Overseas Chinese Web Guide

Tag: cookbook

  • How to Cook Everything

    pancake

    Luckily, the New Year is still a few weeks away. Although I had pledged earlier to stop buying cookbooks without mouth-watering photos, I think I am excused this once. Breaking a 2009 resolution in 2008 doesn’t count.

    Anyways, the book that led me astray was How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. So far, I have tested a handful of recipes. I liked the Light and Fluffy Pancakes. The batter was denser than other recipes I have previously tried and did not spread out as much in the pan. The pancakes reminded me of a Japanese cake with red beans that I discovered at the 99 Ranch Market. The only downside was that the recipe called for whisking the egg whites until fairly stiff. I had a whisk and no electric mixer. Needless to say, my arm nearly fell off from the amount of whisking required.

    I’ve also been on a quest as of late to make respectable pot stickers. After many attempts and different cookbooks, I think I’ve found a winner (ironically in a cookbook authored by a non-Chinese). The food critics at home all loved the pot sticker filling. This cookbook also provides directions on making Asian-Style Dumpling Wrappers. One of these weekends, I’ll attempt to produce some home made pot stickers wrappers, of course, with a package of store-bought wrappers as a back-up in case the recipe is not foolproof.

  • The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook

    I love that the Martha Stewart Living Cookbook offers a broad range of recipes. If I am looking for some basic recipe, I can find it (or something similar) inside. However, I hate that this cookbook is not inspirational. I want a cookbook that inspires creativity and arouses the senses. In other words, I want my mouth-watering glossy photos. For example, i have flipped past the Dutch Baby Pancakes recipe on numerous occasions without the slightest urge to try it out. (I will note the the free, online recipe includes a photo, but the paid recipe in the cookbook does not.)

    Anyways, I was over at the Steamy Kitchen website when I became entranced by the German Oven Pancakes photos. After I read through the recipe, I recognized it right away as a variation of Martha Stewart’s Dutch Baby Pancakes. Sufficiently inspired, I ended up making pancakes the next morning. Needless to say, my pancake ended up looking completely different, almost reminiscent of a pineapple bun (菠萝包). For 2009, my resolution will be to stop buying cookbooks that don’t have luscious photos.

  • Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

    ribs.jpgI finally made the Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs recipe that I had found in Fuchsia Dunlop’s Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. The flavor was spot on; however, the ribs ended up a bit dry and overcooked. I found the recipe instructions to be a bit vague in terms of cooking time. In her recipe, I boiled, fried, and braised the ribs. Not sure which step caused the problems. Next time, I will omit the optional frying step and see what happens. Coincidentally, I order this same dish from a neighborhood Shanghainese restaurant, and I always think that their ribs are dry and overcooked as well. 🙂

  • Review: Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook by Fuchsia Dunlop

    Amazon just sent me Fuchsia Dunlop’s Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. This cookbook exhaustively covers Hunan cuisine. Literally. I was exhausted from reading the cookbook. The introduction? 43 pages. Four paragraphs on bean curds. Two paragraphs on garlic. It all adds up.

    The first recipe is Sweet-and-Sour Spare Ribs. All recipes include the name in Chinese characters (e.g.,糖醋排骨) and in pinyin (tang cu pai gu). The author also includes an interesting historical note of the dish or how she came across the recipe. And, of course, the list of ingredients and the cooking instructions. If I have time, I will test this recipe during the coming weekend.

    The largest shortfall in this cookbook is the lack of photos. While the photos of Chairman Mao memorabilia fit well with the theme of the cookbook, the home cook will be better served with a photo of the finished dish. I don’t need a full-page photo for every recipe. I have had enough sweet-and-sour spare ribs to know what that dish should look like. However, for her relatively more obscure dishes, such as Beef Slivers with “Water Bamboo,” I really need a photo. I have no idea what water bamboo (交白 or jiao bai) is. And, after reading her explanation, I still have no clue. A good photo motivates the cook to recreate the dish. I need photos in my cookbooks.

