5 comments about Vegetarian Sushi (Essential Kitchen Series).

1. There is lots of variety in this little book. The introduction gives you a fine initiation into the sushi-making realm with recommendations on tools and products available. Recipies are straight-forward with easy-to-follow instructions. In fact, I didn't know that there were so many types of vegetarian sushi available! So, what's wrong with my local sushi restaurant? The photographs are also a wonderful asset to this cookbook.

   Definitely recommended for people who want to learn how to make their own sushi (without worrying about contamination and food borne illnesses associated with raw fish). An asset to any vegetarian/vegan cookbook collection.




2. Book layout is beautiful...each recipe has own color photo.
   Ingredients easy to find.
   Recipes are easy to follow with easy techniques.
   Food is delicious.
   Great for cocktail parties!



3. This book has everything it needs to pass as great to the majority of the population; glossy photos, cute names, and it's about sushi.
   Very trendy.
   As a Vegan, I was not as impressed. The stock recipes include bonito (dried fish), and offered no substitutions for it. Several of the recipes called for the stock, or water. Water doesn't add any flavor to food, obviously. So it's either fish, or a substandard dish. The author also includes seafood suggestions on nearly every page. The last time I checked, fish are living creatures. Fish are not vegetables.
   I expected a few mentions of egg or dairy, it is a supposedly Vegetarian book. But I can't say I expected flesh to be involved in the cooking process.
   Before becoming Vegan, I had never eaten sushi due to my allergy to seafood. So if you have a similar allergy and are looking to enjoy Sushi, I would recommend searching elsewhere.



4. i was looking for a strict vegetarian sushi book and this book often uses bonito which is a fish product...



5. Some of the reviewers of this book marked it down because it contains recipes that require fish products. In my opinion this is very unfair. Not all vegetarians are vegans, and some do in fact eat fish as well as eggs and cheese. Rating this book low because it contains recipes for foods you don't eat would be like me rating Joy of Cooking only one star because it has recipes for pork, squirrel, and bear meat, none of which I eat. Neither do I eat shellfish, which is one reason why I was so happy to find this book. Japanese cooking makes extensive use of all manner of sea creatures which would not be something I would eat, so I must either overlook or adapt many recipes in most cookbooks dealing with Japanese cuisine. With this one I can use every one!
   
   If you are vegan, then yes, there are some recipes in here you could not use, such as the omelet sushi options. As for the essential Japanese stock/seasoning dashi, which contains bonito, a fish, the author recommends leaving out the bonito and doubling the seaweed component as a fish-free alternative. I do imagine this would make a change in the flavor, but probably not a fatal one. When one has dietary restrictions, one is used to such adaptations. But however strictly you practice your vegetarianism, there is something in here for you.
   
   If you are not a vegetarian, the author includes suggestions for seafood variations, both fish and shellfish, so you are bound to find something you would like to try.
   
   This book is beautiful and has many wonderful ideas and options for many types of sushi. It has ingredient lists, equipment lists, and even lovely garnishing ideas, as well as instructions on making perfect rice for sushi. The color photos are inspiring, the instructions are clear and detailed. I recommend it.

2 comments about The Food of China: A Journey for Food Lovers (Food Of Series).

1. This is a book on authentic Chinese food. It is based on a trip made by the authors that covered much of Chins, talking with Chef's and photographing their dishes.
   
   This book is a large format book, profusely illustrated with literally hundreds of color photographs. The photographs show mostly food, but also a bit of the cultural scene -- where culture in this case usually involves food.
   
   The one problem with authentic Chinese food is getting the proper ingredients. For instance under Tea, they say that China's finest greet tea is grown around Longjing, and is called Dragon Well. Here in the middle of the Nevada desert trying to find such ingredients is pretty difficult. Thank goodness for the web where I found it for sale.
   
   All in all, this is the ultimate Chinese cookbook. There are hundreds of recipies, and they all came directly from China.



