Chinese cookbooks

[saluki]

Does anyone have The Shun Lee Cookbook :Recipes from a Chinese Restaurant Dynasty by Michael Tong. If so , what is your opinion of it?

Is it out yet?

[leviathan]

I stopped by Barnes today, and was skimming through Susana Foo's book. Her dishes don't even look chinese.

[BettyK]

Has anyone seen The Shun Lee Cookbook? Any comments would be appreciated.

[BettyK]

Does anyone have The Shun Lee Cookbook :Recipes from a Chinese Restaurant Dynasty by Michael Tong.  If so , what is your opinion of it?

Is it out yet?

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Oops. Sorry I didn't see your post. Worth bumping up anyway.

[jo-mel]

Has anyone seen The Shun Lee Cookbook? Any comments would be appreciated.

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I just bought it, and looked it over, but haven't tried any of the recipes yet. Lots of beautiful pictures and side comments on all the dishes. I like that side color.

It didn't have a dish that I've had there several times --- Dry Shredded Beef (Gan Bian Niu Rou - 干煸牛肉) -- darn!

I see that the Twice Cooked Pork used pork butt rather that the traditional pork belly, but they do use pork belly in a Hanzhou dish.

There are some yuppie Shun Lee originals like a Hot and Sour Bouillabaisse.

All in all, I can't see that they would have any flop dishes as they have a reputation to uphold and Michael Tong takes his food seriously.

[Daznz]

My new cookbook turned up today ( Chinese Kitchen by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo )

Thanks to this forum and the topic on your Favorite cookbooks. and im sure there will be more to come.

Wow what a awesome book ive hardly read a recipe im still Drooling over the infused oils .

I must say the stuffed boned chicken looks outstanding and im going to make it on the weekend.

I also want to make Mu Shu Pork (muk see yuk) one Ingredient asked for is tiger lily buds, i found in the asian shop Dried lily flowers will these be ok ?

I got a pork dish from a chinese take out and the pork was sliced thin it had a red outter edge and a redish tinge to it does anyone know what it my be marinated in.

I was thinking of marinating the pork in this to use in the Mu Shu Pork

Thanks Dale

Edited March 27, 2007 by Daznz (log)

[Dejah]

I must say the stuffed boned chicken looks outstanding and im going to make it on the weekend.

I also want to make Mu Shu Pork (muk see yuk) one Ingredient asked for is tiger lily buds, i found in the asian shop Dried lily flowers will these be ok ?

I got a pork dish from a chinese take out and the pork was sliced thin it had a red outter edge and a redish tinge to it does anyone know what it my be marinated in.

I was thinking  of marinating the pork in this to use in the Mu Shu Pork

Thanks Dale

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Dale: On the stuffed boned chicken - check out sheetz's presentation in this thread:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=97856&st=30

Can't remember the # of the post, but it's in his picures of his CNY meal. Incredible!

The dried lily flowers you got are the right ones for Mu Su Pork.

The pork dish you got from the take out was probably char siu - Chinese BBQ pork. Was it listed as appetizer on the menu? The red colour is probably from red food colouring.

[sheetz]

Yeah, my boneless stuffed chicken was adapted from the recipe in this book. It's a really good, no holds barred, compendium of Chinese cooking with a Cantonese slant.

[hzrt8w]

My new cookbook turned up today ( Chinese Kitchen by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo )

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Did you get this book for 90c Dale?

[Daznz]

My new cookbook turned up today ( Chinese Kitchen by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo )

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Did you get this book for 90c Dale?

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No my friend i was not that lucky it cost me $50 nz landed and over here in the book shops its $98 ..

All these food pics in this forum gets me hungy

so im off to order this from the asian shop

玫瑰露酒 Mei Kuei Chiew

紅米醋 Red rice vinegar

菇豉油 mushroom soy sauce

雙 深豉油 double dark soy sauce

Have fun Dale

[cubgirl]

My new cookbook turned up today ( Chinese Kitchen by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo )

Thanks to this forum and the topic on your Favorite cookbooks. and im sure there will be more to come.

Wow what a awesome book ive hardly read a recipe im still Drooling over the infused oils  .

I must say the stuffed boned chicken looks outstanding and im going to make it on the weekend.

I also want to make Mu Shu Pork (muk see yuk) one Ingredient asked for is tiger lily buds, i found in the asian shop Dried lily flowers will these be ok ?

I got a pork dish from a chinese take out and the pork was sliced thin it had a red outter edge and a redish tinge to it does anyone know what it my be marinated in.

I was thinking  of marinating the pork in this to use in the Mu Shu Pork

Thanks Dale

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[joefine]

Some of the deepest insights into Chinese cookery are found not in cookbooks, but in essay collections.  The aesthetics of Chinese cookery were covered extremely well in three books that were published quite a while ago (they also contain a recipe or two):

Buwei Yang Chao, How to Cook and Eat in Chinese (London: Faber and Faber, 1956). 

F. T. Cheng, Musings of a Chinese Gourmet (London: Hutchinson, 1962).

Hsiang Ju Lin and Tsuifeng Lin, Chinese Gastronomy (London: Thomas Nelson, 1969).

I also strongly recommend two ethnographic / historical reviews of Chinese cookery: 

K. C. Chang (ed.), Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives (Yale University Press, 1977)

E. N. Anderson (ed.), The Food of China  (Yale University Press, 1988).

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I am only familiar with the first one, *How To Cook And Eat In Chinese* - but it IS a cookbook - and I think it is the best Chinese cookbook I have ever seen, by far! It was first published in 1945 - and it needs to be back in print!!!

[Ben Hong]

I am only familiar with the first one, *How To Cook And Eat In Chinese* - but it IS a cookbook - and I think it is the best Chinese cookbook I have ever seen, by far!  It was first published in 1945 - and it needs to be back in print!!!

