I Googled before posting, and found that although there have been numerous
conversations about Thai, Vietnamese and Korean cookbooks, very little has
been said about Chinese cookbooks (outside of the regular recommendations
for Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook).

I realize this is a gaping hole in my collection. I have Barbara Tropp's
cookbooks, and several by Ken Hom, and that's it. What do you recommend in
the way of more regionally focused cookbooks?

Thanks in advance,
-Amalia
_________________
Amalia Freedman
Remove X's to reply

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 20:57:30 GMT, "amalia"
> wrote:

>I Googled before posting, and found that although there have been numerous
>conversations about Thai, Vietnamese and Korean cookbooks, very little has
>been said about Chinese cookbooks (outside of the regular recommendations
>for Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook).
>
>I realize this is a gaping hole in my collection. I have Barbara Tropp's
>cookbooks, and several by Ken Hom, and that's it. What do you recommend in
>the way of more regionally focused cookbooks?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>-Amalia
>
i have and use 'the good food of szechwan' by robert delfs. i haven't
cooked all the recipes, but there are definitely a few delicious items
in there.

your pal,
blake

"amalia" > wrote in message
news:_8aYb.42993$yE5.177328@attbi_s54...
> I Googled before posting, and found that although there have been numerous
> conversations about Thai, Vietnamese and Korean cookbooks, very little has
> been said about Chinese cookbooks (outside of the regular recommendations
> for Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook).
>
> I realize this is a gaping hole in my collection. I have Barbara Tropp's
> cookbooks, and several by Ken Hom, and that's it. What do you recommend in
> the way of more regionally focused cookbooks?


Ken Hom's "The Taste of China" has a great selection of regional dishes.
Not sure if you have that one. Out of print.

Yan-Kit So's "Classic Food of China" is *full* of recipes you don't see
elsewhere -- many regional, others just uncommon. Probably out of print.

For books dealing with a specific region:

Check out the Wei-Chuan series; most bookstores have several books. I don't
like their Sichuanese one, but the ones on Taiwan and Shanghai are good.
Great photos too.

There's a new book on the Sichuan cuisine that is supposed to be excellent
(haven't looked at it) by Fuchsia Dunlop, called "Land of Plenty: A Treasury
of Authentic Sichuan Cooking." That reminds me that I need to buy a copy
for myself, especially cause books like this go out of print quickly!

Peter

amalia wrote:
>
> I Googled before posting, and found that although there have been numerous
> conversations about Thai, Vietnamese and Korean cookbooks, very little has
> been said about Chinese cookbooks (outside of the regular recommendations
> for Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook).
>
> I realize this is a gaping hole in my collection. I have Barbara Tropp's
> cookbooks, and several by Ken Hom, and that's it. What do you recommend in
> the way of more regionally focused cookbooks?
>
Eileen Lo has at least one regional cookbook. Her recipes are non-fail.
The completely unofficial afa list o' links has several sites with
regional Chinese dishes:
http://vsack.bei.t-online.de/afa_faq.html

My favorite is *How To Cook And Eat In Chinese*, by Buwei Yang Chao.
Originally published in 1945.

The name is actually Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. She and of course Martin Yan have
some of the best authentic recipes from China.

I have posted a few recipes from China at

www.chefolder.com/wwwboard.html

"chefolder.com" > wrote in message
...
>
> The name is actually Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. She and of course Martin Yan have
> some of the best authentic recipes from China.


Martin Yan? You gotta be kidding....


> > I have posted a few recipes from China at


From China? Chicken Fried Rice with butter? Lol...

Peter




>
> www.chefolder.com/wwwboard.html
>
>
>

"amalia" > wrote in message
news:_8aYb.42993$yE5.177328@attbi_s54...
> I Googled before posting, and found that although there have been numerous
> conversations about Thai, Vietnamese and Korean cookbooks, very little has
> been said about Chinese cookbooks (outside of the regular recommendations
> for Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook).
>
> I realize this is a gaping hole in my collection. I have Barbara Tropp's
> cookbooks, and several by Ken Hom, and that's it. What do you recommend in
> the way of more regionally focused cookbooks?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> -Amalia
> _________________
> Amalia Freedman
> Remove X's to reply
>
>

Not to take anything away from afa, but here's a link to an excellent thread
on Chinese cookbooks

http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?showtopic=22819

Fuschia Dunlop's book on Szechuan cooking seems to rate highly, as does Yan
Kit So's "Classical Chinese Cookbook" (which covers a variety of regions).

rona

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

I would agree with the Eileen Yin Fei Lo books, but I think Martin Yan is
one of the most americanized.


"chefolder.com" > wrote in message
...
>
> The name is actually Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. She and of course Martin Yan have
> some of the best authentic recipes from China.
>
> I have posted a few recipes from China at
>
> www.chefolder.com/wwwboard.html
>
>
>

"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" > wrote in message
...
[...]
> Not to take anything away from afa, but here's a link to an excellent
thread
> on Chinese cookbooks
>
> http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?showtopic=22819


I can tell when we're not wanted... Just because egullet has that Bourdain
guy posting! Oh, and is that the same Trillium that posts here on our
lowly NG sometimes?


> Fuschia Dunlop's book on Szechuan cooking seems to rate highly, as does
Yan
> Kit So's "Classical Chinese Cookbook" (which covers a variety of regions).


The latter is an excellent book. Especially as an introduction to the
Chinese cuisine: Much as I like Barbara Tropp, Yan-Kit So's book is way
better.

That said, since the OP already has some introductory books, there might be
a lot of overlap with So's "Classical Chinese Cookbook." Her second book,
the one I mentioned, has all kinds of recipes the other books out there
don't.

Peter

"Peter Dy" > wrote in message
om...
>
> "amalia" > wrote in message
> news:_8aYb.42993$yE5.177328@attbi_s54...
> > I Googled before posting, and found that although there have been
numerous
> > conversations about Thai, Vietnamese and Korean cookbooks, very little
has
> > been said about Chinese cookbooks (outside of the regular
recommendations
> > for Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook).
> [...] What do you recommend in
> > the way of more regionally focused cookbooks?
>
>
> Ken Hom's "The Taste of China" has a great selection of regional dishes.
> Not sure if you have that one. Out of print.

