Hi everyone—we wrote a book! And it has a cover!!
We are SO excited to announce that our cookbook is finally available for pre-order.
After almost 9 years of blogging, approximately 6 years of telling readers that no, we don’t have a cookbook, but might write one someday, and 2 years of writing, recipe-testing, food styling, photographing, and editing, SOMEDAY. Is. HERE!
Our book is finally going off to print, which means that you can pre-order it right now, to make sure you receive it on our publication date, November 1, 2022!
How to PRE-ORDER:
If you’re in the U.S., pre-order from any of the retailers below!
If you live outside of the U.S., pre-order at the Book Depository (link below), which ships internationally, or check Amazon in your home country!
Having poured much of our family’s collective energy over the past two years into this project, we are so excited to finally share it with you all.
The Woks of Life cookbook includes 100 recipes: some of our all-time best and reader favorites, as well as 80 brand new heavy hitters! 80 new recipes! You’ll also find family photos, personal stories that we’ve never shared on the blog, and lots of tips to guide you along the way.
Why Pre-order?
Ok, so we’ll level with you. November 1st is a ways away, and it might seem pointless to pre-order the book now, but if you know that you’ll want a copy later this year, pre-ordering is a good idea for a few reasons:
- It will help give our book a strong start! A strong start can make or break a cookbook. The more pre-orders we get, the more copies online vendors and bookstores will order, and the more they will promote it to their customers, placing it in more visible locations in stores. Pre-orders also count towards the book’s first week of sales, which typically determine whether a book winds up on Best Seller Lists, which can mean the difference between struggling to get publicity and getting lots of media coverage!
- Avoiding supply chain issues: The publishing industry, like many industries today, are struggling with supply chain issues—paper shortages, problems sourcing the cartons the books come in, and getting containers to ship the books. Our publisher has said that if we get to a certain number of pre-orders by the end of May (in about 4 weeks), they will order more books to meet demand. If we don’t get those orders in soon, there may be delays in re-stocking the book if demand outpaces supply this fall and during the holiday season. That’s why we’re announcing our pre-orders earlier than normal, so that the publisher can ensure they have enough copies to go around.
- You’ll be guaranteed a copy when it comes out: If you pre-order, you will definitely be one of the first people to get our cookbook. Pre-ordering now makes sense if you want to make 100% sure that you get a copy (or copies, if you’re grabbing them as gifts!) by our publication date.
Long story short, if you know you’re going to want a copy of The Woks of Life cookbook, we’d be so grateful if you’d head over to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Bookshop.org, Indiebound, Penguin Random House, or Book Depository (for international readers) to pre-order it today!
Admittedly, it’s a little scary to work on such a huge project for two years, and then put it out into the world, unsure of how it’s going to be received.
But it has been so rewarding to work on it as a family, and we think it encompasses everything you all love about The Woks of Life. We hope that it’s taken off the shelf often, gets chili oil splattered on it, and that the recipes and stories unlock memories, introduce you to new (or old) flavors, and inspire you to get in the kitchen.
More About the Book
(i.e. our fancy marketing copy!)
The family behind the acclaimed blog The Woks of Life shares 100 of their favorite home-cooked and restaurant-style Chinese recipes.
This is the story of a family as told through food. Judy, the family matriarch, speaks to preserving the traditions she grew up with in China and regional Chinese food ways. Dad Bill worked in his family’s Chinese restaurant during his formative years, and will walk you through how to make a glorious Cantonese Roast Duck. Daughters Sarah and Kaitlin have your vegetable-forward and easy weeknight recipes covered. Put them all together, and you have the first cookbook from the funny and poignant family behind the hugely popular multi-generational blog, The Woks of Life.
You’ll find a compendium of go-to, accessible, and essential Chinese recipes, from Pork & Shrimp Siu Mai and Spicy Beef Biang Biang Noodles to Cantonese Pork Belly Fried Rice and Salt-and-Pepper Fried Oyster Mushrooms. There are also helpful tips and tricks throughout, including an elaborate rundown of the Chinese pantry, explanations on essential tools (including the all-important wok), and game-changing Chinese cooking secrets like how to “velvet” meat to make it extra tender and juicy.
