Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. There were several recipes I am excited to try. I like that the recipes included photos as well.

If you enjoy baking whether it's savory or sweet, then this book will delight you. Well, yes, it's not a typical baking book with fudgy brownies and yellow cake with frosting recipes, but if you love bao and are familiar with Asian ingredients, this book is definitely yours. This book has a chapter dedicated for cakes and

Breaking Bao has many recipes from sweet to savory, bao to babka, ube to Ovaltine. I wouldn't recommend this book to a beginner cook/baker since most of recipes require multiple steps (no worries, there are pictures to help you out!) and don't seem easy or simple. But there are some fun ideas and fun combinations of ingredients that sound really intriguing. Not to mention beautiful photos to have you want to start baking right away!

Although this won't be my everyday cookbook, but if you want to surprise your loved ones and neighbors, I'd try Baking Bao out. This is such a fun cookbook!

Lovely, innovative recipes. You're better off with a different cookbook if you're looking for traditional recipes, but these ones are definitely fun fusion ideas.

Very interesting cookbook. I'd like to try some of the recipes, but they do seem complicated to me (not a baker). I'm hoping that I can follow the directions since they seem well written.

I love this cookbook (Breaking Bao, by Clarice Lam) so much! I will be baking from it and providing a more detailed review once published but for now, these are my thoughts.

In this highly personal baking book, Clarice Lam - a highly accomplished pastry chef who has worked in critically acclaimed establishments such as Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery; Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market; as the executive chef at Brooklyn's The Chocolate Room; her own Brooklyn shop The Baking Bean; and the opening pastry chef at Kimika in NYC - has created recipes based on her extensive world travels and memorable life events. In Breaking Bao, she takes us on a sweet and savory journey; she not only hopes that we will recreate, enjoy, and share these treats with others, but hopes that doing so will help to bridge the (still very large) cultural gap that exists, and that made Clarice feel like an outsider most of her life. The clever title, Breaking Bao, is for Clarice a sentiment akin to breaking bread, as by sharing this food with each other we hopefully can all come to realize that we are in fact more alike than different. And as for the actual recipes? Well, let's just say that I cannot wait to make the vast majority of this deliciousness!

The author provides three categories of recipes: Bao; Cakes & Desserts; and Snacks. In the Bao section, we begin with a great recipe for Shokupan (Japanese Milk Bread). Milk Bread is delicious and relatively easy to make. I've been wanting a good recipe for awhile, so I was very excited to see this. What's even better is that this recipe for milk bread is then used as the basis for many of the other recipes in this section, such as: Gochujang Pizza Rolls; Shokupan Donuts (filled with homemade milk jam and strawberry-rose confit); Kaya French Toast; Mama Lam's Coconut Croissants; Vietnamese Cinnamon=Raisin Babka; and Strawberry-Mascarpone Maritozzi. There are also recipes here for dim sum-like filled buns and dumplings, with savory fillings such as Char Sui Carnitas, Dan Dan Filling, and Hong Kong Bolognese, which look both easy and delicious, and that have a "mix and match" quality with other recipes in this section, or that can just be enjoyed on their own. There is also a recipe for Scallion Roti Canai - an ultra flaky scallion laminated flatbread - that looks absolutely delicious and that has full-color, step-by-step photographed instructions (as do many of the more pastry-like recipes), for foolproof results. And how about Pork Floss and Scallion Focaccia? And Chocolate-Banana Bolo Bao - a chocolate bolo bao (aka bun) filled with banana custard? Honestly, there is so much deliciousness here to explore.

In Cakes & Desserts the creative fusion continues, with delights such as Pandan-Lime Meringue Pie; Mango-Yakult Tres Leches Cake; Macau Egg Tart Patissier (similar to portugese egg tarts - yum!); Vietnamese Coffee Viennetta; Mango Sticky Rice Cake; and Ovaltine Mochi Marjolaine - a seven layer masterpiece (much easier when broken down in to small steps, as it is here) - that includes a chocolate mochi cake layer, almond dacquoise, and an Ovaltine ganache and buttercream! And in the Snacks section we find such treats as: Ramen Cheese Itz; Matcha Shortbread with Raspberry Ganache; Fig and Marzipan Mooncakes; Yin Yeung Crullers (Hong Kong Milk Tea & Coffee-Glazed Crullers); Ferrero Mochi Bomboloncini (Ferrero Rocher-filled Fried Sesame Balls); and Gochujang-Furikake Caramel Popcorn. And the above is just a sampling!

