Customer Reviews

Honga's Lotus Petal: Pan-Asian Cuisine

5 star:		(2)
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I bought this on a whim. I feel bad when I only order one book, but I had trouble thinking of another book to buy. A quick search through my recommendations turned this up and I don't regret it.

Much of the photography is nothing less than stunning. I normally count photography as a mark against a cookbook (too many use it to cover up bad recipes and a lack of content), but not here. It would take a lot of very flowery words to describe how beautiful the green stir-fry could be, but the picture sums it up into a single page of greenness.

I'm pleased that there are some meat dishes in here and that it isn't all vegetarian. I'm not normally a seafood fan, but the simplicity of flavors and (again) the beautiful photography make these things look good.

When I saw the egg-roll recipe I was especially impressed. It detailed how to efficiently lay out a series of wrappers and how to work with them to roll a large number of egg rolls in a single sitting.

Many of the ingredient are hard to come by for me, but I live in a rather rural area without access to things that most people take for granted. But, for the most part, nothing I saw struck me as unusual. If you live in any kind of populated area then you should have no trouble shopping for the things you will need to cook.

Honga's Lotus Petal has been a Telluride favored establishment notable to both locals and skiers for its eclectic Asian-influenced cuisine, and here a varied set of innovations offers up recipes for soups, salads, main dishes, and even sushi and drinks. Fine color photos and easy step-by-step instructions accompany a guide that reflects the cook author's visits to chefs across Asia and even into Hawaii. The resulting dishes are mouth-watering, outstanding creations holding many unique twists and turns to attract cooks and libraries - even those who already have extensive Asian cookbooks.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch