5 comments about The Asian Diet: Get Slim and Stay Slim the Asian Way (Capital Lifestyles).

1. Nutrition and creativity combined in this useful presentation of easy-to-make Asian recipes. Beautifully and personally written, backed by hard science.



2. How do Asian stay slim? Any aspiring to the Asian idea of slimness won't want to miss The Asian Diet: Get Slim And Stay Slim The Asian Way. From the use of more tofu and decreased focus on meat to 18 days of suggested menus for the Asian diet plan which may be used as a guide, simple recipes make it easy for non-Asians to understand the follow the concepts of the diet.



3. The recipes are great for an introduction to Asian cooking. The rest of the "diet" was not so interesting or motivating.



4. I like this book it is full of inertesting yummy recipes, and has some nice pictures too. I think you should by this book if you are looking for a healthy way of cooking, and if you love asian food.It is not just a diet,but a way of life.



5. This is a great book for those who've no clue about Asian way of eating. I like the recipes in this book. What I don't like about all these "Asian diet" books (including this one) is that they all imply that genetics play absolutely no role when it comes to a person's size, shape, and metabolism. Eat like the Asians and you'll look like them... Nonsense! My sister-in-law is Asian, and is extremely petite. She can eat twice as much as anyone else in my family but she never gains a pound. This is true for every single Asian person I know. Many of them don't even exercise. It's a cultural thing: Asian men supposedly like a slim but soft female body, so muscle tone is not something most Asian women want. Not the case for the Western female, who wants a lean, fat-free, toned body. Also, consider the body shape. In all my life I have never seen a pear-shaped Asian. They tend to be more narrow-hipped and petite. I have been eating like the Asians for years, and I do aerobics, strength training and lots of walking in addition to eating healthy. But, thanks to Mother Nature who decided to give me big bones and wide hips, my weight does not drop below a certain number unless I eat next to nothing. I am not overweight, but I am not thin either, and I know I will never be like most Asians. That's GENETICS! Keep this in mind when you buy this book. The recipes are great, but the misdirection is not: genetics play a large part when it comes to a person's size, shape, and metabolism. No matter how long and how diligently you follow this diet, it's not going to make you as thin and petite as most Asians if you're not built like them to begin with.

5 comments about Kerala Cooking: A Distinctive Cuisine from India's Spice Coast.

1. This cook book is more than a cook book. It gives a lot of details about the indian state of Kerala which I found particularly interesting. Being a reluctant cook, I found the recipes easy to follow as the author gives step by step instructions on producing the meals. I also found the nutrition information very useful.



2. The recipes in this cookbook are easy to read and follow. I especially liked the fact that The ingredients can all be found in the US, and that recipes go from easy to more time consuming. The variety of recipes is very good, and the ones I've tried so far came out delicious.



3. I am from Kerala, & have found that the dishes come out tasting exactly the way they are supposed to, very practical, most ingredients are easily available. The author has tried to make the recipes as healthy as possible in terms of minimising oil & coconut use which are a major part of Kerala cuisine. Should be a very useful resource for those who are trying to learn how to cook this kind of food.



4. A great cookbook for connoisseurs and novices alike! This book has some very authentic recipes that bring back memories of my childhood in Kerala. I've found recipes in here that I thought I could have only at my mother's house. All the recipes are well laid out and easy to follow.



5. Thanks to this cookbook, we have some wonderful dishes that have become family favorites. One of those is the Lime Rice; it is a delicious dish that is as stunning to present to guests (lovely yellow color) as it is eat! Best of all it goes with everything from barbeque meats to grllled vegetables. I have even brought it to church "covered dish" lunch!
   The suggested "menus" at the back of the book, such as "vegetarian for beginnners" or "fish & meat for the more adventurous", help take the guess work out of planning a well-balanced menu.

5 comments about Essentials of Asian Cuisine: Fundamentals and Favorite Recipes.

1. I think this might be a good book for individuals who are not very familiar with Asian cuisine and would like just a light touch of Asian flavors and spices in their dishes. But for someone like me who grew up eating down right bona fide home-cooked Asian foods, the recipes are very unauthentic and the ingredients and cooking methods are greatly downplayed. If I used these recipes to cook for my parents, who are Vietnamese, I woud probably get disowned. But again, I think it might be a good book for starters. The instructions to the recipes are very easy to follow. The author did take time to thouroughly explain each ingredient to the readers. GOOD LUCK!



2. bordering on exhaustively in-depth, this is a very well written cookbook/encyclopedia for asian cooking.