Thanks, Peter. I'm so sorry I never splurged on this one when it was more
easily available, but will keep an eye out for a used copy.

> Yan-Kit So's "Classic Food of China" is *full* of recipes you don't see
> elsewhere -- many regional, others just uncommon. Probably out of print.

Yikes, I found a used edition for $40! What do you think of his Classic
Chinese Cookbook or Homestyle Cooking? These run about $12 used.

> For books dealing with a specific region:
>
> Check out the Wei-Chuan series; most bookstores have several books. I
don't
> like their Sichuanese one, but the ones on Taiwan and Shanghai are good.
> Great photos too.

I just picked up Shanghai and Beijing at Costco. I'll keep an eye out for
Taiwan.

Amalia

"amalia" > wrote in message
news:63IYb.66362$uV3.523401@attbi_s51...
> "Peter Dy" > wrote in message
> om...
> >
> > "amalia" > wrote in message
> > news:_8aYb.42993$yE5.177328@attbi_s54...
> > > I Googled before posting, and found that although there have been
> numerous
> > > conversations about Thai, Vietnamese and Korean cookbooks, very little
> has
> > > been said about Chinese cookbooks (outside of the regular
> recommendations
> > > for Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook).
> > [...] What do you recommend in
> > > the way of more regionally focused cookbooks?
> >
> >
> > Ken Hom's "The Taste of China" has a great selection of regional dishes.
> > Not sure if you have that one. Out of print.
>
> Thanks, Peter. I'm so sorry I never splurged on this one when it was more
> easily available, but will keep an eye out for a used copy.


I know... That's one lesson I learned: Cookbooks dealing with "exotic"
cuisines go out of print way quick. That Fuchsia Dunlop Sichuan cookbook,
I'm guessing in 3 years it won't be in the stores at all. I need to buy it
soon.

Anyway, someone mentioned "fool-proof" recipes on this thread. Ken Hom's
stuff is not only fool-proof, but almost always they are the best rendition
of the dish I've ever encountered. Too bad that the books in his heyday,
when he still lived in the States, are all out of print. His latest books
from Europe pale in comparison.


> > Yan-Kit So's "Classic Food of China" is *full* of recipes you don't see
> > elsewhere -- many regional, others just uncommon. Probably out of
print.
>
> Yikes, I found a used edition for $40! What do you think of his Classic
> Chinese Cookbook or Homestyle Cooking? These run about $12 used.


Like I just replied to Rona's post, that is an excellent book, but I
consider it an introductory one. You probably already have recipes for 2/3
of the dishes.

Ok, I take that back. I just looked at the thing again, and I think there
are a good number of dishes in it that would make it worth your while. So,
it's great as an introduction, but it also has lots of recipes for more
uncommon dishes. For example: Ants Climbing a Tree; Roast Pork Belly;
Red-Braised Ox Tongue; "Smoked" Fish Shanghai style; Sauteed Mackerel;
Winter Melon and Chicken Velvet Soup, etc. I think you'd like the book a
lot. And then her other book, "Classic Food of China," would just add tons
more unique dishes to your library.


> > For books dealing with a specific region:
> >
> > Check out the Wei-Chuan series; most bookstores have several books. I
> don't
> > like their Sichuanese one, but the ones on Taiwan and Shanghai are good.
> > Great photos too.
>
> I just picked up Shanghai and Beijing at Costco. I'll keep an eye out for
> Taiwan.


I do agree with the egullet thread that Rona posted: There is a slight
Taiwanese bias in the Wei-Chuan series. That is why I don't recommend the
Sichuan volume. But the Shanghai book looks very solid to me. There is no
way my ex-Taiwanese girlfriend has ever heard of or seen such dishes. And
what other Shanghai cookbooks are there out there?

So, obviously, the Taiwan volume is probably their best. I went to Taiwan
soon after I bought the book, and it was neat to sample all the dished found
in the book. And if you aren't familiar with the Taiwanese cuisine, you can
check out that restaurant in the El Cerrito 99 Ranch mall. I think it is
called "168" restaurant. Their Oyster Omelet and Stinky Tofu were just like
in Taipei.

Peter

"Peter Dy" > wrote in message
. com...
>
>
> I can tell when we're not wanted... Just because egullet has that
Bourdain
> guy posting! Oh, and is that the same Trillium that posts here on our
> lowly NG sometimes?
>

It sure is the same Trillium! And if you check out the e-Gullet Culinary
Institute, she instructed a class on Southern Chinese cooking.

And it's not just Bourdain, but also Michael Laiskonis, and other assorted
hottie men in the biz ;-)! Plus Paula Wolfert. She's my favourite "famous"
person there.

>
> The latter is an excellent book. Especially as an introduction to the
> Chinese cuisine: Much as I like Barbara Tropp, Yan-Kit So's book is way
> better.
>

I found a little paperback by her that was on-sale. I think it was called
Family Cooking, or something like that. It was part of a series that was
intended to give farangs an introduction to various cuisines. The recipes
in her book looked fine, but the Thai/Indonesian one (by Sri Owen, I think
the name was) only had a few Thai recipes and the tom yum kung recipe called
for *carrots*! I swear my father was rolling over in his urns/Buddha!

rona

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" > wrote in message
...
> "Peter Dy" > wrote in message
> . com...
[...]
> And it's not just Bourdain, but also Michael Laiskonis, and other assorted
> hottie men in the biz ;-)!


Merde!! Ok, this is my last post here. I'm moving over to egullet. That
Bourdain guy is just a poser. I could easily be one of those hot men! I'll
bet he can't even speak French like I can. Hmpf! Scheißkerl.


