Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook

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Summary: The best book on the subject.
Review: Our family has used this book for Chinese cooking extensively since 1965. This is the most useful book on the market because it includes descriptions of all of the basic methods of Chinese cookery as well as complete information on buying and storing special ethnic ingredients. The recipes are simple to use and each method may be mastered in turn. If I had to choose one Chinese cookbook this would be it. In 1965, before everyone was cooking Chinese food, I went to a hardware store in New York's Chinatown to buy my basic equipment. I was carrying this book. The Chinese proprietor stopped me to say that he had just bought this book for his Americanized daughter so that she should not forget her heritage. He thought the book was that good. I do too.

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Summary: One of the essential books for a kitchen library
Review: The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cook Book clearly explains the concepts and techniques of Chinese cooking, starting with simple combinations and techniques, such as cooking noodles and broth, then building on that basic combination by adding or varying ingredients to make increasingly complex dishes. With this book anyone with a stove and common pots can construct a meal, from the simplest braised vegetable to multi-dish banquets. We bought the book in 1970, four years after it was published, to figure out how to make at home the food were getting at the estimable Mandarin East on Second Avenue of Manhattan's Upper East Side or in basement restaurants in Chinatown. While parts of The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cook Book are dated, mostly references to ingredients, since few genuine Chinese vegetables were readily available in 1966, the relationships and corollaries laid down remain valuable, even as bok choy and choy sum appear in neighborhood markets. There are statements in the book, such as suggesting Marco Polo brought noodles to Italy, that are now disputed by most food anthropologists but Miller's text remains mostly valid and enduringly useful, even as other writers have gone on to produce books based on field research or personal prejudices. Buy it and Bruce Cost's Asian Ingredients, or another book organized by ingredient such as Deh-Ta Hsiung's The Chinese Kitchen, and you have the basic books to cook Chinese.



Rating:
Summary: Not very usefull
Review: This book is a little overwhelming and a little underwhelming at the same time. Unless you seriously want to really dive in and spend all your cooking time learning Chineese cooking, the 1000 recipies are simply just far too many. It was difficult to decide which recipies to try as often there are a dozen that are essentially all the same with one ingredient different. In the end, the ones I did pick were not bad but also not particulary exciting or interesting.

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Summary: Great book for beginners.
Review: This book not only has a LOT of recipes, but also background information on many aspects of Chinese cooking. Definitly worth the price.

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Summary: Fantastic Chinese Cookbook
Review: This cookbook was used by my parents for years and I finally bought one of my own. My family cooks oriental cuisine quite often and this book is an indispensable resource. At this moment in fact, I am buying another copy as a gift for my sister. I highly recommend it.

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Summary: One of the best cook books I have ever read
Review: This is one of the most complete books about any cooking sytle I own. She not only has presented a wonderful book containing recipes. She has given you everything you need to learn chinese cooking, without the Americanized recipes. You find the best recipes here. A great foundation to learn and explorer the world of chinese cooking. A must have. Even my friends parents who grew up in asia love what I learned let me cook some of thier most loved dishes at family functions. Nothing is more enjoyable. Get this book and learn about the Art of Chinese cooking.

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Summary: Essential!
Review: This is the essential guide for anyone who wants to learn Chinese cuisine. I cannot think of any other book that is nearly as complete as this text is. Ms. Miller takes you through steaming rice to making Peking Duck. I'm buying this book for a friend, I've had my copy for years. My copy too (see review following) is spattered with soy sauce, and the margins are filled with notes. Her instructions have aided me in cooking Thai, Japanese, and Korean dishes, to name a few; since most of East Asia is within the Chinese sphere of influence. I've been a vegetarian since 1986, and though this cookbook uses meat, I rely on it as my guide. Now that I live in Taiwan, my friends are amazed at what a foreigner can cook! This book should not be missed by anyone, vegetarian or omnivore, who has an interest in Chinese and East Asian meals. Thanks Gloria! It's glorious!

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Summary: The Cantonese "Joy of Cooking"
Review: This was originally published in the early 70's, when I bought my first copy.As other reviewers have mentioned, my copy is stained from frequent use. I also purchased a copy for my parents, even though they prepared Chinese meals without recipes, they were reminded of other dishes and were impressed with the entire contents...the authenticity of methods and ingredients. I have given this wonderful book to many Chinese food enthusiasts and they also regard it as a sort of 'bible'. These recipes are what we eat at home! I give this collection my very highest recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Much too complicated . . .
Review: While many aspects of the book are excellent, the recipes are much too complex to follow and many names of dishes have been altered. I would only recommend this book to someone well versed in Chinese cooking. While there are many good recipes (especially if you know what you are doing), the author includes at least two variations of most dishes and is a little vague with some of the ingredients. For example, when the author describes how to make egg rolls, she lists "meat" and "vegetables" in the recipe and below it lists possible choices for the meat and vegetables. I believe that it the book could be improved if definate, suggested ingredients were listed with possible variations below the recipes.
However, it is nice to compare recipes side by side and make variations not listed in the book.
As far as the names of the dishes go, the author keeps many traditional names, but I could not find a recipe for "Moo Goo Gai Pan" or "Jzong-ze". One is a dish with mushrooms and chicken along with other vegetables in a sauce and the other is a traditional holiday dish. One could piece together the recipe for "Moo Goo Gai Pan" with the many chicken and vegetable recipes, but it would be much easier to have a solid recipe to work with.
Also, many dishes that my mother makes (my mother is Taiwanese and cooks many traditional Chinese dishes) are not in the cook book or are under a different name, making it difficult to duplicate the dishes.

Another fault that I have found is that there are no photos of the dishes in the book. There are many lovely pencil drawings of food, but no photographs or even drawings of many completed recipes.