A-Gong's Table: Vegan Recipes from a Taiwanese Home (A Chez Jorge Cookbook)

I don’t have the words to describe how amazing this book is already!! I wish I could give it 100 stars. The introduction, the photography and the brief stories/excerpts that accompany each dish have me speechless. I can tell that there was so much love, thought and care put into this book just by the way it is written.I also love that this is a thick paperback and isn’t flimsy at all. I can also tell the pages are also made from high quality material by flipping through them. Highly highly recommend this book for everyone even if you’re not vegan.

Having travelled to Taiwan, I was excited to cook from this cookbook. It really is a nice cookbook that honors the author’s grandfather (“A-Gong”). I really liked the Sesame Noodles recipe (p. 93) and and the plum pickled cherry tomatoes (p. 132). I thought the substitutes for chicken and beef in the recipes to be interesting but if I was to make beef noodle soup, I think I would make it with beef. A true vegetarian would enjoy this book a lot. Most of the ingredients in the book can be found at a local Asian grocery store or online which is nice. Overall, I found the recipes interesting and original. Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of this book; the opinions are my own.

After following Chez Jorge online, I was so excited for his cookbook and I was not disappointed! Beautiful book, easy to follow recipes, unique and delicious. Perfect for not only vegans and vegetarians but for anyone who enjoys thoughtfully crafted delicious recipes.

This is a lovely cookbook that features Taiwanese vegetarian recipes and pays homage to the author’s grandfather (“A-Gong”). I found the section on vegetarian meats interesting as it had a recipe for imitation chicken and had a recipe for Lion’s Mane Mushrooms that can be used as a beef or chicken substitute in stir-fries, braises, and soups. I was unfamiliar with certain ingredients but the author does a nice job of explaining this at the beginning of the book and mentions most ingredients in the book can be found at a local Asian grocery store or online. I enjoyed the recipes for sweet potato congee and sesame noodles. If you’re an adventurous vegetarian cook, I think this book would be very enjoyable. Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of this book; the opinions are my own.

This is a beautiful book and a really enjoyable read! The author does a great job sharing history and sourcing suggestions for ingredients and equipment that an American audience might be less familiar with. Recipes include both volume and weight measurements which is super helpful.While most of the recipes include a photo of the finished dish, there aren't a ton of step-by-step photos. The instructions are still straightforward and easy to follow, but if you're more of a visual learner you might miss the extra photographs.There is a bit of an emphasis on meat substitutes - like wheat gluten, soy, or tofu - as opposed to just "more vegetables" (although mushrooms make several appearances here as well). If you tend to prefer veggie substitutes (like eggplant, mushrooms, or beans) to vegetarian "meats" (like seitan, gluten, soy, etc), you might find yourself skipping a few recipes here.Great for: People who read cookbooks like novels, home cooks that already have at least a passing familiarity with Taiwanese cuisine and want to dive deeper, vegans or vegetarians looking for plant-based versions of their favorite Taiwanese dishes.Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of this book; the opinions are my own.

This book, written by a young Taiwanese chef and food blogger (Chez Jorge), recently out of culinary school, joins the pantheon of cookbooks revisiting ancestral foodways. In this instance, A-Gong’s Table includes dishes inspired by Lee’s beloved Taiwanese grandfather. It also includes traditional Buddhist plant-based funeral recipes. What makes it unique is that he adapts his grandfather’s dishes to be meatless in this heart-felt cookbook that mixes old and modern recipes.I appreciated reading Chef Lee’s story and looking at Laurent Hsia’s images of Taiwan that appear throughout. I often felt like I was getting to know his treasured grandfather from reading the recipes and preparing them myself. As an avid vegetarian cook with a ton of Asian pantry staples in my home, I was surprised how many of these ingredients I wasn’t aware of before. If like me, you enjoy experimenting with food products you’ve never had before, you will love this book. (And of course, most ingredients are available online or at your local Asian store.)There are many recipes on fermenting vegetables, warming breakfast dishes and numerous soups. There are also recipes for festivals and traditional holidays. I’m working my way through the soup recipes and have enjoyed everything I’ve made so far.A delicious education for someone like me not familiar with Taiwanese cooking.Please note that Ten Speed Press provided me with a copy of this book but the opinions are my own.

I’ve been a fan of George Lee (@chez.jorge) on IG for a while now, so I was excited to see that he was coming out with a cookbook! As someone with a Taiwanese heritage who prefers not to cook with meat at home, this vegan cookbook was a very welcome addition to my collection.The first recipe I made was the Sesame Noodles (麻將麵) which was so good I’ve made it multiple times already! It’s amazing how flavorful the sauce is even though it’s made entirely from pantry items.Next, I tried Braised “Pork” over Rice which uses Gluten Threads and Gluten Intestine (recipes for both also in the book) as substitutes for the pork. No one is going to mistake the resulting sauce for braised pork, but it was still extremely tasty with all the flavors of the familiar, comforting dish.In addition to the recipes, I love the pictures and stories of Taiwanese life sprinkled throughout the book. Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of this book; the opinions are my own.

I don’t know much about Taiwan but after reading through this cookbook like a novel I have a better understanding of the author and the country. There is poetry in his observations. His narrative voice reminds me somehow strangely of Nigel Slater, one of my all time favourite food writers and recipe developers. I have yet to try out these recipes. I am most keen to try the vegan beef noodle soup. There are many recipes for pickles and condiments, stepping stones for other recipes in the book. I would have liked a photo for every recipe. Step by step photos of the seitan/mock meat making process would have also been useful. There was enough room for it so the decision by author/ editor to have questionable random photos of Taiwan when photos of the end product of each recipe would have made better sense. The book would have been better if there were also photos of all the foreign ingredients with the English and Taiwanese/Chinese names for them to assist when trying to find them at local Asian grocery store. Otherwise a solid addition to my growing Asian vegan cookbook collection. George Lee is still very young so I wish he does well with this book and with experience publishes more cookbooks with accessible authentic Taiwanese vegan recipes.

I don't think I've ever read a more heartachingly beautiful recipe book. A-Gong's Table is such a wonderfully written tribute to George Lee's grandpa and familial bonds, as well as his love for Taiwanese cuisine. Laurent Hsia's evocative street photography of Taiwan really added to the grace and tenderness of the publication. I've pored through the book page to page, tried out various recipes (they are detailed and the results scrumptious; they made me reminisce so much of the sights and sounds of the street markets in Taipei, Kaohsiung etc.), and found myself lingering often on the segments about George cooking with the Buddhist nuns. I cannot recommend A-Gong's Table enough. This is just an absolutely stunning work.