> > The latter is an excellent book. Especially as an introduction to the
> > Chinese cuisine: Much as I like Barbara Tropp, Yan-Kit So's book is way
> > better.
> >
>
> I found a little paperback by her that was on-sale. I think it was called
> Family Cooking, or something like that. It was part of a series that was
> intended to give farangs an introduction to various cuisines. The recipes
> in her book looked fine, but the Thai/Indonesian one (by Sri Owen, I think
> the name was) only had a few Thai recipes and the tom yum kung recipe
called
> for *carrots*! I swear my father was rolling over in his urns/Buddha!


Hehe. That was a Yan-Kit So book? Never seen it.

Peter

On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 11:32:18 GMT, "amalia"
> wrote:

>"Peter Dy" > wrote in message

>> For books dealing with a specific region:
>>
>> Check out the Wei-Chuan series; most bookstores have several books. I
>don't
>> like their Sichuanese one, but the ones on Taiwan and Shanghai are good.
>> Great photos too.
>
>I just picked up Shanghai and Beijing at Costco. I'll keep an eye out for
>Taiwan.

Is this the Wei-Chuan, the Chinese food/condiment manufacturer?
Odd that I've never seen these before.

-sw

On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 07:30:05 -0600, "Rona Yuthasastrakosol"
> wrote:

>And it's not just Bourdain, but also Michael Laiskonis, and other assorted
>hottie men in the biz ;-)! Plus Paula Wolfert. She's my favourite "famous"
>person there.

I don't care if Rachel Ray and that Delaurentis chick post there,
there's never been a web-based discussion board that hasn't driven
me nuts with the interface, e-gullet especially.

-sw

"Steve Wertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 11:32:18 GMT, "amalia"
> > wrote:
>
> >"Peter Dy" > wrote in message
>
> >> For books dealing with a specific region:
> >>
> >> Check out the Wei-Chuan series; most bookstores have several books. I
> >don't
> >> like their Sichuanese one, but the ones on Taiwan and Shanghai are
good.
> >> Great photos too.
> >
> >I just picked up Shanghai and Beijing at Costco. I'll keep an eye out for
> >Taiwan.
>
> Is this the Wei-Chuan, the Chinese food/condiment manufacturer?
> Odd that I've never seen these before.


Yes, that Wei-Chuan. I'm sure you've seen them--most every Border's I know
has them. They're not readily identifiable as Wei-Chuan though--nothing on
the covers except for the Wei-Chuan logo on the front, those 5 red circles.


Peter

"Peter Dy" > wrote in message
. com...
>
>
> Merde!! Ok, this is my last post here. I'm moving over to egullet. That
> Bourdain guy is just a poser. I could easily be one of those hot men!
I'll
> bet he can't even speak French like I can. Hmpf! Scheißkerl.
>

Poser! He's got quite the female following over on eG. A lot of women
chimed in on his idea to slap a perfume insert on his balls so he wouldn't
have to take a shower. (too much information?)
>
> Hehe. That was a Yan-Kit So book? Never seen it.
>
> Peter
>
>

The Thai one wasn't, just the Chinese one. It looked like it was published
in the 1980s or earlier, but was probably more recent. I think I might pick
it up if it's still there when I go for my next wine tasting class. If the
Thai one had been hers, I would have lost all respect for her and would not
even have considered buying one of her cookbooks, even if the Chinese ones!

rona

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"Steve Wertz" > wrote in message
...
>
> I don't care if Rachel Ray and that Delaurentis chick post there,
> there's never been a web-based discussion board that hasn't driven
> me nuts with the interface, e-gullet especially.
>
> -sw

I hated it, too, when I first found eG and so my first visit was my also
last visit for about a year or so. But someone (Trillium, actually)
suggested I give it another try and now I'm stuck. It's almost always
on-topic, people rarely resort to flaming, and there are no trolls around
(and very little spam). You can find people who are knowledgable in all
areas of cooking and someone even posted a recipe for Urumasica--a Serbian
(via Turkey) sweet that I love (and I had been searching for a recipe for a
very long time!). What's not to like about that :-)?

rona
--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" > wrote in message
...
> "Peter Dy" > wrote in message
> . com...
> >
> >
> > Merde!! Ok, this is my last post here. I'm moving over to egullet.
That
> > Bourdain guy is just a poser. I could easily be one of those hot men!
> I'll
> > bet he can't even speak French like I can. Hmpf! Scheißkerl.
> >
>
> Poser! He's got quite the female following over on eG. A lot of women
> chimed in on his idea to slap a perfume insert on his balls so he wouldn't
> have to take a shower. (too much information?)


Man. I can't compete with that... And I was fibbing about my French: Is
no good... Guess I'll just stay here. We have hot men here. I'm sure
Steve and Dan are hot. Heck, maybe even Nick with all that macho BBQ stuff.


> > Hehe. That was a Yan-Kit So book? Never seen it.
> >
> > Peter
> >
> >
>
> The Thai one wasn't, just the Chinese one. It looked like it was
published
> in the 1980s or earlier, but was probably more recent. I think I might
pick
> it up if it's still there when I go for my next wine tasting class. If
the
> Thai one had been hers, I would have lost all respect for her and would
not
> even have considered buying one of her cookbooks, even if the Chinese
ones!


Yeah, I misread what you wrote. Ken Hom recently came out with some Thai
recipes, so when I came to your paragraph, the first thing I thought was,
"Oh, no. Not her too!"

I think she is the most scholarly Chinese cookbook writer we've got. She
has a PhD in history. Her "Classic Food of China" even has a list of
references--some 52 books, maybe 3/4 of which are Chinese-language sources.
This shows especially in her chapter on "Important Cookery Books." She even
gives a few recipes from those ancient books.

Peter

"amalia" > wrote in message
news:63IYb.66362$uV3.523401@attbi_s51...
> "Peter Dy" > wrote in message
> om...
[...]
> > Yan-Kit So's "Classic Food of China" is *full* of recipes you don't see
> > elsewhere -- many regional, others just uncommon. Probably out of
print.
>
> Yikes, I found a used edition for $40!


