Carolyn Phillips
Carolyn Phillips is a James Beard Award-nominated food writer, scholar, and artist. Her two fully illustrated books, All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China (McSweeney's + Ten Speed) and The Dim Sum Field Guide: A Taxonomy of Dumplings, Buns, Meats, Sweets, and Other Specialties of the Chinese Teahouse (Ten Speed), were published in August 2016, and Heaven has made most of the "best cookbooks of 2016" lists. Her weekly blog is "Madame Huang's Kitchen" (MadameHuang.com), and she tweets as @madamehuang, but Instagrams as @therealmadamehuang.
Hongyou Chaoshou (Wontons in Chili Oil) Recipe
Throw these wontons in a soup or eat them fresh out of the pot with a drizzle of chili oil.
Xihongshi Chao Jidan (Tomatoes and Eggs) Recipe
The secret to making this dish kick some major ass? Seriously ripe tomatoes and fresh AF eggs, duh.
Dividing and Conquering the Cuisines of China
The lasting myth of China's "eight great cuisines" makes little sense when attempting to understand the country's enormous array of food traditions.
Basi Pingguo (Toffee Apples) Recipe
Chunks of apple dipped in batter, deep-fried, and tossed in hot caramel. Oh, and then plunged into an ice bath. The result? A molten apple interior, an icy candy exterior, and a brand new way to fall in love with Chinese cuisine.
Jiaoyan Suxia (Crunchy Salt and Pepper Shrimp) Recipe
Fried until perfectly crisp with a naturally sweet flavor, these guys are kind of like the potato chips of the sea.
Lettuce With Three Shreds Recipe (Sansi Shengcai)
Lettuce does not appear in China's cuisines too often, but when it does, the results are usually startlingly good.