The James Beard award winning chef of underbelly hospitality, a champion of houston's diverse immigrant cooks, Vietnamese, Korean, Mexican, Indian and more, shows you how to work with their flavors and cultures with respect and creativity. James Beard Award Finalist, Houston's culinary reputation as a steakhouse town was put to rest by Chris Shepherd, the Robb Report's best chef of the year. A cook with insatiable curiosity, he's trained not just in fine-dining restaurants but in Houston's Korean grocery stores, Vietnamese noodle shops, Indian kitchens and Chinese mom-and-pops. His food, incorporating elements of all these cuisines, tells the story of the city, and country, in which he lives. An advocate, not an appropriator, he asks his diners to go and visit the restaurants that have inspired him and in this book he brings us along to meet, learn from and cook with the people who have taught him. The recipes include signatures from his restaurant, favorites such as braised goat with korean rice dumplings or fried vegetables with caramelized fish sauce. The lessons go deeper than recipes, the book is about how to understand the pantries of different cuisines, how to taste and use these flavors in your own cooking. Organized around key ingredients like soy, dry spices or chiles, the chapters function as master classes in using these.