Down South + East: A Chinese American Cookbook

Chinese American chef Ron Hsu shares original recipes exploring innovative Asian-influenced dishes via the rich larder of the American South in his debut cookbook, Down South + East

With mouthwatering ingredient combinations, a fresh take on Southern food, and comforting-yet-creative recipes, Down South + East helps home cooks across the country look at everyday ingredients in new ways and discover exciting possibilities for them.

Ron Hsu grew up a restaurant kid, surrounded by the delicious smells and flavors of Chinese food at Hunan Village, a set of seven restaurants his parents ran in Georgia from 1980 to 2008. Now, with culinary school, seven years at the world-famous Le Bernardin―where he moved from line cook to creative director―and his Michelin-starred restaurant Lazy Betty under his belt, Hsu is more than ready to share his recipes inspired by his Chinese childhood in the American South.

The delicious results include recipes like cornbread made with deeply flavored lap cheong (Chinese sausage) standing in for pork cracklins and char siu style pork lacquered with a sorghum syrup-bourbon glaze. Laced with ginger, the potlikker of gently braised watercress can throw down with that of any collard greens, and a soy sauce and shiitake mushroom gravy enhances traditional meatloaf.

A deep section on the Southern and Chinese pantry sets the stage for the recipes to come, exploring the ingredients most common in both cuisines―from pork, rice, peanuts, okra, cabbage, and peaches to sorghum, ketchup, soy sauce, and five spice―and redefining what is considered Southern food.