Like sunshine on a cloudy day. That is my friend Jaden Hair, and that is the spirit that dances throughout her just released The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. If you are not familiar with Jaden, she is the wacky and wonderful woman behind the ever-so-steamy Steamy Kitchen blog and a frequent contributor to Simply Recipes.

Do you like Chinese food? Thai food? Vietnamese food? Have you, like me, shied away from attempting Asian dishes because they sometimes seem just a little too intimidating? Enter Jaden. The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook is filled with accessible recipes for the American home cook, with plenty of “how to” step-by-step photographs for techniques. Learn how to make potsticker dumplings, how to assemble rice paper summer rolls, and the best tips for buying Chinese broccoli. Jaden has descriptions of the basic pantry ingredients most used in Asian cooking, though there are plenty of recipes that you can likely put together today with pantry items you have on hand (like the steak with sweet tomato onion sauce and her coconut shrimp).

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