In May 2020, Kat Lieu started something that grew beyond her wildest dreams. She wanted to establish a community where new bakers – as she had recently been – and experienced ones alike could share and learn about Asian baking. In less than six months, the had more than 60,000 members. Today, there are more than 150,000, sharing their passion for Asian ingredients and flavours.
And Lieu – somewhat to her astonishment, as she explains when we chat to her – is the author of a new colourful, encouraging book, Modern Asian Baking at Home, that shares her recipes and some favourites from the SAB community, too.
Get the recipe for Chewy Taiwanese snowflake crisps - which Lieu confesses is her favourite recipe in the book - .
Modern Asian Baking at Home includes a recipe for delicious Taiwanese snowflake crisps Source: Quarry Books / Nicole Soper Photography
For those familiar with Asian flavours and textures, it might provoke some nostalgia (Lieu’s tales of the food she remembers from childhood, for example, such as Nian gao, the Lunar New Year Cake – you can try her recipe .) And for those who aren’t, it’s a wonderful introduction. Discover how to achieve the airiness of the QQ chewiness of homemade boba pearls, or ways to deploy the vibrant purple colour of ube.
READ MORE
Cottony Japanese cheesecake
As well as showcasing the range of the Asian baking repertoire, one of the especially encouraging aspects of the book is that Lieu herself was a non-baker for much of her life. She’s a self-taught home baker who has found a lot of joy in the kitchen, and in the SAB community. With her new book launching in Australia this week, we chatted to her about giving things a go, the blessings of baking and the long history of Asian baking.
Does it feel a little unreal to have gone from a total non-baker to the author of a baking book?
Surreal, unreal, like a dream! For the past 13 years, I have been a doctor of physical therapy, wearing multiple hats. I had always wanted to be an author (of romantic comedies) but never had I imagined my first traditionally published book would be a baking cookbook!
While I've cooked for my family and loved ones since I was a child, I didn't start baking until 2017, when I moved from NYC to Seattle and finally had a kitchen large enough not to store my pots and pans in my oven. I baked, casually - banana bread, cupcakes and macarons mostly. It wasn't until 2020, when I founded Subtle Asian Baking, that I started baking the Asian way consistently.
Every day I feel as if I'm still in a sweet reverie, as this is my dream career. I'm a girl boss, I get to write and test recipes every day and travel around the US on book signings and baking events, and I teach Asian baking in person and remotely. I feel so blessed and joyous.
What encouraging words do you have for others who might not have any baking experience but want to try?
Kat Lieu in her kitchen. Source: Kat Lieu
With anything you do the first time, there's going to be some doubt, anxiety, or fear of failure. If you give up before trying, then failure is 100 per cent guaranteed. So, in the words of Nike, "just do it". Don't let your fears hold you back from baking. Grab a good baking book for beginners, like mine, dogear or put tabs on the recipe pages you'd like to try, roll up your sleeves and start baking! Everything I made first, besides my miso banana bread, flopped, but I never gave up because baking has brought me so much joy and a sense of purpose. Also, baking helped me make friends. When we first moved to Seattle, we knew nobody and had no family around us. Whenever I baked cupcakes and cookies, I delivered them to my neighbours. My sweets brought their friendship, LOL!
You mention in the book that ingredients, techniques and textures differentiate Asian baking from Western baking. The huge growth of the SAB community suggests there's a big appetite for doing, and learning about, this. Is the interest coming from both people from an Asian background and those who might not have grown up with any of these flavour and texture experiences?
Recently, I tried to sell a project about Asian baking to an American audience, and the people at the top felt Asian baking was not broad and exciting enough for the overall American audience. People who don't know about Asian baking tend to feel it is "exotic" or "niche" and forget that over 20 million Asian Americans make up the population in the US. For over a century, there have been Asian bakeries in every city and corner of America. International Districts, Chinatowns, Korean Towns, Little Tokyo! (I'm sure in Australia too!)
I always say, you don't have to be Asian to bake the Asian way. Just be open-minded to new flavors, techniques, and textures.
Asian flavours and ingredients (ube, mochi, black sesame, matcha, boba, miso, chilli crisp) are trending and growing in popularity (even though they've been enjoyed for ages since Asians immigrated to Western countries.) Those with Asian backgrounds have always known about the techniques and flavours and have a great deal of love and interest for baking the Asian way. My group's goal is to spread and further the love and appreciation for Asian baking and to make it as popular as British and French baking. We are inclusive and diverse and I always say, you don't have to be Asian to bake the Asian way. Just be open-minded to new flavours, techniques, and textures. If you already love boba, you're going to love mochi. If you love pho, ramen, and sushi, you'll love Asian baked goodies too! However, not everyone will love every ingredient, like durian, and that's ok, but try it before you shoot it down.
Get the recipe for these meringue swirls with condensed milk-and-ube custard swirls.
Brazos de Mercedes meringue swirls Source: Quarry Books / Nicole Soper Photography
One striking theme throughout the book is the use of ube. It's hard to get fresh ube in Australia (although we can get the essence) so many of us haven't cooked with it before. Can you tell us why you like using ube in baking - is it the colour or the flavour, or both?
In America, you can only find ube in a powdered, essence, frozen or jam state, and I've heard fresh ube is also hard to find in the Philippines. To grow my son's love for ube and Filipino food (he's Filipino, as is my husband), I try to bake and cook Filipino dishes that I've learned from my mother-in-law, Lilanie, and Subtle Asian Baking. I love the vibrant purple colour and its aesthetic appeal; ube is trendy. Trader Joe's ube mochi mixes always sell out. People live on social media now, so if they try an Asian dessert or flavour for the first time, they'll go for ube anything and post the striking purple beauty on TikTok or Instagram.
Personally, however, I like the flavour of taro more, a tuber that is lighter in colour but naturally more flavorful and easy to source. Grab a taro boba, some taro dim sum, or a taro bun from an Asian bakery, and thank me later.
Anything else you'd like to say to encourage folk to try some modern Asian baking?
Asian baking is not merely a trend or "exotic", or something I created in 2020; it's been around since (and before) the 1800s when Vietnamese street vendors sold colourful steamed cakes (or bánh bò) to children. In pockets and corners of the world, Asian bakeries have been around since before the early 1900s. (Gosh, I feel so old saying 1900s these days!) Modern Asian Baking, I feel, is a tribute and homage to traditional Asian baking, and a fusion of cultures and techniques. A bit of chaos baking too. The easiest way to start is by making something familiar, like a brownie. Make that brownie but instead of using flour, use glutinous rice flour and give it a mochi texture. Add miso to the batter to give it a pop of umami. And if you like spicy chocolate, add gochujang as well!
Or let's say you love macarons. Add black sesame or matcha to the almond flour to give it an Asian spin.
Again, do it. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't fallen in love with the Japanese cheesecake (a must-try in my book that's usually guaranteed to fail on the first try). I love Japanese cheesecakes, so I made it my goal to perfect the recipe. It took three years and these days, I can make it in almost any flavour (durian, pandan, ube, hojicha, savoury even) and whip up the batter with my eyes closed. My tongue and tummy thank me. Yours will too!
, with photography by Nicole Soper Photography (Quarry Books, $32,99) is on sale now. Find the Subtle Asian Baking Facebook group . You can also find more of Kat Lieu’s glorious baking at the .