2. I love the recipes and the pictures were stunning and the food taste as good as they look, it keeps you cooking

5 comments about A Spoonful of Ginger : Irresistible Health-Giving Recipes from Asian Kitchens.

1. I've had this cookbook for a number of years, and I freely admit that I haven't made every recipe in the book. There are some dishes, however, that have become standbys, such as the saucy ground turkey wrapped in lettuce leaves. (In fact, I just grabbed the book so I could make those lettuce wraps as my contribution to a potluck Halloween party -- everyone says, "This is better than PF Changs!")
   
   It's not that these are the most authentic, knock-your-socks-off recipes. If I'm ready to spend a couple of hours putting together an awesome Asian meal, I'll turn to Barbara Tropp or to The Key To Chinese Cooking. However, the recipes in this book are solidly GOOD, with an underlying sense of healthful eating, and many recipes are vegetarian (or nearly so).
   
   However, what makes this cookbook a winner is that the recipes are straightforward enough to make during the week, after an exhausting day at work (when something to balance your energy sounds most appealing -- doesn't "hot and sour salmon with greens" sound restorative?).
   
   Plus, there's a good chance you have most of the ingredients you need in the house already, and can whip together something more interesting than "maybe I'll just open a can of chili." That's how the book falls open to the recipe for chile chicken with cashews -- I usually have a bag of frozen chicken breasts, a can of water chestnuts, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, cashews... it doesn't ask for a heck of a lot more. A few minutes of rummaging around in the refrigerator, and I have a meal that sounds like I planned it.
   
   Also, the healthy stuff -- yin-yang, and advice about food-based remedies (mussels are good to strengthen the kidneys, for instance) -- is enjoyable and educational.
   
   Nice book. I recommend it.



2. I was so excited to try the recipes in this book, and after the first couple was disappointed, but kept trying several more. The ingredients seemed interesting, but the meals were very bland.



3. The book is organized well and has beautiful pictures. Recipes are clear and easy to follow, and so far, have proved to be delicious!



4. I love this cookbook! The blurb on the jacket by Nora Pouillon says it better than I could. "Recipes that not only are full of flavor and taste delicious but most of all are good for us - balanced, energizing, and nurturing. Nina Simonds teaches us about the importance of yin and yang in our diets and show us that food is fundamental to our lives and our health. Food is our daily medicine and Nina's book helps us make this connections again." And not only are the recipes fairly simple and the ingredients easy to find, this cookbook is fun to browse and read.



5. After being consistently surprised with the quality of recipes I've made from this cookbook, I felt compelled to throw in my .02 to anyone looking for great, fresh, off-the-hook recipes that not only taste good, but are really good for you. My taste-testers are a tough bunch--two adolescent boys and a hubby that's slowly coming around to eating healthier. I just made the "Vegetarian Roll-Ups" the other night to rave reviews. I've tried the "Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup", the "Healthy Hot & Sour Soup," the "Chinese Cinnamon Barley Soup", "Garlic Beef with Broccoli," and the "Roasted Asparagus w/a Sesame Vinaigrette," ALL of which rated an A or better. My response to the reviewers who complained that the recipes were too bland or were only for people who ate "Chung King" garbage is that I absolutely disagree. If you think these are too bland--then just up the aromatics, people! If you want delicious, feel-good, smell-good, invigorating recipes that are nutritious to boot, then get this cookbook. The only downsides are that some of the recipes have a long prep time, and in the "Vegetarian Roll-Ups" recipe it omits what to do w/the tofu. So there are a couple of typos, but the trade-off is SO worth it if you've got the time.

4 comments about Weight Watchers Stir-Fry to Szechuan: 100 Classic Chinese Recipes (Weight Watcher's Library Series).

1. This is a fabulous Chinese cookbook, not only for Weight Watchers members but also for those interested in the taste of Chinese cooking without all the extra fat and calories. Being a Weight Watchers member, I was a bit skeptical that the lower-point recipes would be flavorful and satisfying, but I am now a believer. The egg drop soup is so much more delicious than anything I've ever eaten from a take out restaurant. It is a light soup with some unexpected flavors, such as black mushrooms. The Kung Pao Chicken recipe was much better than many 'regular' recipes I've tried. I love to cook Chinese dishes at home but I've never succeeded in getting them to look or taste like something from a restaurant, until now.

