KAT LIEU REALLY couldn’t be more pleased to introduce you to her new book, “Modern Asian Kitchen.” While she makes everything she does look easy — and fun — this book represents the fulfillment of a dream.

She does a lot. Take her entertaining, tantalizing recipe posts on TikTok and Instagram (like the one for gorgeous pale green, vegan and gluten-free mochi matcha chocolate chip cookies, made in one bowl). She also runs the social media community Subtle Asian Baking (which 10,000 people joined in its first month on Facebook in 2020 and now is home to 159,800 members).

Lieu’s mixing up food and activism, raising more than $100,000 for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander causes (so far). And when David Chang tried to trademark “chili crunch” last month, she got mad and she got even, urging her followers to make their own — find her recipe below — and creating her own brand overnight.

Lieu didn’t go to culinary school, and she’s never worked as a professional baker or chef. In fact, she was more than a decade into a career as a physical therapist when she published her first cookbook, “Modern Asian Baking at Home,” in 2022.

Now, as all that she’s done has resonated more deeply and broadly, the new book represents reaching a goal she’s had since the fourth grade — she’s devoting herself full-time to cooking, writing and building community. “It feels surreal,” Lieu says. “I feel so lucky … it brings me so much joy.” 

There’s so much joy to be found in the pages of “Modern Asian Kitchen,” with Lieu’s cheerful, encouraging voice providing instructions for dishes all over that map — including ramen, dim sum, stir-fries, rice bowls, pho, bibimbaps and more (and with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options marked). Lieu’s mother is Chinese, while her late father grew up in Hanoi. The book’s wide-ranging menu represents her own Asian American kitchen, she says, with inspiration from — and frequent, heartfelt thanks to — her parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors and her online communities.

She quickly dispenses with any notions of strict authenticity. “The recipes I showcase here represent my experiences growing up in an Asian diaspora,” Lieu writes. “They’re as authentic as they can be, at least to me.” 

Asked about her favorite things to make — and eat — from the pages of “Modern Asian Kitchen,” Lieu names more than a few. While she makes fun of some of her father’s cooking in the intro for Dad’s Saucy Egg, Beef and Gai Lan Stir-Fry, she notes that he worked as a line cook in Belgium and Montreal; this dish, she says, joins French techniques he learned with his own heritage, making something she re-created from memory and still adores. She makes her quicker Instant Pot version of her Auntie Eva’s Pho Gà weekly. The Hong Kong Clay Pot Rice rates as her “ultimate comfort food,” and it also includes her mom’s Cantonese-Style Stir-Fried Chicken Ding (a separate recipe — the home cook should note that the “Easy” in the book’s subtitle corresponds with clear instructions, not necessarily limited ingredients or time required). Among the Filipino recipes, there’s the Sexy Sizzling Sisig; after he introduced her to the dish, she says, “I was like, ‘I guess I can marry my husband!’ ” 

Mary Usha’s Tandoori Chicken and Raita comes from the dinner-party table of a beloved neighbor. The Koreatown Spicy Tofu Stew comes from lunchtime memories of her first office job in New York. As for the Basic Onigiri Adventure, that’s “because my son just loves it so much.”

For dessert, the Melty Cheesecake Bao “encapsulates East and West, my third culture upbringing,” Lieu says. She calls her Gochujang Chocolate Mochi Cake “spectacular” — and in a collab with Fremont’s Lucky Envelope Brewing, it’s inspired its own beer, with proceeds going to Seattle’s nonprofit Asian Counseling and Referral Service.

Only one kind of cookie appears — Lieu’s saving the rest for her next book, “108 Asian Cookies.” She’s already working on it at home in Renton, which she loves as an affordable, welcoming home for her family after moving from Brooklyn. She calls the whole Seattle community “supportive and wonderful and loving,” too.

