A-Gong's Table

Discover over 90 recipes that show how delicious plant-based Taiwanese home cooking can be in this stunning debut cookbook from the social media star known as Chez Jorge online.

At just nineteen years old, George Lee (aka Chez Jorge on Instagram and TikTok) captivated social media audiences with his brilliant and simple solutions for veganizing the cuisine of his homeland, Taiwan. And now, in this collection of more than ninety recipes, including breakfasts, small eats, soups, big sharing plates, and traditional festival dishes, George reveals all the tips and tricks for making outstandingly flavorful plant-based versions of the Taiwanese dishes you already, or soon will, know and love.

George spent the first eighteen years of his life eating meat, growing up on Taiwanese home cooking and street foods. His journey to going plant-based and connecting with his ancestral roots all ties back to his a-gong (grandfather). Following his a-gong’s death, George’s family turned to Buddhism to walk through their grief of losing him and abstained from eating meat for forty-nine days. For George, this practice turned into a life change. He wasn't ready to part with his favorite meat dishes, so he came up with veganized versions without sacrificing flavor or texture.

In A-Gong’s Table, George teaches you how to make:

• Pantry basics, such as wheat gluten, fermented chili oil, and soy "chicken"
• Traditionally vegan dishes, such as Sweet Potato Congee, Fried Crullers, and Sesame Flatbread
• Plant-based riffs on favorites, such as Braised "Pork" over Rice, "Beef" Noodle Soup, Five Willow Vegetarian Fried Fish

A-Gong’s Table is not only a celebration of the forms vegan Taiwanese food has taken on, but also a reimagination of what it can become.