Customer Reviews

Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas, and More

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have no idea what made me buy this book as I had taken out several books on dumplings from the library last year and they were completely inadequate, confusing, uninspiring and poorly conceived. I couldn't even look inside this one to see what was in there, right? But, overcome with a desire for dumplings, I splurged.

The dumplings I have made from Andrea Nguyen's book have been frighteningly delicious. The information is clearly presented with good line drawings to show you how and lovely photos to show what you're supposed to end up with. The ingredient lists are all minimal and easily obtained. You will make no large investments in items you will use once. (Don't you hate that about some cookbooks?) There are so many to chose from, the only problem will be making up your mind which one tonight. The door to delectable dumplings is now open.

This is a wonderful book. Thank you, Ms Nguyen.

This is a wonderful book for anyone who wants to know all there is to know about Asian dumplings! Andrea Nguyen has clearly spent many hundreds of hours on research, testing, and eating her delicious recipes. There is an excellent introduction with ingredient lists and descriptions, as well as appetizing photos throughout the book. The recipes are organized by type of casing - eg. yeast dough, rice, wheat and tapioca starch, etc. The dumplings are achievable both in skill level and in ingredients. Even in Switzerland, a browse through a couple Asian stores yielded almost all the ingredients I needed to get started. I especially liked the chapter on sweet dumplings at the end of the book! Definitely recommended to anyone looking to cook their way though a complete Asian dumpling repertoire.

Nguyen has taken most of the risk out of preparing dumplings, those Asian comfort food we all like) from all the Asian cuisines (Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc.) by over quite a number of years experimenting with all these dumpling types and ingredients and techniques. The result is this focused volume on this specific Dim Sun favorite.

What I find exceptional about her approach is that she provides excellent aids in choosing such things as ingredients, e.g. stores or restaurants to search for to provide ingredients and samples of the cooking, as well as purchased wrappers or hand made. The line drawings of the dumpling assembly process are outstanding and the written instructions are thorough and clear, showing again that there has been much testing for us home cooks before publication. The four color photos of the results are outstanding, keeping the high standard of TenSpeed Press in tack. At the beginning is a most extensive writeup on key ingredients, with such fine details as possible substitutes and suggested brands, and where to look for them. With this style of cooking, this is most helpful.

Some good friends of mine lived in China and Hong Kong for years, so have experienced many types of Asian dumplings at their house. This motivated me to purchase this book, and bring more of this cuisine into my recipe array. I started with her recommendation, Filled Pastas, and so my voyage recipe was a great success: Japanese Pork and Shrimp Pot Stickers. From there I have barely ventured into all the types, but so far I sampled Panfried Pork and Scallion Mini Buns as well as Sweet Potato and Lemongrass Dumplings. The author's suggestion to not care at first too much about how they look, but just enjoy is pertinent for me and inspirational.

A superb reference and guide for this wonderful Asian comfort food: dumplings. Buy it and enjoy it.

Growing up in an Asian background, I'd become disappointed in some of the asian cookbooks showing how to make dumplings. Even knowing how to make some of the dumplings, I couldn't figure out what the books were trying to get me to do. This book is different. The instructions are great and I like the idea that the author gives recipes for the wrappers themselves. If one wants to use commercial wrappers to make things easier, they certainly can. The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars was that some of the diagrams could have been better, or better yet, photos of the formation of the dumplings would have helped. Also, although there are some great photographs of the finished products, there are no captions so you don't know exactly what you are looking at. As well, a photo does not accompany each recipe. This book will help me to figure out recipes that I've been testing for years with no luck. Missing secret ingredients (from my cooking) are revealed in this book. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to try these exotic dumplings and has a basic knowledge of what the end point dumplings look like.

I wish there were more cookbooks like this....because this is not just a delicious collection of comfort food recipes, above all it is a very good cookbook. It is written clearly, and the recipe descriptions are foolproof. What makes it excellent is that recipes go beyond explaining which steps have to be taken; the recipes also include clear indications for when steps are succesfully executed.

For instance, the recipe for shanghai spring rolls (thin doughsheets for deep-frying) explains (p. 81): "stir [the dough mixture] for 4-5 minutes, about 200 strokes. Strands of glutinous, pasty dough will form, attaching themselves to the rim of the bowl as you stir, and become longer as you progress.[...] When done, the thick pasty dough should be elastic enough for you to lift and stretch it 12 to 14 inches from the bottom of the bowl. [...] Gather the finished dough together; it should hold a slightly mounded shape for a few minutes before spreading to touch the walls of the bowl." Wow!...I have never encountered such clear, and spot on, recipe decriptions.

These descriptions may seem over the top, but for the difficult preparations (spring roll skins; glutinous rice dough; rice sheets; translucent dough) there certainly are not. I've tried all the difficult preparations and they all turned out great, after the first try!