There's a bookseller on ABE selling it for $15.

http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/...L?bi=213536321

Peter

"kalanamak" > wrote in message
...
> amalia wrote:
> >
> > I Googled before posting, and found that although there have been
numerous
> > conversations about Thai, Vietnamese and Korean cookbooks, very little
has
> > been said about Chinese cookbooks (outside of the regular
recommendations
> > for Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook).
> >
> > I realize this is a gaping hole in my collection. I have Barbara Tropp's
> > cookbooks, and several by Ken Hom, and that's it. What do you recommend
in
> > the way of more regionally focused cookbooks?
> >
> Eileen Lo has at least one regional cookbook. Her recipes are non-fail.


Yes, her Dim Sum book is a classic. (Though I'm familiar with the older
edition; not sure what changes the new one has.)


Peter (forgot that I wanted to reply to this...)

On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 14:59:34 -0600, "Rona Yuthasastrakosol"
> wrote:

> What's not to like about that :-)?

It's not Usenet. Somebody needs to teach all those people how to
use Usenet ;-)

-sw

Martin Yan is an acquaintance of mine, and I think he has two sides. His TV
show is very Americanized, however his Asia book and several of his others
are authentic mainland China. Asia in particular is a fantastic book. He
is a true Oriental Chef when he writes, he's a showman in the public, but
trust me, he takes his Chinese heritage and recipes seriously.

www.chefolder.com

--
Bob Older
Creative Travel Inc.
Bus tours, cruises, vacation packages & More
www.creativetravelinc.com

We are proud supporters of Goodwill Industries of Delaware and Delaware
County Inc.
Learn more about what they do - You may be surprised.
Goodwill - Your Donations go right to work.
http://www.goodwillde.org/index.html

Also, for food lovers, check out
www.chefolder.com

"Peter Dy" > wrote in message
. com...
>
> "Rona Yuthasastrakosol" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "Peter Dy" > wrote in message
> > . com...
> [...]
> > And it's not just Bourdain, but also Michael Laiskonis, and other
assorted
> > hottie men in the biz ;-)!
>
>
> Merde!! Ok, this is my last post here. I'm moving over to egullet. That
> Bourdain guy is just a poser. I could easily be one of those hot men!
I'll
> bet he can't even speak French like I can. Hmpf! Scheißkerl.
>
>
> > > The latter is an excellent book. Especially as an introduction to the
> > > Chinese cuisine: Much as I like Barbara Tropp, Yan-Kit So's book is
way
> > > better.
> > >
> >
> > I found a little paperback by her that was on-sale. I think it was
called
> > Family Cooking, or something like that. It was part of a series that
was
> > intended to give farangs an introduction to various cuisines. The
recipes
> > in her book looked fine, but the Thai/Indonesian one (by Sri Owen, I
think
> > the name was) only had a few Thai recipes and the tom yum kung recipe
> called
> > for *carrots*! I swear my father was rolling over in his urns/Buddha!
>
>
> Hehe. That was a Yan-Kit So book? Never seen it.
>
> Peter
>
>

Sorry to chime in late, but are we talking about a book
for beginners, intermediates, experienced cooks and
what KIND of Chinese food?

--

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"Bubba got a blowjob, BU$H screwed us all!" - Slim

George "The AWOL President" Bush: http://awol.gq.nu/4dawol.htm

WHY IRAQ?: http://www.angelfire.com/creep/gwbush/remindus.html

http://www.worldmessenger.20m.com/weapons.html#wms

VOTE HIM OUT! November 4, 2004

"chefolder.com" > wrote in message
...
> Martin Yan is an acquaintance of mine


And I place perfume strips on Bourdain's cojonitos...


, and I think he has two sides. His TV
> show is very Americanized, however his Asia book and several of his others
> are authentic mainland China. Asia in particular is a fantastic book. He
> is a true Oriental


Oriental? Watch it.


Chef when he writes, he's a showman in the public, but
> trust me, he takes his Chinese heritage and recipes seriously.


I do think Yan's recipes are OK. But "some of the best authentic recipes"?
Come on.

Oh, and you are a spammer.

Peter

> wrote in message
...
> "Peter Dy" > wrote:
> > "Rona Yuthasastrakosol" > wrote in message
> > [snipped post, not location of perfume insert]
> >
> > Man. I can't compete with that... And I was fibbing about my French:
> > Is no good... Guess I'll just stay here. We have hot men here. I'm
> > sure Steve and Dan are hot. Heck, maybe even Nick with all that macho
> > BBQ stuff.
> >
> Peter, you have obviously never seen the pic on a.b.f of me BBQing my dog
> and the ragging I've been taking about it over the last several months!


Hehehe. Ok, BBQ dog means that you are the alpha male here, as far as I'm
concerned. I'm sorry I doubted!


> Cawpkun krap!


No problema.

Peter

"Peter Dy" > wrote in message
news
>
>
> Yes, her Dim Sum book is a classic. (Though I'm familiar with the older
> edition; not sure what changes the new one has.)
>
>
> Peter (forgot that I wanted to reply to this...)
>
>

The Dim Sum Book is one of my favourite dim sum cookbooks. When I first
found it, I hand-copied many recipes. A couple of years later, I wanted to
buy it but by then it was out of print. Right now it runs about $50+.


--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

In ,
Rona Yuthasastrakosol > typed:
> "Peter Dy" > wrote in message
> news
>>

> The Dim Sum Book is one of my favourite dim sum cookbooks.
When I
> first found it, I hand-copied many recipes. A couple of years
later,
> I wanted to buy it but by then it was out of print. Right now
it
> runs about $50+.


