Customer Reviews

The Healing Cuisine of China: 300 Recipes for Vibrant Health and Longevity

5 star:		(4)
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3 star:		(1)
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This book is great. It's different than I expected (I was looking for general recipes to balance your consitution) and this has a lot of remedies for specific ailments. There are some very interesting (and simple) recipes for treatments, and I really am curious about the earthworm. :D I especially like the recipes for helpful/healthful teas and wines. I love the way the book is layed out, and it is very easy to read and understand.

Chapters:
1. Origins & theory
2. Causes of Illness (talks about the pathogens)
3. Eating for health (has a great survey to find out more about your constitution)
4. Foods and their healing properties
5. Home Remedies
6. Longevity banquets (this is the section that has the more general recipes)
7. exercise for health (qigong)

I recommend this book to anyone looking for recipes and remedies, and the healing properties of foods.

also highly recommended:
Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford is a great book, very in depth, on nutrition (blending asian and western), with lots of chinese theory, and the healing properties of food
The Tao of Healhty Eating by Bob Flaws is a small book on TCM and nutrition. It is really easy to understand and a great introduction.

The Healing Cuisine of China by Zhuo Zhao and George Ellis is an excellent book! It is not a typical health food book. The book not only teaches you how to prepare healthy food; it teaches you how to prepare healthy food that tastes good! Also, there are many tidbits about Chinese culture and medicine in this book. So, you learn as you cook! Truly, this book has something for everyone, whether you are a fitness fanatic or simply one who likes good food.

This makes an interesting reference book on medicinal recipes. I just don't like the way it is organized. You have to thumb through the whole book to get a feel for what ailments it addresses and I found the list somewhat wanting. Other than that, it makes an interesting compendium of Chinese remedies although I think I'll pass on the fried and ground earthworms!

One unique feature about Zhuo Zhao and George Ellis's new book--The Healing Cuisine of China--is that it includes real recipes from China, a country people regard food as heaven. Growing up in China, Zhao took for granted how the Chinese in everyday life treat their minor ailments, improve their general health or beautify themselves by choosing to eat specific foods. Living in the west made her realize how little people in this part of the world knew about another beauty of the Chinese cusine--it is supposed to improve one's health. The 300 recipes, a result of years of research in China, backed up by real life anecdotes and scientific analyses, open up a door to the pleasure of eating, and feeling great, not only while eating, but also in the future.

Ray Wang, California

Excellent resource to help beginners understand yin and yang in the beginning of the book. Fairly clear and concise on the topic of TCM. While Henry Lu's "Chinese Natural Cures" is the compendium for categorizing foods for TCM, this particular book was able to produce actual recipes and meals with the foods to help with ailments. The index is not accurate but the contents within the book compare accurately with other TCM books like Henry Lu's. I agree with the other critic that it is not organized well despite the ailments being in alpha order. A simple exhaustive table of contents to organize the information better would fix the problem but there's plenty of white space to write notes along the edge. Beside the organization - it's definitely a buy for those who are wanting to practice TCM at home. This book with Henry Lu's book make a good TCM home library. (TCM = Traditional Chinese Medicine)