The main reason I decided to write this cookbook was to fulfill a long-cherished wish: to bring the recipes for delicious Chinese cuisine to the German book market. Over the years, I have met many friends who love Chinese food and have heard countless voices expressing their passion for it. At the same time, I have also encountered many misconceptions about Chinese cuisine. One thing that has remained unchanged is the lack of a simple and easy-to-understand Chinese cookbook.
Compared to 15 years ago, when we first arrived in Germany and couldn’t find a single Chinese cookbook in the bookstores of Aachen, the situation has slightly improved in recent years. Here and there, you can now spot a few books. While they are still far from being widely available, they reignited my motivation to contribute in my own small way and share some of my personal insights.
The Chinese cookbook you have just opened features recipes with ingredients that are 100% available in Germany. Over 80% of the ingredients can even be found in most regular German supermarkets near you. Only a few seasonings and condiments require a visit to a nearby Asian supermarket. However, these items are also readily available on online platforms like Amazon.
For these special ingredients, we have tried various substitutes in the past when they were harder to find. The book lists many of the alternatives we’ve experimented with. That’s why this cookbook begins with an introduction to spices and condiments. We emphasize the essential ones and provide our own substitution suggestions for those that are optional. The goal is to lower the barrier for your first attempt as much as possible.
Feasibility is the primary principle in selecting the dishes included in this book.
The authors of this cookbook are not professional Chinese chefs. It was only 15 years ago, when we first arrived in Germany, that we began trying to cook at home. Combining the basic cooking techniques passed down from our mothers and grandmothers with the characteristics of local ingredients helped us satisfy our initial longing for the flavors of home.
With the birth of our children, it became even more important to us to use food as a way to help them understand their roots, to learn about the land and culture that nurtured their parents. This inspired us to explore the diverse culinary traditions of different regions in China.
At the same time, as both of us work full-time, we don’t have much time to spend on elaborate cooking. Therefore, many of the recipes selected for this book are so-called “quick dishes.” Convenience is the second guiding principle for the recipes included in this book.
In the early years after we arrived in Germany, when colleagues, friends, and neighbors talked about Chinese food, the most common dishes mentioned were sweet and sour pork and fried noodles. The overall understanding of Chinese cuisine was often influenced by stereotypes of being heavy on oil, salt, and spice. In recent years, with the rise of many modern Chinese restaurants, these impressions have slightly changed. However, what many don’t know is that Chinese cuisine consists of eight major regional cuisines, each with its own long development history and distinctive flavors.
What’s also not widely known is that a significant feature of Chinese cuisine is its variety of vegetarian dishes, which are light, tasty, and healthy. In addition to frying, deep-frying, and stir-frying, Chinese cuisine also includes many water-based cooking methods, such as steaming, boiling, and braising. Another lesser-known fact is that tofu has a long and diverse history in Chinese cuisine, just as cheese does in Europe, with many different forms and variations.
Furthermore, apart from rice and noodles, Chinese cuisine also offers a wide range of flour-based products, much like bread in Europe. This diversity is the third point we want to convey.
Although the approximately 70 dishes in this book cannot fully capture the essence of Chinese cuisine, even if it only gives you a small glimpse or introduces you to one new Chinese dish, it would already be a success.
Fifteen years ago, when we first came to Europe, I began, driven by my love for Chinese food, to slowly experiment with cooking Chinese dishes at home. From the early attempts of turning stir-fried potato strips into potato sticks to now being able to cook nearly anything I desire at home, this small kitchen holds so many memories. In the kitchen, we alleviate our homesickness and enjoy the joys of family life.
When cooking is no longer just about filling the stomach, it becomes a highly creative activity, a very relaxing form of rest, and at the same time, a medium that helps us establish connections to our children’s origins in a foreign land. Through dishes from different regions of China, they can gain a basic understanding of the vastness and diversity of the country. Compared to the Western cuisine they see every day, we discuss why Chinese food tends to have more plant-based protein while Western diets rely more on animal protein. This way, we can gradually help them develop a multifaceted understanding of themselves and the world. On the land they consider home, they can learn about that distant place we call our homeland.
Slowly, the most common phrase in our house became: “Dad, I’m hungry!”
When they come home from school, the first thing they say is: “Dad, I’m hungry.”
After finishing their homework, the first thing they ask when they leave the study is: “Dad, what’s for dinner tonight?”
When they come back from outside, they can already smell the food from the alley. After opening the door, both kids will surely shout in unison: “Dad, it smells so good!”
If they’ve been away for more than three days, the first thing they say when they call is often: “Dad, I miss your cooking.”
…
To my girls, Niu Niu and Lulu: Dad will cook these delicious dishes for you, and Mom will help record them. When you one day live on your own, you can open this book and find the key to the flavors of your childhood memories.
Yang's Kitchen 