   I would recommend this title to anyone looking for a good basic Chinese cookbook and would encourage any Weight Watchers members interested in moderate point, yet delicious recipes to buy this book!




2. I usually consider a cookbook a success if I find a handful of recipes which I will continue to use. I have already tried 11 recipes from this (comparatively) small book and plan to or have already reused most of them. This is a real find for Chinese food lovers watching their diets, but it's also recommended for anyone who enjoys cooking Chinese food.



3. My husband and I have tried 4 recipes out of this book so far, and all 4 were a big hit. One in particular -- curried shrimp with noodles -- was really good and we have made it 5 times already. You really wouldn't know it was "diet food" unless you saw the book title. I'm only giving it four stars just because I haven't tried most of the recipes yet. But so far, very good, and the format of the book is great too!



4. A wonderful cookbook, full of recipes that anyone can make. A taste for everyone...ever wonder how to make a low calorie Kung Pao Chicken?...well it's in there. It's an excellent way to get vegetables into your meals too. Real Chinese food has Chicken and Beef as accompliments...veggie and rice/noodles are primary. This book has both ways to calculate your weight watchers needs, points and exchanges. I highly recommend this book. Nothing dull here!

5 comments about Potsticker Chronicles: America's Favorite Chinese Recipes.

1. Just a bit of a warning. Everything and i do mean everything in this book requires two cups of oil to fry the meat, poultry or what ever your cooking. It's definantly not an option for a healthy eater. Not to mention that using two cups of oil everytime you fix something could be a little expensive. I also purchased "Breath of a Wok" at the same time as this book and i highly recommend it instead.



2. I love chinese food! Never could make it right though and nothing ever tasted like I got in the restaurants. Most chinese cookbooks seemed to miss the mark where it came to replicating the restaurant type food. I gave up on chinese food altogether for over 10 years.
   
   I bought this on a whim this last winter and couldn't believe how good this stuff was. For me, it cracked the nut on restaurant style chinese cooking. This stuff is so freaking easy and the same ingredients in varying quantities are used throughout the book. You DO NOT have to have an extensive pantry to make this stuff and it is as tasty as anything you will ever order in a restaurant.
   
   As a matter of policy and courtesy, I usually don't say anything about another review but there is one here that talks about having to use two cups of oil everytime you make something and how it isn't all that practicle. The person is right, for a lot of recipes the books tells you to have 2 cups of oil to cook your meat but you don't have to. I just sautee mine when I'm not in the mood to go all out or just use my deep fat frying and just reuse the oil like I normally would for anything else. It's not that big of a deal.
   
   The sauces in this book are worth the price on their own and you won't be sorry.



3. The reviewers' problems with the book seem to be around the use of 2 cups of oil in every recipe. I have not read the book, but the technique of first frying in a large quantity of oil before stir-frying is called "velveting," and it produces marvelous texture and flavor. The same result may be achieved by using water in place of oil.(Thank you Barbara Tropp; may you rest in piece.) Simply drop the marinated meat in a pot of boiling water for a few seconds, drain and proceed with the stir-fry. It's the heat you are after - it sets the marinade and the proteins so juices are locked in during the stir-fry. The result is incomperably succulent, tender and flavorful meat. Try!



4. I LOVE THIS BOOK... not only are the recipes marvelous, the stories Berman adds to particular recipes make the reader feel like they truly are cooking authentic chinese food. The recipes are simple and easy and loads of fun to cook!!



