Customer Reviews

Chinese One Dish Meals, Revised

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The author Su-Huei Huang published another book based on recipes of this out-of-print Chinese One Dish Meals. The new book is called "Chinese Rice and Noodles: With Appetizers, Soups and Sweets." She cowrote this book with another popular Wei-Chuan cook Mu-Tsun Lee. I would say the new book is more "modernized," because it also contains popular or "in" dishes you can find in the restaurants today (like Taiwanese sticky rice, pan-fried noodles, boba tea and assortment of taro/tapioca desserts). In the preface of the new book, she even mentioned that most of the recipes from this Chinese One Dish Meals were included in the new book. I have both books, and she is right. Most of the noodle recipes and about 1/3 of the rice dishes in Chinese One Dish Meals are in the new book Chinese Rice and Noodles. So if you can't find a copy of the out-of-print Chinese One Dish Meals, try Chinese Rice and Noodles; I think you will be equally pleased. You can still get Chinese Rice and Noodles if you already have Chinese One Dish Meals, as they are not identical.

Onto the book... Like the previous reviewers, I love the recipes listed here. They are easy to cook and most of them do not require fancy sauces. It is ideal for singles or working couples, who just don't have time to whip up a traditional 4-course meal. It is kind of like having your own Chinese "lunch specials" for dinner at home.

If you are familiar with Wei-Chuan cookbook, you will know that the ingredients are usually simple, the recipes often involve 2 or 3 steps, and each recipe includes at least one large color photo of the final product. It gives you a pretty good idea of what your food should look like.

Needless to say, they are all tasty. I have yet to find a recipe from this book (and the new one too) that my family doesn't like.

This book has almost 50 delicious Chinese dishes to make and a color photo of every dish to entice you with. The directions (written in English and Chinese) are easy to read, brief, and the ingredients are organized well. The author also offers ingredient alternatives for those who don't have easy access to an Asian market. I haven't been disappointed by a recipe in this book yet.

I lucked out... i don't know where I got this book from... either my mom or my aunt- but i sure am glad I got a copy! I think it's funny in the fact that each of the recipes is like ordering Chinese "fast food" - in a restaurant these would be called- chicken bowl, beef bowl, pork bowl. Honestly I've never made the recipes in the small portions that it gives you- which is generally enough for 2 people. I've always doubled the recipes and used them in family style meals- because I don't believe in eating one thing on top of rice! The rice is the bulk of the food you eat- with all the other dishes being condiments to your rice!
I also like the noodle soups in the back of the book- one of them is similiar to hong kong style egg noodles with beef brisket.

For someone who lives alone and buys food everyday to prepare- opposed to a well stocked pantry- these one dish meals are pretty expensive to make. These recipes seem best prepared by people who stock their refrigerators and need a quick fix dinner made out of stuff you already have.

Many of my favorite recipes are contained in this book. I own several books by the author and have found all recipes to be authentically yummy and different. I would be hard-pressed to find similar dishes in your every-day Chinese restaurant unless it specialized in authentic food.
The only downfall is that many supermarkets do not stock the key ingredients for many recipes and so I only get to make them with poor substitutes or wait until I have the chance to go to a Chinese Supermarket.

It's really a pity that it's out of print because it's an excellent cookbook with lots of photos and clear instructions. Many recipes have very few steps in them and would take a skilled cook 40 minutes at the most to prepare from food preparation to dinner table.

This is one of my favorite cookbooks. Many of my favorite Oriental dishes are included, with large full-color photos. Cooking and preparation technique is also covered at the beginning of the book, and many recipes have very few steps outside of shredding vegetables or cubing meat or bean curd.
I own a couple of other books by this author and she is one of the best authors of Chinese cooking. Her recipes are consistant, easy-to-follow, and her instructions are completely clear. Anyone from the beginner to the well-advanced cook should try this book!