Tag: my china

  • Kylie Kwong: My China

    The first time I opened up My China by Kylie Kwong, I was underwhelmed. It had none of the mouth-watering glossy photos found in Simple Chinese Cooking. Now that I’ve actually tested out some of the recipes, I’m sold.

    Yesterday, I tried out the Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Coriander, Ginger and Chilli. Sort of. I substituted Shanghai noodles in place of fresh rice noodle sheets and ditched the red chilli since I am not a fan of spicy foods. The noodles were absolutely flavorful. Interestingly, the recipe called for cilantro (or coriander) stems, which is the part that I usually throw out. Shows what I know.

    I also made Pumpkin Fritters for dinner. Absolutely delicious with great flavors and a crunchy exterior, but a total pain to make. Peeling a pumpkin is no easy task. I had to first cut the kabocha into smaller slices and then remove the peel with a vegetable peeler. I’m sure there must be a bettery way around this. Next time, I’ll bake the kabocha and then scoop out the pumpkin flesh. That surely has to be easier than trying to remove a hard, waxy peel from a hard squash. The recipe also has a continuity error in that it describes how to make the pumpkin cakes and how to make the batter, but omits the part about putting the pumpkin cakes in the batter before deep frying. Fortunately, I didn’t follow the recipe literally or else havoc would have ensued.

  • Kylie Kwong: My China

    I really liked Kylie Kwong’s Simple Chinese Cooking, so I picked up My China: A Feast for All the Senses as well. First impression. My China is a huge book! 484 pages. However, I wouldn’t exactly call it a cookbook. Only 15-20% of the book is devoted to recipes, and the rest is about her travels through China. So, if you are looking for an anthology of Chinese recipes, this is not the book. Secondly, she shows us a lot of photos of regional dishes, like that mouth-watering pot of steamed buns on the book cover. However, feast with your eyes only because you won’t find recipes for all those tempting dishes in this book. And, if you loved the glossy photos from Simple Chinese Cooking, all the pages in this book have a flat finish.

    The real test will come when I have a chance to try some of the recipes. The malt vinegar present in all recipes from Simple Chinese Cooking have been replaced with brown rice vinegar in My China.