A companion book to the PBS Television series GREAT FOOD. Chinese food is popular the whole world over, and renowned chef Ken Hom, in his Foolproof Chinese Cooking, proves that anyone can cook this healthy and delicious cuisine. With step-by-step instructions and photographs, Ken Hom demonstrates 40 of the most popular Chinese dishes, guiding beginners and more experienced chefs alike through every stage of the recipes from start to finish. All the recipes are quick and easy to prepare and use easily available ingredients to recreate authentic Chinese food in your home. The thoroughly tested recipes include appetizers, soups, main dishes, and vegetable accompaniments from classics such as Cantonese Wonton Soup, Chow Mein, and Stir-fried Chicken with Black Bean Sauce to more elaborate dishes such as Crispy Aromatic Sichuan duck, Cantonese Crab with Black Bean Sauce, and Braised Sichuan-Style Spicy Beancurd. For entertaining, special menu planners will help you decide which dishes go well together. With Ken Hom's foolproof instructions you will be guaranteed excellent results every time.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
His new book melds Eastern and Western cooking styles with a special emphasis on quick-fix ideas. (Family Circle) This lavishly illustrated book is especially good for beginning cooks... (New York Daily News)
About the Author
Ken Hom, born in the United States to immigrant Chinese parents, is considered one of the world's leading authorities on Chinese cooking. He has traveled extensively around the globe collecting recipes and techniques for his unique style of "fusion" cooking. As a culinary professor, Ken realized that it was only when he demonstrated techniques to his students that they really understood them and could go on to do them with confidence. Ken developed a step-by-step approach which became a basis of his teaching and which he also used as a broadcaster. This approach forms the backbone of the recipes in Foolproof Chinese Cookery. Ken is the author of many best-selling books, including Travels with a Hot Wok published by Dorling Kindersley, and Illustrated Chinese Cookery, Hot Wok, and the award-winning Easy Family Dishes: A Memoir with Recipes. His cookbooks have sold more than 2 million copies throughout the world. Ken has also hosted a number of highly rated cooking shows in the UK, and is currently featured on the third season of BBC's Great Food series. He is the Consultant Chef for the Oriental Restaurant Group which includes the Yellow River Cafe and restaurants. Ken Hom currently makes his home in the south of France.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Step Past the Basics,
By Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: Ken Hom's Foolproof Chinese Cooking (Hardcover)
I started cooking Chinese food in college, when a wok and a handful of inexpensive ingredients made the perfect student's dinner - cheap, fast, and tasty. Since that time I have extended my repertoire as one regional style or another became popular. There are an embarrassing number of Chinese cookbooks on my shelves, and most have countless stains and injuries from their kitchen adventures.Chinese cookbooks are often either too complicated or too simple. Since it is a cookery that is much more than following recipes, it takes some time before the theory sinks in and confidence builds. Books that are too simple make reaching this level impossible. Those that are too complex require too much study when, after all, what we really want to do is cook and eat. When a friend gave me the simple volume I first suspected that this was one of the simple variety, but as I read through it I realized that this slim book was something else entirely - a perfect balance. The sections of the book are typical for the genre, ingredients and equipment, soups and first courses, fish and shellfish, meat and poultry, vegetables and side dishes, menus, and a good index. Each section takes you through recipes both simple (fried wonton, caramel walnuts) to moderately complex (hot and sour soup, spring rolls). For the adventurous there is Peking duck and Cantonese crab with black bean sauce. The instructions are clear as a bell, and the presentations and photography are gorgeous. Ken Hom has a remarkable set of credentials as a popularizer of Chinese and other Asian cooking. I count four cookbooks in addition to this one, several BBC TV series, and other, similar credentials. If the cover is to be believed, he has sold something over a million cookbooks. His writing style is crisp and clear, the recipes are precise, and the book's production standards are absolutely top notch. "Foolproof Chinese Cooking" was written as a companion book to the PBS television series GREAT FOOD. It is the perfect gift for the cook who is interested in branching out beyond the basic stir fry.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is truely a great cook book,
By Just getting started (Ceres, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ken Hom's Foolproof Chinese Cooking (Hardcover)
This cookbook is really one of my favorites. There are pictures that show you step by step instructions and what your finished dish will look like. The instructions are super easy to follow and are not lengthy so that you can quickly read it as you go. The recipes are what I think what I think the "most often" ordered by people at Chinese restaurants. Not major authentic you can buy most of the ingredients at your local grocer, none the less these recipes are very good!!!!
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent introduction to Chinese Techniques,
By B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Ken Hom's Foolproof Chinese Cooking (Hardcover)
If this were the average large format, small page count introductory book on some cooking subject, I would not give it a second look, even with the blurb on the front stating that the author has had over a million copies sold. But, I ran across the author's name cited in `Pot on the Fire' by John Thorne, who cited him, Ken Hom, as quite an authority on Chinese cooking. Hom has published quite a few longer, presumably deeper books on Chinese cooking, but most of these appear from Amazon.com to be out of print or otherwise not immediately available. So, I am check out this very presumptuously titled book, `Foolproof Chinese Cooking'.The first clue that this book has much to offer is the fact that the author is not your average restaurant chef or journalist who happens to specialize in writing about Chinese food. His dust jacket biography states that he is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest authorities on Chinese and other Asian cooking. I have read his book and I am entirely willing to believe the publisher's buildup. Hom appears to be the BBC counterpart to Martin Yan on PBS, as this book is the companion to a BBC food series and he has done several other such books / TV series. If you have any interest in the techniques of Chinese cooking, this book is for you, especially if you do not have a lot of experience with Chinese techniques. I say this not only because this book is so good, but also because many other highly regarded Chinese cookbooks are not that accessible to newbie Chinese cooks. I don't say this because important books on, for example, French cuisine are so accessible, but because the average American simply has no exposure to this style of cooking outside of the occasional Food Network show and Martin Yan's shows which, I confess, do not show up on my local PBS station. The current volume succeeds primarily because it does not try to do too much, and what it does, it does very well. It is not limited to stir-frying and it is not limited to Cantonese or Sichuan cuisine. What it does is give you the Jaques Pepin step by step, picture by picture presentation of a goodly number of basic techniques. It starts with a basic chicken stock which, based on my just having made a French style chicken stock, I can say is right on target, without being too fussy. It avoids, for example, the step which recommends that you blanche the chicken before cooking, while being very careful to have you not bring the preparation to a boil to maintain a clear stock. By the way, the Chinese chicken stock is different from a French stock in that it includes ginger and garlic and excludes the French mirepoix. The book follows up with several recipes for soups before getting into the details of stir-frying. The book includes many classic Chinese dishes, including Peking duck, chow mein, fried wontons, lemon chicken, and sweet and sour pork. I think this cannot be the only Chinese cookbook you will need, but it should certainly be your first. Highly recommended.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
