Down South + East: A Chinese American Cookbook
Ron Hsu
Chinese American chef Ron Hsu shares original recipes exploring innovative Asian-influenced dishes via the rich larder of the American South in his debut cookbook, Down South + East
With mouthwatering ingredient combinations, a fresh take on Southern food, and comforting-yet-creative recipes, Down South + East helps home cooks across the country look at everyday ingredients in new ways and discover exciting possibilities for them.
Ron Hsu grew up a restaurant kid, surrounded by the delicious smells and flavors of Chinese food at Hunan Village, a set of seven restaurants his parents ran in Georgia from 1980 to 2008. Now, with culinary school, seven years at the world-famous Le Bernardin—where he moved from line cook to creative director—and his Michelin-starred restaurant Lazy Betty under his belt, Hsu is more than ready to share his recipes inspired by his Chinese childhood in the American South.
The delicious results include recipes like cornbread made with deeply flavored lap cheong (Chinese sausage) standing in for pork cracklins and char siu style pork lacquered with a sorghum syrup-bourbon glaze. Laced with ginger, the potlikker of gently braised watercress can throw down with that of any collard greens, and a soy sauce and shiitake mushroom gravy enhances traditional meatloaf.
A deep section on the Southern and Chinese pantry sets the stage for the recipes to come, exploring the ingredients most common in both cuisines—from pork, rice, peanuts, okra, cabbage, and peaches to sorghum, ketchup, soy sauce, and five spice—and redefining what is considered Southern food.
Ron Hsu is the culinary director and a partner in his Michelin-starred restaurant Lazy Betty. His upbringing in a restaurant family led him to become a leader in New York’s culinary industry as the executive chef of Le Colonial and the creative director of Eric Ripert’s three-Michelin-starred Le Bernardin. Beyond the restaurants, Hsu was featured on the Netflix cooking series The Final Table, and is a strong voice for those in the restaurant profession, advocating for racial and gender justice as well as equitable pay across the industry. Hugh Amano is a chef and writer. He was the creative consultant and opening sous chef at Chicago’s exploration of Macanese cuisine, Fat Rice, and the coauthor of The Adventures of Fat Rice, Let’s Make Ramen!, and Let’s Make Dumplings! Amano is a graduate of the University of Colorado and New England Culinary Institute. Eric Ripert is the chef and co-owner of three-Michelin-star New York restaurant Le Bernardin, the vice chairman of the board of City Harvest, and the author of several cookbooks.
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