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Nina Daza-Puyat performed a reading of her recently published book "The Legend of the Lumpiang Shanghai" to Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Neil Ferrer and his staff.

The event was part of the ceremonial turnover of her book to the San Francisco Public Library.

Daza-Puyat wrote the book in 2022 and found Filipino illustrator Sean Erwin Santia to help create the story.

The book not only centers on the iconic Filipino dish, but also provides instructions on how to make the fried spring rolls.

Daza-Puyat shared that she was surprised at how fast her work was shared with children all over the world.

"I never expected it," she said. "To think that there would be more children, not just Filipino children, who will be able to read my story."

Daza-Puyat added: "This story is the legend of the fried spring rolls. It's really my way of sharing my love and knowledge about Filipino food."

Abraham Ignacio Jr., the public librarian of San Francisco, said the book will help highlight the Filipino-American experience.

“There's a number of authors that have come out which is great," said Ignacio, a Filipino-American. "I'm glad we're bringing that to the fore because we want to bring our culture to our people here and to the broader community to learn all about our culture and also our languages.”

Ferrer said he hopes the book will help more to appreciate "the richness of our Philippine history and culture."

"I wrote this children's story with a recipe on the back of the book because I want the children to cook the recipe," Daza-Puyat said. "Imagine that after they read the story, they want to tell their parents, 'let's go and buy the ingredients and make lumpiang shanghai.' To me, that's something that makes me happy.”

Daza-Puyat is the daughter of Nora Daza, the acclaimed Filipina chef and a best-selling author of cookbooks.

The author said she hopes to produce more fictional tales based on her mother's recipes in the near future.