5. I don't know about you but I've tried to cook chinese dinner kits and use little sauce mixes and even some bottled sauces but I could never get that Chinese restaurant taste. There was always something missing. UNTIL I got this book. I am cooking Chinese at least once a week and it is sooooo good. The brown sauce, garlic sauce, etc can be made with anything and you'll feel like you're eating at a chinese restaurant but better! I usually make a large batch of sauce and freeze it in small batches, then I can make a really quick dinner. The orange beef is amazing, and don't worry about frying everything. I tried the orange beef with simply browning the meet directly in the wok with just a little oil and it tasted just as good if not a little better that way. It also takes a lot less time. I love trying new stuff out of the cookbook. The side stories and background information is really interesting to read. All of the recipes have a backstory and special meaning to the author. This is easily my favorite cookbook!

5 comments about The Chinese Kitchen: Recipes, Techniques, Ingredients, History, and Memories from America's Leading Authority on Chinese Cooking.

1. I'm very happy to have bought this book. There may be some redundant recipes but I still feel that everone should buy ALL her titles. I trust her knowledge so I am very happy that she has included a Fried Milk recipe.



2. I was always intimidated by the prospect of Chinese cooking. But now among my dozens of cookbooks, for many types of cuisine, I value this the most. I learned techniques from the pictures and descriptions I otherwise could not have understood. And I found the ingredients in my local Asian market thanks to Eileen's "Chinese Larder" section. And the recipes are delicious.



3. The recipes I've tried in this volume are indeed all excellent, and taste like what I'd expect in the more authentic Chinese restaurants I eat in. The Hainan Chcken Rice is very close to the recipe that was taught to me by a Chinese friend from Hong Kong. Now few of these recipes are easy; this is not a "dinner from your wok in five minutes" sort of Chinese cookbook. Some take preparations that span over two days, or more. If you can take the time to do a proper job, though, you'll be rewarded for your efforts.
   
   But as others have noted, this book does have its problems. The list of ingredients in the beginning is incomplete; many ingredients don't make an appearance until they show up in the instructions for a specific recipe. While there is a small photo section in the middle of the book, showing some of the more obscure techniques (like inflating a Beijing duck) it is woefully inadequate, and in some instances doesn't really help. The photos on making Bao (buns) show the beginning of pleating the top closed, but if you've never seen this demonstrated the photo is not of much help. Many other reviewers have rightfully noted that when cooking an unfamiliar cuisine it's very useful to have pictures to guide you in making a dish that looks right.
   
   So this is a good, but flawed, book. If you're already familiar with many of the dishes presented here, and with the basic techniques of Chinese cooking, and Chinese ingredients, and you're ready to plunge into some time consuming techniques, you'll find this volume very useful. Those with less experience might look elsewhere for a while.



4. This book has authentic recipes. But they may be 'authentic' in a way that I suspect most normal Americans (and many Chinese in China to some extent) will be unable to really embrace. What I mean by this is that these are authentic Cantonese aristocratic recipes; i.e. food for the kind of people that can afford servants, or at least have a stay at home mother or father who has enough time to devote multiple hours to cooking dinner each day. Even when the recipes venture into other areas of Chinese cuisine, it holds that same kind overly epicurean complexity.
   
   I grew up with my grandparents cooking Cantonese food for me, and though preparations can get quite complex in the Chinese kitchen, dinner rarely feels like a burden. This book simply calls for too many ingredients, oftentimes obscure ones, oftentimes in trifling amounts. Currently I live in Beijing and the agricultural market is right down the street, but generally speaking I can hardly motivate myself to go gather all the many ingredients in these epic recipes. I feel in many ways that Ms. Lo neglects an important, but certainly not all encompassing, concept in Chinese cooking, which is straightforwardness and letting good ingredients speak for themselves.
   
   To compare, Ms. Lo's recipe for Mah Paw Daufu (not a Cantonese dish) has 22 ingredients listed. Whereas in the "Land of Plenty" cookbook the Ma Po Doufu calls for 12 ingredients. Both recipes create a wonderful dish, but as the recipe in "Land of Plenty" is much less complex I use it 95% of the time. Having grown up with Chinese food and having lived in China for 3 years I would say that "Land of Plenty" is more 'authentic' in that its the home style cooking that most Chinese people do.
   