When ChiliCrispGate erupted online recently, Lieu responded with some heat. “I was very mad — very, very mad about the chili crisp issue,” she says. “It’s as silly as going and saying, ‘Let me make Japanese soy sauce, and I’ll trademark that.’ ” She got on Instagram: “Tossing out your momofookin chili crisp? Support small AA and NHPI brands or you can make your own at home.” Then she got together with Jamie Aragonez of Pike Place Market’s World Spice to develop their own version of the classic hot, crunchy, umami chili oil that everybody now loves to drizzle over noodles, eggs, veggies, pizza, ice cream and more.

“We came up with the formula overnight — it’s a mix of our two recipes,” Lieu says. She and Aragonez call it Pink Chili Crisp, “because it’s pink and empowering — you know it was made by women.” The just-add-your-own-oil spice mix is available at World Spice IRL or online at worldspice.com.

Lieu notes that Chang has since apologized. She also talked to a lawyer at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, who Lieu says admitted that the team there is “not very diverse … But they are trying. 

“Everyone’s trying — everyone’s learning,” she says. 

Lieu encourages you to learn to make your own chili crisp at home — and with small jars of the fancier brands costing more than $10, starting your own operation might make sense. For ingredients, she recommends Uwajimaya in Seattle, Bellevue and Renton, and 99 Ranch Market in Edmonds and Kent. She says to use whatever dried chili peppers are available or your favorite. (Consider sourcing a bouquet — árbol, japones and Kashmiri might make a hot, bright, fruity combo.) And don’t be afraid to pick up some MSG powder and use it: It has the same glutamates that occur naturally in mushrooms and Parmesan cheese (and your favorite chili crisp just might already contain it).

Kat Lieu’s Fire Chili Crisp Oil

2½ cups (588 ml) refined peanut, vegetable or rapeseed oil
1½ cups (368 g) thinly sliced shallots (use a mandoline if you have one)
1 cup (136 g) thinly sliced garlic (use a mandoline if you have one, or chopped garlic is fine, too)
About 1 cup (115 g) dried small chili peppers [your choice] or gochugaru chili flakes [for milder heat], or a mix
2 tablespoons (12 g) chili powder [the spice blend, not straight powdered chilis — mostly added for color here]
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, adjust to taste — these will make your tongue numb and tingly (optional)
About ⅓ cup (50 g) chopped roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted)
2 tablespoons (19 g) toasted white sesame seeds
2 star anises (optional)
2 tablespoons (26 g) brown sugar
A pinch of cinnamon or five-spice
¼ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
¼ teaspoon white or black pepper (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground black cardamom
2 to 3 bay leaves (optional)
1 teaspoon MSG (optional)
1 teaspoon mushroom powder, mushroom bouillon or chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon (15 ml) soy sauce
1 tablespoon (15 ml) sesame oil

1. In a heavy saucepan, heat the oil over high until it reaches about 325°F (170°C). Add the shallots, lower the heat to medium-low, and stir until they turn golden brown and thoroughly crispy, which could take about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the shallots with a strainer, keeping the oil in the saucepan. Set the shallots aside.

2. Add the garlic to the saucepan and cook over medium heat. Stir until the garlic becomes golden and crispy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain, reserving the oil. Set the garlic aside.

3. Grind the dried small chili peppers or gochugaru chili flakes until fine, using a mortar and pestle or food processor. In a large heatproof bowl or container, combine the ground chili peppers or chili flakes with the rest of the ingredients and optional ingredients (up to and including the salt). At this point, you’re not adding in the oil, shallots, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil yet.

4. Heat the reserved oil until it reaches 375°F (190°C). Carefully pour the hot oil over the bowl of chili mixture and spices, stirring to combine. Let it rest and cool for about 30 minutes. Once cooled, add the fried shallots and garlic. Mix in the soy sauce and sesame oil. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

5. If you’ve used star anise and bay leaves, remove them before storing the chili crisp oil. Store the cooled oil in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months, ensuring the shallots and garlic have been thoroughly fried to a crisp.

NOTE: The “crisp” in chili crisp oil comes from the crispiness of fried shallots, garlic, nuts, sesame seeds and chili flakes.

TIP: You can double or triple the ingredients here to make more chili oil for gifting.