Down South + East: A Chinese American Cookbook

Down South + East: A Chinese American Cookbook (Signed Copy)
by Ron Hsu with Hugh Amano | Foreword by Eric Ripert

What happens when a Chinese American kid grows up in the heart of Georgia, surrounded by both his family's Hunan-style cooking and the soul of Southern cuisine? You get Down South + East — a landmark debut cookbook that reframes what American food can be.

Chef Ron Hsu knows both worlds intimately. His parents ran Hunan Village, a beloved chain of seven Georgia restaurants, from 1980 to 2008. He went on to train at Eric Ripert's three-Michelin-starred Le Bernardin in New York and now helms Atlanta's own Michelin-starred Lazy Betty. In this gorgeous book, he brings those worlds together in recipes that feel at once unexpected and completely inevitable — cornbread flavored with lap cheong, char siu pork glazed with sorghum and bourbon, collard greens tossed into fried rice at the last second, still bright and barely wilted, just the way Chinese cooking treats its greens.

More than a recipe collection, Down South + East is a story about family, immigration, and identity told through food. A deep pantry section explores the surprising overlap between Southern and Chinese kitchens — pork, rice, peanuts, okra, soy sauce, five spice, peaches — and invites you to see everyday ingredients with fresh eyes.

This signed copy makes a meaningful gift for the food lover, the Southerner, the cookbook collector, or anyone who has ever found home in two places at once.