2 comments about The Dim Sum Dumpling Book.

1. This is a modern version of Eileen Lo's 1982 dim sum book . . which is my personal favorite recipe book for dim sum. I noticed that in accordance with the new low-fat trends of the 90's, Ms. Lo is using more infused oils and broths than in her 82 book. The recipes are very clear and easy to follow, never any guess work involved. Ms. Lo writes a little about each recipe, explaining tid-bits about the translation of the name, regionality of the recipe, or modifications she has made. I was especially pleased because this is the only book I have found a recipe for "baked" BBQ pork buns, instead of the steamed kind, a treat that until now I could only get at chinese specialty bakeries. I consider this and the '82 Dim Sum book, a necessary part of any chinese cookbook collect.



2. This is a superb book with mouthwatering dimsum. Some techniques need to be mastered, but most are simple. Seems to be very authentic with the "tea house" taste. I love this book and recommend it to everyone!

No comments about China Modern: 100 Cutting-edge, Fusion-style Recipes for the 21st Century.

1 comments about Chinese Cuisine: Shanghai Styles.

1. Having been born and raised in Shanghai I remember the wonderful dishes we used to eat which are not available in most Chinese restaurants not specializing in Shanghai food. What a pleasure it was to see and use a cookbook of Shanghai food, containing a good sampling of the cuisine, and authentic to boot.

5 comments about Martin Yan's Culinary Journey Through China.

1. The book starts off by literally taking the reader through a journey - A journey that totaled more than 65,000 miles throughout China over land, sea, air, and waterways during a three-month period. I learned something new myself reading this book. I have always tried to explain to people how to understand the balance of flavors, taste and textures of food. Martin Yan explains it in one easy thought - yin and yang. "Yin represents the feminine, yielding, darker, more mysterious forces, while yang stands for the masculine, harder, brighter and hotter ones. In the world of food, yin might be cooler, moister, softer foods, like winter melon, asparagus or crabmeat. Yang might take the form of chiles, ginger, fried foods or red meat." The concept of the yin and yang also fit the textures of the food as well. The next part of the book talks about special equipment, tools and techniques. The recipes include Hot and Sour Beijing Dumplings, Duck Soup, Seafood in an Orange Basket (an incredible dish that is so easy to make), Minced Poultry with Walnuts in Lettuce Cups, Mongolian Roast Lamb, Mushrooms in Fragrant Broth, Steamed Garden Vegetables, Fish in a Bamboo Leaf, Steamed Spareribs in Plum Sauce, Tofu Custard with Tropical Fruits, Honey Walnut Prawns, Ginger-Date Wontons, Asparagus with Sweet and Pungent Dressing, and Spicy Fun See Noodle Salad. The recipes are well written with a little history for an item of each recipe. Food styling and photography of this book are outstanding. Some of the ingredients in the book will only be found in specialty shops or Oriental markets, i.e. dried black mushrooms, nori (Japanese seaweed), Sichuan peppercorns and dried bean thread noodles. This book was aiming to be the first book to receive a perfect score from me, until the very end of the cookbook. Martin Yan wrote an incredible book. I felt the last two pages of advertising took a little bit away from the book however



2. This is my most used cookbook. Great explanations and easy instructions. Anyone can with this cookbook.



3. I bought this book when it first came out after watching Martin Yan's cooking show on PBS. He's a great chef and teacher. I was lucky to buy this book as my first intro to chinese cooking. If I had bought another book, I might have been too intimidated. But Martin Yan's book of simple recipes with complex flavors was the perfect start to learn how to cook chinese. The recipes are easy, simple and delicious. You'll want to cook them over and over again, and before you know it, you'll begin to experiment on your own, using the simple techniques you learn in this book. I've made almost every recipe in it, and nearly every one has turned out great. From the pot-stickers to the soups to the salads to the stir-frys, all of them tasty and easy to make. The one thing I disagree with Martin Yan on is his saying "don't stare-fry, stir-fry," meaning that you should always keep stirring the food around in your wok (or fry pan). I've found many recipes benefit from a little charring here and there, so less stirring can often add tremendous flavor in some of the dishes. Anway, I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have over the years! It's one of the best in this genre of cookbooks.



