Salt Sugar MSG: Recipes and Stories from a Cantonese American Home

From the chef behind the groundbreaking Brooklyn restaurant Bonnie’s comes a cookbook featuring over 85 recipes that showcase his unique style of Chinese home cooking, a mashup of Americana and Cantonese classics, inspired by the flavors of his childhood.

As an American-born Cantonese kid, chef Calvin Eng grew up watching his mother, Bonnie, in the kitchen. Though he shied away from his culture as a kid, he later grew to love and embrace his unique upbringing as a primary source of inspiration in his cooking. He would go on to define his lauded culinary style through dishes that frequently defy tradition but are rooted in the Cantonese flavors of his childhood, a third-culture perspective now reflected in his debut cookbook.

Salt Sugar MSG is an introduction to Cantonese cooking through an American lens, drawing a thread from his mother’s cooking to what he cooks for his own family today. Some recipes stick closer to tradition, like Sizzling Steamed Fish with Seasoned Soy Sauce, Ham Yue Yook Beng (Steamed Pork Patty with Salted Fish), and Ginger Congee, while others upend expectations, like Salt & Pepper Pork Schnitzel with Chinese Ranch, Fuyu Cacio e Pepe Mein, and BLT Fried Rice. While these dishes may not look especially Cantonese at first glance, they certainly taste like it.

Written with his fiancée, Phoebe Melnick, Salt Sugar MSG is full of personal stories and practical tips and tricks as a loving ode to what it means to cook together as a Cantonese American family today.

About the Author

Calvin Eng is the chef and owner of Bonnie’s, a Cantonese American restaurant in Williamsburg. Brooklyn-born and raised in a traditional Chinese family, Eng had been dreaming of opening a restaurant for a decade when he realized how important it was for him to pursue Cantonese food and dive deeper into the dishes of his heritage. Bonnie’s has been praised in the New York Times, The New Yorker, New York magazine, Eater, and Bon Appétit. Eng is a James Beard Emerging Chef Finalist, Food & Wine Best New Chef, Forbes 30 under 30 recipient, StarChefs Rising Star, and two time James Beard Best Chef: New York State Semifinalist.

Phoebe Melnick is a video journalist with a deep love of storytelling and food. She has worked for the New York Times, Martha Stewart, Food Network, Thrillist and Food & Wine where she first met Calvin on set in 2016. The two have been inseparable ever since.

Author Hometown: Brooklyn, NY