Zao Fan

“Rarely does a writer’s passion for their subject matter leap as vividly as it does from these pages, which are chock-full of recollections of personal visits to restaurants and observations of traditional techniques. Zee accompanies the recipes with his own photos of the dishes in all their gorgeous mouthwatering glory–meat pies sizzling on a griddle, a bowl of Wuhan three-treasure rice, neat rows of Xinjiang-style baked lamb buns–which provide an authentic sense of immersion, as do his portraits of daily life in China. The neat, color-coded organization of the recipes into logical categories such as noodles and breads provides a remarkable sense of cohesion, making Zao Fan an absolute must for cooks across all skill levels.”—- BookPage

Michael Zee is the creator of the online sensation SymmetryBreakfast (685k followers) which has been featured in the Guardian, Washington Post, Telegraph, and many others. Being British-Chinese, growing up helping out in his parents’ Chinese restaurants, and spending five years living in Shanghai, he is uniquely placed to document the huge variety of Chinese breakfast foods and to break down any barriers to Chinese cooking, making the recipes as accessible as possible. The Breakfast of China is his third book after Cook Love Share (2016), and Eat Like a Local: Shanghai (2019). He lives in Bologna with his husband.