Customer Reviews

Chinese Cooking Made Easy (Wei-chuans cookbook)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The key to this cookbook is correct expectations. As mentioned, you won't find a recipe in here for General Tso Chicken, etc. What you will get is a basic introduction to how to make authentic tasting dishes by seeing how various sauces are made, etc. This provided a great starting point for me to be able to improvise all kinds of dishes, soups, etc.

If you are looking for a cookbook that will walk you step by step through Moo Goo Gai Pan and Moo Shu Pork, you probably want to look elsewhere.

This book is one of a series put out by Wei-Chuan Publishing from Taiwan. I bought this particular title while living in Taiwan in 1992 and have used it continuously since. Part of the draw for me is that this book (like most of the Wei-Chuan publications) is bilingual (as I was studying Chinese in Taiwan). More importantly, the recipes are easy to follow, have good pictures of what each finished dish should look like, and has a front section on mixing various sauces that can be used with whatever you want to stir-fry.

This book is authentic. My mom never taught me to cook. Instead she made sure I hit the books and studied while she did all the cooking and cleaning. Now with my own family I'd like to reproduce the flavors I grew up with. Often resturant Chinese food is too greasy, over fried and has too much MSG and sugar. With this cook book I can create healthy Chinese dinners for my family, and I know exactly how much salt and sugar is in each dish.

A mouth-watering color photo of every recipe. Easy to prepare dishes. Photo and description of simple easy to find ingredients available in the front of the book. Great and authentic tasting dishes. I collect cookbooks and this one is top notch. This book is in both Chinese and English and is a must for everyone who would like to cook Chinese food!

Chinese Cooking is traditionally a little complicated, at least here in the states. It seems you need so many ingredients to do the simplest things. But this book really broke that barrier for me. Each dish is shown in splendid Restaurant Menu color. You are able to find that special dish that has a different name at each restaurant. The book is split into chinese and english sections top/bottom respectively. Very simple ingredient lists organized by order of addition to the pot. Most of the recipes only had 4-5 steps. And even my wife and I were able to come up with some incredible dinners together.

I've made extensive use of pages 6 through 9, which cover sauces, marinades, and salad dressings. I appreciate the way that many of the recipes that follow provide examples and variations on the sauces.

The flavors and results from the recipes in this cookbook are great, and the pictures and illustrations can be a big help to beginners. But, after some experimentation to figure out exactly how I prefer to make a black bean sauce and a spicy ketchup sauce, I haven't found myself going back to this cookbook much.

People looking for recipes for specific, common Chinese-American foods might get more use out of another Wei-Chuan cookbook, Chinese Cooking for Beginners, ISBN 0941676307. It covers Crispy Salad with Chicken (a.k.a. Chinese Chicken Salad), Chinese Roast Pork, Hot & Sour Soup, Beef with Broccoli in Oyster Sauce, Moo-Shu Pork, Sour & Hot Shrimp, Shrimp Foo Yung, Shau Mai, and Almond Jello, among many others.

I have been looking for a basic Chinese cookbook that I can use everyday and this one is it. It has many stir fry recipes and they are mostly homestyle items I remember from my childhood (e.g. beef and oyster sauce; corn soup). There are also some restaurant dishes (e.g. Peking duck; stir fry meat wrapped in lettuce) that require more time and expertise. The recipe for tofu and egg drop soup is worth the cookbook alone. I love this soup and I did not realize how easy it is to make until now.

This is a great reference book that is perfect for beginners. It explains ingredients in the beginning of the book, with small sections on preparation of seasoning sauces and salad dressings.

One word of caution: if you do not live near a good Chinatown or an Asian grocery store, some of the ingredients are hard to find and the book does not offer substitutes.

This is the best cookbook I own because the dishes are realistic enough that I will actually make them. This book is amazing!

This is an excellent cookbook for those who are not familiar with cooking Chinese dishes. What I like most about this book is that the majority of recipes don't call for ingredients that are hard to find. Since I don't live anywhere near an Asian food store, this is a big plus for me. In addition, I'm a vegetarian and my husband is a big meat eater. This book has several vegetarian recipes in the back, so it satisfies both of our palates. To date, I have 18 Wei-Chuan cookbooks and I put this one in the top 5.

This book is great. Beautifully designed. excellent pictures. simple recipes. It is a must have for lovers of this type of food who don't want to have to go to a restaurant to satisfy their cravings@

This is the best Chinese cookbook that I have found so far. I constantly cook Chinese food and this is the book that I am always going back to for excellent dishes and sauces that actually work. It is well illustrated and the measurements are easy to follow. You can also substitute meats and vegetables for other types. Also, the draw to this cookbook is that there are not that many deep fried dishes, so you can eat healthy.