steamed buns of its name to Taiwanese fried chicken, soul-warming beef noodles, snack-size xiao chi, and more.
 
Every BAO restaurant reflects a unique element of Taiwanese eating culture. The book follows suit, with chapters exploring each restaurant’s inspiration – Taipei night markets and grill houses, noodle shops and cafés – along with its creative interpretation. 
 
Part cookbook, part manifesto, BAO weaves together delicious recipes, lively stories, evocative photography, and playful illustrations to inspire BAO super-fans and curious home cooks alike. 
 
Chapters and featured dishes include:
BAO – Classic Pork BAO, Daikon BAO, Cod Black BAO, Short Rib BAO
Xiao Chi – Taiwanese Fried Chicken, Sweet Potato Chips with Pickled Plum Ketchup
Grill House – Chilli Chicken Wings, Shacha Ox Heart Skewers
Taiwanese Café – Dan Bing, Taro Congee with Crispy Shallot Wings
Noodle Shop – Slow-cooked Beef Cheek and Short Rib Noodles, Dan Dan Tofu Noodles
Drinks – Peanut Milk, Melon Sour, Milk Foam Tea

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781838666200
Publisher:	Phaidon Press
Publication date:	04/05/2023
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	393,305
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.80(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Erchen Chang, Shing Tat Chung, and Wai Ting Chung are the brains behind BAO. Brother and sister Shing Tat and Wai Ting were born in Nottingham to parents from Hong Kong, who operated Cantonese restaurants in the city, while Erchen spent her childhood in Taipei, before moving to the UK aged 14. The trio dreamed up BAO in 2013 when they traveled across Taiwan together and were inspired by the informal street food culture and culinary traditions they discovered.

Editorial Reviews

03/20/2023

The stylish and appetizing debut from the creative minds behind London’s Bao restaurants is part cookbook and part manifesto. Each chapter centers on a different Bao location, detailing the inspiration behind the restaurant and offering insight into the chefs’ upbringings in Taiwan and London. The result is an engaging mix of food and culture, enhanced by concept artwork from Chang and a host of tantalizing photos. Dishes are wide-ranging and include sweet potato chips with pickled plum ketchup from the flagship Soho location, half-roasted chili chicken with aged white soy in the bar-style Bao Fitz, glazed tofu and Taiwanese pickles at the grill house Bao Borough, fried prawn rolls from the Taiwanese café Bao King’s Cross, and Kelp soup noodles with aubergine tempura at Bao Noodle Shop. The authors also showcase myriad varieties of bao, the steamed buns that give the restaurants their name. Unctuous braised or confit pork belly, black cod, short ribs, fried chicken, and even ice cream become drool-worthy bao fillings. A tasty array of drinks round things out. This impressive outing perfectly encapsulates Bao’s ethos. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

'Hugely inspiring...there is so much in it that I long to eat.' - Nigella Lawson

Best new cookbooks for 2023 - Delish

'A food empire with a cult following.' - The Times

'Immerse yourself in the weird and wonderful world of Taiwanese restaurant BAO with this new book detailing its journey and the most exciting cult recipes.' - ES Magazine, The Evening Standard

'Rewarding recipes... The book delves deep into the restaurant's thoughtfully curated and well-branded universe' - Esquire

'BAO's debut cookbook reveals their deepest, darkest cooking secrets'. - The Independent

'How three art students built London's best bao restaurants.' - Apollo

‘This book is one for BAO fans.’ - Delish

‘Photos that will make you salivate all over the book's glossy pages.’ - Tasting Table

‘Multifaceted, complex yet rewarding recipes.’ - Library Journal

‘The stylish and appetizing debut from the creative minds behind London’s Bao restaurants is part cookbook and part manifesto.’ - Publishers Weekly

‘Cookbook-cum-manifesto.’ – Courier

From the Publisher

02/01/2023

BAO is a brand, a restaurant group, and a favorite destination of Londoners, and now readers can experience its food, art, and philosophy in their own homes. Stark design accompanied by sparse yet gorgeous food photography highlights how the art backgrounds of the owners are reflected in the dishes they serve. Organized by restaurant, five of them located across the city, the book stresses modern place and culinary tradition. Home cooks will enjoy the mini-tours of each locale, from a restaurant in Soho to one in Shoreditch. The 100 Taiwanese-inspired recipes, from street food favorites to more elaborate dishes, even drinks, are prefaced with stories and history. VERDICT Armchair travelers and fans of the brand will enjoy this title cover to cover, and serious home chefs will delight in the multifaceted, complex yet rewarding recipes. Instructions are in metric measurements, which will detract for some readers but not devotees.—Sarah Tansley

Library Journal