Fist of Kitchen presents… Eat it: China!

cook &
photographer

While more expert in French cuisine now, Miriam's favorite food as a kid was sweet & sour pork. She likes jazz, '70s R&B, and Luxuria in the kitchen.

cook &
designer

Matt grew up hating Chinese food. His revelation came years later, when living in New York's Chinatown: beef cheeks with rice cakes. His go-to kitchen radio station is tilos.hu.

baker &
bartender

When not making gorgeous desserts, Russ plies his wife and brother-in-law with fancy cocktails—after they're done with the knives. He likes classical music.

THE BENEDICTINE SISTERS OF PEKING

The Benedictine Sisters from St. Joseph, Minnesota began their missions to China in 1930; first establishing a school in Beijing and then one in Kaifeng. The war, and then the Communists, forced them to move camp a number of times. Our group ended up in Tokyo and started a cooking school, teaching their now twenty-five years of Chinese food experience. Their book, first published in 1956, went into many reprintings. (Their story, prior to Japan, is well told by Sr. Wibora Mulhenbein, and available here.)

M. KUWATA

If the real M. Kuwata is out there, please say hello. We can’t really nail down a story—or even a gender for M. Kuwata. The illustration throughout The Art of Chinese Cooking is possibly the most compelling reason to find a copy of the book today. Kuwata seems to have worked for the Chares E. Tuttle publishing company in the '50s. Other works with artwork worth checking out are In a Persian Kitchen, Rice & Spice, The Folk Arts of Japan and Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination.