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Cook at Home in Chinese

Henry Low

Year
1938
Origin
USA/China · East Asia
Language
English
Category
China

Cook at Home in Chinese, compiled by Henry Low and issued by Macmillan in 1938, ranks among the earliest English-language Chinese cookbooks aimed at the American home kitchen. Drawing on the author's experience as a New York restaurateur, it presents recipes adapted for Western pantries while preserving Cantonese technique, and stands as an important document of early Chinese-American culinary exchange.

Cooking from this book

Egg Foo Young

Signature dish

Among the dishes most closely linked with Henry Low's pioneering 1938 guide is egg foo young, the savoury Chinese American omelette bound with bean sprouts and small pieces of meat or seafood, often finished with a glossy brown sauce. Low's book introduced American home cooks to such Cantonese American restaurant staples in an accessible form, and this dish in particular came to symbolise the cross cultural cookery he championed for English speaking kitchens of the period.

An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.

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