  • Review: Simple Chinese Cooking by Kylie Kwong

    I recently purchased “Simple Chinese Cooking” by Kylie Kwong and tested out some recipes. As a point of reference, I also own and use “Fragrant Harbor Taste” by Ken Hom, “Chinese Cuisine” by Huang Su-Huei (Wei-Chuan Cookbook) and Chinese Cooking at the Academy by the California Culinary Academy.

    1. Visually Stunning. “Simple Chinese Cooking” is a visually stunning masterpiece that features gorgeous photos of the finished dishes. These really inspired me to cook and try out her recipes.
    2. Step-by-Step. Kylie Kwong’s cookbook includes step-by-step photos for some recipes—a helpful if you are a novice in the kitchen and can’t quite parse the language of cookbooks.
    3. New Ingredients. To test out some of her recipes, I had to visit the local Asian grocery store. I keep a well-stocked kitchen, but she called for some ingredients not found in my other cookbooks, such as ketjap manis, fish sauce, and malt vinegar. The ketjap manis and fish sauce may come from a pan-Asian influence. Not sure about the malt vinegar. Actually, I had to find the malt vinegar at a specialty food store. My local Asian grocery store didn’t carry it, and I haven’t come across many Chinese recipes that call for vinegar except for sweet and sour sauces.
    4. Chinese Salad. The book is expansive in its reach and is divided into the following categories: stocks, soups, beef, pork, chicken, duck, seafood, eggs, tofu, vegetables, salads, rice, noodles and wontons, and side dishes and pickles. When I saw the salad listing, I had to see what dishes she had in mind. By salads, she means cold vegetable dishes, such as bean sprout salad, chilled cucumber salad, and tofu, black cloud ear fungus, Asian herb and sesame salad.
    5. A Good Second Cookbook. If you are looking for 10 ways to cook beef, this isn’t your cookbook. Just five beef recipes. And four pork recipes. By way of comparison, the Wei-Chuan had 39 beef and pork recipes and Fragrant Harbor Taste has 24 meat recipes. In other words, “Simple Chinese Cooking” is not an exhaustive compilation of Chinese recipes. However, if you already own one of those encyclopedias of Chinese cooking, “Simple Chinese Cooking” is a good second cookbook to add to your collection.
    6. Stir-Fried Hokkien Noodles with Prawns, Chili and Bean Spouts. I couldn’t find Hokkien noodles at the market, so I substituted Shanghai noodles instead. I think any thick Chinese noodles will do. I also used red peppers instead of red chilis since I am not a fan of spicy foods. The dish came out well and received good reviews. Oh, the other thing I noticed is that a lot of recipes in this cookbook call for red onions. My other cookbooks usually list brown onions instead.
    7. Sweet and Sour Tomatoes. Listed under Side Dishes and Pickles, this is really a simple tomato salad. Tasty, even with raw red onions.
    8. Steamed Silken Tofu with Stir-Fried Spinach. I loved this dish. Used regular salt instead of sea salt. Also, used baby spinach instead of the standard bunch. Really easy to make, if you have a steamer.
    9. Steamed Fish Fillets with Ginger and Spring Onions. Unlike every other recipe for steamed fish that I’ve previously tried, this one calls for pouring a 1/3 cup of water over the fish before steaming. I guess the net effect is that the fish is steamed and poached at the same time. The fish did cook faster than I expected. Will need to test this recipe again with a different type of fish.
    10. A-. Hopefully, I’ll be able to test a few recipes each week and eat my way around the cookbook. Although some recipes call for non-standard ingredients, overall, the cookbook does offer a simple recipes to delicious Chinese dishes. I do wish that she would have included Chinese names to all her dishes so that I can tell what each dish aspires to be. Otherwise, every author can translate their dishes differently.

    P.S. I rarely set foot inside a bookstore these days. So, if you are a cookbook author, create a website that lists all dishes included in your cookbook. Before I buy a cookbook, I want to know what new dishes I can prepare. This will really help me decide whether or not I want to buy your cookbook.