Many amazing cookbooks came out this year and it's been getting quite difficult to keep up and bake from all of them. Of all the books that came out this season, Mooncakes & Milk Bread was the one I looked forward to the most. I'm quite drawn to Chinese bakeries and pastry techniques and when I found out that Kristina's book would be spotlighting all these bakeries that helped shape local Chinatowns, I got so excited. In addition to sharing traditional and modern interpretations of Chinese recipes, Kristina also talks to many Chinese bakery owners about why these businesses are so important to Asian American culture. Chinese bakeries have so much history behind them, whether they're in Vancouver, the Bay Area (where Kristina is now), or any city in the world. Growing up, I've always felt that Chinese bakeries that sold $1 pineapple buns were inferior to patisseries that offered $5 croissants and it wasn't until in the recent years that I realized my thinking has been wrong all these years. Just because these Chinese baked goods are priced lower than Western pastries, it doesn't make our steamed cakes and milk bread less worthy in any way. Perfecting mooncakes is equally as difficult as perfecting choux pastry and I now choose to put as much effort into learning how to make all the baked goods I ate growing up.
The recipes from Kristina's book range from fluffy milk bread (which is the base of a lot of Chinese baked buns), steamed buns, her grandpa’s almond cookies, mooncakes, fruit cakes, egg tarts, and dumplings. It was quite difficult to choose the first ...