It has been called "the first truly insightful English-language Chinese cookbook",[1] Yang Chao introduced new dishes and recipes that she collected in China but adapted them for preparation in an American kitchen.

Chao describes the customary behavior, for instance at the end of a banquet, with what Janet Theophano calls "a spirit of frivolity and playfulness".

Precise directions tell how to perform such tasks as "rolling knife pieces" (Chinese: 滾刀塊; pinyin: gǔn dāo kuài) on a carrot or other crisp vegetable.

The New York Times review of the 1945 first edition called it "something novel in the way of a cook book" and said that it "strikes us as being an authentic account of the Chinese culinary system, which is every bit as complicated as the culture that has produced it".

[18] One historian sees the book as part of the larger story of cultural relations between the United States and China during the Open Door period.

[19] Janet Theophano wrote that How to Cook and Eat in Chinese is "more than a cookbook: It is the stage on which Yang Chao unfolds a personal, family, and cultural drama."

Readers "also travel with Mrs. Chao on this more personal journey as she succinctly narrates her affectionate, sometimes tense, relationship with her family and the life experiences that compelled her to author this book".