The behind-the-scenes of creating my cookbook ‘Effortless Asian Cooking: 30-Minute Recipes for Flavorful Noodles, Rice Bowls, Stir-Fries, Curries and More’. From proposal rejections to recipe development and the organising tools I use to keep me sane, here’s your inside look at the process!
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Hey friends! As you know, I recently announced the pre-order launch of my new cookbook: Effortless Asian Cooking: 30-Minute Recipes for Flavorful Noodles, Rice Bowls, Stir-Fries, Curries and More. In this post, I thought I wanted to take you behind the scenes of my cookbook creation process to share the ins and outs of producing a cookbook.
I wanted to do this while on the cookbook journey (instead of after), but I grossly underestimated how much time and effort I would pour into the cookbook. Buckle up, because it’s been quite the ride!
I had NO IDEA how much work goes into creating a cookbook! If you have a cookbook somewhere right now, pick it up and give it a giant hug. That’s one hunk of labor of love.
How it Started
Let’s rewind to the beginning.
It all started when Editor Emily stumbled upon my Instagram feed and, I don’t know, saw something special. A few emails and video calls later to make sure we’re on the same page, and we got to work on the cookbook proposal and pitching!
She believed in me enough to pitch my cookbook idea. However, the road to finding the right concept was rocky.
My initial proposal for quick and easy Malay/Malaysian recipes was rejected. “It’s too niche”, otherwise translated to “it won’t sell.”
I’ll be honest, it wasn’t fun to hear the food that you grew up with is ‘too niche’ – and as much as I know that it’s not true, I couldn’t help but take that as: ‘the food of my culture is not good enough.’ Ugh, I know, I know.
I shook myself off, brainstormed with Emily a bit more, and landed next on Southeast Asian recipes—a territory I also know and love. That idea was rejected faster than you can say Tom Yum Goong, because the company is already representing Southeast Asian cookbooks.
But hey, third time’s the charm, right?
“Hmmm, what about Asian cooking? I make a lot of Korean, Japanese, Indian, Chinese food too.”
“If you can make them in 30 minutes or less, we’re in!”
And that’s a quick (lol) story of how we landed on ‘Effortless Asian Cooking: 30-Minute Recipes for Flavorful Noodles, Rice Bowls, Stir-Fries, Curries and More’!
And just like that, my cookbook journey officially began!
Planning and Research: The Backbone
The Planning Stage
From developing a theme for the cookbook to curating a list of must-have recipes, the planning stage sets the foundation for everything to come.
I spent countless hours in my local library (can we quickly talk about how uncomfortable libraries are for actual working? It’s SO COLD!), perusing cookbook after cookbook, taking notes of what I loved about them, as well as what I didn’t like so much.
Lots of notes taken, but the one thing that stood out the most: all of the recipes MUST have a picture! One of my biggest pet peeves whenever I was flipping through any cookbook is when there are no images to accompany the recipes. I want to visualize what my meal is going to look like!
Recipe Shortlisting & Outlining
One of the most important steps in the initial stage is outlining the book.
Initially, the cookbook was to contain just 60 recipes. If that sounds like a lot to you, it’s FAR from it! Shortlisting was HARD. With all the recipes in my repertoire, I needed to dwindle it down to just 60.
There were plenty of questions I had to answer too: “Is this too common a recipe? Should all the recipes be new? How big should each category be? What recipes would people appreciate? How much variety does the cookbook really need?”
These are just SOME of the considerations in planning the book.
One of the major questions I had was:
“Should all the recipes be new? Why would anyone want to buy a cookbook with a recipe that I’ve already given out for free on this blog?”
The publishing team assured me that this wasn’t an issue! It’s a different experience altogether having a cookbook physically on hand to refer to; in fact having existing recipes that you know that people for sure love, is a great pull.
This reason was also why at the very last final runs of putting together the manuscript, I included even MORE recipes! These were all tried-and-true recipes that YOU love.
