Love, love, LOVE a good recipe book and this one is great! The recipes are phenomenal! Will definitely be purchasing a physical copy!

Thank you Harper Horizon and NetGalley for e-ARC of the book.

Mooncakes and Milk Bread were written by the same author of the Eat Cho Food blog, Kristina Cho. Kristina grew up at a restaurant that was owned by her family, and later she pursued her dream of being an architect, where eventually it all circled back to food but with her own twist.

I loved this book and enjoyed every page of it. Kristina made a fantastic work by not simply listing out ingredients and instructions, but rather showcasing beautiful photos of how to roll and cut, and explaining along the way why and how to use specific tools or ingredients.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
This cookbook covers different foods found at traditional Chinese bakeries. They are a mix of sweet and savory dishes. The author gives tips on how to make the perfect bread dough, how to make mooncakes without a form, and many others. There are plenty of pictures to illustrate the different methods and show the finished product. Throughout there are entries about specific Chinese bakeries. This book makes some of the more complicated-looking dishes appear easy to make.

For any novice or curious baker, Mooncakes and Milk Bread is part-recipe book and part-love letter to the traditional Hong Kong and Chinese bakeries. Really lovely to see all the traditional recipes all in one book and brings back all the joys and excitement of entering a Chinese bakery - something that should never be forgotten.

This book was an absolute delight and I loved it so much, I bought an ebook on Amazon to support the author. The recipes have all been knockouts and the pictures and instructions in the book are top notch. Highly, highly recommend!

This is an amazing book full of so many delicious recipes and baking inspiration. It was my first time making milk bread or anything with a tangzhong and it explained it so well. Knowing that base set me up well for most of the remaining recipes and left me free to play around with other flavors. Overall I highly recommend this book.

The only reason I give it a 4 as opposed to a 5 star review is that the Kindle formatting is a little off in terms of photo placement, alignment of text, and how the ingredients are organized. I assume this is great for physical copies but worth noting as someone who loves using her Kindle in the kitchen.

This is one of the most detailed cookbooks I have seen yet. Short and simple yet mixed in with family history and Asian American history, this cookbook tells stories about each item featured. Centered around the Chinese/Taiwanese bakery and it's evolution upon it's arrival in the United States, the cookbook features all kinds of savory and sweet pastries that can be found at these locales along with some of the central drinks as well. I especially loved the feature of central bakeries in Chinatowns across the United States. It was a very referential touch.

I really wanted to like this book. But looking through the recipes you need to be absolutely sure before you begin that 1) there is an Asian grocery in your area and 2) that you have a fair bit of experience in the kitchen esp. with international dishes. A lot of these recipes seemed very intense and complicated. I have a fair bit of experience in the kitchen but almost no experience with international dishes and have not yet discovered an Asian Grocery near my small town.

Beautiful! The pictures are lovely, the recipes are captivating, and the stories are delightful. A real feast for the eyes and soul, and a wonderful glimpse into Chinese baking traditions.

I've cooked dozens of these recipes and plan on continuing. Cho's fillings are delicious with both Western and Eastern flavors (though I've always had to make 2-3x as much dough as she says but I'm not complaining about the 36 Gai lan and bok choy steamed buns and 56 breakfast dumplings in the freezer). The base dough recipes are great though I definitely don't have the same flour Cho does and always need more water. These are excellent foundational recipes that guide you through the greats of Eastern flour tradition-steamed buns, dumplings, milk bread, tarts, and, my next project, mooncakes.

Thanks for the free copy NetGalley!

First off, the photos are SO BEAUTIFUL I wanted to lick the paper. Stunning photos and the bread looks FABULOUS!

I read cookbooks the way other people read romance novels, cover to cover, and I was hooked on every work. So many things I want to make. This is a book of keepers, no fluff recipes. I want to make the pepperoni bread, the hot dog flowers, and pretty much every other recipe.

I got the digital copy free in exchange for giving an honest review, I 100% plan to buy the hardcopy because this book is beautand amazing and fabulous and delicious!!!!!

At first, I bypassed this book several times because I don’t bake. I know how to, and I made some spectacular pies for last Thanksgiving, but my husband and I are trying to get into better athletic condition. So generally speaking, we eat a lot of salmon and greens.

But I kept seeing this book…. And all of the great reviews, of which 3 people said they made one or more recipes, but they didn’t really rate or describe the recipe. Reviews ran from “Scrumptious” to “delicious,” and on from there…but no real descriptions! I wouldn’t buy a book on the basis of those reviews. But I have always been fascinated by China and Chinese culture. I got to thinking “What is the best way to understand a culture?” I’ve heard that it’s understanding the culture’s food. Now this is only a slice of Chinese food (so to speak), and out of Hong Kong and into Cleveland where the author’s family had a restaurant for many years. But I was intrigued. So I requested a pre-publication eGalley from NetGalley to read and review.

