Popo’s Herb Drawer - 40 Years Behind a Chinese Herb Counter, Written Down

For forty years, people asked me the same questions across the counter. Here I answered all of them once.

What do I put in the soup when my mother is tired? What is this brown thing in the jar, and why does it cost so much? My neighbor says to drink this. Is she right?

Popo’s Herb Drawer is the everyday kitchen of a Cantonese family, written down: the dried dates, ginger and tangerine peel in the cupboard, and the teas, soups and rice porridge that are made from them.

Inside, in 298 pages:

• The Twenty Drawers. Twenty pantry staples: what each one is, how to choose it, how to keep it, and what to use if your store doesn’t have it.
• 77 recipes. 28 teas and warm drinks, 25 soups, 12 kinds of congee and 12 sweet soups. Each has exact measures, numbered steps, and an “if it went wrong” note.
• Popo’s Day. Ten small habits from morning to night, starting with a cup of warm water.
• Four Seasons. What a Cantonese family cooks in spring, summer, autumn and winter, with a week of meals and a shopping list for each.
• A word of caution on every page that needs one. Who should ask a doctor first, gathered again at the back by medicine and by situation, with sources.
• A shopping list with the names you will see on the bag in an Asian supermarket, and a twenty-dollar starter bag that makes fourteen recipes.

This is food and habit, not treatment. Nothing in this book is medical advice.

Popo Chen is a fictional character, created with the help of AI to carry a real tradition: the home cooking of Cantonese families.

Instant PDF download. Large type, made to read on a phone or tablet in the kitchen.

7-day money-back guarantee. If the book isn’t for you, email us within 7 days of purchase and we’ll refund you in full.