Pearl Kong Chen (June 17, 1926 – July 21, 2014) was a Chinese-American cooking teacher and cookbook author known as an expert on Cantonese cuisine.
Pearl Kong Chen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 江獻珠 June 17, 1926 Guangzhou, China |
| Died | July 21, 2014 (aged 88) Hong Kong |
| Other names | Pearl Kong |
| Occupation(s) | cooking teacher and cookbook author |
| Known for | Cantonese cuisine |
| Notable work | Everything You Want to Know About Chinese Cooking |
Chen's grandfather, Kong Hungyun, was a Qing dynasty official and noted gourmet in Guangzhou in the early 1900s, but she did not begin her own culinary career until she came to America in 1967.[1][2] She lived in New York and in California, where she taught cooking and home economics classes at San Jose State University and provided instruction to high school teachers.[1]
Chen wrote over 40 cookbooks, primarily in Chinese, but in 1983 she published Everything You Want to Know about Chinese Cooking, for an American audience.[1][3][4] Her co-authors were her husband, Tien Chi Chen (陳天機) (1928–), and dietitian and food science professor Rose Y. L. Tseng.[1] The cookbook includes 243 recipes, including steamed whole fish, braised abalone with black mushrooms in oyster sauce, spicy soy sauce chicken, red-cooked chicken with chestnuts, braised orange duck, fish-flavoured pork shreds, braised radish balls with dried shrimp, home-made noodles, and classic Chinese flaky pastry.[4][5]
References edit
- ^ a b c d Lesem, Jeanne (January 3, 1984). "Organization the Key to Chinese Cooking". United Press International.
- ^ von Siebenthal, Cleo (July 2, 2014). "Chasing Traditions With Pearl Kong Chen". Hong Kong Tatler.
The spirit of traditional Chinese cooking, specifically Cantonese cuisine, is surprisingly difficult to come by, but Pearl Kong Chen, one of the most established Cantonese food authorities in Hong Kong who has dedicated years to studying Chinese culinary culture, offers some hope for the future of a venerable cuisine so reliant on the transmission of a heritage from generation to generation.
- ^ a b "Pearl Kong Chen". San Jose Mercury News. August 16, 2014.
- ^ a b Pearl Kong Chen; Tien Chi Chen; Rose Y. L. Tseng (1983). Everything You Want to Know about Chinese Cooking. Barron's. ISBN 9780812053616.
- ^ Jung, Susan (March 3, 2017). "Cookbook: Everything You Want to Know About Chinese Cooking". South China Morning Post.
Pearl Kong Chen, who died in 2014, was considered one of the foremost authorities on Cantonese cuisine.