Easy Family Recipes from a Chinese-American Childhood (Knopf Cooks American Series) [Hardcover]

Ken Hom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 1997 | Series: Knopf Cooks American Series

From Ken Hom, the internationally bestselling cookbook writer, comes this warm, personal evocation of the foods he savored as a child growing up in Chicago's Chinatown. His 150 simple, comforting, scrumptious recipes represent the kinds of dishes his mother prepared every day or served on family occasions. Throughout, Hom shares memories of his family. 23 photos and 45 drawings.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 319 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (September 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394587588
• ISBN-13: 978-0394587585
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #638,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent; very authentic, easy, great Chinese cooking!!, May 9, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Williamstown, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Easy Family Recipes from a Chinese-American Childhood (Knopf Cooks American Series) (Hardcover)

The title of this cookbook is what attracted me to it in the first place. As a Chinese-American, I have rarely found - especially since I now live in a small New England town - excellent and authentic Chinese cooking that compares to what my mother used to make. And unfortunately, since she suffered a stroke last year, I've been unable to reproduce the many wonderful dishes she used to feed us, since she kept them all "in her head." Ken Hom's cookbook brought back wonderful memories. I have raved about this cookbook to my brothers and plan to make gifts of it. My Caucasian husband truly loves these recipes also. The first dish I made reminded us both so much of my mother's cooking that I almost cried. Hom's dishes are flavorful, delicious, authentic, and relatively easy to make. A trip to a Chinese market for some ingredients is required for many of the recipes, but it is well worth the trip! Anyone who loves quality Chinese cooking and finds the standard, Americanized, often tasteless dishes you get in so many "Chinese" restaurants unpalatable (unless you happen to be lucky enough to live in NYC, DC, or SF), will love this book! Please try it - this is what quality Chinese cooking is all about!!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This cookbook truly delivers!, March 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Easy Family Recipes from a Chinese-American Childhood (Knopf Cooks American Series) (Hardcover)

For most of my adult years I have been "haunted" by memories of my mother's wonderful "down-home" Chinese cooking. Chinese restaurants just aren't able to deliver the simple yet exotic and delicious meals that lots of us remember from our Chinese-American childhoods. In my attempts to recreate my mother's cooking I've purchased many Chinese cookbooks (to her absolute horror! she's never used one)--- but I haven't needed another cookbook since lucking onto Ken Hom's Easy Family Recipes. This is a fabulous cookbook! The recipes are wonderful they recall the nameless dishes I loved growing up. While my classmates were eating Mrs. Pauls Fishsticks my brothers and I feasted on Steamed Trout with Fried Garlic and Black Bean Chicken with Bitter Melon and Aromatic Garlic Squid and on and on and on. As an added bonus-thanks to Ken Hom- I have now learned to order properly in Chinese restaurants---a tricky feat as Chinese mothers don't always name their dishes--leaving one at a disadvantage when it comes to ordering similar dishes in a restaurant! My Caucasian husband loves the recipes also -- especially since few of the recipes call for unusual fungi or herbs. If you're interested in learning to cook Chinese dishes or want to add some authentic dishes to your repertoire--then get this cookbook. Like I said, he delivers!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just like Mom's!!!, August 2, 2000

By 

Katherine Mandery (Coral Gables, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Easy Family Recipes from a Chinese-American Childhood (Knopf Cooks American Series) (Hardcover)

There is very little left to say about this book. I agree with all the glowing reviews and would like to add my 2 cents! Last year I gave my parents a copy of Grace Young's new book The Wisdom of a Chinese Kitchen. My father said thank you very much and he handed me this book and said this is real food for real people - and he was right! In this book the meals of my childhood have been replicated! Ken Hom gathers up an amazing treasury of recipes. They are easy to follow, not overly complicated, and offer an easy dose of comfort food.