3. Once again Ms. Trang has put out a cookbook that leaves much to be desired. The recipes are boring and uninspired and I feel that there are many better cookbooks of this type out there. Ms. Trang continues to pump out cookbooks instead of spending some time really learning the intricacies of food and working on her taste level.



4. 
   
   This is a book for the beginning student of Asian Cuisines. It removes the mystery and introduces the real life mechanics and aesthetics of constructing delicious food using ingredients that are new to many Euro- and Afro-Americans.
   Trang manages a very light touch in these recipes-the instructions are easy to follow and indeed sometimes you feel like you knew this stuff all along. Perhaps it's her unique background as a French-Cambodian child of the restaurant business that gives her this special sympathy to both the student and the thing explained.
   
   There are a few must-do recipes here. The Lumpia dipping sauce (brown sugar, garlic) is one of those why-didn't-I-think-of-that accompaniments. In my house, it's been used to lend some interest to a variety of prepared foods bought to please the children. Indonesian Peanut Sauce is a perfect salad dressing in the delightful gado-gado mix of vegetables and it's also a way to get fussy eaters (children and Americans) to eat their veggies.
   
   Trang is also adept at explaining the basics. Her instructions for making stock and her encouragement to do so are masterful and blissfully simple.
   
   
   "The kitchens of the East were my nursery." Corinne Trang says, but this is a much better cookbook than one that might have been written about one's native cuisine. It's Trang's good fortune in having been a translator of traditions for herself that pays off for the reader.
   
   
   Lynn Hoffman, author of New Short Course in Wine,The and the essential novel bang BANG: A Novel



5. Sure, "Asian cuisine" is a wide and diverse topic, but this book does an excellent job highlighting the unique characteristics of the various regions. The amount of information on ingredients and techniques is staggering and should be applauded. This isn't just a collection of recipes, this is an in-depth tutor for learning Asian cuisine. As a chef, I find this book an invaluable reference source and at home, packed full of easy, flavorful dishes.

4 comments about Tibetan Cooking: Recipes for Daily Living, Celebration, and Ceremony.

1. Really great Momo's and other dishes we made to celebrate with friends our slide show of Tibet. Nepalese and other traditional regional influences make for unusual culinary experiences for Westerners. Even more fun, we found excellent yak for sale in the U.S., making the dishes even more authentic.
   
   A rare find...



2. An exceptional book on Tibetan cooking with easy to follow recipes. I recently came back from Tibet and needed an easy recipe for Tibetan noodle soup and found a great one in here. This is an invaluable addition to my cookbook collection.



3. TIBETAN CUISINE is the first book of Tibetan cuisine to offer a range of dishes from traditional home cooking to celebratory recipes for religious ceremonies. From a Jalapeno and Blue Cheese condiment dish to easy Egg Soup and Steamed Greens, dishes are accompanied by discussions of Tibetan culture and ceremonies.



4. A really neat cookbook that allows you to present an interesting twist on Asian cooking. Think of a cross between Chinese and Indian cooking....

5 comments about The Indian Grocery Store Demystified (Take It with You Guides).

1. I've been a slavishly devoted fan of Indian food since 1990, and in the process have managed to become a reasonably accomplished cook. But while there are a host of amazing cookbooks out there that have given me my repetoire, I had not been able to go 'beyond the cookbook' until I got "The Indian Grocery Store Demystified". Beforehand, my visits to the Indian market were very rewarding in that I could identify all the ingredients I needed for my recipes, but I was left with no explanation of what all that other STUFF could be used for. This book helped me to recognize all the wonderful products available, and how they could be used to leap beyond the recipe pages, and actually construct dishes and menus of my very own. Thanks to Linda Bladholm, I am less of a book-taught hobbyist working endlessly to perfect my craft, and more of an intuitive home chef creating satisfying dishes inspired by products that formerly left me puzzled and intimidated. A great resource to anyone who wants to encompass the whole of Indian home cooking, not just a handful of recipes.



2. `The Indian Grocery Store Demystified' by book designer and illustrator, Linda Bladholm is an exposition of ingredients with a very nice little twist which saves it from being a poor man's `Bruce Cost's Asian Ingredients'. While Cost's classic book deals with the serious culinary details of a great many basic ingredients, Ms. Bladholm's book, as suggested by her title, is much more pointedly directed at the shopper's experience in your typical strip mall Indian market.
   