The final recipes I settled on give a taste of Asia in an achievable way, using versatile ingredients to maintain authenticity and reduce wastage. For example, dry whole spices that work for Malaysian and Chinese Sichuan dishes.
I also try to include as much substitutions for special ingredients wherever I can, because my main hindrance to cooking is thinking I can’t make a delicious dish without a certain ingredient.
I knew that the biggest chapter had to be on noodles! Quick, easy, one-pot/one-pan noodles are one of my favorite dishes to have throughout the week in a pinch, so I knew your weekday quick meals had to involve noodles at some point.
There’s also a huge chapter on rice, featuring quick and easy one-pot dishes. Is it even a respectable Asian cookbook if rice is not the main serving dish? Which is why the remaining chapters include dishes meant to be served with rice. Expect to find dishes featuring chicken and eggs, beef, seafood, vegetables, and even a special section on curries, soups, and stews. Comforting curry in 30 minutes? YES!
Tools That Helped Organise Timeline
Setting a timeline was crucial to keep the project on track. The Page Street team helped me with this, breaking down the process into manageable chunks and stages: planning, recipe development, writing, photography, and editing.
While I drafted a manageable schedule, flexibility is the name of the game. Often times I had to switch things around. So many factors came into play – unavailable ingredients, dishes not working out even after multiple tries, my desire to take a nap in the middle of the day (lol), so the timeline is simply a rough guide.
Some tools that have been instrumental in these planning stages are:
Notion
I’ve been using Notion as my main note-taking app for a long time before this cookbook project. It’s free and super popular but Notion can be a bit of a learning curve if you want it to be a fully-functioning organising app that does everything for you… and it can get clunky and messy quick.
I started on Notion as a drafting tool, but I needed a more visual organising app. And that’s where Milanotes come in!
By the way, if you are already using Notion, I have a FREE Notion meal planner just for you! Subscribe to my mailing list to get it!
Milanote
Milanote was my newest organizing tool, perfect for visualizing my recipes. I used it to plan the outline, track ideas, organise research, draft recipes, make notes and manage to-do lists. When it comes to the photography, this app was especially useful during the photography stage!
I used it to create mood boards, plan photo shoots, and organize inspiration images. Milanote’s drag-and-drop interface made it easy to map out the look and feel of each dish, ensuring the visuals matched the book’s aesthetic. I used it to create a comprehensive project plan, track recipe ideas, manage to-do lists, and organize research.
Each recipe had its own page, where I could jot down ingredients, steps, and any changes during testing. The ability to link pages and create a web of interconnected notes was invaluable. It has a free version, but I upgraded to the paid version to get unlimited boards and storage (so many visual references!).
Google Calendar
Google Calendar kept my deadlines in check. I blocked out time for research, recipe development, writing, photography, and editing. By setting reminders and deadlines, I could ensure that I stayed on track. Seeing my progress visually in a calendar view helped me manage my time effectively and avoid last-minute stress.
Apple Notes App
An an Apple iOS user, the Notes app was my go-to for quick ideas and general note-taking! As much as I adore the capabilities of Notion and Milanotes, Notes app is just way more accessible for quick note-taking… especially when there’s slow internet connection or *gasp* no internet (trust that I was working on the book when I was in-flight!) Its syncing capability across my devices meant I could jot down thoughts on my phone and access them later on my laptop.
Pen and Paper
Sometimes, nothing beats the traditional pen and paper. When I’m recipe testing especially, a notepad and a pen was the quickest and most efficient way of making adjustments.
And there you have it – the story of how my cookbook journey began, and the cookbook planning phase in a nutshell. If you think this is a lot, wait till you see the next few phases. Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes peeks and tasty sneak peeks as we countdown to the official release date. Trust me, you won’t want to miss it!
Pre-Order Your Copy Today!
My cookbook, ‘Effortless Asian Cooking,’ is now available for pre-order! This book is packed with 30-minute recipes for flavorful noodles, rice bowls, stir-fries, curries, and more.
Click here to pre-order your copy today and be one of the first to get your hands on ‘Effortless Asian Cooking’!
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