This book is a rare gem... a unique and beautiful baking book for the baker with sophisticated, truly worldly tastes. However despite its adventurous nature, most of the recipes here are very manageable for the average baker, with a few that require some extra steps. But in all cases, Ms. Lam provides clear, easy-to-understand, step-by-step instructions along with full color visual instructions for more involved steps (like rolling out and forming dough, etc.), and stunning photographs of every recipe so we can see what our finished product should look like. And while a few of these ingredients will be new to some (such as pork floss, pandan, and yakult), these can easily be obtained either at a local Asian market or online. Thankfully, we are given brand names to look for in the Ingredients section, which makes the process of finding them and achieving similar results even easier. Highly recommend!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for providing a digital ARC in exchange for my review and honest opinion.

Wonderful selection of recipes of Asian and Asian inspired breads and desserts 💖

Beautiful images, easily to follow recipes, step by step instructions for more intermediate recipes as well as very informative section explaining ingredients and cookware ✨

Highly recommend this book if recipes like these are what you’re looking for!

Thanks NetGalley, Chronicle Books & Clarice Lam for giving me an ARC copy of this incredible cookbook!

You eat first with your eyes. Lam’s book, Breaking Bao, embodies this statement. As I read this cookbook, as I love to do, I found it difficult to choose a favorite recipe. The short descriptions at the beginning of each recipe were helpful in narrowing it down, however.
Though I am a seasoned cook, I found the clear step-by-step directions to be extremely helpful as some were very involved. In addition to delectable bao, there are also treats like Chocolate Mochi Cake, Pandan-Lime Meringue Pie, Dragon’s Beard Candy, and Ramen Cheese Itz, I encourage you to give this beautiful book a try. It opened my eyes to many recipes I am excited to try. Thank you to NetGalley, Chronicle Books, and Clarice Lam for the advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Fantastic bao bun themed cookbook!

I have been looking for a standardized cookbook providing information on cooking everything from your typical street bao bun to your jazzed up recipes, stuffing it, baking it, making pizza out of it, etc.

A few examples of the delicious recipes included:

Gochujang Pizza Rolls pg. 39
Kimchi & Corn Cheese Pan Fried Mochi pg. 55
Buckwheat & Black Sesame Bao pg. 82
Vietnamese Coffee Viennetta pg. 163
Bolo Bao Cream Puffs pg. 204

A very unique cookbook for any chef's collection. I will be adding a physical copy to mine.

***Thank you to Netgalley and to Chronicle Books for providing this cookbook in exchange for a review.

This delicious cookbook features a variety of recipes for a multitude of occasions. From snacks to sides to items for a gathering, you'll find something for just about any occasion. Recipes are well laid out, detailed, and easy to follow.

Received an Advanced Reading Copy from NetGalley.

This cookbook is filled with fun recipes. It's filled with innovative flavors that depart from the traditional. I love the unexpected combinations of different ingredients from different Asian cultures. They all sound delicious and I've chosen a few recipes to try out. I can't wait til this book is officially released. I plan to buy a hard copy for my kitchen shelf. Looking forward to trying all the different recipes.

What a beautiful cookbook. The photographer deserves a raise, crisp pictures, and didn't have that hue or filter feel giving a vibe. The vibe was just a vibe.

This book is definitely not for a novice baker. That said, love the step by step instructions with the photos to go along.

I love that many(some?) of these are classics (to some) with a twist. The raisin brioche, mouth was watering.

Overall a wonderful book with great recipes and formatted beautiful IMO.

This book is beautifully done. The photography is inspiring. The goal is to create fusion dessert and baked goods. There are matcha donuts. Baked Alaska is made with flavors that are more traditionally Asian. Cake rolls are made with ube.