Check Amazon.com. They list it used for $15 and up.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

Steve Wertz > wrote in message >...
> On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 14:59:34 -0600, "Rona Yuthasastrakosol"
> > wrote:
>
> > What's not to like about that :-)?
>
> It's not Usenet. Somebody needs to teach all those people how to
> use Usenet ;-)
>
> -sw

Lots of us have long known how to use Usenet, for example, I remember
when this ng was just a twinkle in someone's eye. It was all the
people that didn't know how to use Usenet that tended to drive me away
:-)

eGullet certainly has some disadvantages, one of them could also be
considered a plus, that is that it is heavily moderated. The
interface takes a little getting used to as well, but once you figure
it out (there are nested catagories, but at the main board the most
recent post shows up regardless of what sub-catagory it was posted in)
it isn't so bad. For someone with limited time to hang out online, it
has the advantage in most cases, of being heavy on content, low on
blather. Just to continue the name-dropping, Ms. Dunlop has been
known to chime in, in the Chinese cooking forum. It also has a very
active Indian cookery forum, with Indians in India, along with the
diaspora, participating.

On the cookbook side of this discussion, I'm happy to see that other
people appreciate Yan Kit So as much as I do. I've given her book
away as a gift more than once. The other book I really enjoy is Grace
Young's "The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen", but bear in mind that
this book is just Cantonese and heavy on soup/tonics.

regards,
trillium

"cyan" > wrote in message
om...
> Steve Wertz > wrote in message
>...
> > On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 14:59:34 -0600, "Rona Yuthasastrakosol"
> > > wrote:
[...]
> eGullet certainly has some disadvantages, one of them could also be
> considered a plus, that is that it is heavily moderated. The
> interface takes a little getting used to as well, but once you figure
> it out (there are nested catagories, but at the main board the most
> recent post shows up regardless of what sub-catagory it was posted in)
> it isn't so bad. For someone with limited time to hang out online, it
> has the advantage in most cases, of being heavy on content, low on
> blather.


I've only looked at it a couple of times, so maybe I'm just not used to it,
but it doesn't look to me like it saves time. I don't know computer lingo,
but the fact that the posts are all stacked on top of each other creates
numerous problems. For instance, in the China section, I see there are 9
pages (!) for a thread on Sichuan peppercorns. The first poster doesn't
know what they are. Several of the following posters barely know it either.
Nothing wrong with not knowing. But on this NG, I could easily see which
regulars posted info I might find interesting. Or what if Bourdain himself
made some witty comments on that thread, but it's on the bottom of page 8.
How would I know, unless I scrolled down, scanning the names, one page, two
pages, three...

It does seem like there are some out-of-the ordinary topics there, though,
that I'd like. I'll look some more.


Just to continue the name-dropping, Ms. Dunlop has been
> known to chime in, in the Chinese cooking forum.


I just got her book last night (Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan Recipes)!
I was gonna post a special thread on it here, but since you brought it up.
It looks great! Then I looked closely at some of the recipes. Take
Fish-Flavored Eggplants, one of my faves. For 1 1/3 - 1 2/3 pounds of
eggplant, she calls for 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce and 1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar.
Huh?!? That's about the amount I eat when I dip maybe 3 jaozi in a
soy/vinegar dipping sauce. And she wants to season over a pound of
eggplants with that? And no rice wine either, which may just be a
variation. Still, Yan-Kit has 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon
vinegar, in addition to 1 tablespoon of rice wine to go with the same amount
of eggplants. Ken Hom has 2 tablespoons soy, 3 tablespoons vinegar, 3
tablespoons rice wine. His recipe does include 1 pound of pork, so it makes
sense he has amounts that large. Still, that recipe and some of the others
seem to have tiny amounts of seasonings, which I think is strange for
Sichuan cooking. What do you think? Or maybe I should ask her on egullet.


Peter

"Peter Dy" > wrote in message om>...
> "cyan" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Steve Wertz > wrote in message
> >...

> > eGullet certainly has some disadvantages, one of them could also be
> > considered a plus, that is that it is heavily moderated. The
> > interface takes a little getting used to as well, but once you figure
> > it out (there are nested catagories, but at the main board the most
> > recent post shows up regardless of what sub-catagory it was posted in)
> > it isn't so bad. For someone with limited time to hang out online, it
> > has the advantage in most cases, of being heavy on content, low on
> > blather.
>
>
> I've only looked at it a couple of times, so maybe I'm just not used to it,
> but it doesn't look to me like it saves time. I don't know computer lingo,
> but the fact that the posts are all stacked on top of each other creates
> numerous problems. For instance, in the China section, I see there are 9
> pages (!) for a thread on Sichuan peppercorns. The first poster doesn't
> know what they are. Several of the following posters barely know it either.
> Nothing wrong with not knowing. But on this NG, I could easily see which
> regulars posted info I might find interesting. Or what if Bourdain himself
> made some witty comments on that thread, but it's on the bottom of page 8.
> How would I know, unless I scrolled down, scanning the names, one page, two
> pages, three...

You're right about that. That's the one thing I hate about the
software. The search function is not that great either, the last time
I tried to use it seriously it wouldn't go straight to the post I was
interested in, but rather just directed me to 26 pages of stuff. I
think it's on the list for improvement. For time saving, I meant if
you're the sort of person who likes to check in on something every day
(cough cough) you don't really have to go through a lot of non-food
stuff to get to the good stuff. And those endless threads, with pages
and pages, usually span a really long time, so if you read it as it
goes along you're ok, but you're right, if you come late to the
discussion you're in a heap of trouble. You can search by author
name, though, not just topic. The other thing some people really like
is the recipe archive. I don't really use eGullet for recipes so I
don't know how easy it is to use, but it seems fairly easy.

