Customer Reviews

The Food of China (The Food of Series)

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This is one of the best gifts I received this year. From the moment the wrapper was discarded, I hungrily lapped it up from cover to cover. The whole experience was akin to being at a Chinese dim sum. There were little morsels of information to digest and delectable photographs to gorge on.

As if these weren't enough, the recipes couldn't be more authentic. Being brought up on Chinese food for most of my life, the ingredients were familiar to me. Leafing through the recipes, I could almost "taste" the dishes in my head. All the familiar favourites are here and they are not too complicated to prepare. I was glad to see most of my childhood comfort foods here as well (eg. the 8-jewelled rice porridge).

Of course, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. A phone call to mum to get the best brands of Shaoxing wine, soya sauce and rice vinegar and I was ready to go. The Kung Po chicken, Crossing the Bridge noodles and other mouth-watering dishes turned out perfectly. For once my wife didn't mind being experimented on. The proportions of the various ingredients were perfectly balanced (as a well-cooked Chinese dish should be). However, for my taste, I had to slightly reduce the amounts of soya sauce in a few recipes that required braising, as boiling down the liquid intensified its saltiness. But this is a matter of taste and it should in no way discourage one from acquiring this book.

All in all, a splendid production and one that you will return to again and again to satisfy your senses.

We found this book to be a real gem. Each of the recipes we tried turned out like food we have ordered in good Chinese restaurants here in San Francisco. And the lush photographs, many of which accompany each recipe, are truly inspiring!
We have plenty of Chinese ingredients on hand due to the plethora of Asian markets so finding ingredients was no challenge, but may be for people without Asian markets. There is no listing of resources for ingredients in the book.
The seafood section is very extensive and varied and we have used many of the recipes because we are able to get a variety of fresh seafood here. Meat and vegetable sections are wonderful. Recipes are easy to follow, BUT PLEASE NOTE that quantities are given in grams, which require some calculations before you begin.....a minor setback when you consider the final product.
We have bought copies of the book as gifts because we have been so delighted with it. We have at least 10 Chinese cookbooks but find that this is the only one we use. Finally, I am satisfied with Chinese cooking at home!

I originally purchased this book in Beijing to help me with my cooking when I lived there. I enjoyed it so much that I have since purchase 5 copies to give as gifts when I returned to the US. The ingredients are readily available both here and in China and the food is delicious, easy to prepare and traditional to China. I heartily recommend it, even to the novice chef. Most of the recipes have limited ingredients and are easy and quick to make and my friends always rave about the end product. The photographs make this look like an amazing coffee table book, but they are functional as well giving many step by step illustrations on techniques. Well worth the money and a must for people who enjoy Chinese food that is sensational.

I lived in Taiwan for three years and traveled extensively around China, so I am frequently disappointed with restaurants in the United States that allegedly serve Chinese food. Most serve a very weak imitation of Chinese food that has been hopelessly compromised by humoring the American palate. The literature suffers from the same flaws: either painfully basic or elaborately contrived foods--never capturing the true cuisine and eating habits of ordinary Chinese people.

This book is a truly amazing reversal of that trend, and therefore, of course, it is out of print. Gorgeous, lush pictures beckon you in and expertly selected dishes described in pragmatic English keep your attention riveted. I cried out to see the turnip cakes that every street vendor in Taiwan offers for breakfast prominently featured in the first pages. Then dumplings! And steamed buns! Every chef in America that proports to do Szechuan cooking should be dragged kicking and screaming to inspect the simple and elegant recipe for Kung pao chicken on page 130.

Did I mention the gorgeous fold out pages? The treatment for Peking Duck describes in great detail the proper way to make the dish and gives a case study at Quanjude Restaurant. (Update: I've bought and gifted several copies of this book, and I was surprised and dismayed to discover that some copies of the book do not have the fold out pages. I was hoping to be able to mention different ISBNs so that readers could distinguish, but both copies that I have, one with the foldouts and one without, have the same ISBN #1-74045-284-4. You could ask the seller of the book if the pages following page 134 and page 190 have foldout sections. Or inspect yourself if you have the book in hand, of course. Very strange! Still a wonderful book, either way, but given a choice, the extra fold outs are well worth the effort.)

Speaking of gifts, I gave this book to a Shanghainese Chinese friend and she said that the recipes were very authentic. She said it was the first cookbook that she felt like she could make something out of and serve to her parents. That's a better endorsement than anything I could say.

This is truly a book created with love and knowledge. I am bewildered as to why it is out of print.

I have always had an affinity for cookbooks that are beautifully photographed with a number of easy to do recipies. This book is simply spectacular as it has a number of great spreads and a variety of recipies. In essence, this book provides insight into many of the cultural rituals that the Chinese have with food, such as dim sum and tea. I would definitely recommend this book not only for its recipies, but also as a gift for anybody interested in Chinese food and culture.

I bought this book beacause I wanted more recipes than contained in the Dehta's 'The Chinese Kitchen' and Simonds 'Classic Chinese Cuisine', both which are excellent. This book is absolutely amazing! The scope of it is jaw dropping. I am a newbie to chinese food and before this book with its abundance of photos and recipes, I was relatively lost. There are pictures for most if not all of the recipes. The instuctions are masterful and clear so that anyone can create wonderful dishes. There are recipes from northern china, southern china and everywhere inbetween. There are recipes for everyday consumption and those that make up the chinese table during the holidays. And, there are many vegetarian dishes - traditionl recipes that can be enjoyed using wheat gluten. They even teach you how to wash the starch out of flout. So simple. Being new to chinese cooking I feel so comfortable being guided by the words of two masters. This book has made me so excited about chinese cooking. And the pictures of everyday life in China are so beautiful. They make this a fully rounded, well realized encyclopedia of chinese life et culture. Enjoy!

Great, authentic recipes, lots of good info, but a little heavy on the photos. That said, two people I know who have travelled to China have told me it was the closest cookbook they had ever seen to the real food they had there. The recipes I've made have been unfailingly delicious.

I usually "test" any recipe book I bought by trying one of its recipes that I have not cooked or eaten before. In this way, I will not have any pre-conceived ideas of the dish. I picked the Yunan Chicken as it looked simple enough. However, even for a frequent cook which I am, I soon found the instructions unclear. For example, it was not clear whether the dates, spring onions and dong qui should be placed below or on top of the chicken. Also, I feel that the 1 litre of water to be added should be listed in the ingredients rather than hidden in the insrtuctions. The end state is also ambiguous as I do not know whether it was a soup, a stew or something else.