This book is incredibly informative, I found myself entrapped in information I had never come across before as I've learned to cook. It made me excited to try new recipes, for how I consume Tofu specifically.
But also Hsiao-Ching Chou makes it easy to transition these recipes to include meat for those who wish to include other forms of protein in their food.

For health reasons, my husband and I have transitioned to a whole food plant based diet. It was a slow process made easier by the Bellevue Hospital Plant Based Lifestyle Clinic because I would not have figured it out on my own or found a way to stick to plant based cooking and eating.

While I unlearned my old cooking techniques and habits and adopted to cooking with less oil, salt, and no animal products, I could not forgo my Filipino and Thai fish sauce or find a substitute for the taste of the Asian dishes that I had eaten daily. The internet has been a blessing in that talented chefs and home cooks have posted vegan recipes for dishes and quite a few Chinese, Thai, Filipino, Vietnamese, Japanese and Korean dishes can be found online with differing levels of plantbased/no animal products.

It is hard to explain the delight that I felt when I read Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food. Covid 19 has kept us from having dimsum and meals at our favorite places in Brooklyn Chinatown, Manhattan Chinatown and our neighborhood of South Slope/Park Slope. So, having these recipes accessible, I can think about the vegetables and tastes, plan the meals, and learn to prepare them at home.

Hsao-Ching demystifies ingredients, offers substitutions, and explains how to source different items in the wide range and variety of Asian stores. She gently points out what I learned as a Filipino looking for my favorite sauce, ingredients, and foods in the different Chinatowns, Asian stores, and neighborhoods of New York City and Boston & its suburbs. Specific brands, tastes and flavors of might overlap in an Asian store, but when craving for a Filipino vinegar blend, my best bet is a Filipino store. Though, after having lived in New England in the 1980s and 1990s, I am delighted to see fish sauce, coconut vinegar, fermented fish paste (bagoong) even if it is not vegan - finding it in my favorite brand and flavor is not something that I expect. Knowing that there is a store that might carry it and that I can reach that store using the NYC subway system has made me finally stop wanting to move to the West Coast.

I love that she has a list of ingredients for homes with large pantries and a curated list for those of us in tight quarters. I have eaten delicious Chinese food all my life but have only started learning what makes the dishes so good. Bean thread (mung bean) versus rice vermicelli or rice stick? Using savoy cabbage instead of Chinese cabbage (although I usually substitute Napa cabbage)? Is Lee Kum Kee a brand that she would use at home herself? (Yes!) How do I cook with dried kelp? Which one should I use? How can I prepare it to reduce the "slime"?

Hsao-Ching lists different Asian markets/stores that sell online and which items you can find in these stores that you might not find anywhere else. 99Ranch.com Wokshop.com TheMalaMarket.com She demystifies why some dried Shiitake mushrooms are much more prized (and costly) than others and describes the hua gu (flower mushroom) versus the xiang gu (fragrant mushroom) and when she uses each type. She writes about the dried wood ear and cloud ear fungus and how to prepare and use them. Fermented tofu - what it is, how it is used, where to find it in an Asian store. She suggests ways to learn about the rich range of noodles and to buy noodles in the Asian stores or neighborhoods instead of the regular grocery store which carries much less variety. Red Chili Powder - how to use it, what it's used for, and how long it lasts, etc. Rice -there is no best type (jasmine or medium-grain Japanese style), just choose based on your personal preference.

At the risk of going into too much detail, I'd like to mention discussions that proved particularly helpful to me:

-sesame oil, sesame paste and tahini
-Sichuan peppercorns
-egg roll versus spring roll wrappers
-different kinds of soy sauces and vinegars (rice vinegar, black vinegar, red vinegar, distilled white vinegar)
-Chinese broccoli (gai lan) and baby gai lan (gai lan mui) and the delights of grilling gai lan.
-how to substitute regular eggplant for Chinese or Japanese eggplant (shave off the peel before using)
-Chinese mustard greens (gai choy) versus xue li hong/small mustard greens
-Daikon radish versus the Korean radish
-pea shoots and pea vines
-Japanese silken tofu, Chinese firm, extra firm, medium, and soft tofu, spiced and five-spice tofu, tofu puffs, tofu or bean curd skin or sheets

In a cooking class I attended, they substituted aminos for soy sauce. I agree with Hsao-Ching that there is no substitute for soy sauce. Her section Ode to Soy Sauce made sense to me and spoke to my own experience having grown up in the Philippines and the New England area.

Equipment - woks, wok spatulas, and the high end versions available today.

I admit that this book spoke to me in large part because I'm Asian and Vegan and I've so missed the food that I love. I've been raving about Hsiao-Ching Chou's book to my old friends that have been trying to eat healthier. Highly recommend it!

I was fortunate to travel around China years ago. So many of the recipes in this book brought back the tastes, smells, and wonder of this type of cuisine. The photographs are stellar and the cooking directions are clear and concise. A wonderful addition to your cookbook library.

An extensively researched book which is clearly geared towards an enthusiastic cook. For me it was a bit too wordy and I wasn’t crazy about the recipe presentation.

