Hannah Che - The Vegan Chinese Kitchen: Recipes and Modern Stories from a Thousand-Year-Old Tradition: A Cookbook

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THREE YEARS AGO , I was sitting in a practice room at music school, sorting through two degrees worth of frayed concerto scores and books Id accumulated in my locker, when I found a cookbook that Id been meaning to return to a friend. I remember flipping through the glossy pages and wondering if I could ever write a cookbook myself. At that moment, it was a vague, unattainable pipe dream, completely unrelated to what I thought I should be doing. But life is wild, and one heck of a journey later, weve somehow gotten to the acknowledgments; although itd be impossible to name everyone who has played a part in this book, I want to thank a few people in particular:

Francis Lam , for being the greatest editor I couldve wished forI shrieked when I got off our first phone conversation, I felt so lucky knowing this book would be in the best hands. Thank you for believing in my vision and for trusting me, for your eternal patience across the thousands of miles and various time zones (Ill never forget that 4:00 a.m. Zoom meeting from the internet cafe), for the humor and insight you imparted along the way, and for asking all the wise questions that helped shape this book into something so much better than that massive AF manuscript I first turned in. Big thanks to the talented team at Clarkson Potter: Jen Wang , for designing these pages into a thing of beauty; Paige Resnick , Darian Keels , Kelli Tokos , Kathy Brock , and Patricia Shaw , for the hard work you put into every line and paragraph, every printing spec, and all the unseen and untold effort that goes into making a book. You all made my dreams come true, literally.

Joanne Lee Molinaro , book and soul sister: I will never forget our conversation at the Houston marathon that fateful January. Thank you for giving me advice and for cheering me onin some ways, you started this whole thing. Charlie Brotherstone , agent extraordinaire; thank you for believing in me and in this book from day one and working the behind-the-scenes magic to make it all happen. Also, Im thrilled that I have an excuse now to visit London.

To my mentors and colleagues in China: Wen Wenhui , for being not just an intimidatingly skilled vegetarian chef but an extraordinarily kind and generous teacher; Liu Yuguo , tofu shifu, for sharing your lifetime of knowledge with me; Liu Yupei , Cai Haojie , Wang Kai , and other colleagues, for the misery we endured, cheung fun breakfast runs, harrowing adventures on the Guangzhou metro, and endless laughter; Coleman Yee and Jeh Ling Wang , for the birthday dinner and for making me feel at home in a new city; Na Mucuo , Chang Ru , Wang Laoshi , Li Laoshi , Liu Yuanyuan , and the rest of the staff at the Guangzhou Vegetarian School, for welcoming me with open arms and teaching me so much. Thank you to Chef Li Hongzhi , my vegan hero in Harbin, for answering all my questions with so much patience; Feng Suping , for taking me around Chengdu and feeding me delicacies; Uncle Yin Jingzhe , for all the wonderful food you introduced me to in Suzhou.

I couldnt have done this without my family. Mom: Thank you for telling me to trust my intuition, even if it meant getting on next-day flights, for teaching me Chinese, for washing endless dishes when I made a mess of your kitchen during weeks of shooting, and for always providing brutally honest feedback on my food. Dad , your unconditional support means the world to me; thank you for driving me around for Chinese ingredients and tolerating me at my hangriest, and for your insight and edits on the manuscript. Ben, Isaac , and Rebekah: Im so lucky to have you as siblingsthanks for the laughs and for ensuring there were no leftovers. Special thanks to Elizabeth Che , my sister and talented photo assistant, hand model, sounding board, creative consultant, and so much moreyou are a true artist and I couldnt have done this book without you.

Jiayi Zheng: Thank you for always answering my panicked texts and calls, for letting me send you every image and design from this book, for your wise, grounding life advice and creative insight, and for being the first person to cook from this book. At this point were going to be in each others lives forever and I am very okay with that. Shirley Xu , Grace Lim , Chandler Yu , Ruta Kuzmickas , Anna Chi , Gloria Quintanilla , and Yoseph Maguire , my people from day one (!): Thank you for always checking in, for patiently listening to me vent during this entire process, and for providing support from afar. Jon and Grace Scalet , Cathy Cao , Liana DeMaris , Katie Bryant , Nathan Chan , and the rest of my family at Roots: You formed my support system in Taipei; thank you for helping me in immeasurable ways when the writing was rough. Peggy and Bruce , I will never forget your generous hospitality and our glorious vegan dim sum outings.

My recipe testers: Jen Han , Jessica Babine , Hanna Donato , Jackie Cordero , Emily Lavieri-Scull , Echo Jiang , Candice Cadena , Connie Park , Flora Zhu , Robert Syvarth , Emily Shea , Lokyi Choy , Maryann Shangkuan , Silvia Soh , Kevin Hsu , Ngo Yoke Kwang , Ngo Ke Ni , Ngo Jun Wen , How Jin Yip , Christine Hsieh , Afia Amoako , Erika Kwee , Daphne Wang , Pat Donahue , Melissa Ramos , Justyna Czyszczo , Olivia Hu , David Li , Ariel Lin , Mathison and Alyssa Ingham , Ally and Austin Smither-Lewellen , Delaney Eng , Sarah Obermaier , and Megan and Daniel Tavani you saw these recipes in their roughest form and provided invaluable feedback; thank you for your time and your much-needed encouragement.

Grandma , Uncle Chengjun , and Aunt Xiaoming: I had the best time in Harbin quarantining and cooking with you.

To God theres nothing I can write here that could fully describe what you mean to me. You are faithful and youve brought me through.

Finally, to all the readers of my blog, whove supported me since I was Hannah Chia making avocado toast and smoothie bowls on the weekends: Weve come a long way, and youre the reason this book exists. Thank you.

HANNAH CHE is a cook, writer, and photographer based in Portland, Oregon. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, she lived in China for several years with her family and most recently spent a year traveling throughout China and Taiwan, and training as a chef at the Guangzhou Vegetarian Culinary School. She is the creator of the blog The Plant-Based Wok.