Chinese-ish: Home cooking, not quite authentic, 100% delicious

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Crisp, fluffy and golden – a result of plenty of oil and plenty of heat – the Asian approach to omelettes champions all of the characteristics the Western world condemns. Along with the book's photographs, bright, light-hearted illustrations from Joanna Hu perfectly match the recipes.

You will want to run, not walk, to the kitchen once you’ve enjoyed a pleasurable hour on the sofa flicking through its pages. And now I have it in my collection, in pride of place, where it belongs, I feel it is a book you might need to have, too. The Singapore-born chef has teamed up with illustrator (and former waiter) Joanna Hu, who hails from China's Hunan province. I wasn’t sure if it had anything new to add to the Chinese / Asian cookbooks we already have in existence but I did want to try a lot of the dishes - regional noodles dishes rarely seen in an English language cookbook, interesting condiments made home made friendly as well as staples like fried rice and congee. As immigrants with Chinese heritage who both moved to Australia as kids, Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu spent their formative years living between (at least) two cultures and wondering how they fitted in.Chinese-ish celebrates the confident blending of culture and identity through food-take what you love and reject what doesn't work for you. Readers who just love reading cookbooks, even if they never step foot in the kitchen, won’t want to miss it either.

I thus draw your attention to the Dan Dan Mean; the most fabulous dumplings; Golden Shrimp Roe Noodles; Ants Climbing a Tree Noodles; Chicken Congee; some incredible sauces, namely Lazy XO Sauce, Hunan Salted Chilli, and Chilli Oil; Yunnan Mashed Potato, alive with garlic, chilli and pickled greens; the divine Creamy Tofu Noodles with Soy-Vinegar Dressing; Fiery Sichuan Fondue, which takes the form of a cheese fondue made with lager rather than wine, and a generous amount of chilli oil (and you can use Lao Gan Ma); and the spectacular Uighur ‘Big Plate’ Chicken with Hand-Pulled Noodles. While the surface of the omelette is perfectly set, the centre is just underdone, giving way to a custardy interior when sliced open. This one started as a pandemic project for two Melbourne-based friends, and wound up as a cool, quirky and beautifully printed volume.

Against my better judgement I tried it anyway in case this level of salt unlocked amazing wontons flavours I didn't know about. Chinese-ish is modern, unconventional, innovative, vibrant, tasty, colourful, incredibly delicious food. Allow the omelette to cook for 10 seconds, then tilt the pan to allow the egg mixture to run from the centre of the omelette into the oil. Chef Rosheen Kaul and illustrator Joanna Hu's collection mashes classic Chinese cooking with personal culinary influence collected from all over Asia. A bunch of the stuff I knew how to make, having my very Chinese ancestors whispering in my ears, in a format my very white, very 'what's the recipe' husband can understand.

Rosheen and Joanna share their vivacious heritage and culture all wrapped up in a book parcel of their knowledge and love of their original and self-proclaimed unauthentic Asian food. Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. Modern, unconventional, innovative, vibrant, tasty, colourful and incredibly delicious―this is a cookbook from two authors who consider themselves wonderfully Chinese-ish . Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil until smoking and pour it over the salad instead of the chilli oil, along with the dressing. To make the chilli paste, blitz all of the ingredients together in a food processor to form a fine paste and set aside.

Kaul and Hu have written an excellent introduction to Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisine, recommended for intermediate to advanced cooks. I borrowed this one from the public library and I loved the feel of its matte pages and its vibe which was totally hip and hand drawn, except for the big, clear photos that every cookbook should have.

It's a shorthand way of acknowledging her far spicier heritage, which includes Chinese, Filipino, Kashmiri, Malay, Peranakan and Indonesian influences. Smacking the cucumber with the back of a knife or cleaver, or even a hammer, creates lovely nooks and crevices for the dressing to find its way into, resulting in a punchy, refreshing dish for those swelteringly hot days. Get yourself a carbon steel wok (as my husband did recently; he’s loving it), hit up the supermarket’s international aisle or your local Asian market, and you’ll be dishing up variations on fried rice, Sichuan-style noodles and chiffon omelets in no time.Rosheen Kaul is head chef at Melbourne’s Etta restaurant, where she cooks a menu as culturally diverse as she is.