4. I love this book. Not only is Martin Yan entertaining, he provides a look at his learning experience traveling through Asia and it's culinary history. There is also great information on building an Asian pantry, what supplies and cookware you need, ingredient information and how to use everything. Recipes are very easy to follow and he provides easy directions. Your favorites are a lot easier to cook at home than you'd think!



5. Martin Yan's book is a treasure. Many friends think I can do Chinese cooking effortlessly. Maybe not so, but with this cookbook you can make some basic and some not so basic Chinese dishes. Kung Pao and Hot and Sour soups are made over and over, and I've yet to tasted better in any restaurant. Hail to the chef!
   
   Barry Marshall

5 comments about Taste of Macau: Portuguese Cuisine on the China Coast.

1. For more thing on Macau, visit my website : My Olive Tree (www.pretogrosso.com)
   
   Annabel Jackson's Taste of Macau (Portuguese Cuisine on the China Coast) is an exceptional good cookbook and history lesson for those interested in the heritage of Macanese foods. The book does very well to integrate both culinary and cultural history for the reader. And also it contains secret, interesting and closely guarded Macanese recipes!
   
   This book also attempt to preserve and share, for the first time, a very import aspect of the Macanese world. The author has spent almost 10 years collecting and testing these heritages recipes, getting in touch with the Macanese diaspora, and asking them to reflect back and write about food in Macau.
   
   There's even a poem on secret family recipes & 6 interviews with Macanese and their memory of childhood & foods.
   
   Recipes:
   a) Soups & Starters:
   13 types of dishes including Almondegas (Minced Pork Patties), Pasteis de Bacalhau (Salted Cod Cakes), Rissois (Shrimp Rissoles) etc
   
   b) Fish & Seafood:
   12 types of dishes including Bacalhau a Penha (Salt Cod in Penha Hill style), Gambas a Macau (King Prawns with Chilli & Garlic), Lulas Rechedas (Stuffed Squid) etc
   
   c) Meat:
   19 types of dishes including Capela (Meat Loaf), Pato Tamarinho (Tamarind Duck), Vaca Estufada I (Rich Beef Stew), etc
   
   d) Vegetables:
   5 types of dishes including Amargoso Lorcha (BitterGourd in Coconut Milk) , Sambal de Bringella (Eggplant Sambal) etc
   
   e) Rice & Noodles
   4 type of dishes including Arroz Carregado (Pressed Rice), Lacassa (Noodles in Shrimp Broth)
   
   f) Desserts
   9 type of dishes including Bagi (Glutinous Rice Cake), Bolo Menino (Nut Cake), Pudim de Sagu (Sago Pudding) etc



2. The book arrived ontime. This is a great book for those who appreciate Macau cooking or who are up for trying some new recipes, especially seafood recipes. It is difficult to locate Macau recipes so I am glad that this book is readily available in the US. Some of the recipes are familiar to me and some I do not recall ever having. Macau dishes are more on the portuguese side with a bit of influence from indian, thailand, chinese, or some other ethnicity. It contains the history of macau, interviews with various people and over 60 recipes. I haven't tried the recipes yet but I am sure I can adjust the ingredients to my preference if necessary.



3. There are several flaws with this book. First, it is very poorly constructed and cheaply bound. Upon the first opening the pages will fall out. Second, the pictures are not very well executed and printed. Washed out colors, uninspiring pictures. Usually, good cookbooks will carry photographs that come close to food porn. Not in this book. Lastly, some recipes are plain-out wrong. I followed the recipe for the famous Macao dish galinha portuegesa. It was a disaster. I think the author did not do her homework on this book, a poor excuse for a cookbook. Buyer beware...



4. I found the book to be a great disappointment. The photo illustrations of the various dishes were drab and poorly photographed and did not make the dishes look appetizing at all. One wonders how the photographs got past the author who had obviously done a lot of research on the cuisine of Macau and is very knowledgeable. Macau cuisine in its own right is unique and when cooked correctly, an absolute delight. As for the recipes, they were pretty much spot on. Being the son of parents who were raised in Macao and of Portuguese ancestry and having a mother who was an excellent Macanese cook I should know. For an excellent alternative to this book try "Macanese Cooking - a journey across generations" by Cecilia Jorge. Now there's a well written and well illustrated Macanese cookbook.



