The Chinese
Cookbook
Collection
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| New additions here |
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| Chinese Cookbooks |
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Easy Family Recipes from a Chinese-American Childhood - by Ken Hom - I really like this book. Ken Hom’s recalls the sights, sounds and scents of Chicago’s Chinatown with such clarity that I am delightedly transported back there. Every one of the recipes, from Nostalgic Chicken Subgum to Hong Kong Style Broccoli, has been very satisfying. Occasionally, the author will give two versions of a dish, the Authentic Chinese and the Chinese-American. If you want photos of the finished dish, this is not the book for you, but if you want good, reliable recipes that are direct from the Chinese-American kitchen and want to muse over interesting tidbits of information sprinkled about the book, this is the book for you. |
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Yan-Kit's Classic Chinese Cookbook - by Yan-Kit So Yan-Kit begins with explanations of the very basics of classic Chinese cooking, laying the table, how to eat rice, and a completely illustrated section on how to cut, stir-fry and steam. The recipes that follow are absolutely delicious and authentic (even includes real Bird's Nest Soup). Yan-Kit's Classic Chinese Cookbook is one you should not be without.. Every recipe I have tried has been wonderful. |
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Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan recipes personally gathered in the chinese province of Sichuan - by Fuchsia Dunlop - Land of Plenty is another must have. This book is well researched by the author, who lived and went to the famed cooking school in Chengdu, and offers very authentic, spicy recipes. It is a cornucopia of information covering basic cutting skills, cooking methods, equipment and ingredients, various homemade stocks, soups and hotpots, and the 23 flavors and 56 cooking methods of Sichuan. Each recipe is prefaced with a story of its history or origin, how it is prepared or sold in Sichuan, or useful information about its ingredients. Close to 300 pages of recipes, 100 pages of information, and some photos. | ||||||||||||||||
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Quick and Easy Dim Sum Appetizers and Light Meals - This is simply a great book for learning how to make Dim Sum. For each recipe, there is one page of photos for ingredients and the final dish and another page of photos and straight forward, clear instructions showing the step by step way to get there. A few pages on menu planning, cooking methods, and utensils are included. And the food is delicious. | ||||||||||||||||
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The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing - by Grace Young - A real lesson in Cantonese cooking that includes words of wisdom from the author's ancestors, the origin of the recipes and helpful hints. There are not many photos, but Young's instructions are clear with great attention to detail. It is pretty hard to go wrong with this lovingly written book. Only one minor quirk is the way the recipes are grouped, i.e. "Cooking as a Healing Art," or "A Day Lived as if in China" instead of by ingredient or method of cooking but all you have to do is look in the index, | ||||||||||||||||
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Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook - by Jung-Feng Chiang & Ellen Schrecker - The authors include detailed chapters on the foods of China, ingredients, equipment, and preparation methods. What follows will make Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook an old reliable for you, as it has been for me. Over the years, I have cooked from almost every recipes in this book and only found one or two that didn't quite live up to expectations. Very clear instructions, no photos. | ||||||||||||||||
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The Taste of China - Ken Hom - A beautiful book, stunning photos of China, a colorful glossary of ingredients, and as always, a great collection of recipes all of which are prefaced by an informational paragraph or two. The chapters in The Taste of China are grouped so as to enable him to write about the history of the time, or the area that the recipes are from, such as, "Influences from Without and Within", "The Imperial Legacy" or "The Glorious Cuisine of Guangzhou (Canton)". | ||||||||||||||||
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The Good Food of Szechwan - by R. Delfs - Unfortunately this book is out of print, but if you can get your hands on it, do so. The front-matter includes such bare bones instructions as jointing a chicken and the rest is full of great authentic recipes. The Gongbao recipe kicks and the Eggplant with Yuxiang Sauce is easy and packed with flavor. A nice feature of The Good Food of Szechwan is the way the recipe ingredients list adds a category called "Seasonings". Combining seasonings before you start to cook cuts out an unwelcome surprise and helps you stay on top of things as you rapidly stir-fry. | ||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese Technique - by Ken Hom - This book is out of print, but I am including it because it is an excellent informational book with some recipes. All the basics are covered; chopping, deep-frying, shredding lily stems, frying transparent noodles, deboning a chicken. The rest of the chapters are by ingredient, from Chinese broccoli to chicken, squid and pig. They all have useful information about the ingredient, detailed handling instructions, many photos, and most have an example recipe or two. If you want to know, step by step, in clearly written instructions, how to cut a chicken into pieces, Chinese style, how to roast a whole pig, how to clean and prepare squid, how to make Peking Duck, Chinese Technique is worth trying to find. | |||||||||||||||||
| Martin Yan's Culinary Journey Through China - by Martin Yan - Yan's journey begins by watching his mother cook in Canton and then travels to Beijing, Shanghai and Sichuan. I used to love his TV show, and the Culinary Journey Through China retains his quirky humor and foolproof recipes. Try the warm chicken salad of Sichuan and the Shao Hsing Savory prawns from Shanghai. Though not a truly "authentic" cookbook, as he often adds his own twists and brings in a little Pacific Rim and the dishes are flavorful. The clear layout of the book says easy - helpful hints and interesting information fill the outside column of each page. Many, but not all of the dishes are pictured. | |||||||||||||||||
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Martin Yan’s Chinatown Cooking - by Martin Yan - The companion cookbook to Yan's TV series is a culinary tour of 11 Chinatowns throughout the world. The recipes are solid and range from Dim Sum and Appetizers to Desserts. He says a little about each recipe, including where it is from and what the local influences are, - so - Pan-fried Taro Cakes from Honolulu and Macau’s Minchee Minced Pork. Chinatown Cooking is sprinkled with information on technique, traditions, and equipment. He lists restaurants and recommends favorite dishes in each of the Chinatowns. Lots of recipes, many photos and a good glossary. | ||||||||||||||||
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Susanna Foo Fresh Inspiration: New Approaches to Chinese Cuisine - by Susanna Foo - The recipes in Foo's 2nd book are as clear and usually as elegantly simple as the design of this classy looking book. Some dishes are incredibly light, like the Cold Soba Noodles with Lime Coriander Vinaigrette, some are surprising such as the savory Rice Noodle Flan, and others sound complicated, Sesame Crusted Halibut with Mixed Beans and Thai Lemongrass Sauce, but come together easily. When she is working from a traditional dish, she explains her ingredient changes and how they work. She does not "Americanize" but creates an interesting blend of Chinese, American and French cooking. Many photoe of plated dishes. | ||||||||||||||||
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Dim Sum: The art of Chinese tea lunch - by Ellen Leong Blonder - This neat little square book resembles dim sum - small and packed with flavor. The author includes many dough recipes - if you are feeling ambicious - and detailed instructions on the various cooking methods, steaming, boiling, baking, deep and pan frying. Chinese Chive Dumplings, Mock Chicken (made with bean curd skin), and Deep -fried Stuffed Eggplant are but a few of the many recipes in this book. Watercolor illustrations depicting the plated dim sum and the way to get there accompany the recipes. | ||||||||||||||||
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©2005-06 Cookbooks of Asia and the Pacific, P.O. Box 1255, Pahoa, HI 96778
contact@thebamboochef.com |
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