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That's the first real cookbook I bought 45 years ago when I had to start cooking for myself. It is still my main reference source when I have any doubt. It is a simple, plain little book with no glossy photos but it has charm...and good info.

[joefine]

In fact no photos at all, except the cover. My problem is it's only a paperback and the pages are brittle with age.

Written with great wit and charm, she coined the word "stir-frying".

[hzrt8w]

Which book has authentic recipes that are also lesser known?

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What does it mean by "authentic" recpies that is lesser known? Does it mean you are tired of "Kung Pao Chicken", "Mongolian Beef" recipes?

You want something like Beggar's Chicken? Stir-Fried Milk? Snake Soup? Braised Armadillo?

[Ben Hong]

Which book has authentic recipes that are also lesser known?

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What does it mean by "authentic" recpies that is lesser known?

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Hey Ah Leung, maybe you should start posting a whole series of "village homecooking" recipes. Can't get any more authentic than:

fat pork belly with haum ha,

beef and black beans braised squash,

Dried bitter melon soup, dried bok choy soup (choy gun).

Pork stomach stuffed with rice and black peppercorns.

Pig tongue and choong choy,

Pig spleen with veggies,

Congealed duck blood, duck intestines, gizzards "dai jop wui".

Fu yu stirred sweet potato greens, or amaranth, or chrysanthemum leaves

Taro stewed with beef and black beans

Etc...

and then there are all those sweet potato recipes.......

Folks, the eternal quest for "authentic" recipes in a glossy cookbook is sometimes a fool's quest. A lot of the recipes given and written about are either "banquet" dishes, or restaurant dishes. Even tough I have over a hundred Chinese cookbooks and use recipes to be found therein for when company comes, 90% of what I cook at home is plain simple dishes, which if you ask anyone of my generation is authentic but NOT TO BE FOUND IN your typical glossy full coloured tomes. They are also NOT picturesque. Also the authors write to the readers' expectations, ie: finding recipes that they are familiar with. The joy of Chinese cooking lies in satisfying personal taste by taking into account the resources at hand using the techniques at your own skill level. Slight changes in ingredients and proportions do not make a dish any less authentic. Authenticity lies in the taste buds of the beholder.

GET COOKING!!!

Edited December 30, 2007 by Ben Hong (log)

[markemorse]

Just bought Yan-Kit So's Classic Food Of China (mentioned upthread) secondhand...at least a third of the book is historical/contextual/research essays and stories. The recipes look completely reasonable in terms of authenticity and my ability to cook them...i'll report back after i try some.

Edited January 4, 2008 by markemorse (log)

[markemorse]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but worths re-iterating in any case:

The entire "Wei Chuan" series is great!  Each book focuses on a different style or subject, written by different authors.  All are illustrated with color, narrated with English/Chinese side by side.  (I just wish they would provide some photos on the intermediate steps though).  These recipes are produced and reviewed by Chinese.  They are closer to the classical Chinese recipes than many cookbooks that I have seen in the USA.  Not some "half way there", Ameriasian style recipes.  No "flank steak slices on spaghetti dabbed with oyster sauce straight from the bottle" here.  If one is serious about learning to cook Chinese food the Chinese way, this series is a great start.

This is one of the books from the series:

Chinese Cuisine: Szechwan Style

With US$5.00 for a used copy, I think it's a great deal.

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I just bought the first volume of this, Chinese Cuisine, secondhand...and it is exactly what I was looking for, Taiwanese bias or not. I must say, in comparing it to the Yan-Kit So book mentioned in my previous post, the recipes seem much more useful in the Wei Chuan book. On the other hand, the Yan-Kit So book is really packed with non-recipe background and history, so it's nice to have them both, but I'm certain that the Wei Chuan will get more kitchen use.

[Ce'nedra]

Has anybody browsed through 'Cooking from China's Fujian Province' by Jacqueline Newman yet?

[Big Bunny]

I have the Fujian book on pre-order. It is supposed to come out (here in the USA) on Aug 21.

BB

[jmolinari]

The Fujian book looks interesting. I wonder if it is as well written as Fuchia Dunlop's books.

[Ce'nedra]

I have the Fujian book on pre-order. It is supposed to come out (here in the USA) on Aug 21.

BB

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You do?! Please do provide us with feedback on it!

P.S. I'm surprised it's only just about to come out. I assumed it was an old book?

Edited August 5, 2008 by Ce'nedra (log)

[Big Bunny]

You do?! Please do provide us with feedback on it!

I just picked it up at lunch time. There are 200 recipes, and they don't look very complicated.

I'll report back when I have studied them for a while and have chosen a menu to try.

BB

[Ce'nedra]

You do?! Please do provide us with feedback on it!

I just picked it up at lunch time. There are 200 recipes, and they don't look very complicated.

I'll report back when I have studied them for a while and have chosen a menu to try.

BB

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Great

Is there any food photography (I assume not)?

[terryturbojr]

Anyone have a good recipe for Szechuan style beef?  There is a place in Chinatown in Philly called Szechuan Tasty House that makes a dish called Braised Beef Filet Szechuan Style, and it's quite simple the most addictive thing I've ever eaten. If I go more than a week without getting it I go crazy. No place I've ever encountered does a dish like this, local Chinese takeout places are laughable by comparison.

The thing is, I know less than nothing about Chinese cooking. I would love to get into it, but to be honest I really need to learn how to make this dish just for now. So does anyone know of a good receipe for a similar dish or what would be a good starting point for me?

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Could it be Shui Zhu Niu Rou - Boiled Beef Slices in a Fiery Sauce

http://cookingthebooks.typepad.com/cooking...d-water-be.html