Anyone who loves Chinese and Asian cuisine will love this cookbook. The cookbook starts with tips and tricks, then detailed information on each of the common veggies that are used in the dishes, followed by recipes filled with pictures of the dishes. I have made the dumplings and spring rolls, both of which were very easy to make.

Ah the recipes in this book are delicious!! Love the first part of the book, the tips and tricks of what you're going to need in the kitchen. If you're a foodie, you need to try some of the recipes in this book. I can't wait to try them all!
The design and the photos are amazing, they definitely made you want to actually try those dishes.

A good book about Chinese food. Since it’s a huge country I know there are many great traditions and recipes out there that I haven’t got a clue even exists, but this book gave me lots of new ideas and recipes. I cook a lot of Chinese-style dishes, and I’m always happy to try new ones. I will try many of these.

The recipes are nicely presented in sections, like dumplings, stir fried, and tofu. I wish all dishes were accompanied by photos. The author also tells lots of good information regarding ingredients, different ways of chopping, and soy sauce. Lots of information to cook brilliant Chinese dishes.

I received an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I recently decided I should have a look into incorporating more vegetarian meals into my diet. And Chinese is my favourite cuisine so why not add them together.

I love the format of this book and the abundance of pictures. The instructions are easy to follow and the recipes all look to die for. I will definitely be recommending this title to customers in store.

I love this cookbook. It has so many options included in its pages I was rather shocked. Some of the ingredients are curious to me. A few of them I had to ask the internet about because I was truly ignorant to them. This book has propelled me to take a field trip to my local Asian market to check out to see if I can recreate some of these fabulous dishes. First on my list is the Kung Pao tofu puffs! They're simple but look reslly flavorful. The only thing I wish there were more of in this book were photos. The photos that are there are nice but it would be helpful if there were included in the glossary of vegetables what each looks like to help our "american" readers.

Thank you to Net Galley for my free ARC in exchange for this free review.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. I thought this cookbook was very organized, and I liked the themed layout. One plus of the content: it was informative and assumed that the reader needed to know from the basics.
I appreciate that about beginners cookbooks, especially niche areas that may be new for a wider audience. This particular area was plants based + Chinese inspired cooking, which introduced new ingredients and methods for cooking.

I liked also the pictures — some were really nice! Some were kinda off putting, but on the whole most of the food looked amazing. I really liked it.

Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food is a cookbook that is packed with delicious plant based recipes and the techniques you need to make them. At the beginning of the book there is so much information about ingredient choices, equipment needed, and techniques. The recipes are clearly written and easy to follow. While there are some pictures throughout the book, I would have liked more to illustrate the steps. Most ingredients should be able to be found in a well-stocked grocer, but you may need to order some specialty ingredients online if you don't have access to an International type grocery store.

ARC provided courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food is a wonderful addition to any vegetarian and vegan kitchen for those who want to add that wonderful authentic Chinese taste to their meals. I love Chinese food and could not imagine living without it, the author reminds us that China has a large vegetarian history and that even people who are not, enjoy vegetables very much.
I was surprised there is no actual section on mock meat, and how to make it, but as it usually is gluten that might not be popular at the moment. In a way I want to say it also proves that the point of the book was more to celebrate vegetables, that to offer alternatives to a meaty diet. As an omnivore, even if we eat a very modest amount of meat in my household, I appreciated the section that quickly explained how to add meat to any of the dishes if you so wanted.
I was born on the outskirts of Chinatown in Sydney and weened on authentic Chinese food at least twice a week. I enjoy cooking Chinese but have always found that my vegetable dishes were a little too heavy handed in condiments. I am excited to try out some of the simple dishes in the book. Because it is amazing how with very little many Chinese simple greens shine and I would love to get that just right.
I particularly enjoy the large section on eggs too, because I often feel like my egg dishes were too similar lately and I feel motivated again by those new recipes and flavours. In fact none of the recipes of the book felt very typical to me (except for the salt and pepper fried tofu). It was nice to see atypical recipes.
I enjoyed the run down on stir fries, giving keys to master any with whatever ingredient you have at hand.
The first section about dumplings and all the delicious bite sizes dim sims is probably the least useful to me. While I love them, they are too time consuming with two very young children, a new job and my writing, for me to make. I used to before, and it was delicious, but I can't gather the energy to do it now. I want no nonsense quick and healthy foods for a family that does not sacrifice on taste. But for those who have the time, I’m sure they will be overjoyed to have what looks like very tasty vegan alternatives to the usual pork and prawn dumplings.
Most recipes have a photo (maybe 3 out of 4) and there is some wonderful step by step pictures for the complicated dumpling making.
There is not as much recipes in there as I thought their would, especially in the rice and noodle section (I’m crazy for a good bowl of liangpi noodles) , but there is the explanations in this book to give you the confidence to swap things around and invent your own dishes, even tweaking your own seasonings to change the taste. Perhaps it did speak to me more than most because I am not new to Chinese cooking, but I do believe it does a very good job at explaining the basics to even a beginner. A very good book.

We love Chinese food in my house and j must admit I've been stuck with my same 2/3 vegetarian dishes lately so I was delighted to get my hands on Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food.

