Customer Reviews

300 Best Stir-Fry Recipes

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I have been a fan of Ms.McDermott's for a long time, and I often give her books as presents. With the arrival of 300 Best Stir-Fry Dishes I did what I always do when a new cook book comes:I make one recipe by following the instructions exactly. This method tells me a lot about the author and her/his way with and thoughts about food.I found a dish and its georgeous picture for which all ingredients were in the house:Sweet-And-Salty -Shrimp with Pineapple and Carrots, pg 128. When finished, it was as prety as its picture, but we could not eat it. The word SALTY is in the title, but my first bite made me feel sure that I had made a mistake - that would be the only way something this salty could come out of my kitchen. The next evening I made Lime-Splashed Salmon with Chiles and Cilantro, pg.173, and I produced the same sorry result. The ingredients included 2 T Soy Sauce, 2 T Fish Sauce, and "1/2 t salt or to taste".I started writing notes next to my recipes and made Cantonese-Style Shrimp with Black Bean Sauce, pg.125 my last try. This was too salty even over unsalted Couscous - 1 T fermented black beans instead of the listed 2 T would most likely have been enough. I am still convinced that there are delicious dishes that you can make from this book if you cut down on the salty ingredients, especially the frequently used extra salt. As it is, the book should carry a warning from the American Heart Association. An inexperienced cook might be accused of wanting to kill his/her spouse!
So you should enjoy this book while remembering that salt and Soy sauce can be added at the table when things taste flat - just like the way you can do it in a Chinese Restaurant. Inge

I am a big fan of Nancie Mcdermott's recipes and her vivid writing. I love her book Southern Cakes and I'm an avid baker myself. I'm not as familiar with Asian cooking, so I was thrilled to learn she goes beyond traditional Asian flavors in her new book 300 Best Stir Fry Recipes to include delicious dishes like her Pork with Escarole, Cherry Tomatoes and Pine Nuts--a delicious, colorful and healthy weeknight meal. Being a true lemon lover, I adored the Stir Fried "Piccata" with Pork and Peas and my family sopped up the savory sauce with warm slices of sourdough bread. It was an easy one-pot wonder. After a trip to New Orleans, I couldn't wait to try the Cajun Spiced Shrimp, and was delighted by this quick and very flavorful dish. The recipes in this book are colorful and vibrant and I can't wait to try more of them, especially this summer when I get tired of grilling but don't want to heat up the oven. My 15 year old daughter is just starting to cook, and together we will turn to this book time and time again to search out easy and delicious meals she can whip up with ease. Thanks Nancie, for a great book that introduces us to the world of Asian flavors and beyond!

300 Best Stir-Fry Recipes

I love this book. I purchased it during the summer because I wanted to try new recipes while I had time. I have prepared roughly 25 of the recipes and each one has been superb. The documentation and pictures are outstanding. Not having a lot of experience with Asian cooking I found the ingredients easy to locate in the local super market and the dishes easy to prepare. My husband was delighted with the new additions to my Greek cooking. I would recommend this book to anyone trying to eat a healthier diet. I am now online to purchase another copy of the book for our winter home.

So far every recipe I have tried has been a hit. The Moo Goo Gai Pan was incredibly authentic too. As most recipe collections published by Robert Rose, ingredient lists and prep time required are short and sweet with great results. There are recipes to please all palates.

I love to cook and for someone like me, this book is definitely it. the recipes are great but above that, they give you ideas to be creative about you food. I love the little tips about substituting items when you don't have a particular ingredient at hand! Only problem is I wish it had more pictures, but oh well, can't have it all right?

The recipes are easy to follow and taste good too. I gave it to my daughter and daughter-in-law and they are enjoying using it too.

I noted the comments about the saltiness of the recipes in this book before I bought it but thought I could just leave out the salt. Then when I received the book I saw that virtually all of the recipes that have salt in them also have soy sauce. Why on earth would anyone put both soy sauce (a salt substitute) AND salt into a stir fry? But not only do these recipes have salt, they also have sugar. Twenty seven of the 31 chicken recipes in the book have sugar in them, including one recipe with a whopping two tablespoons of granulated sugar! Even two thirds of the vegetarian dishes have sugar in them. The blurb about the author on the book cover describes her as an expert on Thai culture and cuisine, but based on these recipes I'm not buying it.

This book is huge and heavy! But if you're a stir fry lover it's perfect.