   Notice I did give this book 3 stars which means I think it is good, just not great. I have tried a good number of the recipes and all of them resulted in very nice dishes. Ms. Lo understands Chinese cooking, Chinese food, and Chinese culture, so the essays about food in this book are extremely informative. I also appreciate that she tries to cover the many regions of Chinese cuisine. Yet in the end, if you are like me, work full time, don't have enough money for an in-house chef, or don't have a stay at home spouse, I would recommend looking for other Chinese cookbooks.



5. Overall, it seems the cookbook is geared for westerners (note the wine list discussion at the end of the book) but at the same time it seems to make it overly difficult for them to cook the recipes.
   
   I've read many of the reviews here before being enticed into buying this book because of the many high praises for 'authenticity' and pro level quality of the recipes. I have to say I was sadly disappointed. There are many problems with this book, which some of the more critical of the reviews have mentioned, such as: haphazard organization, overly complicated ingredients lists meant for people with kitchen staff, and no pictures of the finished dish for the uninitiated. Talking about self praise, the first sentence in the front cover fold is that she is the 'Cantonese Julia Child'. But, while Julia Child actually trained in kitchens in France, all I could discern from the book of Eileen Lo's training is that her grandmother, Ah Paw, taught her while she was growing up. Her grandmother, the auther notes, "knew instinctively, without ever having had to personally put a spatula into wok, how things ought to be cooked..."
   
   But, let's go to the crux of a good cookbook, the recipes. My definition of good recipe writing is that in Jacques Pepin's or Julia Child's books: no mistakes, succinct with good professional hints. You KNOW they had tested the recipe many times.
   Pros:
   - description of ingredients (but again, where's the picture?)
   - Chinese characters for ingredients and recipes (but why in cursive Chinese. Printed form of Chinese is so much easier - and yes, I read Chinese)
   Cons:
   - A biggy: some of the Chinese is wrong. Sometimes it is so obvious such as when the number of Chinese characters are more or less than the 'pinyin' version. If you have the book, try counting the words if you can't read them. Critical because it suggests copying the characters to bring to your Chinese grocer (or restaurant?) for ordering.
   - Instructions are overly complicated. For example, after sauteing veggies you are told to towel wipe the pan down. Not necessary unless you need to change the flavor.
   - Some recipes are definitely not traditional. Authentic? Well, maybe.. but to where? Example: steamed bread or 'man tau' is traditional made with yeast but a modern quickbread version using baking powder is used here. Personally, I dislike the quickbread version. It doesn't have the proper bread fragrance. But many Chinese bakeries currently use it for speed.
   - Overuse of oyster sauce. For example, marinating the lobster in Cantonese Lobster in oyster sauce: do you really want the lobster to taste like oysters? Not me.
   
   To give some of my background, I'm a cooking enthusiast, have worked in a number of Chinese restaurant kitchens, cook mostly Chinese but eat and cook international foods, and own many a cookbooks some of which are very good (but not this one).
   -

5 comments about The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook.

1. Have owned this book for about 20 years now, and have replaced my paperback with a hard covered book because I used it so much that my first book is now in two peices.
   
   It is such a wonderful, uniquely written, simply to understand book that informs those who really want to understand cooking. I don't think it is written to impress professional chefs but to work with regular people who love to eat Chinese.
   
   My best friend (who is Chinese) and I used to cook all the time, and I have lots of experience making Chinese food
   and this book added to my knowledge and is still adding to my knowledge years later. The only Chinese cookbook I would own.
   
   This is definitely worth owning!!!!
   You will love this book!



2. The book is excellent, with a wide variety of recipes and detailed explanations about chinese cooking.



3. I've had this book for many years and always go back to it. The recipes are very basic and like the ones my mom cooked but never documented. Who ever wrote down family recipes to pass on? How do you measure when the recipe is in the cook's head? This year I purchased a copy for each one my children to have. They are all grown and out of the house. This way they have a starting point and can embellish on the recipes. Unfortunately, it doesn't contain photos, but I know the dishes just by the topic, descriptive receipe name and the ingredients.