> I just got her book last night (Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan Recipes)!
> I was gonna post a special thread on it here, but since you brought it up.
> It looks great! Then I looked closely at some of the recipes. Take
> Fish-Flavored Eggplants, one of my faves. For 1 1/3 - 1 2/3 pounds of
> eggplant, she calls for 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce and 1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar.
> Huh?!? That's about the amount I eat when I dip maybe 3 jaozi in a
> soy/vinegar dipping sauce. And she wants to season over a pound of
> eggplants with that? And no rice wine either, which may just be a
> variation. Still, Yan-Kit has 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon
> vinegar, in addition to 1 tablespoon of rice wine to go with the same amount
> of eggplants. Ken Hom has 2 tablespoons soy, 3 tablespoons vinegar, 3
> tablespoons rice wine. His recipe does include 1 pound of pork, so it makes
> sense he has amounts that large. Still, that recipe and some of the others
> seem to have tiny amounts of seasonings, which I think is strange for
> Sichuan cooking. What do you think? Or maybe I should ask her on egullet.
>

You could always post and see if she chimes in! Seriously, I don't
pretend to have any idea of Sichuan food, except I know I like eating
it. I haven't known very many Chuan cooks, all my knowledge relates
to southern Chinese or Singaporean/Malaysian food. I just bought her
book too, but I haven't cooked out of it yet. Her credentials seem
pretty good, what with studying at that culinary academy in Sichuan
and all. I know that the pictures of some of the food look a lot like
the stuff I've eaten in some pretty good (as in Sichuan people run it
and eat there) Sichuan restaurants in Seattle (of course, at my
favorite, one of the cooks is actually Fukien, but oh well). Does her
recipe have more of something else?

regards,
trillium

"cyan" > wrote in message
om...
>
> You're right about that. That's the one thing I hate about the
> software. The search function is not that great either, the last time
> I tried to use it seriously it wouldn't go straight to the post I was
> interested in, but rather just directed me to 26 pages of stuff. I
> think it's on the list for improvement. For time saving, I meant if
> you're the sort of person who likes to check in on something every day
> (cough cough) you don't really have to go through a lot of non-food
> stuff to get to the good stuff. And those endless threads, with pages
> and pages, usually span a really long time, so if you read it as it
> goes along you're ok, but you're right, if you come late to the
> discussion you're in a heap of trouble. You can search by author
> name, though, not just topic. The other thing some people really like
> is the recipe archive. I don't really use eGullet for recipes so I
> don't know how easy it is to use, but it seems fairly easy.
>

I admit, once every so often I do a search for Bourdain just to read his
more "interesting" posts. The perfume insert one was a classic!

My biggest peeve is that many people don't quote the posts to which they are
replying so one cannot always follow the conversation. At least with Usenet
if you have a newsreader that groups messages you can follow the
conversation even if people don't quote (assuming you have a cache of
messages).

I've had much better luck with the search function lately, and now it takes
me to the exact message rather than the first page of a thread (sometimes it
would take me to the first page of a 9-page thread so I'd have to wade
through all 9 pages to find the post I needed).

rona
--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"cyan" > wrote in message
om...
> "Peter Dy" > wrote in message
om>...
[...]
> > I just got her book last night (Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan
Recipes)!
> > I was gonna post a special thread on it here, but since you brought it
up.
> > It looks great! Then I looked closely at some of the recipes. Take
> > Fish-Flavored Eggplants, one of my faves. For 1 1/3 - 1 2/3 pounds of
> > eggplant, she calls for 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce and 1 1/2 teaspoons
vinegar.
> > Huh?!? That's about the amount I eat when I dip maybe 3 jaozi in a
> > soy/vinegar dipping sauce. And she wants to season over a pound of
> > eggplants with that? And no rice wine either, which may just be a
> > variation. Still, Yan-Kit has 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon
> > vinegar, in addition to 1 tablespoon of rice wine to go with the same
amount
> > of eggplants. Ken Hom has 2 tablespoons soy, 3 tablespoons vinegar, 3
> > tablespoons rice wine. His recipe does include 1 pound of pork, so it
makes
> > sense he has amounts that large. Still, that recipe and some of the
others
> > seem to have tiny amounts of seasonings, which I think is strange for
> > Sichuan cooking. What do you think? Or maybe I should ask her on
egullet.
> >
>
> You could always post and see if she chimes in! Seriously, I don't
> pretend to have any idea of Sichuan food, except I know I like eating
> it. I haven't known very many Chuan cooks, all my knowledge relates
> to southern Chinese or Singaporean/Malaysian food.


Ok. But half a teaspoon soy sauce is a *tiny* amount in any of the Chinese
cuisines, no? It's like saying 5 grains of salt. Especially for a dish
of that nature.


I just bought her
> book too, but I haven't cooked out of it yet. Her credentials seem
> pretty good, what with studying at that culinary academy in Sichuan
> and all. I know that the pictures of some of the food look a lot like
> the stuff I've eaten in some pretty good (as in Sichuan people run it
> and eat there) Sichuan restaurants in Seattle (of course, at my
> favorite, one of the cooks is actually Fukien, but oh well). Does her
> recipe have more of something else?


Ok. I'm happy to say -- it was a false alarm! That Fish-Flavored Eggplant
recipe was the first I looked at. I was disappointed by it and I still
think it is wrong. But the seasoning amounts in the other recipes I had
looked at briefly gave me a false impression, since I now see that the meat
amounts there are less than a pound, which means the smaller amount of
seasonings were in order. I still need to start reading the book from the
beginning to end, but I would like to say now that I think it is simply an
awesome cookbook! Why?

1. Dunlup writes this book as a true introduction to the Chinese cuisine, it
just happens that it deals with only one of the main cuisines. In other
words, she decides to tell us about the various types of food venues (home,
street, banquet); she tells us of the various cutting techniques; she tells
us of the various cooking methods; she introduces us to the cooking
equipment used; she goes through a thorough description of ingredients. We
all know most of that from other cookbooks, but I think it is great that she
decided to list it all again and just add to it those things unique to the
Sichuanese cuisine. Thus, all these inclusions make her specifically
Sichuan cookbook also a good reference book for Chinese cooking in general.

2. Again, as a reference book, she lists all the things above as well as the
recipes with accompanying Pinyin as well as Chinese characters. Woohoo!
Except she uses traditional characters -- boo!

