Chinese-ish

Rosheen Kaul is head chef at Melbourne's Etta restaurant, where she cooks a menu as culturally diverse as she is. Born in Singapore to parents of mixed Asian heritage (Kashmiri, Peranakan Chinese, Filipino), she grew up between Melbourne, Malaysia, China and Indonesia. To her parents' horror she pursued a career in cooking, working at new-style Chinese diner Lee Ho Fook and Smith & Daughters, followed by Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. It was at the beginning of the pandemic that her employer shut the doors and as a project to occupy herself, Rosheen began documenting all the inauthentic Asian recipes she most loved to eat each day.Joanna Hu is an illustrator and ex front-of-house at Vue de Monde, Saint Crispin and Fat Duck restaurants. The daughter of Chinese Australian parents, she eschewed a career in law for a whirlwind few years in hospitality before settling into a life of painting, knitting, watching crime procedurals and buying an excess of charity shop tweed blazers.

• Introduction: On feeling Chinese-ishPART ONECHINESE COOKING 101Key information for successful Chinese-ish cookingChinese cooking techniquesHow to cook rice without a rice cookerHow to cook nearly every type of noodle and some great ways to eat themHow to make stockHow to make wontonsHow to make dumplingsHow to make fried riceHow to make congeeHow to make some iconic condimentsHow to stir-fry vegetablesPART TWOTHE REBELLION: HOW TO DISAPPOINT YOUR PARENTSThere and back againThe solo dinerAn ode to eggsChinese-ish snacks that feel kinda wrongPART THREEMY LOVE LANGUAGE IS A FRUIT PLATTEROn the love of an immigrant parentOld Chinese favourites and fond food memoriesDishes for a crowdA few desserts we don't hate

'Chinese-ish completely exhilarates me! Utterly delicious, compelling, idiosyncratic and refreshingly honest, by two of this country's most dynamic young talents.' Kylie Kwong