The Dim Sum Field Guide is now officially ready to go!

Happy Year of the Monkey! The happiest day on the Chinese calendar is finally here. Lots of my friends are monkeys – meaning that they were born in the year of, not that they are actual simians – and so I always think of this year as promising good things.

Today is not a day for cooking. In fact, if you have gotten your act together better than me, you should be living off the stuff you already socked away for these two weeks of celebration. So, instead of telling you what to make, I’m going to let you in on a preview of one of my two books. I think you’ll like it.

THE DIM SUM FIELD GUIDE: A TAXONOMY OF DUMPLINGS, BUNS, MEATS, SWEETS, AND OTHER SPECIALTIES OF THE CHINESE TEAHOUSE is coming out from Ten Speed Press in late August. I’ve been doing the final proofreading this last week, and I am so excited with how it has turned out.

First of all, this will be a smallish book – about the size of an iPad – so you can stash it in your bag or backpack whenever you head out for a dim sum meal. Arranged like a real field guide, all of those amazing dishes are divided into a sort of family tree, with genus and species. (Yeah, I know. But still. You have to take an idea and run with it.)

You will be able to identify 76 different types of dim sum through all of my hand-drawn illustrations. Both the Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciations are in there for every singe dish, along with their traditional Chinese characters, so you can either proudly proclaim what it is you would like to order or point it out to your server.

In here you will get an idea of how each one of these dishes is made, its background, its flavors and textures, and the appropriate way to enjoy it. And, under each entry, you will see some of the other dim sum items to which it is related. For example, under Custard Tarts you can find shorter entries on Portuguese Custard Tarts and Milk Tarts, while Roast Duck will include mini discussions on Pipa Duck, Chaozhou-Style Braised Duck, and Roast Goose.

This book started out as a feature in the Lucky Peach “Chinatown” issue a couple of years ago. It has since morphed into this new and improved guidebook with over 200 dishes. Divided into savory and sweet dim sum, THE DIM SUM FIELD GUIDE is easy to use and full of fun facts.

You will learn in here, too, what types of tea to order with your meal, how to go about designing a dim sum brunch, and the proper etiquette. (Hint: it’s not all that hard.) 

Little symbols accompany each entry so that you know at a glance what is in that dish and how to eat it – Is it vegan? Does it include peanuts? Can I pick it up with my hands? – in order to quickly demystify this incredibly delicious way of leisurely enjoying a wide variety of flavors and textures during the course of your meal.

I’m happy to say now that it will be out in only seven months! Thank you, Chris Ying, for being this book’s godfather and providing a fabulous quote for the cover, Lucky Peach for nurturing this seedling of an idea, and Ten Speed Press for allowing it to grow into a genuine book. And last but certainly not least, thank you all for reading my work and encouraging me. I am grateful beyond belief.

What a dream come true.


All illustrations copyright (c) 2016 by Carolyn Phillips. Do not reproduce without written permission.

THE DIM SUM FIELD GUIDE: A TAXONOMY OF DUMPLINGS, BUNS, MEATS, SWEETS, AND OTHER SPECIALTIES OF THE CHINESE TEAHOUSE

Ten Speed Press, forthcoming in August 2016

176 pages, 80 illustrations

ISBN: 978-60774-956-1

Cookbook news and some delicious awards

Color me excited: Food52 has named my Zhajiang Noodle recipe a Wildcard Contest Winner and a Community Pick! 

This magazine also recently published my guide to Chinese cooking equipment. Coming up on the same site will be my guide to essential Chinese ingredients. Stay tuned... 

The other great news is that McSweeney's is going to publish my upcoming cookbook -- ALL UNDER HEAVEN: RECIPES FROM THE 35 CUISINES OF CHINA -- in tandem with Ten Speed Press. 

What's so great about this is that Ten Speed is such a large and well-respected publishing house that ALL UNDER HEAVEN will receive much better marketing that could have ever been possible before. The down side is that its publication date has been pushed back to April 2016, but that gives Ten Speed time to include AUH in its spring catalog. So, my sincere apologies for this short setback. Do know that it's already to go and I'm already working on my next book, THE DIM SUM FIELD GUIDE, which will also be published by Ten Speed.

McSweeney's has finished the layout, and I have to say that it looks fantastic:

They've managed to include my illustrations on just about every page, and when you consider that this book is going to weigh in at over 500 pages, that's pretty exciting.

The lovely and talented Ken Hom has written the most beautiful foreword, and I can't thank the Godfather of Chinese Cuisine enough for his support and mentorship. 

Stay tuned for more news as it becomes available. 

The Dim Sum Field Guide!

Good news to all of you out there who liked “The Beginner’s Field Guide to Dim Sum” and reprint I did for the Lucky Peach Chinatown issue: Ten Speed Press is going to publish an expanded version in August 2016 that should help you to satisfy all your cravings for this delicious way with brunch. Called THE DIM SUM FIELD GUIDE: A TAXONOMY OF DUMPLINGS, BUNS, MEATS, SWEETS, AND OTHER SPECIALTIES OF THE CHINESE TEAHOUSE, this fully illustrated handbook will include 80 entries on the many delights to be found in a dim sum restaurant and make you an expert on what to order, how to eat it, and everything in between.

My idea of brunch

Separated into the two main branches -- savory and sweet -- this guide will cover everything from steamed like Jiaozi and Siu Mai, to deep-fried dim sum such as Honeycomb Taro-Wrapped Pork and Coffee Pork Ribs, and all the many roast and braised meats you can expect to find wheeled past you in the dining room, like Char Siu, Roast Duck, Black Bean Chicken Feet, and Stuffed Bean Curd. 

Those who have a highly refined sweet tooth will not feel left out, either, for this guide will introduce you to such traditional wonders as Raised Fermented Rice Cakes and Fried Water Chestnut Pudding, as well as more familiar treats such as Custard Tarts, Fried Sesame Balls, and Malay Cake. 

Char Siu

Each entry will start out with the name in Chinese, as well as its pronunciation in Mandarin and Cantonese (with the correct tones, too!) so that you can learn to order fearlessly. The accompanying drawing will give you an idea of what to expect it to look like, but then the Guide will describe in detail how it was made, its regular ingredients, and how both the exterior and interior tastes and feels.

You will be shown what sauces to expect, what dips ought to be considered, and the related dim sum in that particular family. For example, steamed Char Siu Bun are tea house standards, but you should also consider the baked version in a puff pastry that crumbles satisfyingly with each bite. 

Siu Mai

The origins of each dim sum are also introduced to give you a sense of how this particular morsel developed. Many items trundled around on a cart, for example, originated in the seaport called Chaozhou in northeastern Guangdong, while others found their way from Yangtze River kitchens or Muslim diners in the cold north to the tropical teahouses of Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Some even have interesting asides, such as the urban legend that Char Siu Buns are like hot dogs, in that they are repositories for any sort of mysterious ingredients, including even human flesh. (Again, that's a legend -- the contents of these are probably more appetizing that a hot dog could ever lay claim to.)

Order slip with "arrived" chops

You'll also receive advice on how to order from a cart and menu, the correct way to balance a dim sum meal, the various types of tea you should expect to choose from, and how to decipher the bill. There even is a short section planned on teahouse etiquette to get you looking like a seasoned pro in no time flat. 

THE DIM SUM FIELD GUIDE:

A TAXONOMY OF DUMPLINGS, BUNS, MEATS, SWEETS, AND OTHER SPECIALTIES OF THE CHINESE TEAHOUSE

Ten Speed Press, forthcoming in August 2016

176 pages, 80 illustrations

ISBN: 978-60774-956-1