China Modern: 100 Cutting-edge, Fusion-style Recipes for the 21st Century [Paperback]

Ching-He Huang (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 22, 2006

China Modern celebrates the arrival of delicious, modern Chinese cuisine and Ching-He Huang is the person to present it. Young, beautiful, and vibrant, Ching brings style and ease to this exciting , ever-changing cuisine. She looks at new influences from across the world as well as addressing how classic dishes that are common take-out favorites should really be cooked. From Peking Duck Sushi to Steamed Seabass with Stir-fried Spring Onions and Chilies , there is an exotic array of tantalizing dishes to choose from.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ching-He Huang has always had a passion for food. Her first cooking experience began at the age of five when she remembers sitting on her grandmother's lap wrapping up little parcels of sweet and savory rice dumplings in bamboo leaves called 'Zong-Zi' for the Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan. Born in Taiwan and brought up in South Africa, Ching's parents moved to London when she was 11 years old. After graduating with a first class degree in economics, she set up her own business, Fuge Ltd, which sells a range of cold noodle salads, traditional leaf salads, side salads, gourmet pasta salads and healthy soft drinks. Ching's passion for healthy, delicious Chinese food and her elegant touch have ensured her a popular following for her first TV series, Ching's Kitchen, broadcast on UKTV.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Kyle Books (September 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904920470
• ISBN-13: 978-1904920472
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 9.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #438,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All-around winner of a cookbook, November 2, 2009

By 

AZ Reader (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: China Modern: 100 Cutting-edge, Fusion-style Recipes for the 21st Century (Paperback)

Well designed and attractively presented, Ching-He Huang's China Modern cookbook offers not only East-Meets-West but history-meets-the-present. And it's practical as well as imaginative!

I read a lot of cookbooks, more as an armchair traveler than a practicing chef. The content has to offer more than just recipes, and the recipes have to sound both interesting and fun to make. My general preference is up to eight basic ingredients and maybe eight sentences of instructions. Beyond that, a recipe has to be pretty special. It seems that most beautiful cookbooks specialize in complicated techniques and exotic ingredients, while the practical ones are ho-hum. Not this book. The layout is spacious, the photography gorgeous (about half the recipes have illustrations), the recipes are mostly short and easy to accomplish, and each is accompanied by a short story or anecdote about the history of the recipe (mostly, from her grandmother and mother), how she expanded it, why the combination of tradition and novelty works, and/or an interesting bit on the cooking technique.

The ingredients are interesting and at the same time not hard to find if you live in or near a metropolitan area. In most cases, one could substitute for a missing item without ruining the finished dish, and Ching-he often suggests alternatives, including vegetarian possibilities in place of animal proteins. Her health consciousness shows, and where anything is, for example, fried, the reader understands it's a special treat--the next recipe will be healthy and just as enticing. Highlights of a couple of cases in point:

Sichuan Pepper Shrimp (page 25): One of my favorite restaurant dishes, but I didn't realize how easy it is to make at home. Saute the shrimp, toss them with salt and pepper, and serve. Choose headless, shell-on tiger prawns (thank you Trader Joe's), and use your teeth to squeeze the shrimp out of the shell into your mouth.

Pan-fried Shrimp and Sweet Chili Jam (page 54): The photo had me drooling and wanting to run out (at 2 a.m.) to a 24/7 grocery to pick up the few ingredients I didn't have on hand. The chili jam has three ingredients (water, sugar, and chilis) and takes about five minutes to make. The shrimp are battered in egg mixed with potato starch, then fried in just a few tablespoons of oil (I hate the mess and waste of two inches or more oil in a pan). The whole recipe, even frying the shrimp a few at a time, takes less than 1/2 hour. Even better, though, was the story: to make up for the frying, she suggests plenty of green tea (jasmine, no less) for balance, because her grandfather always said, "Ching-He, always drink plenty of Chinese green tea and you will never get fat. Look at me, I eat so much, and see how slim I am?" A sense of humor, and who knows, maybe it works!

I see that I'm biased in favor of the shrimp recipes, but there were many others that engaged my interest. Main dishes updated (including several with duck, easy-Peking style), salads, noodle dishes, combinations of Chinese with other Asian ingredients, even desserts--how about sesame balls with chocolate filling instead of bean paste? There's a page near the front on cooking methods, and in back a good glossary and suggested menus based on the chapter themes of the book.

Oh, one more thing. The recipes are sized for two servings, though doubling or tripling them would be easy enough. I like this as I live alone and seldom want to eat leftovers more than once. For couples, these would be perfect--although most sound so good I'm not sure they would really satisfy two, especially if one of them is me. I guess that's where the menus of multiple dishes would be handy. Multiply and conquer.

With most cookbooks, I'm lucky if I find one or two recipes I want to try. With China Modern, I'll probably end up making at least half of the 100 recipes. This one's a keeper.