Book Review: Modern Asian Baking at Home
Modern Asian Baking at Home: Essential Sweet and Savory Recipes for Milk Bread, Mooncakes, Mochi, and More; Inspired by the Subtle Asian Baking Community by Kat LieuMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
There are plenty of cookies, cakes, brownies and donuts in this pretty, temptation-filled cookbook, but I’m a pushover for milk-laden treats like puddings and flans, I’m always looking for an excuse to use my bright yellow Fiestaware ramekins! Of course I’ll be trying “Simply Perfect Purin”, a pudding with a butterscotch caramel sauce. The ingredients are all basic staples that most any kitchen should already have, so I really have no excuse not to make it.
Not far from that Purin recipe is “Magical Ginger Milk Curd” which does indeed sound magical, and fun to make. This should make a delicious change of pace from my warm milk at bedtime. (Yes, I do drink warm milk at bedtime. I’m wild, I can’t be tamed.)
While I *love* my real milk, my husband prefers soy milk. Should I point out the recipe for homemade soy milk? Yes, I think I should, because that falls under ‘Kitchen Science’, and that makes it fun. He could even flavor it with vanilla, since he likes that.
But even I need to put away the milk carton now and then, so I’ll be trying the Butter Basil Sourdough Naan. The picture practically leaps off the page and into my mouth. This naan recipe uses a sourdough starter rather than yeast. Wait, what’s that? Oh, look, there’s a bit of milk in it!
Clearly, if you love comfort foods, are a daily milk drinker, and want to change up your meals and desserts, this cookbook is for you. If you’re not sure what you want to try first, just flip through the book and let the fanciful photography help you choose.
Bonus eye-candy: Be sure to follow @subtleasian.baking on Instagram.
My thanks to author Kat Lieu, Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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Lori Alden Holuta
Lori Alden Holuta lives between the cornfields of Mid-Michigan, where she grows vegetables and herbs when she’s not writing, editing, or playing games with a cat named Chives.