   The author adds appeal and charm to her book by opening it with a visit to her own local mom and pop run Indian grocery store. The store in question was just a bit better organized and stocked than my own favorite Filipino run store in southern New Jersey, but all the familiar staples were there, if not in all the familiar places.
   
   The device of providing a guided tour of an Asian market is reinforced by mentioning all the major brand names for staples such as rice, noodles, sauces, oils, and spice mixes, with opinions by the author of which may be the preferred brands. While I found a few misstatements, such as describing a gluten free flour as `general purpose' (general purpose flours by definition have 10% to 12% gluten producing proteins), and I missed some possible warnings against Texmati rice as a less than useful substitute for Basmati rice, I believe the advice and information in this book is a really great supplement to other books on Asian ingredients with a more scholarly bent.
   
   By far the biggest weakness of the book is the difference in quality between the promise of `over 400 illustrations of ingredients' and the quality of those illustrations. The illustrations in the book are all small black and white line drawings easily fitting into an inch square area with lots of the pictures giving no sense of the kind of thing they are depicting. The little picture of ginger certainly looks like the ginger with which I am familiar, but the picture of the related galangal rhizome does little to assure me that I would be able to use that picture to pick it out from bins of produce labeled in Chinese characters. These poor illustrations give the lie to the claim that this is a `Take It With You' guide, in that it is dealing with a guide to items which may all be labeled in not only a foreign language, but in a script we are simply not used to interpreting. The very clever chapter headings of Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Tagalong and Korean ideograms for food categories (with English translations) do nothing to help the situation.
   
   Note that unlike many other books on Asian ingredients, this book has few recipes using these ingredients. This is not necessarily a weakness, as it means that almost all the space in the book is dedicated to the book's principle topic, the groceries. And, much of this space is dedicated to subjects which purely culinary books may not touch such as teas and medicinal herbs and spices. This is probably not the best book on these subjects, but treating these topics enhances the treatment of the book's primary metaphor, the Indian grocery store, as they do, in fact, appear in Indian grocery stores.
   
   The short appendix on cooking methods and utensils is not too helpful. These will be of little value if your Asian store has a good selection of cooking utensils.
   
   This book is great if you find yourself living within easy shopping distance of a good Indian market. The book also useful if you plan to order lots of Indian groceries over the Internet, as the recommended brands gives one some assurance they are not buying sawdust. The book is less valuable for the culinary generalist, who has no special interest in Asian or Indian cuisine, especially in that the book includes no bibliography. For those readers, Bruce Cost's book mentioned above is far superior a source.



3. This makes all those interesting packages in an Indian Grocery story understandable and changes the shelves from confusing to fun and usable.



4. As more North Americans become better accustomed to the cuisines of India, the once-obscure ethnic groceries join our shopping destinations. This guide helps you choose from the variety of exotic, aromatic ingredients in the bins and packages of a typical Indian or Pakistani food store. It's especially helpful for produce, or items given only non-English names (what is sooji flour, anyway?)



5. I've been cooking Indian dishes for over thirty years now. When I've served my dishes to Indian friends, the best I got was "very tasty, but not authentic." Now with THE INDIAN GROCERY STORE DEMYSTIFIED, there is hope that I will approach that elusive goal. (I know I will never reach it, but I can always try.)
   
   After scanning through this book, I now know about such goodies as "curry leaves," which my friend Raji once told me about. Now that I have discovered that at least three Indian spices -- cinnamon, fenugreek seeds, and turmeric -- are particularly good for diabetics, I will probably cooking Indian at least once a month.
   
   The book also contains a few key recipes and information of Indian cooking techniques.

3 comments about Cooking with My Indian Mother-in-Law: Mastering the Art of Authentic Home Cooking.

1. This is the first indian cookbook that I have owned where all of the meals that I have made from it have been simply outstanding! I give this cookbook a double thumbs up, it truly is wonderful. The author goes into a little bit about his mother-in-law's background, which really helps the reader understand the style of the cooking and the spices used. He also goes into in-depth explanations of every spice, how to make the special masalas that are sometimes added into the recipe, and how his mother-in-law used her own special flair to the food, which in turn made it such a hit with everyone. I have made several recipes from the book, and they have all been well received with my family (especially my 3 young kids who are notoriously picky). I highly recommend this cookbook, your family and friends will thank you!



