The Essential Asian Cookbook (Essential Cookbooks Series)

Rating:
Summary: Westernized ingredient lists are incomplete, inaccurate
Review: I received this book for my birthday because I had it on my Amazon wish list. I like it fine, but I think the recipes were not tested thoroughly in regards to their ingredient lists. For one thing, some dishes are missing what I consider the defining flavor/ingredient, like omitting star anise from the Vietnamese beef noodle soup (pho) recipe. I just about fell off my chair when I saw that...star anise IS pho. My mother is Vietnamese, so I've had plenty of pho in my lifetime to know this. Ironically, there's a picture of star anise on the page that introduces the Vietnamese section.

I also think there should've been red onion and Thai basil in the Thai beef salad recipe. Lastly, the Singapore noodle dish came out a bit bland because the recipe called for way too many noodles and not enough seasoning. I didn't even use the full amount of noodles -- it called for roughly 9.5 oz., I used 8 oz. I had to add a lot more extra seasoning during the last stage of cooking, and by then the meat had overcooked.

The book also has the annoying habit of integrating prep instructions with regular instructions. Anyone who knows anything about Asian cooking understands that prep is 90% of the work -- you need to have everything sliced, diced, marinated, because you toss it all together very quickly when cooking. Although each recipe has estimated prep and cooking times, it wasn't clear to me what the authors considered prep vs. cooking.

This book is good for someone who already knows how to cook and is just getting their feet wet with Asian cooking. It's also good for cooks who don't have the access or knowledge to some of the harder-to-find ingredients. You swap authentic taste for convenience, however. Also, it's a bummer that I feel I now have to second-guess the recipes where ingredients and measurements are concerned.

Rating:
Summary: This book is the best!
Review: This book is one of the best cookbooks ever (and I've used a lot of them)! If you weren't raised with Asian food but you want to learn how to cook it, the is the one and only book you need. My friends who are Korean, Chinese, etc., and were brought up eating those foods think this book is great too. I especially like the Thai section.