5. This is THE book to buy if you like the fusion betweeen Portuguese cooking, including the influences on Portuguese cooking from around the world when Portugal had many colonies, and that of China. Some mouth watering recipes, and the recipes are set in an interesting and informative context.

3 comments about Lonely Planet World Food Hong Kong (Lonely Planet World Food Guides).

1. Back in 1991 I set off for a twelve-month global journey. With me I had a few essentials, money, clothes, my wife and a collection of Lonely Planet Travel Guide Books. After a few weeks in India we found that the books were as essential to our survival as food and water. We went on to use the Lonely Plant Guide Books (or the LP as we termed them) though out Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, North American, Canada and Mexico. Sometimes our travels would be so fast and furious that we would not read about our next destination until we had arrived the town's bus depot. We grew to love and trust the LP - it never let us down. As you might imagine I was therefore thrilled to receive their latest departure in to travel writing "World Food Hong Kong ". Furiously I dived in to its pages. When I saw that pocket size book was written by Richard Sterling a guy who would - quote " go anywhere and court any danger for the sake of a good meal" I new I would be in for an interesting literary adventure.
   Richard Sterling's other titles include; Dining With Headhunters; The Fearless Dinner; and the award wining Travelers' Tale. His much-applauded writing has won him praise from The James Beard Foundation and kudos from the Lowell Thomas awards.
   The book 's contents are broken down fourteen chapters -
   World Food Hong Kong starts with the essential aspect of understanding the domains cuisine culture. Sterling enlightens us on the island's history, flavors and influences. My learning began. It would seem that Hong Kong's cuisine is a melting pot of the nations tastes with the addition European influences; olive oil, ketchup and asparagus all worked themselves in to the fabric of the island's "local" cooking.
   Staples and specialties are next; rice, noodles, tofu, meat, sauces flavorings - the list continues as do the lessons. We all know that in 1295 Marco Polo introduced the noodle to Italy but did you know he made his mark on the Chinese too; he introduced the kiss? The content continues with Drinks, Home Cooking, and Celebrating with Food. Food as Medicine is where I must pause to narrate. Sterling reminds us that the Chinese believe that "food, medicine and health are all part of the same continuum. This is derived from the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang, which applies as much to human health as it does to the cosmos. When all in the universe is in its proper balance, harmony reigns. But in a condition of imbalance, we risk ill health, misfortune violence and destruction. Lesson: Seek balance!" If you are seeking balance try the Yin Yang soup or if you are feeling peaky there is always the Lizard soup chicken and cloud fungus.
   Seeking knowledge of unusual foods? Then move to the next chapter "The Bold Palate". These are foods for the brave. How about preserved eggs, snake or baby mouse wine? That is right the wine is made by preserving still-suckling baby mice in rice wine. Apparently this is jolly good for rejuvenating the body's organs. For those who have survived the journey thus far normality is ahead. Shopping and Markets, where to Eat and Drink, Understanding the Menu and a modest Recipe Section are all a great read. The where to eat chapter covers the complete dining gambit from the very upmarket Peninsular to low down street food and must try dim sum.
   For the gourmet traveler the book finishes with a handy English to Cantonese culinary dictionary a must have for those who want to appear to know their jellyfish from their junk food.
   As I close I am relived to say the Lonely Planet does it again, a captivating unpretentious little book, nit just physically but also financially suited for anyone's pocket. - Written By Jeremy Emmerson GobalChefs



2. ... This is an informative and enjoyable book, and lets you delve into Hong Kong culture and eating culture in a way the other books don't. The inside cover has a quick reference of several Cantonese terms in English and Chinese characters, including counting numbers and the very important "ngoh5 hei6 sou3 xig6 ge3" (I am a vegetarian). The book closes with over 50 pages of Cantonese phrases (including "I am ill", "I am pissed", "I want to throw up", and "Thank you, that was delicious"; a glossary of foods and terms; and a Hong Kong culinary dictionary (explains the main ingredients and cooking method). Each transliterated word is coded with the proper intonation, distilled into 6 basic tones. There are 200 beautifully photographed pages of places to eat (from concept to neon to mobile dai pai dong, to street restaurants); a discussion of the banquet; and analyses of staples, such as soups and noodles, rices and meats, and sauces. There are sections on shopping, picnics, utensils, medicinal foods, and "chinese table rules" (no vertical chopsticks please).