2. A cheerful and impressive volume, the reader seems to be able to pick up the 'how to do it' tips from the text and excellent photography as fast as the author. Several of the recipes are not " something you can throw together in 10 minutes cookery but in their way simple artistic and mouthwatering outcomes, The traditional ways of Indian cookery are often enhanced by other influences, in this case the obvious Ugandan/ East African touch shines through and makes that little difference. Congratulations on a novel approach and thanks to a Mother in Law who certainly knows her cooking and how to seduce the reader into sharing its beauty.



3. I am new to Indian cooking and saw this book in a local bookstore where I had an opportunity to look through it first hand before buying it. I began using it as soon as it arrived after buying it through Amazon. I actually spent the first two weeks trying a different recipe each night. This book is very easy to use. The recipes are simple to make and uncomplicated. Everything I've made was delicious. I have only one negative comment; in most of the recipes, although the ingredients vary, the spices used are the same and so the the meals taste the same. I have not cooked enough Indian cooking to know if this is typical of that country's cuisine. However, when I eat out at Indian restaurants I don't experience this similarity in flavors between dishes. That said, this is a very well presented, easy to use book with a very good selection of recipes. I recommend it and will continue cooking from it.

4 comments about Indian Recipes for a Healthy Heart: 140 Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol, Low-Sodium Gourmet Dishes from India.

1. I was looking for an alternative to the traditional southern black eye peas & greens New Year meal. I found it in Mrs. Lakhani's book. The black eyed pea salad and curried spinach recipes were easy to make and very tasty. As I looked through the book I found many recipes that I can't wait to try. She has a great selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes.



2. As an indian I can tell you, these recipes are as close as you can get to authentic indian while staying low fat.

   I must admit this cookbook sat on my shelf for a long time because I loved Mathu Jaffrey's time consuming and complexly spiced recipes if I was going to use a cookbook. The cooking we have always done at home used alot of specialty ingredients and took a lot of time, it seemed to me that simple low fat indian couldn't be any good.

   BUT I WAS WRONG! The recipes in this book are EXCELLENT. Very close to authentic while using ingredients you can find almost anywhere and VERY HEALTHY. Imagine that!

   The recipes in this book are low-fat, low cholesterol and low sodium while being very flavorful and fresh tasting. The nutritional lable at the end each recipe is very complete also. For example, for beef samosa's, she has 2 different ways of cooking them, fried or baked. Then she includes 2 nutrient analysis for each way of cooking it. VERY NICE!

   Also each nutrient analysis has a breakdown for sodium with salt included and sodium content without AND a saturated fat versas total fat breakdown.

   The last 40 pages have info on :

   indian spices and their usages and flavor

   American, British, Australian, and Metric conversion

   oven temperture conversion : F versas Celcius

   explaination of proteins, fats, carbs, and sodium Table of desirable weights for men and women

   differences in cholesterol cooked and raw

   balanced diet info

   and a nutritional breakdown table of "common" foods although it includes items like lentils, bulgar and veal.

   The only minus is that this book has diagrams (for somosa wrapping etc.) but no color pictures. :(

   Overall I'd say this is a wonderful book for people interested in fitness or dieting and exotic foods! Not a single item in this book is swimming in fat, like most indian cookbooks are.

   I would buy this book for cooking for myself daily and a Muthu Jaffrey's (high fat) cookbooks for cooking for special occassions and guests.

   Defionately buy this book, it lives up to it name!

   Another good cookbook low fat cookbook I would recomend is "Easy Exotic : A Model's Low-Fat Recipes from Around the World" mostly indian, some asian. Very good too!




3. Having been put on a low sodium diet recently I have been searching high and low for alternative recipes for indian cooking. Mrs Lakhani's book does a decent job of explaining how and why dietary changes must be made. I did find the lack of pictures a little discouraging and a few of the recipes I did try out have not turned out as well as I would like. But then what is food without a little fat and a little salt?? Bleah!!
   The book also provides chapters on the scientific side of dietary changes but i'm afraid I found that a little dull :( If you are looking for low fat / low sodium cookbooks (indian) i highly recommend Secrets of fat free cooking by Priya Kulkarni and Anita Ranade. Every recipe I've tried from that book has been wonderful and they have a sizeable segment on non vegetarian cooking!



4. I bought this book as I am concerned about eating right. I guess I was a little lazy and didn't check when it was written. If you are looking for an Indian cookery book, it's not too bad. If you are looking for recipes that are heart healthy, this may not be it. Understanding of diet and nutrition has improved a lot in the past decade. Eating grains and thus more carbs is not necessarily the best course of option. Buyer beware!

No comments about Cypress.

4 comments about Flavors of Burma: Myanmar : Cuisine and Culture from the Land of Golden Pagodas.