4. I have always enjoyed good Chinese cuisine. Recently, I've developed a far greater interest in cooking it for myself -- I've moved from the SF Bay Area to the wilds of northern Massachusetts, and good Chinese restaurants and takeout places around these parts are few and far between. So, I decided to learn how to cook those fabulous dishes I always enjoyed.
   
   At the bookstore, I was taken in by the glowing reviews on this book's cover, but I didn't take the opportunity to truly browse through it. In retrospect, I wish that I had. Although this book does contain a broad variety of recipes, and does introduce a novice into the mystique of experimenting with Chinese cooking, it lacks in more or less all of what many would consider key recipes.
   
   Kung pao chicken? Nowhere to be found. Mongolian beef? Nada. Orange chicken? Nope. Peking spareribs? Zero. Spicy Szechuan chicken? Not a chance. Fresh bao, or dumplings, or shu mai? Can't find it anywhere. Ginger chicken? Nary a one. Cashew chicken? A solitary recipe.
   
   What it does have, on the other hand, are ten pages of recipes to do with chicken livers and gizzards prepared in various manners. Sure, there's the few recipes that look as though they might be worth trying, but to find them you have to thumb through the hundreds of pages of dross looking for those few pieces of gold.
   
   In all, an impressively weighty work, but hardly containing a great deal in the way of useful reference to someone whose life doesn't entirely revolve around trying out new and questionably useful recipes.



5. In 1966, this book was an epic. A doorstop-sized compilation of Chinese cuisine written by a Westerner, this book remains a staple of used bookstores. For what it is, it's not bad -- it's dated, but the recipes are generally pretty tasty. Overall it's got roughly the same feel as a typical Chinese restaurant menu, and it is, as a general rule, a classic. However, I've tackled the issue of anachronistic books before, and the results usually aren't that pretty.
   
   I have to say right up front that this book suffers from one massive and nearly unforgiveable fault -- the near total lack of Chinese names for dishes and ingredients. Even if the recipe for a favorite dish is in here, you won't be able to find it by its Chinese name unless its name was already well-established when the book was written. (Incidentally, there is no recipe in here for chop suey; Miller evidently felt very strongly about keeping authentically Chinese.)
   
   That said, your mileage may vary. Some of the reviews from when it was published indicate that it was quite popular among Chinese-Americans in the 1960s, and the recipes do seem largely authentic, if a bit unadventurous at times. But the language issue is a huge stumbling block that would probably destroy a book written now. Buy it used if you can't get a good deal on it, but make sure to get a more recent book to complement it.

5 comments about My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen: 100 Family Recipes and Life Lessons.

1. This one has family photos and anecdotes. The author once managed a silk shop in Chunking Mansions. I would have liked to have read about the snacks she ate then but I guess she did a lot of cooking and probably didn't like to eat street food so much. She reminds you to remove the skin on the gingkos and the bitter stem as well.
   
   This book requires a scale though because she gives ingredients in weights.



2. This delightful book will transform the way you think about cooking, about food, and likely about life as well.
   Tracing her own skills back to the critical lessons she learned at a tender young age from her beloved Grandmother, Eileen Yin-Fei Lo takes you on a journey from simple baby steps (how to make perfect rice) right up to more
   exotic Holiday dishes. But more than just helping you to understand how to cook properly, how to respect the ingredients, the Gods of the kitchen and more, she also shares a whole philosophy of life. An insight into how the Chinese look at things.
   You could read this book without lifting one spatula, nor steaming one precious fish, and feel enriched and ennobled by the experience.
   I can personally strongly recommend this profound tome to all.



3. I love this book for its author's personal entries and photos. The recipes are good, but some were not a part of my personal experience. For those recipes I go to Ken Hom's Easy Recipes from a Chinese American Childhood Easy Family Recipes from a Chinese-American Childhood (Knopf Cooks American Series) and Every Grain of Rice, by Ellen Blonder and Annabel Low.Every Grain of Rice: A Taste of Our Chinese Childhood in America However, it is fascinating to learn about cookbook author and cooking instructor Eileen Yin-Fei Lo's life. I own some of Ms. Lo's other cookbooks and look forward to trying some of the recipes in this one. I'm sure each recipe has been meticulously tested.