3. Last year when we headed out to Hong Kong, I was surprised to see this food guide. Since I am very familiar with Cantonese food, I was interested to see how Hong Kong might differ from New York City, Los Angeles, or Vancouver. This guide was incredibly helpful in describing not only the different foods available in different areas but the customs of eating and what we would see. Where my husband has often considered hotel food to be surprisingly mediocre, in Hong Kong, we were told to go to hotel restaurants. The rent is so high that the restaurant's in hotels essentially are subsidized for their space and therefore some of the best dining experiences can be found in hotels. But I digress. This is not an expensive guide and definitely worth the money for the amount of familiarization it provides.

No comments about Dim Sum Made Easy.

5 comments about Chinese Cooking for Beginners.

1. I have loved Chinese food for many years and have often wished I could recreate my favorite dishes at home. I've tried a few other cookbooks and those are currently sitting in my cupboard gathering dust. Some have good recipes but all require lots of ingredients and preparation time.
   
   Chinese Cooking for Beginners on the other hand is fantastic. The recipes are easy to follow and can be made with only a few basic ingredients. The six dishes I've cooked so far were absolutely delicious. My wife jokes that she suddenly has a Chinese chef for a husband.
   
   There are several dozen other cookbooks in the Wei-chuan cooking series. Based on how impressed I am with this book, I recently ordered several others.
   
   So do your stomach a favor today and buy this book!



2. This slim cookbook covers a lot of common Chinese-American dishes, including chicken salad, roast pork, hot and sour soup, moo shu pork, egg foo yung, broccoli beef, sweet and sour shrimp, fried egg rolls, and fried wontons. The recipes are generally quite easy to follow, and are all beautifully illustrated, so you know what the end result is supposed to look like.
   
   If you want to learn to cook the dishes that many people are used to getting from Chinese restaurants, this cookbook can be a great place to start.



3. This book has great pictures but the instructions are almost too simple. For a beginning cook, it is hard to follow the brief instructions.



4. I sent this back once I received it
   and read through it
   I was looking for basic chinese take out recipes
   this one was not



5. I was looking for a cook book with relatively simple recipes that I didn't have to go to the Asian market all the time to find ingredients for. The recipes are in English and in Chinese (which I figure is a good sign in a Chinese cook book), and are generally simple, easy to make, and the ingredients are often inexpensive, too.
   All of the recipes we have tried so far have been delicious, have taken less than 45 minutes total to prepare (often less than a half hour), and our children have LOVED them, too. This isn't a book that only gives you versions of typical Chinese take-out (although there is a beef with broccoli and a couple of great chicken stir-fries); the recipes tend to be more homey and healthy. We've enjoyed it a lot.

2 comments about Classic Asian Cakes and Desserts: Quick and Delicious Favorites (Learn to Cook Series).

1. Lime Pie, Cashew Tarts, Mango Icebox Cake, Layered Cinnamon and Nutmeg Cake, Pineapple Tarts, Egg Tarts, Steamed Caramel Cake, Egg and Milk Bonbons, Light Butter Cookies, Sweet Potato Cakes, Flan, Doughnuts, Pancakes, Custards, Puddings and Sweet Red Bean Soup they've covered so much in this little beginner book. I wish they included more recipes from other parts of northern asia.



2. This Is a superb book. It has all sorts of tasty authentic and interesting recipes. There are tons of recipes with coconut, brown sugar, and pandan. My favorite recipe is a steamed pumpkin filled with a coconut custard. Its out of this world. I bought it for my husband who is a pastry chef to introduce some new ideas. It did just that. Really a good little find. Nothing too over the top, but you could easily present the simple items in a more sophisticated way since the flavors are perfect together.

3 comments about Chinese Feasts & Festivals: A Cookbook.

1. my eight year old borrowed this amazing book for the library. and man, are we thrilled or what. the book not only tells you the how and why of classic chinese traditional cusines but also the many chinese festivals that were celebrated by the chinese folks. the traditions and old wives' tales are all carefully explained. truly, a treasure. and i considered a great gift to anyone who is facinated with foreign cultures and traditions.



2. This is a pretty book but the recipes are long and a bit hard to follow.



3. This book is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. The recipes are true & easy to follow. The stories enchant....... I've purchased several copies as gifts as well as for my own kitchen.