The Chinese Herbal Cookbook: Healing Foods from East and West

by Penelope Ody

Provides 120 recipes which include Chinese herbal ingredients or Western herbs adapted for use in a therapeutic way, and based on the principles of Chinese preventive medicine. With dishes ranging from spiced lamb to lemon balm sorbet, it seeks to lure readers into a healthier approach to food.

Genres: Health

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many great recipes in this book, which is based on the idea that food can help to heal various ailments. Begins with a chapter on some basics of Chinese medicine, then a descriptive list of herbs and their uses. Next are recipe sections for each of the four seasons, immune system-building, women's health, rejuvenation, cleansing and comfort, strengthening digestion, etc. Herbal ingredients range from mundane (shitake mushrooms, ginger, garlic) to familiar but not in cooking (dried tangerine peel, various ginsengs) to intriguing (red and black dates, Chinese yam, Rou Gui—Chinese cinnamon), to downright strange (Shi Hu—orchid stems, Dang Gui—Chinese angelica, Ju Hua--chrysanthemum).

Note that this book was written in England by Westerners, so recipes are not traditionally Chinese. A few recipes are simple, such as the tasty Rolled Sole with Oyster Mushrooms. Others require more preparation and contain complex combinations of flavors, such as Pork Chops with Shi Hu (bitter and flavorful Shi Hu plus kaffir lime plus paprika and garlic) and Chicken Qi tonic casserole (with black mushrooms, watercress, and two kinds of ginseng, ginger, and a touch of Dijon mustard!). Many of the soups, such as (vegetarian) Aduki Bean Minestrone with Chen Pi (tangerine peel) sound delicious, and I look forward to trying them. There are many simple and delicious vegie side dishes, such as Honeyed Carrots and Garlic Roast Potatoes.

There are also dessert recipes (therapeutic and healing, mind you) such as carrot cake, baklava, and walnut rolls. I tried the Sweet Potato and Chen Pi Cakes, which though labor-intensive yielded an addictive batch of small cakes that disappeared quickly at a gathering of friends. The proportions of this recipe did not seem quite right (too sticky to roll into balls), but it was good when faked with some extra flour and egg!

There is also a Beverage section, with such intriguing recipes as Eye-Brightening Wine and Anti-Aging Syrup, and a section called Basics, about making your own stocks and herbal mustards, oils, and vinegars.

We have tried about a dozen recipes and liked them all except one (Spring Vegetable Stir-Fry was oily and bland). Overall a fun cookbook with great photos, a manageable number of different types of recipes, and a simple and effective education about basic Chinese herbs that are readily available to Westerners.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all - the second hand copy I bought turned out to have several of the recipes ripped out - mostly the ones I was interested in, so don't take this review as gospel!
I know nothing about Chinese cooking so cannot comment on the authenticity of that end of things, but am interested in herbalism and nutrition. My main gripe with this book is that it states 10, 20 or 50 grams of the herbal or mushroom ingredients - but most of the time does not state whether fresh or dried? I'm assuming dried, but I'm lucky enough to live in London where we have some of the ingredients for sale in fresh form.
Good selection of recipes prepared for Western style kitchens. I have a lot of food allergies and am embarrassingly difficult to feed but still managed to find several recipes to copy out into my recipe folder and am looking forward to trying out - the duck and peaches especially.