Whether you’re new to Chinese cooking or you already dabble in bean paste and chili oil, you’ll find inspiration from this chorus of voices, and trustworthy recipes that will become a part of your family story, too.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“For years, Bill, Judy, Sarah, and Kaitlin have been my go-to source for recipes and techniques that have roots firmly planted in Chinese tradition, but with a uniquely American experience and voice. Their intergenerational approach makes The Woks of Life unique in its ability to inspire and educate, with an eye towards practicality and usefulness. This is a very special book.”––J. Kenji López-Alt, author of The Food Lab and The Wok
“For years I was a fan, cooking many of the Leung family favorites for my loved ones. Then I became a friend when the whole gang generously agreed to come on one of my shows. We cooked all day and shared a meal I will never forget. This book allows everyone to get in the kitchen and effortlessly start cooking well researched and delicious recipes while enjoying the personalities and tastes of Judy, Bill, Sarah, and Kaitlin. The Woks of Life cookbook is a must for any food lover.”––Andrew Zimmern
“The Woks of Life became a staple resource for our family when we moved away from home and embarked on recreating the flavorful memories of our childhood. Complete with takeout favorites, quick weeknight dinners, approachable recipes for dim sum specialties, and sweet treats, in their cookbook the Leungs share their expertise at weaving tradition with modern techniques that speak to the Chinese American experience. Even more, they equip you with all you need to outfit your pantry with every sauce, spice, and kitchen tool to create authentic flavors (and wok hei!) that are sure to impress.”––Lina and Mei Lum of Wing on Wo & Co
“Like so many of my friends that cook, The Woks of Life is one of the first places I go when I need a recipe that I know will be as knowledgeable as it is usable. Having a whole printed book of recipes to cook through at last is such a gift — I cannot find a single recipe in this book that doesn’t entice me to cancel all of my plans and spend my evening cooking instead.”––Deb Perelman, author of Smitten Kitchen Keepers
“The Woks of Life blog has been one of my absolute favorites for years — I am so excited to have their book in my kitchen! These recipes are not only delicious, but they make me excited to try new dishes and bring my family together to experience new flavors. The Leung family goes above and beyond in this book to help home cooks by explaining everything from cooking tools to pantry staples, and even providing QR codes to reference certain techniques you may not be familiar with. I cannot wait to cook through this book with my family!”––Alex Snodgrass, NYT Bestselling Author of The Defined Dish and The Comfortable Kitchen
“The Leung family, creators of The Woks of Life blog, have been my go-to source when I want to make everything from fried rice and scallion pancakes, to spicy chili wontons and sesame-slicked Shanghai Noodles. With clear instructions and step-by-step photos, anyone, anywhere can make authentic and delicious Chinese food at home. I’m thrilled to have all their best recipes in one beautiful book!”––David Lebovitz, Author, My Paris Kitchen & Drinking French
Pre-Order Now!
Questions? Comments? As always, leave them below!
-Bill, Judy, Sarah, and Kaitlin
will you be having this on Kindle?
Hi Bong, yes, it is available on Kindle for pre-order as well!
I LOVE your blog and have made many of your recipes over the past several years. I would like to give your book to a number family members for this coming holiday season but most are vegetarians. How many of the recipes in the book are vegetarian or have vegetarian alternatives?
Hi Lucette, about 35% of the recipes are explicitly vegetarian or vegetarian adaptable, including desserts, sauces, vegetable dishes, appetizers, etc. If you’re a bit creative with adapting recipes, you can adapt even more of them!
Been following your blog for the past 5 or so years – this’ll be my first time pre-ordering a book (any book)! Excited!
Yay! Thank you so much for pre-ordering, Tom! :)
I can’t wait to your new book! I just pre-ordered it from my local bookstore!
Thank you so much for your pre-order, Cyndi :-)
This is amazing!!!!! Been waiting on this forever since I’ve discovered y’all
Is there a specific seller that you would get a bigger cut from? Anything to support y’all a bit more
Thank you so much, Henry, for being so thoughtful. All book venues work the same for us :-)
Finally, a physical recipe book! Thank you! Been a professional cook for over a decade, and always wanted to get better with using a wok. Your website has been a gold mine for new recipes to play around with at home, plus tons of useful information about ingredients and technique. Just wanted to say thanks for compiling all of these recipes, can’t wait for the book!
So glad to see the readers are enjoying the information we put out :-) Thank you so much for your love and support.
Hi guys. I accidentally came across your website, and that was the best accident I ever had! LOL. I tried your recipe for chicken egg foo young and it was delicious! I sent pics to my brother, he couldn’t believe I made it. Just used my skillet, and like you said, they came out fine! Back for another recipe, and you guys got a book now? Sign me up!
Wow, sounds like you did really well, Kathleen. Happy wokking! BTW, our book is available to order online: https://thewoksoflife.com/pre-order-woks-of-life-cookbook/.
Hey Bill, Judy, Sarah, and Kaitlin – just pre-ordered, well done on getting this “done” – massive effort!! Counting down the 170 days before its in my hands. Just thought you would get a kick knowing that a copy will end up here in Aotearoa-New Zealand! Best, Michael
Good to know a fellow kiwi is also ordering, and so that I can expect I can order a copy to end up in New Zealand too! This cookbook has been a long time coming!
Thank you so much for your order, Angela, much appreciated :-)
Nice to know you are on to this too Ange!! M
How great is that! Love to see this book all around the world. It will be fun to see it in places as we travel :-)
Hopefully the pre-orders have hit the mark for another order with the publisher!
Yes, it did. Thank you so much for your love and support, Amy ;-)
I instantly pre-ordered it as soon as I saw it. Been an avid reader for 7 years. Did y’all send an email about this? Must have missed it if you did.
Hi, Joel, we did send out an email about pre-ordering the book. Now that you have ordered the book, you are all caught up :-) And thank you so much for ordering our book.