Hi, I am Chef Zara. In this post, I will guide you through Asian Cookbooks.
I love discovering new food and cooking with friends and family. One of the most common questions that I often get is for cookbook recommendations. I have created this guide for friends, family, and new friends alike. I hope that you enjoy our site.
Asian Cookbooks from the world’s largest continent to your kitchen 🥢
Asian cuisine is as vast as it is delicious. The meals come from a wide range of cultures and countries, but many of the dishes share a similar theme of flavor-filled meats, noodles, rice, and vegetables. From Japanese cooking to Chinese food and everything in between, there is a seemingly endless array of tasty recipes emphasizing modern and authentic flavors.
You can´t miss our select list of the 10 Asian Cookbooks 👇
1. 101 Asian Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die
Why We Love It ❤️
We recommend this cookbook for any beginner trying to make delicious Asian cuisine. The recipes are masterfully crafted by Celebrity Chef Jet Tila and cover various Korean and Vietnamese cultural dishes. It includes 101 delicious recipes for anyone with a love for Asian food.
Review 📖
If you’re looking for a comprehensive cookbook with delicious recipes that anyone can make, you need to check out 101 Asian Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die. This book is loaded with savory goodness, separated into flavorsome chapters from My Favorite Noodle Dishes to Dumplings, Finger Foods, and Small Plates. There’s even an entire chapter on sauces.
With 101 recipes ranging from Pineapple Fried Rice to a Vietnamese Banh Mi Sandwich, and beautiful color photos for each recipe, there is something full of authentic Asian flavor for everyone.
2. Maangchi’s Real Korean Cooking
Why We Love It ❤️
Author, Maangchi, is the authority on Korean home cooking and more than 6 million fans on her YouTube channel agree. We recommend this Asian cookbook for anyone looking to capture pure, authentic Korean flavor in a way that’s easy to understand. It includes chapters like “Kimchi and Pickles” and “Party and Special-Occasion Food” and even has a detailed section breaking down the main ingredients involved in Korean cooking.
Review 📖
Each dish is prepared in an easy-to-recreate way for any level of home cook. This cookbook includes step-by-step photos for every recipe (800 total) to make the recipe process even more foolproof. With recipes like Seafood Scallion Pancakes and Spicy Napa Cabbage, this cookbook will teach you how to cook all of Korea’s best dishes.
3. Chinese Takeout in 5
Why We Love It ❤️
This cookbook is for you if you’re ready to save some serious money on Chinese takeout. Recreating all of your favorite dishes at home with fresh ingredients has never been easier, thanks to Chinese Takeaway in 5. Learn how to make all the classics with only five main ingredients per recipe! Plus, there are helpful tips all along the way so you can make the most out of your homemade creations.
This book includes 80 recipes for beloved Chinese dishes.
Review 📖
We all love dining in restaurants and enjoying Chinese food, but there’s something truly special about cooking something delicious right in your kitchen. This book helps you make that real-time time again with over 80 recipes for recreating your restaurant favorites.
With incredible recipes for dishes like Tom Yum Soup and Sweet and Sour Pork Balls, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start cooking at home sooner!
4. Simple Thai Food
Why We Love It ❤️
Thai food is one of America’s most popular Asian cuisines, and for a good reason! The bright and flavorful dishes feed the stomach and the soul with tasty flavors unique to the Asian cooking world. Asian cookbooks like Simple Thai Food allow you to create delicious dishes that previously might have seemed restaurant-exclusive. Thankfully for all of us, a thoughtful and experienced chef compiled these easy-to-follow steps along with beautiful photography to deliver the goodness of a Thai kitchen right to you. But now that it’s so easy, you might never go back to ordering out again.
Review 📖
The recipes in this cookbook have been extensively tested to ensure that anyone can recreate them at home. The book goes beyond recipes and clues the reader on key ingredients and tools to make your Thai cooking journey even easier. With recipes like Pad Thai with Shrimp, Fried Spring Rolls, and famous Drunken Noodles, this cookbook can help the home cook of any skill level elevate their Asian cuisine with delicious homemade Thai flavors.
5. Sweet, Savory, Spicy
Why We Love It ❤️
We love that this cookbook covers a variety of flavor profiles from a variety of countries. Author, Sarah Tiong, covers Malaysian cuisine, Indonesian cuisine, Turkish Cuisine, and so much more. The awesome recipes in this book range from those made on the barbecue grill to street food sauces and, of course, the ever-important sweets. The diversity of the recipes in this book makes it so valuable for anyone with a love of Asian cuisine. One thing all the recipes have in common– they all look incredible!
Review 📖
If you’re looking to go beyond some of the most popular dishes associated with Asian cuisine, you will be very pleased with Chef Tiong’s work putting together this book. The book covers a broad range of cuisines and cooking styles to give the reader an incredible variety of dishes.
With recipes like Vietnamese Grilled Pork Ribs, Laotian Meatballs, and Cambodian Beef Rendang, this thorough cookbook with appetizing photos and delectable dishes is a must-have for any collection of Asian cookbooks.
6. Easy Chinese Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
Your new favorite Chinese dish to make is waiting for you inside this tasty, beginner-friendly cookbook. The Easy Chinese Cookbook is an incredible guide for putting together Chinese restaurant favorites in your kitchen, masterfully crafted by Chef Chris Toy, who has been teaching Asian cooking for over 35 years. And good cooking tips; while the other cookbook for Chinese cooking we included on this list simplifies recipes to 5 ingredients, this book is for the purist willing to put in a little extra to master the re-creation of Chinese cuisine.
