Helen's Asian Kitchen: Easy Chinese Stir-Fries [Hardcover]

Helen Chen (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 13, 2009 | Series: Helen's Asian Kitchen

"When I was growing up, my mother did all of the cooking at home and the variety was endless. But it was her everyday Chinese home cooking that I remember best—the often-revisited stir-fry dishes that are simple, easy, delicious, and part of the culinary repertoire of most Chinese families. I hope you will enjoy this collection of some of my favorites. Perhaps some will become part of your everyday cooking, too. So come with me to my kitchen and let me share with you what the Chinese do in theirs." —Helen Chen

Enjoy Easy Chinese Stir-Fries Like These:

• Chicken with Mushrooms and Snow Peas
• Braised Party Wings
• Spicy Chunking Pork
• Sparerib Nuggets in Black Bean Sauce
• Stir-Fried Broccoli Beef in Oyster Sauce
• Spicy Beef Shreds with Carrots and Celery
• Coral and Jade
• Flower Squid with Mixed Vegetables
• Bean Curd with Black Mushrooms and Bamboo Shoots
• Ginger-glazed Carrots and Parsnips

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Helen Chen grew up cooking with her mom, Joyce Chen, the pioneering restaurateur who helped introduce Americans to authentic Chinese cooking in the 1960s. The dishes Helen remembers most fondly—and still cooks today—are her mom's simple, home-style stir-fries. Now she presents more than sixty of these soul-satisfying Chinese favorites, all perfect for easygoing weeknight dinners.

Inside, you'll find many familiar dishes—Kung Pao Chicken, Moo Shi Pork, and Sweet and Sour Shrimp, to name just a few—and find out just how easy it is to prepare them at home. You'll also discover lots of less familiar dishes that are equally delicious, such as Chicken with Cashew Nuts, Black Pepper Beef with Green Beans, and Shanghainese Shrimp with Peas. In addition, you'll find nearly twenty healthy tofu and vegetable dishes, ranging from Grandmother's Spicy Bean Curd to Garlicky Green Beans.

To help you get started, Helen provides a thorough overview of Chinese cooking techniques, equipment, and ingredients. You'll discover why cornstarch is important, how much oil to use in a wok, and what kinds of soy sauce you should choose. With Helen's clear instructions and straightforward recipes, you'll soon be cooking and enjoying a wide variety of delectable stir-fries.

Throughout the book, more than thirty gorgeous color photographs show just how deliciously appealing these stir-fries can be. Complete with Helen's fascinating notes on each dish, this handsome cookbook is just what you need to explore the simple pleasures of home-style Chinese cooking.

About the Author

HELEN CHEN is the founder of Helen's Asian Kitchen (helensasiankitchen.com), a widely distributed Asian cookware line, and the author of Helen Chen's Chinese Home Cooking. Her mother, Joyce Chen, was a pioneering Chinese restaurateur and entrepreneur, and Helen served as the CEO of her mother's company before launching her own business.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (April 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470387564
• ISBN-13: 978-0470387566
• Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 7.2 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a great simple stir fry book. April 25, 2009

By Peter Lawrence Canning

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I own Helen Chen's larger cookbook, "Helen Chen's Chinese Home Cooking" and consider it one of the best Chinese cook books a person could have. Many of the recipes in it have been favorites of mine, and some of the easier ones are duplicated in this slender new volume of stir fries. For the beginning cook, this book may be less daunting. From it, I've now cooked "Garlicky Green Beans"-quite tasty, "Shrimp in Tomato Sauce"-delicious, "Kung Pao Chicken"-yummy and fiery, and ""Kan Shao Green Beans"- stellar. Obviously, I am looking forward to woking my way through the remainder of its pages. I own many other books on Chinese food and cooking, but I can think of few of them as uncomplicated as this which manage to produce such deep, rich, tasty sauces.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Both fabulously easy and fabulously interesting October 6, 2009

By Cynthia Thayer

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is one of the best Chinese cookbooks I have and I have at least thirty. It's simple fare but not boring. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. Very creative meals. Chen really knows how to put a cookbook together.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The dishes taste like the restaurant's December 17, 2009

By E. Tomoike

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The chicken with snow peas and the broccoli beef turn out excellent. I own another chinese cookbook and I was always disappointed at the results. The recipes on this cookbook are simple, but very tasty. There is no need to prepare a cornstarch paste in advance. I just need to get a few other ingredients to be able to try the other recipes. I look forward to doing that. My husband and I already think the book was worth buying. The only problem I see is that the book lacks pictures of all the recipes. I'd like to see what the dishes look like so that I can compare them to mine.