Pickles and Tea Blog

Mothers should be celebrated every day, not just once a year, for all they have do for their children, even long after they’ve left home. That being said, we should all take advantage of Mother’s Day to show our mothers in an extra special way how much we love and appreciate them.

 

Chef Katie Chin has done precisely that by celebrating her mother, the legendary chef and restaurateur Leeann Chin, with a wonderful cookbook just in time for Mother’s Day. Katie Chin’s Everyday Chinese Cookbook: 101 Delicious Recipes from My Mother’s Kitchen is a collection of family recipes comprising classics like Sweet and Sour Pork and Kung Pao Chicken to the Chins’ signature Firecracker Shrimp. For the modern cook, Katie also offers dishes like Quinoa Fried Rice and Five-Spice Chocolate Cake.

Throughout the book, Katie weaves the story of her mom’s life and pioneering role in popularizing Chinese cuisine in America. She continues the trans-generational tale by sharing her own culinary journey and accounts of her children’s Chinese-American upbringing.

“To me, cooking is storytelling and I am so honored to share my mother’s life story through her recipes and illustrated how every dish she made was an expression of love for her children and a gateway to a better life for our family,” says Katie.

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Q+A with Katie Chin

I asked Katie to share some thoughts and insights on putting this book together, a project that truly stems from her heart.

 

1. What was it like growing up with a mom who was a celebrity chef?

We saw how hard she worked beginning as a seamstress making 50 cents an hour and then achieving success as a caterer and then restaurateur. We were incredibly proud of her and in awe of her talent. I remember when she was included in a photographic montage standing next to Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam (prolific music producers for Janet Jackson among others) on the wall of the Target Center in Minneapolis and we just couldn’t believe it. The only difficult thing for me was that she was rarely home when her restaurant business took off so I’m incredibly thankful that we got to spend so much time cooking together in the kitchen later in life.  

 

2. Did you help out at your mom’s restaurants when you were growing up?

My teenage years were spent frying shrimp toast, peeling pea pods and as the coat check girl handling heavy coats in the winter time.  While other kids went to dances and hung out at the mall, I’d take the bus every day to her first restaurant and work.  At the time I would sometimes resent it, but now I realize how lucky I was to learn from her and develop such a strong work ethic.  

 

3. What was a typical meal like at home for you when you were growing up?

Before my mom started her catering business, she would cook dinner for us every night.  She’d make authentic home-style dishes like stir-fries or braised stews often with vegetables from our garden.  Even though we barely had any money at the time, she managed to create the most delicious meals for us (even though we sometimes secretly wished we were having “Hamburger Helper” like all the other kids. I feel so foolish even admitting that now).

 

4. What was the first dish your mom taught you to make?

 The first dish my mom taught me how to make was dumplings.  I was very young and I remember how patient she was trying to teach me how to make the pleats on the shu mai. She had been a seamstress so she had incredible pleating skills and I felt like I was all thumbs. As an adult she was a lot harder on me, like the time she asked me why I was so slow while making har gow on a Food Network Special!  She always wanted me to be better cook and person so it never upset me.  

5. What do you make now that reminds you of your mom?

The dish that reminds me of my mom the most and that I love to make is Cantonese-Style Chicken Chow Mein.  It was something she’d make when she had a rare day off.  She’d make a huge steaming batch of it for lunch and my family would devour it immediately.  My favorite dish is the Pineapple Fried Rice because it’s so pretty and fun to serve in a pineapple shell.

 

6. You’ve included both classics as well as modern recipes such as Quinoa Fried Rice, Braided Fish, Kung Pao Tofu Noodles. Do you think a cuisine should evolve through the generations and through the global diaspora?

I created this cookbook for today’s audience who want to incorporate Chinese cooking into their menus.  I think it is important to offer a variety of recipes that embody the traditional techniques and ingredients but that reflects contemporary eating trends as well. My mother always loved to experiment in the kitchen, using her tried and true methods and then adding new ingredients to create fresh tastes, so I wanted to bring this spirit to the book.

7. Do you cook with your own kids?

Yes, we cook together all the time. They were toddlers when my mom passed away but they remember her teaching them to make dumplings which they still love to make.   I always try to involve them in cooking because it makes them more open to trying new flavors.  My daughter loves baking and has her own YouTube channel called Becca’s Yummytown.  

 

8. What was the impetus to publish this cookbook?

I wanted to create this cookbook because I feel that my mother’s story is so inspiring.  Also, while Minnesotans have been in love with my mother’s restaurant chain for decades it was time to share her culinary prowess with the world along with dishes we created together.  It was also an opportunity to infuse the book with memories from my Chines-American childhood.  

9. What recipes would you recommend readers to try?

I would recommend the Spicy Beef Skewers, Firecracker Shrimp, Lemon Chicken and Pineapple Fried Rice because they’re all relatively easy, filled with flavor and made with ingredients you can find at your local grocery.

 

10. Now that your mom is no longer with you, is there a special way you celebrate her on Mother’s Day?

Our family makes dim sum on Mother’s Day to honor my mother as dim sum literally translates as “to touch the heart.”  

 

Thank you Katie for sharing memories of your mom with us!

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there!

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Cookbook Giveaway

To celebrate moms everywhere, Katie’s publisher Tuttle Publishing is giving away Katie Chin’s Everyday Chinese Cookbook to one lucky winner! Enter to win a copy for yourself or your mom by subscribing to the Pickles and Tea blog (scroll down to the very bottom!) and tell us why you love mom in the comments section below. We’ll randomly select a winner and post the results after the deadline. 

Last day to enter: Friday, May 20, 2016.

Sorry, but we can only mail to U.S. and Canadian addresses.

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