Star Chef: Kian Lam Kho

If you’ve wanted to cook authentic Chinese food but have felt a little put off by unfamiliar ingredients or techniques, then run, don’t walk, to meet author Kian Lam Kho.  Please join us today for a book signing and special menu featuring recipes from his latest cookbook, Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees: Essential Techniques of Authentic Chinese Cooking.

Kian Lam Kho demystifies Chinese cuisine by focusing on the cooking techniques-steaming, flashpoaching, oil-steeping, red-cooking, salt-baking, and velveting, just to name a few-that form its widely varied foundation. A software engineer by trade and James Beard Award-nominated blogger (redcook.net) by passion, he’s a Singapore native who moved to Boston to attend college in the 1970s. Unable to find authentic Chinese food, he wrote home to relatives in China for instructions and recipes, then went on to become a restaurant consultant, food writer, and cooking teacher. His engagingly written book starts with the big picture, “The Essence of Chinese Food,” then hones in on the home kitchen, discussing key Chinese cooking tools and how to stock a Chinese pantry.

This book is an excellent choice for home cooks wanting to learn more about Chinese cuisine and techniques. Novice cooks in particular will find the highly detailed methods of preparation incredibly helpful.