This cook book like many others has a great little introduction section, sharing the essentials to the recipes within. I was pleasently surprised to learn of a few new Asian ingredients such as lotus leaf dried Chinese red dates. Other ingredients I was familiar with but learned a little more about. There's also an extensive break down of an essential Chinese cooking ingredient, soy sauce!

Now on the the recipes! Dumplings, dim sum, soups, stir frys, steam dishes, rice and noddles, tofu, eggs, salads and pickles. There are many delicious looking photos AND photos showing techniques,

This book is packed full of vegetables and inspiration for Chinese cooking and I'm so excited to make good use of it. The sweet corn soup and the Taiwanese cabbage and tomato soup are definitely my winter go to's. Yum!

Fantastic! I loved Chou's previous cookbook, Chinese Soul Food, and cook from it all the time. Enjoyed this "back to basics"-esque vegetarian edition as well.

During the Covid lockdown, my husband and I began trying out new and more adventurous recipes and trying to cook with more vegetables and when I saw this book available, I was so excited to try it. It is filled with great and helpful information and tons of ideas and inspiration I cant wait to try.

This book was received as an ARC from Sasquatch Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I am a huge lover of Chinese and Asian cuisine and have been wanting to eat a little healthier these days and this is the perfect cookbook to do that. All of the dumplings, salads and stir frys look delicious and I can't wait to try them all. It was also so fascinating to hear Hsiao's background on his cooking and how he chose to specialize in Asian cuisine. This food looks so delicious that it it sure to satisfy the soul and I am here for it! I hope this does very well that we can make it a potential candidate for the next cooking demo.

We will consider adding this title to our TX Non-Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I love this book! Vegetables rule every page and tips and dipping sauces dance around it! I will try all of them since I do like Asian food and I plan to eat heathier. I love the fact that it comes on kindle too.

This book provided and awesome take on some classic chinese restaurant dishes but vegetarian. I have saved a bunch of these recipes and can't wait to try them!
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

A excellent cookbook, lot of different and easy recipes that taste as good as take out, over use of lily flowers.

Finally! A cookbook for vegetarians that focuses on traditionally delicious Chinese dishes and is not impossibly challenging or specialized. I was so happy to see this book, having been vegetarian for nearly 20 years and lover of Asian dishes.

The beginning of the book gives an extremely interesting and useful overview about the tradition of vegetarian dishes in Chinese food, the embracing of vegetables by Chinese culture mainly due to Chinese Buddhist monks and nuns, and even tofu! It's mentioned that "temple vegetarian cuisine" is known and revered among the population, and also that meat has traditionally been considered a luxury that all people could not afford. As such, vegetarian dishes became embraced and meat and seafood substitutes readily available and, including wheat gluten and bean curd to make meat substitutes, going back to imperial China. As an American vegetarian, tofu has only more recently become a staple found in general grocery stores, and it certainly never shows up in American cookbooks that aren't specifically FOR vegetarians.

There is an extremely useful overview of go-to Chinese dish vegetables and their possible substitutes if a certain one cannot be found. It discusses prevalence of various foods in mainstream stores vs. more specialized international and Asian food markets. This section will be essential to anyone looking to dive into recipes who aren't as well-versed in Asian foods or are not near an Asian market.

That leads me to the next great thing about this book, and Hsiao-Ching Chou -- she WANTS you to want to cook and makes every conceivable effort to make the approach to the dishes DOABLE for anyone looking to make a go. She suggests ideal and less ideal, but doable, options for dishes, or for traditional vs. possible/not ideal (but doable!) methods to cooking said dishes. She is aware of the limits of various produce and products, and encourages label reading and gives plenty of synonyms for an ingredient in case packaging calls it something else (i.e. "bean thread" is also known as cellophane, glass, vermicelli or sai fun noodles!).

There is also a useful section, as with most cookbooks, describing essential and useful kitchen tools, such as a wok (she even tells you how to properly season your wok!), cleaver, mesh sieve, wok spatula, etc.

I was additionally fascinated by the section describing the variety of soy sauces and each one provides different aromas and spices and tastes - something I hadn't often thought about, as an American.

The recipe sections of the book are as follows: Dumplings, Dim Sum and Small Bits, Soups and Braises, Stir-Fries, Steamed Dishes, Rice and Noodles, Tofu, Eggs, Salads and Pickles. Each section offers a further in-depth look at the dish, or a useful bit of technique or history. The included finished dish photos are enticing and artful. For the dumpling section, images also include step by step folding techniques - this section seems especially challenging to those not used to making such things, but the author makes it seem possible, which, for me, is essential to a cookbook not becoming a dust collector.

Most of the recipes and dishes in this collection are not for beginner cooks, which the author also states in her opening remarks in the book. It may also take some effort and planning ahead to collect all ingredients - for example, the essential white pepper powder and Sichuan pepper corns are not in my spice cabinet, but sound like they add a depth of flavor and spice needed for many dishes. This is also true of various dried mushrooms and kelp. But the author does provide websites she suggests for finding these items online, or mentions a store she knows has multiple locations.