Easy Chinese Food Anyone Can Make

Chung, who posts to TikTok as @iam.chungry, aims to inspire “even those with limited time, space, budget or even cooking skills” in her debut collection, but somewhat misses the mark. The dishes themselves are appetizing and often come together quickly; recipes to “whip up on a weeknight” include spring onion oil noodles and five variations on fried rice. For more elaborate meals there’s red braised pork belly and home made recreations of popular take-out dishes like sweet and sour pork. Vegan and vegetarian fare abounds (mapo tofu, dan dan noodles with mushroom instead of pork), as does seafood (prawn vermicelli, whole steamed fish). Unfortunately, Chung only occasionally offers substitutions for specialty ingredients that may prove difficult to source and her instructions can sometimes be convoluted: the final step when assembling dumplings, for example, is to “Fold two of the short arms of each ‘T’ (on the same side) in to meet each other and seal in the middle of the dumpling’s edge. Bend the other arms of the ‘T’ round slightly to make the dumpling curve gently.” This is accompanied by a line drawing illustration that only adds to the confusion. There are a lot of tasty offerings, but true beginners may struggle to follow along. (Aug.)