Of Book Launches & Supper Clubs - Chinatown Kitchen

This is a somewhat late post, given my book, Chinatown Kitchen, was published on 2nd April. I've been coming down from an adrenaline high ever since.

To launch my book, I held a party at the fantastic Drapers Arms. Truly, Nick Gibson is the master of being a total ledge - here I was, swanning in with my booze sponsor, Tsing Tao, and making a right ruddy mess of their prep kitchens in making canapés for 80.

Some party rules I learnt: DON'T to be in a situation where you're jointing 20 kilos of chicken wings on the morning of your own party. Those Coca Cola chicken wings did go down well, though. 

DO: Recruit your friends to pass round platters of things to eat. Like these smacked cucumbers. 

DON'T: Over-estimate. Canapés are canapés, not a full dinner. You probably don't need as many as 35 cucumbers. (Thanks Wholegood!) Still, the resident chefs were pretty chuffed with leftovers to pickle. 

DO: Ask your friends to help you out. I thought "naaah, I've got this all sorted" but actually it's nice to have someone around to go "AHHHH! People are arriving in THREE HOURS!" with. And to chop your cucumbers up. Thanks, Sheba! 

DON'T: forget to jot down some semblance of a speech. I am not good at free-styling. Instead, I just blathered on, thanking some people feebly. Oops. 

DO: Bring a Sharpie, to sign books with. 

Photo Courtesy of @LJHale

DON'T: Get drunk and draw willies in peoples' books. Unless they ask for it. 

There were also supper clubs, two nights held at the School of Wok. The School was pretty much the perfect place for me to host a dinner; they had all the right equipment and ingredients. There were made soft-shell crab sliders, udon carbonara, and I even made people eat century eggs, in a scotch egg form. 

Pic courtesy of @chefjeremypang 

Surprisingly, the century eggs were almost 50 / 50 split on favourite dish with the sliders, something that was completely unprecedented; I'd almost put them on the menu as a bit of a challenge! That showed me. 

I've had a lot of fun. Long may it continue. 

To buy the book, you can click here. (Woop! Currently 50% off!)

For more pictures of other peoples' efforts in cooking dishes from Chinatown Kitchen, click on the below.
https://instagram.com/explore/tags/chinatownkitchen/ 

Have you bought the book? Have you cooked anything from it? I'd love to hear from you if so!