All the flavor combinations sound wonderful. (This is a vegetarian but not vegan book.) The book does a great job of giving step by step photos of the more involved techniques that were confusing to people who hadn't tried them before.

The recipes are very involved. This is definitely a book for people who get excited by the thought of spending hours making the perfect dessert. There isn't anything here that I will likely be trying myself but for people who love to make show stopping desserts, this book is a winner.

Breaking Bao
Author: Clarice Lam
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a fantastic cookbook! Breaking Bao is filled with delicious recipes that I can't wait to try - the Ube Chiffon Cake and Char Siu Carnitas Bolo Bao being at the top! I really loved that the book featured a good variety of both sweet and savory, as well as, a good range of easy to more difficult recipes.
Would definitely purchase this for myself and as a gift for friends who enjoy baking.

Thanks to NetGalley, Chronicle Books, and Clarice Lam for an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts in this review are my own.

I am so excited to physically own this cookbook, the photography for the recipes is completely gorgeous! However, I feel that even though the author intends these recipes to be approachable, some might be intimidating to a beginner. Not the ingredients, mind you, but the recipes themselves are quite sophisticated, even to someone such as myself who would consider herself to be an intermediate baker. Nevertheless, I am particularly excited to try my hand at making the pandan-lime meringue pie, the mango yakult tres leches cake, and the honey-yuzu caked alaska!

Thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to review Breaking Bao by Clarice Lam.

I absolutely love Asian bao whether they are sweet or savory, filled or unfilled. Breaking Bao caught my attention and it was a delightful read.

Reading through "Breaking Bao" made my mouth water. While I have yet to attempt any of the recipes, I have marked MANY I cannot wait to attempt when I have some free time. The recipes and directions appear to be very accessible.

Thank you so much to the publisher + NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I love that Breaking Bao covers both savory and sweet recipes so well! I try to eat the world every time I go back to Hong Kong to visit -- there are so many delicious foods to be had! This book contains recipes for a lot of favorites/classics, including Dragon's Beard Candy, Chee Cheung Fun (rice noodle rolls) + Mantou (but reimagined as donuts with a condensed milk glaze + matcha!) and also has lots of unique fusion recipes that look amazing.

The book starts off with an intro from the author, followed by a section in the beginning on common ingredients, tools, and equipment that are used to make the recipes. The recipes are divided into 3 different sections:
1) Bao
2) Cakes & Desserts
3) Snacks

Each recipe contains an intro, the serving size, an ingredient list, instructions, and tips on storage, what parts can be made beforehand, how long it'll likely keep for, possible substitutes, where to find less common ingredients (+ sometimes how to make em'), and alterations you can do to change each recipe up.

There are tons of recipes in here that look amazing -- not gonna lie, some of them are on the more intimidating side for me since I rarely bake and haven't cooked in a while. The Sweet Corn Custard Bao, Kabocha Galette and Shokupan Donuts with Hojicha Milk Jam + Strawberry-Rose Confit are ones I'd love to make but are likely ones I will one day work up to. Despite that, I'm super excited to try making the Gochujang-Furikake Caramel Popcorn, White Rabbit Sachima, Scallion Roti Canai, and the Mango Sticky Rice Cake!

Beautiful book with very ambitious and challenging recipes. The step by step pictures looked helpful for forming/shaping the bao and pastries. Unfortunately, I found the instructions to be verbose and difficult to follow. The specialty ingredients, at times, were overwhelming to an average home cook (at least this one). My hope for cookbooks is accessibility of the recipes and being able to recreate favorite restaurant dishes at home.

Loved this cookbook by revered pastry chef Clarice Lam with its glorious photos and 88 recipes of Asian baked goods and snacks. Delectable!

Breaking Bao focuses on baked goods and confections using Asian flavors.

The Sections are
Bao
Cakes & Desserts
Snacks

Each recipe has a little recipe blurb, yield, ingredients, directions, and recipe tips & Storage. Many recipes are accompanied by a photo of the dish.

There are so many recipes that I am so excited to try. Whether your a sweet or savory person I think there are tons of recipes for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.