Review 📖
This book is about making delicious, restaurant-quality meals in the comfort of your home. Between the helpful cooking tips and labels for things like “dishes that take 30 minutes or less to prepare,” this book can help Chinese cooking easily become a part of your everyday routine. It will also help you to match the savory and irresistible flavors of classic favorites like General Tso’s Chicken and Wonton Soup. There is so much more inside the pages of this book!
7. Sushi Cookbook for Beginners
Why We Love It ❤️
Sushi is a classic Japanese dish that requires a little extra skill to get right. The practice is well worth the amazing results. Thanks to Sushi Cookbook for Beginners, learning how to make restaurant-quality sushi in your kitchen has never been easier. With beautiful step-by-step photos and helpful tips, including a section on choosing the right sushi knife, you can look forward to solid education on sushi, sashimi, nigiri, and more.
Review 📖
If you’re a lover of Japanese cooking and looking for a bit of a challenge with high reward potential, this book is for you. Sushi seems like a meal that would be impossible to recreate at home because of its many elements. Don’t be intimidated by what you thought you knew about sushi, though. Sushi Cookbook for Beginners demystifies sushi-making techniques in simple, easy-to-understand ways.
With recipes from Smoked Salmon Temari with Cucumber to California Rolls and even a chapter with 19 different staples and sauces, this book is your ultimate guide to making sushi at home.
8. Indian Instant Pot Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
This beloved cookbook is perfect for anyone who appreciates traditional Indian cuisine. Indian food is a flavorful cultural experience that remains wildly popular in all parts of the world. And thanks to Indian Instant Pot, authentic Indian dishes are easier than ever. This book includes 50 delicious recipes made completely in the revolutionary Instant Pot.
Review 📖
This recipe book will do cooking faster and clean-up a breeze. Every recipe comes with simple step-by-step instructions for cooking each dish, along with expert tips for using your Instant Pot and getting the most out of your Indian cuisine.
Use this book to make 50 authentic Indian recipes, from Butter Chicken to Chicken Tikka Masala and so many more.
9. Street Food Vietnam
Why We Love It ❤️
Street food is an enormous part of Vietnamese culture. If you were to travel to the country in search of some of the best Vietnamese cooking, your search might be guided by the unbelievable smells wafting from the street food carts. Street Food Vietnam is packed with the most popular Vietnamese dishes, from the world-famous Bahn mi sandwich to fresh noodle salads and, of course, pho. This cookbook includes 70 recipes, each with a photo and simple instructions to empower you to recreate the dishes at home.
Review 📖
This book proves that Asian recipes don’t have to be complicated to be delicious, and you don’t have to travel across the world to enjoy these culinary works of art. Author Jerry Mal includes a glossary of the most common ingredients and kitchen equipment used in Vietnamese food to set the reader on a successful path. From grilled foods to salads and even a chapter on desserts, this comprehensive guide is perfect for anyone interested in working their way through the streets of Vietnam without ever leaving their kitchen.
10. I Am a Filipino
Why We Love It ❤️
We recommend this book for the home cook interested in authentic Filipino flavor. I Am A Filipino is a guide to the history and the culture of the Philippines with beautiful photography, engaging storytelling, and of course, mouthwatering Filipino recipes.
Review 📖
This book, which shines a light on some of the most vibrant cuisines within the category of southeast Asian cooking, also includes vivid descriptions of the rich history of the culture’s food. Filipino food is bursting with succulent flavor, and the recipes in I Am A Filipino accurately reflect that.
With recipes from White Adobo with Duck to Fried Chicken and Ube Waffles, this book is packed with delicious southeast Asian flavors that you don’t want to miss out on.
Final Thoughts
Whether exploring new Asian recipes or refining your culinary skills, these are some of the best cookbooks for authentic Asian cuisine. The pages of these Asian cookbooks are bursting with delicious flavor and will make excellent additions to your cookbook collection. From Korean food recipes like Bibimbap to toppings originating from Thai cuisine like peanut sauce for chicken satay, these books have something for everyone from prominent chefs to busy home cooks.
About Asian Cooking
Asian cuisine often includes rice and vegetable dishes alongside meat and vegetables. The great recipes are made up of varying spice levels; even if you are a vegan, there is a choice for you, and even more, exotic tastes have grown in popularity outside of Asian culture and worldwide. A great way to further your knowledge of Asian cuisine and cooking techniques is to check out some of the ten best Asian Cookbooks we have compiled for you.
Asian Cuisine
Ingredients like rice, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, tofu, and chilis are used in most Asian foods. Recipes are often steamed or stir-fried in a wok, but on rare occasions, you will find a deep-fried recipe for Asian food. Whether you’re flipping through a Filipino cookbook or exploring Japanese cuisine, you’ll encounter many of the same ingredients and cooking tools. Still, every country and culture has diverse cooking styles and unique flavors to make their dishes stand out. The best way to grasp Asian cuisine is to experience it yourself and experience as much of it as possible.
Popular Asian Recipes
There are so many different Asian dishes for any food lover to try. Ranging from recipes that recreate takeout restaurant favorites to those that require a bit of an adventurous palate to try, these cookbooks will set you down the right path. Some of the most popular Asian recipes that you’ll see time and time again as staples of certain countries include:
Vietnamese food: pho, Bahn mi, and bun cha; Korean food: kimchi, Bibimbap, and bulgogi; just to name a few; Chinese food: sweet and sour pork, wonton soup, dumplings, and Dim Sum.
These Asian cookbooks contain much more information and step-by-step instructions for cooking many popular Asian recipes.
