Food & Wine Best Cookbooks of 2024 • New York Times Best Cookbooks of 2024

“Breaking Bao is the rare cookbook that stops you in your tracks. Visually arresting, thoughtfully researched, and both whimsical and grounded in serious baking expertise.”—New York Times

From acclaimed pastry chef Clarice Lam: a visually sumptuous pan-Asian baking book exploring an umami-rich array of baked goods, confections, and savory snacks.

Breaking Bao is a culinary journey bridging gaps between Asian flavors and global techniques. It is a collection of recipes rooted in renowned chef Clarice Lam’s personal journey of self-discovery and the transformative power of embracing one’s heritage.

Here are 88 approachable recipes that are firmly rooted in classical French technique but travel far and wide. Dive into three chapters, exploring:

• Bao: the fundamentals of baked, steamed, fried, or laminated buns and breads, from golden curry-filled donuts to Rice Dumplings filled with Hong Kong Bolognese to Vietnamese Cinnamon-Raisin Babka.
• Cakes & Desserts: classics treated with a twist, such as Mango-Yakult Tres Leches Cake, Ovaltine Mochi Marjolaine, and Pandan-Lime Meringue Pie.
• Snax: savory and sweet treats, from Cantonese-Style Fig and Marzipan Mooncakes to Gochujang-Furikake Caramel Popcorn to Ramen Cheese Itz.

Featuring more than 100 stunning photographs by prominent food, lifestyle, and travel photographer Evan Sung, Breaking Bao is a visual feast as well as a go-to cookbook. For home cooks looking to expand their repertoires, these projects range from simple cookies and flavored popcorn snacks to lavish mille feuille and laminated pastries. With humor, whimsy, and respect for traditions, Lam invites readers into these pages to break barriers, bread, and bao, all at the same table.

ASIAN BAKING EXPERTISE: A daughter of parents from Hong Kong, Clarice Lam has been in the New York City restaurant industry for more than a decade and has garnered an impressive resume, working in Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market, as the executive chef at The Chocolate Room in Brooklyn, and as the opening pastry chef for Kimika, named one of 2021’s best new restaurants in the world by Condé Nast Traveler and a James Beard semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2022. Using the nostalgic flavors of her childhood with the techniques imparted to her in culinary school, she is uniquely positioned to create the go-to book on Asian-inspired baking.

KITCHEN SUPERSTAR: With 88 foolproof, well-tested recipes, including cakes, cookies, buns, mochi, mooncakes, donuts, and savory snacks, and more than 100 gorgeous photographs, Breaking Bao is your next great recipe book for the Hall of Fame section of your cookbook corner.

UNIQUE COOKBOOK: There are not many classically trained pastry chefs writing accessible books for use by home bakers. There are also very few baking books that meld multicultural flavors and techniques. Breaking Bao blends various cuisine staples from countries in Asia with hints of technique drawn from American, European, and traditional Asian baking.

Perfect for:

• Home bakers of all skill levels
• Asian cuisine and culture enthusiasts
• Professionally trained chefs and bakers
• Cookbook collectors and baking book browsers
• Gift-giving for food lovers’ birthday, housewarming, graduation, or any occasion

Clarice Lam's profile page

Clarice Lam is an award-winning pastry chef based in New York City. In addition to working stints at Bouchon Bakery, Spice Market, and The Chocolate Room, she opened The Baking Bean in Brooklyn in 2012. She was the opening pastry chef at Kimika, an Italian-Japanese restaurant named a James Beard semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2022. Her writing has been widely featured in outlets from the New York Times to People, Condé Nast Traveler, and South China Morning Post. Her television credits include appearances on Sweet Genius, Food.Curated., Beat Bobby Flay: Revenge, and Best Baker in America, where she finished as a semifinalist. Lam is currently a judge on TheDr. Seuss Baking Challenge.

“I want to tear into every recipe in this book! I am totally obsessed with Clarice’s playful, original, delicious takes on classic Asian sweets. I cannot decide where to start: the black and white mochi munchkins or the marzipan mooncakes!”

—Molly Yeh, New York Times bestselling author and Food Network host

"Clarice Lam's work beautifully collides multiple worlds, stemming from her childhood and life experiences, creating a unique purview. Readers are invited to break bao together, forging connections through her vivid storytelling that merges different aspects of life into a shared experience."

—Camari Mick, Executive Pastry Chef and Partner at Raf’s and Musket Room

“Breaking Bao: 88 Bakes and Snacks From Asia and Beyond by award-winning pastry chef Clarice Lam is a striking collection of thoughtfully crafted baked goods, highlighting her ‘love for Asian flavors while simultaneously connecting the dots between cultures…’ This beautiful, informative cookbook is the perfect gift for anyone who enjoys being creative in the kitchen.”--BookPage

“Breaking Bao is the book I will be returning to again and again with its superb storytelling, crave-able and addictive recipes all spun through the prism of a young global nomad who grew up using food as her lifeboat. From Japanese Milk Bread to Dan Dan Sheng Jian Bao, Coconut Croissants to Vietnamese Cinnamon Raisin Babka, Lam’s Asian techniques and a universal awareness of international flavors leaps from the pages into the kitchen. This book is the food you love to eat, and now you can cook it, too.”

—Andrew Zimmern, Emmy and James Beard award-winning TV personality, chef, and writer

"While the recipes she shares in this book are rooted in classic techniques, they’re anything but fussy: Lam infuses her book with both whimsy and warmth, while also highlighting the influences of both her Chinese and American upbringing"--Forbes Vetted

“In Breaking Bao, Clarice Lam captures the complex, soul-searching experience of being a first-generation Asian American chef. I love the way she taps into her formative experiences as well as her immense industry experience to inform her stunning, inventive, and mouthwatering recipes. This is a uniquely creative mind at work—there’s miso in the marshmallows, matcha in the shortbread, and dragon fruit in the nougat—and her passion is infectious and inspiring.”

—Natasha Pickowicz, pastry chef and author of More Than Cake

“Breaking Bao”is the rare cookbook that stops you in your tracks. Visually arresting, thoughtfully researched, and both whimsical and grounded in serious baking expertise — Ms. Lam has passed through the kitchens of Thomas Keller and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and operated her own bakery — this cookbook shows off her many talents. She celebrates Asian ingredients (and her heritage) by exploring their potential in unexpected, fanciful recipes (mostly desserts) written with sparkling clarity." The New York Times