3. The recipes span all of the Sichuan cuisine, from street foods, to
pickles, to stocks, to sweets, in addition to the more standard dishes. The
recipes are also accompanied by very informative notes. The recipes, aside
from Fish-Flavored Eggplants and Twice-Cooked Pork, look really solid. She
also doesn't shy away from listing ingredients that may be hard to find.
Substitutes are given, after all, in the ingredients page at the front of
the book; no need to dumb down the recipes in the text itself -- we can
adjust on our own.

4. At the end of the book, we find a lists of "The 23 Flavors if Sichuan,"
"The 56 Cooking Methods of Sichuan," a "Glossary of Chinese Characters with
Definitions." Wow! And, again, all with accompanying Pinyin and Chinese
characters! She also lists sources for ingredients. And then a
bibliography as well with Chinese language books!


In short, a must have book. And it will go out of print soon, I'm sure, so
buy it now!

Personal Notes:

She says the finest Sichuan vinegar is not available in the West. That's
not true, at least now it isn't. I bought my bottle of Baoning vinegar in
New York, without even knowing it was Baoning or that it was from Sichuan.
Saw it in Cleveland too. No English on the label, but I can post a pic of
it if anyone is interested in how to identify it.

She says the best Chili Bean Paste is from Pixian, and that's the kind I
have! Though I think the Lee Kum Kee version is good, the Pixian kind is on
a different taste level, especially in terms of its fermentedness. Ask for
it from friends who go to Sichaun. That alone will make your Twice-Cooked
Pork the best ever.

Peter

Peter Dy wrote:
> "cyan" > wrote in message
> om...
>
>>"Peter Dy" > wrote in message
>
> om>...
> [...]
>
>>>I just got her book last night (Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan
>
> Recipes)!
>
>>>I was gonna post a special thread on it here, but since you brought it
>
> up.
>
>>>It looks great! Then I looked closely at some of the recipes. Take
>>>Fish-Flavored Eggplants, one of my faves. For 1 1/3 - 1 2/3 pounds of
>>>eggplant, she calls for 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce and 1 1/2 teaspoons
>
> vinegar.
>
>>>Huh?!? That's about the amount I eat when I dip maybe 3 jaozi in a
>>>soy/vinegar dipping sauce. And she wants to season over a pound of
>>>eggplants with that? And no rice wine either, which may just be a
>>>variation. Still, Yan-Kit has 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon
>>>vinegar, in addition to 1 tablespoon of rice wine to go with the same
>
> amount
>
>>>of eggplants. Ken Hom has 2 tablespoons soy, 3 tablespoons vinegar, 3
>>>tablespoons rice wine. His recipe does include 1 pound of pork, so it
>
> makes
>
>>>sense he has amounts that large. Still, that recipe and some of the
>
> others
>
>>>seem to have tiny amounts of seasonings, which I think is strange for
>>>Sichuan cooking. What do you think? Or maybe I should ask her on
>
> egullet.
>
>>>
>>
>>You could always post and see if she chimes in! Seriously, I don't
>>pretend to have any idea of Sichuan food, except I know I like eating
>>it. I haven't known very many Chuan cooks, all my knowledge relates
>>to southern Chinese or Singaporean/Malaysian food.
>
>
>
> Ok. But half a teaspoon soy sauce is a *tiny* amount in any of the Chinese
> cuisines, no? It's like saying 5 grains of salt. Especially for a dish
> of that nature.
>
>
> I just bought her
>
>>book too, but I haven't cooked out of it yet. Her credentials seem
>>pretty good, what with studying at that culinary academy in Sichuan
>>and all. I know that the pictures of some of the food look a lot like
>>the stuff I've eaten in some pretty good (as in Sichuan people run it
>>and eat there) Sichuan restaurants in Seattle (of course, at my
>>favorite, one of the cooks is actually Fukien, but oh well). Does her
>>recipe have more of something else?
>
>
>
> Ok. I'm happy to say -- it was a false alarm! That Fish-Flavored Eggplant
> recipe was the first I looked at. I was disappointed by it and I still
> think it is wrong. But the seasoning amounts in the other recipes I had
> looked at briefly gave me a false impression, since I now see that the meat
> amounts there are less than a pound, which means the smaller amount of
> seasonings were in order. I still need to start reading the book from the
> beginning to end, but I would like to say now that I think it is simply an
> awesome cookbook! Why?
>
> 1. Dunlup writes this book as a true introduction to the Chinese cuisine, it
> just happens that it deals with only one of the main cuisines. In other
> words, she decides to tell us about the various types of food venues (home,
> street, banquet); she tells us of the various cutting techniques; she tells
> us of the various cooking methods; she introduces us to the cooking
> equipment used; she goes through a thorough description of ingredients. We
> all know most of that from other cookbooks, but I think it is great that she
> decided to list it all again and just add to it those things unique to the
> Sichuanese cuisine. Thus, all these inclusions make her specifically
> Sichuan cookbook also a good reference book for Chinese cooking in general.
>
> 2. Again, as a reference book, she lists all the things above as well as the
> recipes with accompanying Pinyin as well as Chinese characters. Woohoo!
> Except she uses traditional characters -- boo!
>
> 3. The recipes span all of the Sichuan cuisine, from street foods, to
> pickles, to stocks, to sweets, in addition to the more standard dishes. The
> recipes are also accompanied by very informative notes. The recipes, aside
> from Fish-Flavored Eggplants and Twice-Cooked Pork, look really solid. She
> also doesn't shy away from listing ingredients that may be hard to find.
> Substitutes are given, after all, in the ingredients page at the front of
> the book; no need to dumb down the recipes in the text itself -- we can
> adjust on our own.
>
> 4. At the end of the book, we find a lists of "The 23 Flavors if Sichuan,"
> "The 56 Cooking Methods of Sichuan," a "Glossary of Chinese Characters with
> Definitions." Wow! And, again, all with accompanying Pinyin and Chinese
> characters! She also lists sources for ingredients. And then a
> bibliography as well with Chinese language books!
>
>
> In short, a must have book. And it will go out of print soon, I'm sure, so
> buy it now!
>
> Personal Notes:
>
> She says the finest Sichuan vinegar is not available in the West. That's
> not true, at least now it isn't. I bought my bottle of Baoning vinegar in
> New York, without even knowing it was Baoning or that it was from Sichuan.
> Saw it in Cleveland too. No English on the label, but I can post a pic of
> it if anyone is interested in how to identify it.
>
> She says the best Chili Bean Paste is from Pixian, and that's the kind I
> have! Though I think the Lee Kum Kee version is good, the Pixian kind is on
> a different taste level, especially in terms of its fermentedness. Ask for
> it from friends who go to Sichaun. That alone will make your Twice-Cooked
> Pork the best ever.
>
> Peter
I am no expert cook, but I have cooked several recipes from Dunlop's
cook book, and all have come out great. Her Kung Pao version was the
first one I have done that tasted anything like what Sezchuan
restaurants serve - except it was even better - like 3-dimensional Kung
Pao. I am sold, and I hope it sells a lot of copies.

