How to Cook and Eat in Chinese [Paperback]

Buwei Yang Chao (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 249 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House (April 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394717031
• ISBN-13: 978-0394717036
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #696,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just great..., May 28, 2001

By 

Alissa Mower Clough "teleny" (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Cook and Eat in Chinese (Paperback)

For anyone who wants to learn how to cook Chinese food, this is one of the classics. Written in the late 40's by a Chinese woman doctor, this is the home-style cooking of Anhui province (near Shanghai) adapted for the American home cook. Anhui food is considered "oily but generous in portions", and the protein-based nature of the recipes may seem a bit excessive for those who've gotten used to the spartan usages of contemporary America. Also Ms. Chao's puckishly imperfect English and frequent coinages sometimes get in the way -- I puzzled over the term "leaking ladle" until I found out it meant "slotted spoon", which is what I had been using. Still, she coined the term "stir-fry"...what more do you want?

I hope this book comes back into print...I've almost worn out my current copy!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, one of the best for new cooks, November 7, 2007

By 

Irene Fuerst (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Cook and Eat in Chinese (Paperback)

I can't believe this classic cookbook is no longer in print. I've replaced mine at least once and it is now literally disintegrating. I might buy an older hardcover instead of another mass market paperback in the hopes of preserving it.

This is one of the best cookbooks I have ever come across. I was an overweight "starving student" with no cooking skills when someone gave this to me, and I taught myself to cook *and* lost weight with it in hand. The recipes are utterly non-intimidating. It was written in the 1940's, when Chinese food in the US meant chop suey, so the ingredients and equipment are generally simple, accessible, and economical. The results are healthier and taste better than some of the glop dished out in many a Chinese restaurant.

The dishes tend to be presented as a theme and variations--a basic stir fry (Dr. Chao introduced this term into English) is followed by the same recipe with slightly different ingredients. There is no food porn whatsoever--no styled photos, no line drawings, no nothing. Just words. The words are pretty amusing, though.

I can't praise this book enough. I've loved it to death a couple of times, and hope to continue.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Deal, April 12, 2006

By 

EternalSeeker (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Cook and Eat in Chinese (Paperback)

I had (and well used) this book for years and then lost it in during a series of moves I had to make a couple years ago. Can't wait to have it back on my shelf again.

I love Chinese food, and have read and sampled from dozens of Chinese cookbooks over the years, but this is still my favorite. How To Cook And Eat In Chinese is the real deal.

It is chock full of simple, no nonsense, homestyle Chinese cooking with the most basic of ingredients you can find anywhere. Almost all the recipes have variations noted, where different vegetables or ingredients can be substituted in the technique. Results have been invariably superb.

Forget the fancy, restaurant or holiday banquet style stuff other cookbooks seem addicted to. Simplify your Chinese cooking, and your life. Your pocketbook, taste buds and your stomach will thank you for it.