Chinese Dim Sum (Paperback)

~ Wei-Chuan School (Author), Wei-Chuan Publishing (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Bilingual: English and Chinese.

About the Author

Wei-Chuan School

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Wei-Chuan Publishing (November 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941676242
• ISBN-13: 978-0941676243
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #81,101 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Authentic but difficult to follow, February 4, 2001

By	Susan Porjes "Food writer" (Honolulu, HI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've owned this cookbook for several years and use it as a reference all the time as Japanese Food Host at BellaOnline and as editor of GourMAsia, a newsletter on Asian food. Yet I can't say I've ever made one of the recipes as-is.

Like other cookbooks written by the famed Wei-Chuan Cooking School in Taiwan, the recipes in this book are highly authentic, and illustrated with step-by-step photographs. But be warned, for anyone looking to duplicate a Chinese dim sum experience at home: most are not by any means "easy to make." (Few types of dim sum are easy to make at home--which is precisely why Chinese families usually go out to Chinese restaurants for dim sum!)

Another warning is that the authenticity of these recipes means that not only do they call for specialized Asian ingredients, but for ingredients like lard and pork fat, which many Americans may prefer to avoid.

Measurements are given in metric and in strangely phrased avoirdupois weight (for instance, one dough recipe calls for 2/3 lb. flour, 1-1/3 oz. sugar, and 1/3 lb. water). So unless you have a metric scale, you'll have to do some weird calculations to figure them out (now, how much is 1/3 lb. water in cups?). Compounding the difficulties in following the recipes is their typical Asian format. Ingredients are listed in numbered sub-groups, and a sample of how the directions read is: "Wrap half the pieces of dough (3) in the pieces of dough (1). Wrap remaining pieces of dough (3) in the pieces of dough (2)."

Frankly, I prefer to eat my dim sum out and avoid the headaches of translating these recipes!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A reader from New York, February 5, 2000

By	Jamie Li (New York City) - See all my reviews

I've been eating dim sum all my life since I live only 10 minutes away from Chinatown. The recipes in this book comes out exactly like the restaurant's and bakeries. It's the best dim sum book I own!

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars misguided, February 16, 2007

By	F. CHANG (Los Altos, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

i am chinese and i love dimsum. my family would have dim sum every sunday morning in chinatown growing up. now i married and there's no chinatown or good chinese food around where i live. so i decided to learn how ot make them. however i can't read chinese very well. i bought this book because the recipes come in both chinese and english.

Anyway, this book tittle is "Chinese dimsum" but the recipes in there isn't as true to it's title. There are great variety of food in Dim-Sum food. most steamed meat dishes, variety steam dumplings and stuffed rice rolls, and rice cake. However, this book offers only 3 dumpling recipes. those dumpling recipes are definitely NOT the kind you get from a dimsum restaurant. Dim-sum is the heart of southern cantonese cuisine. it's originate from canton china and is a southern style cooking. mostly steamed cooking recipes. However, the dumpling recipes in the book are water dumpling, just like northern style. a lot more blend. Northern style are the dumpling called for boiling method rather than steam cooking. well those aren't dim-sum. northern chinese people eat them as a real meal. the basics such sui-mai, cao ji. ha-cao. si long bao, are not in the book. there great variety of appetizer size meat dishes are also missing. 80% of the books teaches you how to make chinese desserts. quite honestly, chinese desserts are the grossest thing on earth. only old chinese people like stuffs like black sesame past bun, red bean paste cake, red bean past sweet rice soup, peanut paste, and yam paste type desserts. it has 5 or six different king of steam buns recipes, same dough but different meat stuffing. well, i like steam buns, but it's not the main focus of chinese dim-sum.

i am very upset that i can not find a single recipe that i can call dimsum food.