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Are you looking for good chinese cook books to add to your collection?
I am always looking at cook books. I'll go to the book shop or the library and I will always look at 2 kind of books: cookbooks and craft books especially knitting. When I come across a good cook book I am tempted to buy it. But I have good self-control *wink* and great libraries. After I started working on this website, I gravitate towards soups and stew cook books. I like cook books that have good pictures especially step by step instructions. It really is "a picture paints a thousand words". When it comes to chinese cooking and if you are not familiar with it, it is good to buy a cookbook geared towards beginners and contains lots of pictures of raw ingredients, techniques, cooking tools and final products. They may be more expensive but they make better guides. I have a couple of favourites and I chose a few titles that I thought are worth the time and money to write about here.
Not only is this book published so close to home, it is REALLY a very good book for beginners to chinese herbal cooking. It includes:
I didn't catch Floyd's China on TV but it was a delight reading the book although strictly speaking, he was only in Beijing. The thing going for Floyd in this book was his effort to be as authentic as possible with his chinese dishes. Unlike many chinese cookbooks written by caucasians, he doesn't try to "westernise" the dishes. So, he is forgiven for mistaking Beijing as the representative of China's cuisine. The 2nd thing going for Floyd's China is a generous recipe list of soup dishes:
Last but not least, I find Floyd very endearing in this book. Click to compare prices for Floyd's China at Alibris
It is written by Prof Anthony Zee, a professor of physics at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of California. Before you start to think ... how boring (no offence to physics buffs), this book is actually very readable. It was so well received that it was nominated for the James Beard Award and the International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Award. The springboard of the book is a chinese restaurant menu. Prof Zee used the entries in the menu to kick off his discussion about chinese cuisine, chinese language and chinese culture. It is chock full of family anecdotes, the epistemology (i.e. origin) of certain chinese characters and of course, the history of chinese food. The book includes an entire chapter on wontons (page 67 to 78) including:
I only wish that it has more photos. The rather plain cover and use of simple illustrations does not do justice to the fantastic content. Click to compare prices for Swallowing Clouds at Alibris
This book focuses on cooking tools and techniques. There are handsome photos of tools and food. Representative recipes included. I like the fact that the recipes include the different types of tools used. It is a nice touch. It covers traditional utensils as well as modern versions. It also include a list of suppliers of these tools in UK, US & Asia. An extra star for The Asian Cook for covering a jam unique to Southeast Asia: kaya, also known as coconut egg jam. This book ends off with a short bibliography and an index. Librarians always see books with indexes and bibliographies in more favourable light because they take effort to compile. In short, this is a good introduction to the asian kitchen. Not exhaustive but a very good start. Too bad, not many chinese soups recipes are featured here. Click to compare prices for Asian Cook at Alibris
Asian greens is an illustrated guide to a wide range of chinese vegetables including background, description and alternative names. It also include suggestions on how to choose, store and cook these vegetables. I think it is great for anyone who wants to try chinese cooking. Bring it along to an asian grocery shop and play a game of "spot the vegetable". The asian greens are divided into:
Because Anita hails from Hong Kong, many of the chinese names of the greens are derived from the cantonese dialect rather than the chinese vernacular which is mandarin. But ample photos of the asian greens and completed dishes compensate for that. Click to compare prices for Asian Greens at Alibris
There are 8 soup recipes such as Hot and sour soup, Shanghai wonton soup, Steamed egg custard soup with clams, Westlake duck soup andVelvet chicken and corn soup. More than 50 color photos of the finished dishes for your reference with an index and suggested stockists where you can get your oriental supplies and kitchenware in the US. Click to compare prices for The Shun Lee Cookbook at Alibris
In this book, Nina Simonds relates her story about seeing a chinese herbalist in Singapore who diagnosed her as being too yin and ordering 2 warming dishes for her: baked lamb with Chinese wolfberries and a pot of "double-boiled" chicken soup. Chinese herbal soups can be too different for people who are new to it so Nina Simonds adapted the recipes a bit. This is a good introductory approach. There are about 200 recipes in this book with a good collection of herbal soups. Click to compare prices for A spoonful of ginger at Alibris
[details coming] Click to compare prices for Betty Saw's Ultimate Herbal Cookbook at Alibris
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