This is her recipe, by the way:

Gong Bao chicken with peanuts
gong bao ji ding

Serves 2 as a main dish with a simple stir-fried vegetable and rice, 4
as part of a Chinese meal with three other dishes

2 boneless chicken breasts, with or without skin (300-350g in total)
3 cloves of garlic and an equivalent amount of fresh ginger
5 spring onions, white parts only
2 tablespoons groundnut oil
a good handful of dried Sichuanese chillies (at least 10)
1 teaspoon whole Sichuan pepper
75g roasted peanuts

For the marinade
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
1 ½ teaspoons potato flour
1 tablespoon water

For the sauce
3 teaspoons sugar
¾ teaspoon potato flour
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
3 teaspoons Chinkiang or black Chinese vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon chicken stock or water

1. Cut the chicken as evenly as possible into 1.5cm strips and then cut
these into small cubes. Place in a small bowl and mix in the marinade
ingredients.

2. Peel and thinly slice the garlic and ginger, and chop the spring
onions into chunks as long as their diameter (to match the chicken
cubes). Snip the chillies in half or into 1.5cm sections. Discard their
seeds as far as possible.

3. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl -if you dip your finger
in you can taste the sweet-sour base of the gong bao flavour.

4. Season the wok, then add 2 tablespoons of oil and heat over a high
flame. When the oil is hot but not yet smoking, add the chillies and
Sichuan pepper and stir-fry briefly until they are crisp and the oil is
spicy and fragrant. Take care not to burn the spices (you can remove the
wok from the heat if necessary to prevent overheating).

5. Quickly add the chicken and fry over a high flame, stirring
constantly. When the chicken cubes are beginning to turn white, add the
ginger, garlic and spring onions and continue to stir-fry for a few
minutes until they are fragrant and the meat is cooked through (test one
of the larger pieces to make sure).

6. Give the sauce a stir and add it to the wok, continuing to stir and
toss. As soon as the sauce has become thick and lustrous, add the
peanuts, stir them in, and serve.

Variations

The same dish can be made with cubes of pork, pieces of pig's kidney,
shrimps or prawns.
Cashew nuts can be used instead of peanuts for a grander version of this
dish, although peanuts are more traditional.

See http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/pack...ia_dunlop.html
for the UK version of the book, titled 'Sechuan Cookery', and other recipes.


Ian

> Peter Dy wrote:

I've just been looking at the book on the internet.
If it lives up to its chapter headings, it'll be in my library.

> > She says the finest Sichuan vinegar is not available in the West. That's
> > not true, at least now it isn't. I bought my bottle of Baoning vinegar in
> > New York, without even knowing it was Baoning or that it was from Sichuan.
> > Saw it in Cleveland too. No English on the label, but I can post a pic of
> > it if anyone is interested in how to identify it.

YEs, yes, please do.
blacksalt

"kalanamak" > wrote in message
...
>
> > Peter Dy wrote:
>
> I've just been looking at the book on the internet.
> If it lives up to its chapter headings, it'll be in my library.
>
> > > She says the finest Sichuan vinegar is not available in the West.
That's
> > > not true, at least now it isn't. I bought my bottle of Baoning
vinegar in
> > > New York, without even knowing it was Baoning or that it was from
Sichuan.
> > > Saw it in Cleveland too. No English on the label, but I can post a
pic of
> > > it if anyone is interested in how to identify it.
>
> YEs, yes, please do.


Ok, just posted it on alt.binaries.food.

Just sampled it too. Redish-brown, as she says. Slight smokey smell, like
Chinkiang black rice vinegar (Zhenjiang vinegar, Jiangsu province), but
unlike the latter, it doesn't have a smokey taste. Instead, as Dunlop says,
it has a slightly sweet aftertaste. Chinkiang seems very similar though.

Interesting and amusing little article about some of the vinegars of China:

http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2...5/wn-5win.html

Peter

"ian" <spammapsglenizrainmapsspammaps@spamerolsspammaps. invalid> wrote in
message news:s4t8c.5933$_U.2211@lakeread05...
[...]
> I am no expert cook, but I have cooked several recipes from Dunlop's
> cook book, and all have come out great. Her Kung Pao version was the
> first one I have done that tasted anything like what Sezchuan
> restaurants serve - except it was even better - like 3-dimensional Kung
> Pao. I am sold, and I hope it sells a lot of copies.


Glad to hear it. And thanks for the feedback.

Peter

What is the name of the post on alt.binaries.food that has the pic of
the vinegar. I've looked a few times and am evidently missing the nose
on my face.
Thanks

"kalanamak" > wrote in message
...
> What is the name of the post on alt.binaries.food that has the pic of
> the vinegar. I've looked a few times and am evidently missing the nose
> on my face.


"BaoNing Vinegar". I posted it 3/26 at 9:30.

Maybe your server didn't pick it up. If so, I could email it to you.

Peter