The Mission Chinese Food Cookbook

Product Description

From rising culinary star Danny Bowien, chef and cofounder of the tremendously popular Mission Chinese Food restaurants, comes an exuberant cookbook that tells the story of an unconventional idea born in San Francisco that spread cross-country, propelled by wildly inventive recipes that have changed what it means to cook Chinese food in America


Mission Chinese Food is not exactly a Chinese restaurant. It began its life as a pop-up: a restaurant nested within a divey Americanized Chinese joint in San Francisco’s Mission District. From the beginning, a spirit of resourcefulness and radical inventiveness has infused each and every dish at Mission Chinese Food. Now, hungry diners line up outside both the San Francisco and New York City locations, waiting hours for platters of Sizzling Cumin Lamb, Thrice-Cooked Bacon, Fiery Kung Pao Pastrami, and pungent Salt-Cod Fried Rice.

The force behind the phenomenon, chef Danny Bowien is, at only thirty-three, the fastest-rising young chef in the United States. Born in Korea and adopted by parents in Oklahoma, he has a broad spectrum of influences. He’s a veteran of fine-dining kitchens, sushi bars, an international pesto competition, and a grocery-store burger stand. In 2013 Food & Wine named him one of the country’s Best New Chefs and the James Beard Foundation awarded him its illustrious Rising Star Chef Award. In 2011 Bon Appétit named Mission Chinese Food the second-best new restaurant in America, and in 2012 the New York Times hailed the Lower East Side outpost as the Best New Restaurant in New York City. 

The Mission Chinese Food Cookbook tracks the fascinating, meteoric rise of the restaurant and its chef. Each chapter in the story—from the restaurant’s early days, to an ill-fated trip to China, to the opening of the first Mission Chinese in New York—unfolds as a conversation between Danny and his collaborators, and is accompanied by detailed recipes for the addictive dishes that have earned the restaurant global praise. Mission Chinese’s legions of fans as well as home cooks of all levels will rethink what it means to cook Chinese food, while getting a look into the background and insights of one of the most creative young chefs today.

Top Reviews

Great book and even better cook book
by A. J. Marino (5 out of 5 stars)
November 12, 2015

Great book and even better cook book. Look, if your into American style chinese food then look no further. The author admits this isn't classic chinese. It's new age, its bold, spicy and great food. Is it easy to cook? No. Are the ingredients readily available? No. But your on Amazon now, and you can order most of the ingredients online. You can use the ingredients on other recipes. If you like David Changs MomoFuku, then this is right up your alley. You want easy to cook, everyday asian style recipes? Then look at Lucky Peach's 101 Easy Asian Recipes. Great read, great cook book, good times.
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Killer recipes. Our favorite cookbook.
by adam (5 out of 5 stars)
February 2, 2019

This book inspired me to start my own catering company. I did pork belly tacos from this book for my first public event. It blew people's minds. Buy this book. The recipes are so insanely good and the commentary is great too.
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Great book! With caveats...
by C. Lakip (5 out of 5 stars)
November 18, 2015

As mentioned, this book is like half life/restaurant interview/story, so if you're looking for 300 recipes, this isn't the book for you. Then again, I also wasn't expecting 300 recipes because, having been to Mission Chinese, they don't really have the kind of menu that you would expect to find 300 recipes in a book. However this book has most/all the hits the restaurant is known for, so if you're looking for a way to recreate them you should check it out. See Table of Contents picture since Amazon isn't providing one:
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This book is more of a story about the author ...
by David R. Colan (3 out of 5 stars)
March 13, 2016

This book is more of a story about the author. There are not many recipes in the book. It was not what I expected.
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The recipes look amazing, and most aren't overly involved
by Devender Sellars (4 out of 5 stars)
November 11, 2015

The recipes look amazing, and most aren't overly involved. There are recipes that will involve ordering ingredients online if you don't live in a city with a large Asian market, and there are recipes that involve advanced cooking techniques, but it's not every recipe--and some of us enjoy a good 3-day-long recipe once and awhile! I've already learned a new way to make mapo tofu, and I'm excited to try the dandan noodles variations. Great purchase.
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This is a fun book. There are only 49 recipes, but they are incredibly good!
by Jennifer Guerrero (5 out of 5 stars)
May 13, 2017

This is a fun book. There are only 49 recipes, but they are incredibly good!

Pictured below:
1) Sweet Potato Leaves with Kabocha Squash - p 264. Holy wow! I had no idea you could eat sweet potato leaves. This is a fantastically complex dish. A huge bunch of sweet potato leaves, roasted kabocha squash, mushroom powder, garlic, tofu, adzuki beans, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin oil, and salted chili condiment. It's crazy delicious like something truly naughty, but pure health food. He calls Mushroom Powder the gentlemen's MSG. I licked my fingertip and dipped it in the powder to taste it on its own, and he's not overselling it with that name. I'm going to try some on fresh popcorn.
2) Smoked Beef Brisket with Smoked Cola BBQ Sauce - p 36 and 304 with pickles and cheap soft white bread. Delicious!
3-4) Dumplings - p 104 with Pork Filling - p 107, and garnished with Chili Crisp, Chili Oil, and Cilantro. Awesome! The edges of my dumpling wrappers were a little thick this time, so I'll be careful to roll them thicker towards the inside, and thinner towards the outside next time. He works parmesan and wine into the wrapper dough that's similar to making pasta. It's understated with the nice strong flavors of the dumpling filling, but these nuanced complexities in his food make it just so special. My kids ate 10 each and wanted more, so I think I'll have to double it next time.
5) Mongolian Long Beans - p 258. So fragrant and just a bit spicy.
6) Some subrecipes needed for other recipes and pickles, just because they need to be made ahead. Chili-Pickled Pineapple - p 199, Chili Crisp and Chili Oil - p 290, and Salted Chili Condiment - p 302. Everthing's awesome but that Chili Crisp is crazy good! Chiles, peppercorns, ginger, garlic, mushroom powder, spices, fried garlic, fried shallots and fermented black beans. The wheels are spinning on how to tweak green bean casserole for Thanksgiving now that I know fried garlic and shallots exist.

I just saw an announcement that he's going to be the next Mind of a Chef! I can't wait to see the show.

Some other recipes I have flagged to try are: Mapo Tofu p 62 with the Meat Variation on p 65 (pork belly) * Thrice Cooked Bacon - p 96 * Westlake Rice Porridge - p 117 (chicken, rice, soft cooked eggs, lump crab, beef cheeks, and herbs) * General Tso's Veal Rib - p 232 * Squid Ink Noodles with Minced Pork and Peanut Sauce - p 245 * Beggar's Duck - p 275
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This book is a great companion to that experience and a great insight into ...
by Jordan Tyler Smith (5 out of 5 stars)
February 12, 2018

I ate at Mission SF last month and returned home immediately wanting to capture some of those food memories. This book is a great companion to that experience and a great insight into the mind behind such an amazing and honestly operated restaurant.
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Story + Cookbook
by Liang Liang (4 out of 5 stars)
December 25, 2015

I didn't realize this was more of a story than a cookbook. Nonetheless, it's a pretty interesting read. There is all of your basic Chinese dishes and some intense ones that I don't have a whole day to prepare for. If you like to spend your day in the kitchen, then this will be a great gift for you.
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east west cooking book
by masterj (5 out of 5 stars)
December 21, 2016

a very different kind of Asian cooking book .very east west cooking .
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Four Stars
by PamelaJean (4 out of 5 stars)
April 7, 2018

love cooking

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