Wowzers, this book totally surprised me. I have read quite a few books on dumplings and all of them seem to be lacking; either the recipes are bland or uninspiring or the techniques confusing and poorly written. This book, however, is a GEM! Not only are there wonderful recipes for making your own doughs, there are tons of wonderful filling ideas and recipes for each of the dumplings. Not to mention a whole slew of basic recipes like chili oil, garlic chili sauce and dessert sauces, dipping sauces and the like. The techniques for making the various recipes are thorough and beautifully illustrated. This is a delightful book to cook from.

As a non-meat eater, I often find it challenging to substitute other proteins for the meat, as the resulting substitutions are a bit bland and lacking, but not in this case. The sauces that are incorporated into the recipes are fantasticly tasty making the substitutions simple. My first recipes were: chili oil, tangy soy dipping sauce, pan fried vegetable dumplings using the basic dumpling dough, vegetable and tofu steamed buns using the basic yeast dough recipe and sweet red bean paste for filling the buns. They were all DIVINE! I can't wait to cook my way through this book. Thank you Ms. Nguyen! This book ROCKS! I am a sucker for dumplings, but these are the best I've ever had.

I'd come across Andrea from another website (101 cookbooks) regarding Vietnamese cooking when I found out she had just published a book on dumpling. Growing up in Hong Kong, I've always loved the dumplings from dim sum and curbside food stands. I've always wanted to make my favorite dim sum items at home (e.g., siu mai, har gaw, char siu bao). Andrea's recipes are well-written and accessible, even providing tips on which brands of asian ingredients to buy. I've tried other recipes online for the shrimp dumplings (har gaws), but Andrea's recipe has come out the best. I'm still trying to perfect that dumpling skin (i.e., get it a thinner) but the first try came out great nevertheless. I have easy access to commercial wonton skins in Philly so I just used those for my siu mai. The best recipe so far has been the steamed buns. I've used two types of fillings so far - 1) pork and picked cabbage; 2) homemade char siu (from Gourmet cookbook). While the buns aren't as bleached white as the ones at the restaurants, I found the texture to be just as soft. They also freeze very well. I just pop the frozen ones into the microwave for a minute still in plastic wrap, and they taste like they were freshly steamed. I haven't worked my way through the rest of the cookbook yet, but the taro dumplings, another dim sum favorite, will be next on my list.

I was slightly dismayed on first read that the author's emphasis was so strong about making your own wrappers...until I tried it! It really isn't more difficult than trying to get the unyielding, store bought won ton skins to behave; in fact, it's easier. I was so excited I bought a bamboo steamer after my first batch. This author is very good at explaining all pertinent details in every recipe. I highly recommend this book to any curious, creative cook who would like to master a new cooking skill. I am having so much fun with this book. Oh, and the pictures are so helpful, she shows not only the food, but the package fronts of the special rice flours, etc. she calls for in the various recipes.

Have only made several of the momo and stuffed bun recipes but every one has turned out perfect. Her directions are outstanding and her measurements exact. I have often made the dough and wondered how it would turn out in the beginning, but by the end, I have the best doughs I have ever made. I highly recommend this book. I feel like every recipe has opened up a new world of flavors and cooking knowledge. She starts with the simplest dough and they increasingly get more complex. It is a wonder to see how dough can be transformed with the simplest ingredient changes.

I received this cookbook for Christmas, and I couldn't be happier! It is well written and includes sections on the why and how of dumplings (in addition to many recipes), which gives you good information for making substitutions (or making your own recipes, if you are daring enough) and deciding when you really need that hard-to-find or expensive ingredient. I've only made three recipes so far, so I suppose that is the limitation to my review. However, the recipes turned out great. Not yet perfect, though; these recipes definitely take some skill and practice, but Ms. Nguyen includes detailed instructions. Of course, your imperfectly constructed dumplings are still incredibly tasty. The made-from-scratch dumpling dough was very easy to make and to work with and, while it took more time, was even easier to work with than the store-bought dumpling wrappers.

Be forewarned: many recipes do take a lot of time. I enjoy spending a lot of time cooking, so this is not a problem for me. Of course, now that the new semester has started, I won't have as much free time to cook. Never fear, though, as Ms. Nguyen also includes very good information for what can be made ahead of time, frozen, etc., so it's easy to make a ton of dumplings when you want to spend your day off prepping, and then you have easy, delicious dumplings for weeknight dinners.

I can't speak completely to the authenticity, but the xiaolongbao did taste similar to what I had in Shanghai. Overall, I am very happy to add this to my cookbook shelf.

I also highly recommend getting the small wooden dowel for a rolling pin. I don't think I could have rolled out the individual wrappers without it.