1. I bought this sight unseen, and without the benefit of any other user reviews to guide me. I'm not dissappointed.

   It only has "76 enticing recipes" in it, but they are well laid out. The first 48 pages are background information, and I like having those things in cookbooks.

   I feel that the two best features this cookback has are its hardback cover, and its lack of color photos. Hardback books are always better than paperbacks, and to me color photos in a cookbook always seem to imply that they are trying to cover up other defecienies with flashy pictures that will distract people. There are a few pictures, but they are B&W, and not the major focus of the book.

   I haven't made any recipes yet, but the recipe layout is one I have never seen before. It appeals to me typographically because of its interesting approach. It looks clean, and easy to read, and I hope more cookbooks emulate the style.




2. Great book. Great recipes. My wife and I cooked the double fish curry last night. Its great. The recipe was easy to follow and quick to cook. We already had everything needed - although we used red fish fillets instead of the mackerel or king fish suggested. It tasted really good - smooth and tasty but without that "after curry burp" you get with some of the traditional Indian curries. It looked really good when cooked too - its nice to cook something without knowing in advance how it should look like after the experts have cooked it!
   We will definitly give the other recipes a go too.
   The information on Burmese (Myanmar?) life is interesting too - obviously written with some compassion.



3. I bought this book because my boyfriend is from Burma. I want to learn to make more dishes for him that will appeal to his taste buds. When he saw the book, he wouldn't put it down and kept saying that the recipes were very authentic. He remembers eating some of these dishes/recipes mentioned in the book. Thank you Susan Chan for writing this book.



4. For the lovers of Burmese food, this is a good and concise book to get you started!

5 comments about The Asian Grocery Store Demystified (Take It with You Guides).

1. Before picking up this book, note that it was published in 1999... it doesn't seem THAT long ago, but in terms of your average American's familiarity with Asian ingredients, it's practically eons. While Chinese (or Chinese-American, more accurately) food has been around for a couple of decades (a little longer in big cities), Japanese and Thai food have really only been scooching their way into smaller cities and middle America for the last ten years or so.
   
   Therefore, when this book was published, a lot of the ingredients were wholly unfamiliar to many people. Nowadays, lots of them will seem familiar: wasabi, pickled ginger, sesame oil, chili oil, lemongrass and so on. However, as much as you might be able to recognize the green paste on the corner of your sushi plate, do you really know what a whole wasabi root looks like? Or where you might find it in your asian grocery?
   
   This book helps to break down the linguistic and cultural barrier, offering suggestions as to Asian names for common items, where you might find it, and what you can do with it. Asian grocery stores, by the way, are not just good sources for ingredients for Asian cuisines, I buy all of my fresh herbs at our local store because they are at least 50% cheaper than at the supermarket. You just have to know what you're looking for, and this book will most certainly help you find it!



2. ...for those times when I hit Chinatown on my way home. It is a very useful guide.



3. This book is an interesting read in terms of "demystifying" some Asian ingredients when shopping in the local Asian market. Unfortunately, not all are as well organized as Ms. Bladholm's local store! I enjoyed reading it, but would not consider it a guide when actually going to the store. My main problem with the book is the line drawings, which are not very helpful. My own favorite book of this type, and most useful for getting a visual image, is Martin Yan's booklet "A Simple Guide to Chinese Ingredients and Other Asian Specialties" which has nice clear color photos of all types of Asian foods, from vegetables to canned/packaged foods.
   
   No book is going to be perfect, as in my experience it all depends on the owner/type of market as far as what is carried. For example, the market I usually go to is run by a Korean family, so there is not much in the way of Japanese foods. Sometimes I've found the best way to shop is online, or surfing online stores to get a sense of what you need.
   
   In short, the book is good in content, but there are other sources out there for more visual people (like me).



4. very helpful book when looking for asian ingredients at asian food stores. very good descriptions of all listed ingredients



5. No matter where you live in North America, at some time you will encounter some kind of Asian cuisine. Sometimes it's in a can, or of dubious authenticity; sometimes it appeals to you even if you're not of Asian heritage, sometimes not. You shouldn't limit yourself to the offerings at restaurants, though. Get yourself to an ethnic grocery and start discovering what the rest of the world eats. This guide helps explain what those bumpy squash-looking things are in the produce section, what the various kinds of soy sauce are, and why the type of rice you buy and cook makes a difference. The book concludes with some recipes, including quite a few for Chinese-style herbal soups.