4. My Cantonese wife is very much enjoying this cookbook. And I am enjoying the results. The cookbook is filled with lots of little tips, in addition to great recipes and background stories. Would make an excellent addition to the cookbook shelf, though it will probably be kept (well used) on the countertop!



5. I always love reading about cultures and mixed with food (my favorite passtime) - this is a treasure of book with genuine recipes that my family and my family before that have cooked. It bought a lot of great memories back for me of eating with the family and talkig naround the table. I was even surprised to see a recipe that is cooked for mothers who have just given birth (pigs feet with ginger). there are so many treasured recipes and for many of the recipes that I have tried, they have come out just great. reading and eating - what a lovely combination.

4 comments about Beyond Bok Choy: A Cook's Guide to Asian Vegetables.

1. This is a beautifully crafted book with wonderful photographs. It's an excellent book even for Chinese. My only complaint is that I wish Lo San would have included more vegetables in her book. There are a lot more other Chinese vegetables she hasn't included. Some of those absent are from the fungi family (if that's a vegetable!) and other Chinese green leafy/root vegetable.



2. This book is a great introduction to Asian vegetables. The photographs are very useful and the general presentation is very good. Information is given as to how to prepare and cook with these vegetables, and there are many recipes to that effect. My only disappointment was that there weren't more vegetarian recipes, although many are adaptable.



3. This is good for someone just becoming interested in Asian cuisine. The photographs are large and beautiful, the recipes simple in the respect that they will bring out the best of the vegetable being highlighted. It's not a book for vegetarians and never claimed to be. It's an introduction to Asian vegetables, what to look for when buying them, general uses, storage and care, and censored cultivation tips on some of the vegetables. I say censored because as a gardener who has grown Asian vegetables for years, Ross gives cultivation information for only a few select vegetables (and brief at that) for the easiest to grow. This is not for the Asian gardener's library unless you like the other information. This would make a great gift.



4. I bought this book after I left school and had to start cooking on my own. As an ABC, the first time I went to an Asian grocery store was very intimidating; my first impression of the vegetable aisle was a huge wall of leafy greens. Although, I haven't tried any of the recipes, I find the book useful for identification, storage and preparation of the vegetables. More importantly, each page includes a picture and the name of the vegetable in English and Chinese (both character and the popular English phonetic name
   form - usually Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciations).

3 comments about Chinese Cuisine: Cantonese Style.

1. While I found this book was full of great pictures, many of the ingredients were difficult if not impossible to find. For example dried sharks fin. The recipe I did make was delicious, but I felt somewhat limited by the ingredient contents.



2. I love this book and highly recommend it. The Chinese cookbooks published by Wei-chuan (a cooking school in Taipei that is essentially the Cordon Bleu of Taiwan) are my bibles, and I don't bother with any other Chinese cookbooks. The recipes in this book are utterly delectable and absolutely authentic, using traditional ingredients and methods -- no shortcuts or substitutions here. For example, you will not find, as in other, less authentic cookbook recipes, peanut butter being substituted for sesame paste. Even though I live in the United States and do not read or speak Chinese, I have not had a problem finding these authentic ingredients in Asian food stores, especially because the ingredients are often pictured in photographs and the text is in both English and Chinese, so that I can even point out the photo or Chinese words for the store clerk if need be. This book is a great addition to any Chinese cookbook library because Cantonese cuisine is so distinctive for its elegantly simple flavors and sauces, a wonderful contrast to the more complex, sophisticated cuisines of Shanghai or Beijing. If you are serious about Chinese cuisine, this book and the others by Wei-chuan are the best you can buy in the English language.



3. This book includes a step by step instruction photos which would be good for beginners. It contains simple recipes that are quick and easy to follow.