Chris Ying

Danny Bowien

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.

The Mission Chinese Food Cookbook

From the star chef, founder, and co-owner of the wildly popular restaurant Mission Chinese Food, comes a riotous, unconventional cookbook packed with inventive recipes that embody his signature mash-up of "Chinese" food and American classics. Born out of a food truck that roamed the late night streets of San Francisco's Mission District, Mission Chinese Food started life as a pop-up, a rough-and-tumble joint that served radically reimagined "Chinese food" inside an old Americanized Chinese restaurant after hours. The incredible resourcefulness and unbridled inventiveness of Danny Bowien’s dishes have hungry diners queuing up in both San Francisco and New York City, waiting hours to enjoy delights such as Sizzling Cumin Lamb Breast and Kung Pao Pastrami. In The Mission Chinese Food Cookbook, this young culinary star chronicles his unconventional and meteoric rise in a "cookbook in conversations" that combines raucous storytelling with delicious recipes. In a series of roundtable discussions with essential crew members he brings to life such highlights as the development and opening of the restaurant, an ill-fated trip to China, and the restaurant’s expansion to New York’s Lower East Side. These lively dialogues are accompanied by beautiful color photographs and mouthwatering recipes—from schmaltz fried rice to hot-and-sour soup dumplings to a "Chinese chicken salad" made with escarole and tea-smoked chicken. Creative, addictive, and surprisingly simple, and borrowing from across the culinary spectrum, The Mission Chinese Food Cookbook's recipes will delight Bowein’s fans and inspire home-cooks of all levels to rethink what’s possible in the kitchen, offering a passport to a wholly unique dining experience.

Danny Bowien

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