Shiok!: Exciting Tropical Asian Flavors [Paperback]

Terry Tan (Author), Christopher Tan (Author), David Thompson (Author), Edmond Ho (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2003

Discover, explore, and savor the delights of the kitchen with the doyen of Singaporean cuisine. Shiok! (which means Wow!) is a blessing to the novice-the encyclopedia of ingredients, detailed description of utensils and implements, and notes on techniques will help even the greenest cook explore this luscious culinary realm. And for the veteran, Shiok! is both a bible of standard classics like chili crab, satay, and bak kut and a guide to new favorites such as chicken tempura, healthy nasi ulam, and creative versions of roti prata. With over 100 color photographs, Shiok! is an attractive, easy-to-use introduction to the cuisine of this rising star of Asia.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

As a leading cookery teacher, consultant, historian, and writer, Terry Tan has been dishing up Singaporean delights to people around the world for years. He also writes and broadcasts regularly on Asian and Oriental food and cookery.

Christopher Tan is a writer, editor, food consultant, and photojournalist who contributes articles, recipes, and pictures to several magazines in Asia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Periplus Editions (July 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0794600956
• ISBN-13: 978-0794600952
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 9.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,382,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best, April 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Shiok!: Exciting Tropical Asian Flavors (Paperback)

This is the best book that I have come across on Singaporean cuisine. My wife and I are from Singapore and we have been away from the country for about 7 years. She is a Chinese and I am an Indian. So between us we know what most of the dishes are supposed to taste like and our favourites put together covers quite a list of dishes. Recently, we started to cook more than we ever used to and started to look for books that would help us cook the food we missed most. We chanced upon this book and we have tried a number of dishes. For novices like us, what we churned out were very impressive indeed. The book is well organised and easy to read and follow. The pictures are fantastic. If you have enjoyed Singaporean/Malaysian cuisine and you would like to try a couple of dishes at home, you can't go wrong with this book. If you are a serious Singaporean cuisine fan and you want to cook up entire menus, you can't go wrong with this either. By the way, I must say the the binding of the book is not very good. I hope the publishers will do a bood job with that the next time around. But despite that, I would give this 5 stars. Buy it and cook up a storm...!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get this off the coffee table and into the kitchen, June 15, 2006

By 

Indybg "indybg" (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shiok!: Exciting Tropical Asian Flavors (Paperback)

I have two minor complaints about this otherwise excellent book:

1) The quality of the binding leaves something to be desired. The entire cover detached from the book only the second or third time I used it. Thankfully the stitching is good.
2) The prep times indicated assume you're a pro. While you can whip up the beef hor fun right quick, give yourself plenty of time when you're tackling the Hainanese Chicken Rice.

It's scarcely worth making these complaints, though. This has quickly become one of the most frequently used cookbooks in my collection (the photos may make this look like culinary porn, but the recipes are achievable by mortals). One taste of the beef hor fun and you will be hooked. The Hainanese chicken rice is a solid couple hours of work that will turn your entire kitchen into a war zone, but the end result is absolutely worth it (it's worth making for the chili sauce alone). The dressing for the jaganan is almost unbearably spicy, but impossible to stop eating. Recipes are easy to make in an American kitchen provided you have a well-stocked Asian market nearby, but there's no arguing with the authenticity--if you've traveled to Singapore and find that your most vivid memories are of the food, this is the book for you.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Preservation of our unique culture, October 20, 2005

By 

Nicholas Lam (Between Thailand and Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shiok!: Exciting Tropical Asian Flavors (Paperback)

Glad that there is finally a book that will preserve our unique food culture for our future generations. The only negative thing about this book would be the way the food is presented.

The food presentation is just too nice and classy looking. Growing up eating street (hawker) food, presentation is the last thing on my mind.

For someone who has never resided in Singapore, it will be hard to truly appreciate Singaporean food to its fullest. The recipes for Roti prata evoked late night memories of driving to Jalan Kayu, Buona Vista South (Next to NUS) or Al Ameen's at Woodlands for a late night fix of cheese, mushroom and egg prata washed down with several mugs of Teh Cino less sugar (as we say in classic Singlish).

How bout driving across the island from Choa Chu Kang to Changi Village just to eat Nasi Lemak or Kuay Chap (not in the book!). Just for a quick fact....here in Melbourne, I live on Latrobe street, and interestingly enough, the Changi Village Nasi Lemak store is just 2 doors away. I've never had worst malay food in my life..though they claim to be the Aussie arm of the original.

The recipe for Beef Hor Fun brings back memories of the endless circling of Geylang to find a parking space and finishing dinner off with Tau Huay with yaw cha kwai (Sweet bean curd with deep fried chinese pastry).

Again, here in Melbourne's Chinatown, I've never had worst Beef Hor Fun. Even the WORST Beef Hor Fun in Singapore still tastes better than what Melbourne has.

The reason?

In Singapore, our hawkers specialise only on a very limited menu of say.....3 to 5 dishes? For example, my friend, Junjie who runs a Hainanese Chicken Rice store in Kallang, sells only roast or boiled chicken rice, char siew rice or roast pork rice.

China Bar in Melbourne has like 30 different items on the menu...all of them tasting similar. That is...similarly like crap. Most of the cooks coming from Hong Kong, I expected MUCH MORE. They ain't doing their country's food reputation any good.

In Singapore, at 2 in the morning, I walk 5 mins to the 24 hour hawker centre (S11) in Choa Chu Kang's HDB heartlands and can find at least 20 of the recipes found under 'Hawker Favourites', all available at around US$2 a plate.

Here in Melbourne, nothing starts under US$6 a plate...and I get a plate of tasteless food overseasoned with salt or soy sauce, lacking the essential "wok hei" or "Wok's breath". So what is this elusive "wok hei?"

Lets take the simple fried rice. Firstly....there are many types of fried rice, so if New York City only has one type seasoned with salt, here is how you can differentiate a good one from a bad one.

If you just taste oil, garlic, rice and soy/salt and the other various ingredients....you have a crap plate of fried rice. If you taste a plate with "wok hei", you can smell it. It has a deeper flavour that will remind you of slightly charred food. Its hard to explain how it tastes.....as its not the charred taste that you are imaging right now. It is a subtle taste.

I can guarantee you it is not charred, but instead, been imbued with this delicately delectable flavour through the hawker's skillful manipulation of the most basic of elements, metal and fire.

Even in Singapore, not all hawkers possess this skill. Not all foods require 'Wok hei', but for those that need it, it makes a world of difference.

For us Singaporeans overseas, all we can do is to try the recipes in these books and tweak them as everyone should. We do this all the time, so we can share with our Thai, Laos and Vietnamese friends in Melbourne the taste of Bukit Batok Bak Kut Teh or Balestier Road's Hainanese Chicken Rice. They do the same for us with their country's recipes and everyone has been enriched ever more by our shared experiences.

Thank god I'm returning home in December.