Are you sick of seeing an endless scroll of flat focaccia and fail breads in your Instagram feed from people trying our sourdough for the first time? So are Rosheen Kaul (ex-Dinner by Heston, Lee Ho Fook, Ezard) and Joanna Hu (Fat Duck, Vue De Monde, Saint Crispin) who also noticed people were crying out for Asian recipes and decided to combine their skills to do something about it. In 14 days (sadly, they're currently both unemployed), the pair used their cooking and illustration skills to bring you the Isol-Asian Cookbook filled with doable recipes for the home cook with a basic Asian pantry.
Kaul admits the book is Chinese-ish. While some recipes like the fried rice and congee are based off traditional Cantonese methods (that means no soy), there are others that have been designed off her years learning from the kitchens she has worked in and researching Chinese cuisine.
You'll find recipes for prawn toast, Sichuan sausage sangas (a riff on our sausage sizzle), properly stir-fried greens, creamy tofu noodles and a bunch of sauces you can dress any food up with, accompanied by stunning illustrations within its pages. The beauty of the book is that you don't even need to make a special trip to the Asian grocer – you'll be able to use all up all those random seasonings and spices you have hanging around in your cupboard.
The Isol-Asian Cookbook is available for hard copy (limited numbers) and soft copy and can be purchased here. The latter is only $10, which is much cheaper than a serve of sad, greasy take out.