Our Story
Three Friends.
Three Grandmothers.
One Shared Table.
Before Grandma's Chinese Kitchen became a brand, it was a conversation about the food we missed.
Two of us grew up as childhood friends in Jilin, in northeastern China. Our grandmothers lived just a wall apart, and after school we often wandered between their kitchens, finding something to eat in both.
The third member of our team grew up in Zhejiang, in eastern China. We met at university, bringing together backgrounds in computing, marketing, and design. After graduation, we stayed in the same city and shared an apartment.
We also shared a longing for home.
The Kitchens We Carried With Us
For one of us, home tasted like red-braised pork, slowly bubbling in a clay pot until the kitchen filled with its rich, sweet-savoury aroma.
For another, it was a warming pot of pickled cabbage and pork, or guo bao rou—crisp pieces of pork coated in a bright sweet-and-sour sauce.
For our friend from Zhejiang, it was patiently braised Dongpo pork and fresh shrimp gently cooked with Longjing tea.
Different dishes, different family habits. But behind each meal was the same quiet care: someone remembering what you loved and making sure there was enough for another bowl.
Learning What “A Little” Really Means
When we tried to recreate those dishes away from home, we discovered how much knowledge had never been written down.
A grandmother might say, “A little sugar,” “Wait until the oil is ready,” or “You’ll know when it smells right.” To her, those instructions were precise. To us, they raised more questions.
We called home, tried again, and began paying closer attention—to ingredients, textures, timing, and the small decisions that make a dish work.
That experience gave us an idea: to record these ways of cooking and make them easier for others to learn.
Listening Beyond Our Own Families
Our work began with our grandmothers, then grew beyond their kitchens.
We have visited grandmothers and other local home cooks in different parts of China, observing their techniques and documenting recipes and preparation methods. These encounters continue to shape our understanding of Chinese cooking.
We want to understand both how a dish is made and why a cook makes it that way: the ingredient they choose, the texture they look for, and the family or regional habits behind their method.
Chinese home cooking has many voices. We hope to share some of that variety with the care and attention it deserves.
From Our Kitchens to Yours
Today, Grandma’s Chinese Kitchen publishes original English-language PDF cookbooks, created through our own recipe writing, documentation, and editorial work.
We bring together measured ingredients, clear instructions, and introductions to the dishes and their flavours, helping beginners approach Chinese cooking with greater confidence.
You do not need to have grown up with these dishes to make them part of your own kitchen. We hope our books give you a welcoming place to begin.
A Story Still Growing
English is our starting point. As our community grows, we hope to make our cookbooks available in more languages.
We are also filming cooking processes as part of our ongoing work, with the aim of sharing more ways to learn in the future.
For now, our invitation is simple: choose a dish, take your time, and make something worth sharing.
From our grandmothers' kitchens to your table—with a little patience, a generous helping, and room for one more.