Variously either the Julia Child or Delia Smith of Chinese cooking, with at least one cookbook said to be in every Chinese home...

The publication of the three volumes of “Pei-Mei’s Chinese Cookbook,” in 1969, 1974, and 1979 were the first to teach authentic regional style Chinese cooking to the public. They were among the first to have full color pictures of the finished dish. It was easy to follow the recipes due to clear and concise instructions and being well laid out. Each recipe is met with enthusiasm by guests.

“Pei-Mei’s Cookbooks” demystified Chinese cooking techniques. They taught the proper use of the cleaver, that the degree of heat is always critical, and that thickness and ingredient size contribute to texture, taste, and visual delight.

The three volumes became de rigueur for every bride, and copies, often with hand-written notes in the margins, and were frequently passed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter in both China and the United States for years.

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Recommended by

Carolyn Phillips

Food writer

She was a cooking star in Taiwan in the years before Julia Child transformed cooking in American. The prolific author of over 30 Chinese titles, she is perhaps most famous for this three-volume series, which was published in both Chinese and English between 1969 and 1979. She was my first real guide to cooking the way my Chinese friends did in Taipei, a beautiful place I was lucky enough to live and work in for eight years. Her easy recipes soon had me whipping up dry-fried green beans and mapo tofu like a pro.

Alexander Rozin

Professor in the Department of Music Theory, History, and Composition