This episode we’re talking to none other than chef Kathy Fang of House of Nanking and Fang Restaurant about her new cookbook House of Nanking. We were delighted to hear behind the scenes stories of this San Francisco institution, her experiences growing up in the restaurant, and dive into this cookbook that is surprisingly accessible to the home cook.

We talk about Kathy’s early experiences critiquing her dishes, the signature experiences and dishes of HoN born out of necessity, and her dad’s ingenuity throughout his life. Plus we talk about all of the things that make no sense but somehow make House of Nanking the success that it has been for over 30 years.

The House of Nanking Cookbook: Family Recipes from San Francisco’s Favorite Chinese Restaurant is out everywhere Sept 30th and available for pre-order now. Trust us when we say this book is beautiful and has dishes that are shockingly simple.

We’re talking many, many things Taiwanese food with Nancy Jeng and Felicia Liang, the author and illustrator of A Very Asian Guide to Taiwanese Food. We talk about Nancy and Felicia’s childhood embarrassment of Taiwanese food, requesting more “American” foods, and finding their way back to Taiwanese food as young adults.

We talk about how their author/illustrator collaboration came to be, Nancy’s long-con to get her husband to cook Taiwanese classics, the untapped potential of Taiwan’s beaches, and the popularity of Trader Joe’s scallion pancakes.

Find this wonderful beautiful book on Gloo Books or wherever you get your books, and hang out with Nancy and Felicia at their book launch event at On Waverly on Sunday, September 14. Plus themed bites by past guest Jessic Fu and (possible future guest) Henry Hsu.

And if you’re looking for some recipes, find three great ones in the back of this book, including one for Nancy’s Nai Nai’s scallion pancakes. We’ll be trying these out in our house along with tea eggs.

This episode we’re talking with Karen Chan, founder of Gloo Books about not one, but two of her childhood favorites, Taiwanese tea eggs and her mom’s oxtail stew! If you’re hungry now you might want to go get a snack. We talk with Karen about the nostalgia of visiting her grandparents in Taiwan and eating tea eggs from the convenience store, her mom’s less enthusiastic approach to food, and the connective power of food and travel.

We talk a lot about the many wonderful titles under Gloo Books, Karen gives us a peek inside the publishing world, and we get the inside scoop on some brand new baby books that we can all help kickstart! Plus we come up with an oyster-based business idea for her dad.

Find Gloo Book’s kickstarter for their Baby Go series, and check out all the wonderful Gloo Books titles on their website. We are serious fans of many of these and if you find yourself here, you’ll at the very least love the Very Asian Guide to.. Series.