| Hannah Che | |
| Birth Place: | Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | B.M, M.M. Shepherd School of Music, Rice University |
| Subject: | Plant-based/Vegan cookbooks |
| Notable Works: | The Vegan Chinese Kitchen |
| Awards: | James Beard Foundation Award |
Hannah Che is an American plant-based/vegan writer, chef, and author, as well as a pianist. Her cookbook, The Vegan Chinese Kitchen, won the 2023 James Beard Foundation Award.
Che was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to immigrant parents from China.[1] [2] When she was 9, her father's work took them to Shenzhen, China for three years before returning to the United States.[2] She trained as a pianist at Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, receiving both a B.M. and M.M.[3] She then studied vegetarian cooking at the Guangzhou Vegetarian Culinary School in China.[4]
Che states that after reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, she "chose to shift to plant-based eating for health, environmental, and ethical reasons."[5] She then began to study "other culinary traditions, like plant-based Thai and Mediterranean cuisine."[5] She states that she learned that "plant-based eating is a long-standing tradition in Chinese cuisine."[5] [6] She started the blog, "The Plant-Based Wok," as a result of these changes.[7]
The New York Times and The Washington Post named her first cookbook, The Vegan Chinese Kitchen (2022), one of the Best Cookbooks of 2022,[8] [9] and the Food Network listed it as one of the “10 Best New Vegan Cookbooks” for 2023.[10] VegNews listed it as one of the "Top 100 Vegan Cookbooks of All Time" in 2024.[11]
It won the 2023 James Beard Foundation Award and 2023 International Association of Culinary Professionals Julia Child First Book Award.