Bill
Bill Leung is the patriarch of The Woks of Life family, working on the blog alongside wife Judy and daughters Sarah and Kaitlin. With over 50 years of cooking experience, Bill comes from a long line of professional chefs, including his father, stepfather, and grandfather. His culinary journey began in his Cantonese family's kitchen, learning from his mother, an accomplished home cook herself. Working in restaurants through high school and college, he rose from modest beginnings as a Burger King sandwich assembler to Holiday Inn busboy and line cook (where his father was head chef), to cooking at the family's Chinese restaurant. In 2011, a work assignment led him and Judy to move to Beijing for 3 years, where they deepened their knowledge of Chinese regional cuisines.
He’s known for his meticulous attention to detail and unwavering commitment to helping home cooks achieve delicious results, with sometimes maddening (for his daughters, the editors of this blog)—BUT ULTIMATELY HELPFUL—amounts of explanation. He specializes in all things traditional Cantonese and Chinese takeout (straight from the family restaurant days). He’s tackled some of the toughest dishes to get right, from banquet classics like Lobster Yee Mein to sweets like Fried Sesame Balls and Dim Sum items like the Taro Puff recipe in the family’s cookbook. Other reader favorites include his renowned Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork), Cantonese Steamed Fish, and Mongolian Beef.
Along with the rest of the family, Bill is a New York Times bestselling cookbook author and James Beard and IACP Award nominee, and has been developing recipes for over a decade. He continues to use his wealth of knowledge to further build what Saveur Magazine has deemed "the internet's most popular Chinese cooking blog" and what Bon Appétit has called “the Bible of Chinese Home Cooking.” His contributions extend beyond recipes to starting the valuable resource that is The Woks of Life’s Chinese Ingredients Glossary, as well as articles spanning wok seasoning and care, cooking techniques, and Chinese culture.
See Bill’s posts below!
