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Summary: Busiest book in my kitchen library
Review: ....I use this book so often I don't even bother putting it back on the shelf anymore. Easy-to-follow instructions + easy-to-get ingredients = surprisingly, the real thing!
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Summary: Authentic, informative, tasty recipes.
Review: After living in Taiwan, I have been searching for flavors that I was exposed to while there. Miss Huang delivered that and more. With explanations and pictures of ingredients, a neophyte could create an authentic Chinese banquet. The recipes are representative of several regions and use a wide variety of ingredients. The directions are competent and the ingredients are obtainable. As an added bonus, if you are stumped by an ingredient, simply take the book to your favorite Chinese supermarket and let them read the Chinese version of the recipe and guide you to the right ingredients. (The book is a bilingual edition.) The visual appeal of the book is amazing! Beautiful color photography and wonderful paper are a stand-out.
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Summary: Excellent Book on Traditional Chinese Cooking!
Review: As a young person who did not have much previous experience of cooking, this book taught me to make amazingly delicious dishes with amazingly simple instructions. Much of the recipes here are Chinese dishes that you can find in good restaurants in Hong Kong (where I come from). These dishes taste much better than "Americanized" Chinese dishes that are found in restaurants in the America. I highly recommend this book because it is much better than other Chinese cookbooks that I have seen (both from the U.S. and Asia).
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Summary: Currently my favorite Chinese cookbook.
Review: Chinese Cuisine is the most often used book in my fairly large Chinese cookbook collection. The reason for that is because: 1) I love the recipes and choice of dishes: and 2) the information is conveyed so efficiently, that you don't find yourself having to re-read or repeatedly refer to the recipes as you do with most other cookbooks. The pictures, although not glamorous, give you a good idea of how the dish should be served up. Ocassionally, however, you'll notice that the photos show hand carved ingredients or ingredients that the recipe doesn't call for. You kind of wish that they would provide instructions or options for such items. It is an excellent book for anyone seeking an authentic Chinese cookbook.
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Summary: Authentic and Satisfaction Guaranteed!
Review: Either you are a measuring cup queen or pinch measurement cook, you will love what you can get from this recipe book as long as you used the exact ingredient stated. I have had this book for 4 yrs now and I can never get tired of it. Get other Wei Chuan series too. They are great!!
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Summary: Not a Bad Recipe in It
Review: I am a Taiwanese American, and my husband is a Caucasian. We both find "Chinese Cuisine" recipes easy to follow (It's written well in both Chinese and in English). We have enjoyed every single dish that we have cooked from this book. They are extremely tasty, and most receipes do not call for exotic ingredients. It is definitely authentic. I recommend the "Stir-fried Pork with Green Onions," (p.83) and "Stuffed Bell Pepper." (p.50).
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Summary: Excellent, excellent, excellent
Review: I am an American-born and raised Caucasian and have never lived overseas. I do have a large circle of Chinese friends, all of whom were raised in China, Hong Kong or Taiwan. I love Chinese food and am tired of the 'American restaurant' style of Chinese food. I wanted to be able to cook the food that is served at my friends' homes. I have finally found a book that has recipes that I can follow that can get me there. I try these recipes on my friends now and frequently get 'This is great. This is how my mother used to make it.' or 'Now I don't have to go to Chinatown to get good food. I'll come to your house'. I will say that I have to study the book. It may not for a complete beginner to Chinese cooking. The different techniques, ingredients and recipes may be too much for someone who is only used to frying hamburgers. But the recipes are easy to follow. The pictures show step-by-step procedures which are extremely helpful. I carry this book with me to Asian markets when buying some ingredients. I may not know the correct name for a food item, but when I show them the cookbook the shopkeeper always get me the correct ingredient. I also found that the section on techniques was extremely helpful. I have 4 books from this series and love all of them. The 2 'essentials' are Chinese Cuisine and Chinese Snacks. I plan to soon buy a couple more of the series. There is drawback -- I have started to serve some of this food to other American raised friends and now they too have raised their standards on Chinese food and don't like restaurant food. Ignorance was bliss.
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Summary: Authentic without all that "mysticism"
Review: I bought this book when I was living in Hong Kong, and given the availability of truly excellent Chinese food, cooking the same dishes at home was always a disappointment. This book makes it very easy and keeps the recipes simple and true.Because I'm Chinese and not fascinated by the history or mysticism or "magic" of Chinese cooking, I cannot tolerate cookbooks that are filled with little details about how some great aunt escaped imprisonment, immigrated across the seas and brought this very recipe to the outside world! Each recipe is accompanied by a full color photo -- not the most sophisticated presentation, and certainly not as slickly produced as other cookbooks -- which is incredibly useful. This shows how large or small to chop the ingredients, how thick a sauce is supposed to be, how everything looks when it's done correctly. In addition, there is a explanatory introduction about Chinese cooking tools, techniques and ingredients. This is a very useful section, and above all other cookbooks in my kitchen, this is the most important part of my collection.
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Summary: Easy-to-follow steps and final dishes taste like they should
Review: I had this book for more than three years, originally took from my sister who owned this book for another 7 years (I am an international student from Taiwan, but before coming to the US, I never cooked.) The ingredients the book use are easy to find, no something that I have no ideas about (believe me, not every Chinese knows what those ingredients are and what they are for), and the steps are easy to follow (each dish has 5 steps the most). Most importantly, the final dishes taste exactly like they should. And if you don't have all the ingredients the book asks, don't worry, just be creative, add something similar. Believe me, the dishes in this book are those you can have when visiting Taiwan and China.
Stop the yuckie Chinese take-outs, start cooking the authentic and easy Chinese dishes.
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Summary: Excellent, easy to follow directions, no hassle cooking
Review: I recently borrowed tis book from an Oriental friend of mine, who is a gourmet cook; he stated that witout a doubt, this was his most frequently used book for cooking for his family and friends. Based on his recommendation, and that I have tried a recipe or two, I look forward to receiving it and making it a part of my collection of cookbooks.
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