I was very intrigued to learn that many of the items in this cookbook were an East-West fusion of cooking that was born in Hong Kong. I first saw Hong Kong when I was barely 8 years old in 1971. Back then the street markets wound up narrow stairs of uncertain strength and through alley-like streets; drying ducks and other types of meat permeated the air with a somewhat sickly sweet fragrance and there were many strange things for sale in large bins. Strange at least for an 8-year-old from the northern Midwest. But the food was outstanding! As an airline employee, my father was able to get recommendations from other far-traveling employees for restaurants. It was incredibly exotic and incredibly delicious. We certainly didn’t have anything like that back home! I returned many years later with my husband and the ancient markets had been replaced by chic boutiques of gorgeous silk clothing for men and women. I feel lucky to have experienced Hong Kong as it was, and I have a soft spot in my heart for anything related to it.

But on to the writing. Kristina Cho writes with a gentle familiarity and friendliness that pulls you in immediately. You feel like yes, YOU really can make these recipes. The milk bread and steamed bun recipes seem daunting as the first big recipes, but they underlie almost everything else in the cookbook. As I mentioned before, I have a pre-publication eGalley of the book; it does not contain numbered steps in making the milk bread or steamed bun recipes. These steps are referred to repeatedly in later recipes. I think you could figure out how far to go in the base recipes without the numbering, but for the finished book I’m certain it made things much easier! (I guess I need a final copy of the book!). But all of the recipes are understandable and well-written. Cho’s writing is SO good that before I got to the 50% point of my eGalley, I went to and signed up for her blog “EatChoFood.”

There are many variations on buns and mooncakes, as well as cakes, cookies, and crisps. Most require simple and inexpensive speciaty cookware such as a bamboo steamer or mooncake press (both very inexpensive). Some things only require a sheet pan. As we are launching into remodeling, I decided to not buy a new bamboo steamer at this time but instead bought a much smaller cookie scoop that was recommended in the text to try a couple of the recipes in the latter part of the book. I definitely will make the milk bread at some later date, but with a short summer and gardening season, I just don’t have time right now. So shorter recipes rock.

I made “Goong Goong’s Almond Cookies.” I was touched by the story and I love almond cookies. The recipe was straight forward and complete, easy to understand. There is a direction to combine the ingredients in a bowl with a flexible spatula. I know that a flexible spatula attachment is now available for some stand mixers but I took this to mean “mix by hand,” which I did. I got an arms workout and made great cookies! I belive that when mixing by hand you don’t overbeat the dough and make the dough tough. I noticed that the cookies were very tender when done.

I wanted to make another recipe but wasn’t able to do so due to time constraints. There are MANY delicious-looking recipes in this cookbook. I recommend it if only for the interesting read. And don’t forget about her blog, “EatChoFood.”

I want to thank Kristina Cho, Harper Horizon, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this pre-publication eGalley. I received nothing for this review and my opinions are my own. I will be publishing this review on NetGalley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Bub, Instagram, and linking to it on my Facebook page.

There are so many exciting recipes in this book. I found myself wanting to make each one! Beautiful color pictures. Easy to follow directions. And what I love the most is the step-by-step photographs, in the more complicated recipes, that show the exact technique to achieve perfect results.

In addition to the delectable recipes, there is also a lot of good information throughout the book, including an introduction to Chinese cafe culture, a breakdown of the special properties of different ingredients, even a chapter on “How to Shop at an Asian Grocery Store.”

The book is a wonderfully accessible dive into the comfort baked goods of Chinese culture. Kristina Cho makes the recipes easy to follow, explaining the differences and importance of the ingredients. What really made me fall in love with this book was Cho's stories interwoven throughout the book of her own experiences at bakeries in Chinatowns throughout the U.S. My husband and I were very pleased to see that one of our guaranteed stops in Philly made the cut. I'll certainly be gifting this book during the holidays this year.

I love the thought put into this book. The recipes are easy to follow though if you don’t have an Asian store you may have to order some things online. It was not very Kindle friendly that would be my only complaint.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc of "Mooncakes and milk bread".
It's such a beautiful book. Loved the pictures and recipes seems easy.
Cannot wait to make some of these breads.

This book does a great job of making milk bread and buns accessible and achievable for those who haven't made them before. I made both the milk bread recipe and BBQ bun recipe and both turned out great. The recipes are forgiving to mistakes (like letting your dough rise for longer than needed) and delicious.

I have purchased a hardcover of this book and plan to continue to cook from it in the future.

An excellent cookbook covering a variety of savory and sweet recipes. Easy to follow along and so far all recipes have turned out quite well, especially the Mother of All Milk Bread. Cho also includes anecdotes from her own childhood and family history which helps add depth to the book as a whole. It's helpful that she also includes explanations for the ingredients and what their importance is in the recipe.

This book is phenomenal. So many recipes I want to try, so much culture that fascinates me. Beautiful, beautiful photos. I am immediately going out to purchase this book. It is absolutely one of a kind and all the best ways and I cannot wait to eat everything. I will warn you that some of the recipes are more involved than a lot of cookbooks have, you will sometimes need special equipment but it will be worth it. :)

Ever wanted to try your hand at baking Chinese pastries at home? “Mooncakes and Milk Bread” will leave you feeling empowered to do that!

From standards like the titular treats, to new creations like the PB&J buns, you will find recipes to suit every taste. (And they are all accompanied by gorgeous pictures that will have you feeling very hungry indeed!)