The Encyclopedia of Chinese Cooking

by Kenneth H.C. Lo

A clear, concise cookbook for more than six hundred authentic recipes from every province of China--such as steam-fried dumplings, steak in oyster sauce, twice-cooked pork, and others--includes advice on standard Chinese ingredients and cooking utensils.

Genres: Cookbooks

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Devon Flaherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mentioned earlier that one of the cookbooks above did not read like a textbook. The Encyclopedia of Chinese Cooking by Kenneth Lo does. Sure, it has hundreds of pages, dense with recipes and nary a photograph or illustration in sight, but it also has a short course in Chinese cooking for the first 35, single-spaced. The truth is, that while Americans love our Chinese food, we’re not so comfortable making much of it at home. And to make the food here, you’re going to need access to a specialty store, or maybe just a grocery store with a well-stocked Asian section. And at the very least, you’re going to have to understand one of the fundamentals of Chinese cooking: prep first, cook after. Also, get that wok scorching hot.

With all the many recipes, there are complicated and unapproachable recipes, like tripe and chicken legs and Thousand Year Old Eggs, but there also are plenty of quicker, easier recipes. It would be a stretch, perhaps, to call them approachable, because you have to do some mining and reading to find what it is you’re looking for without any pictures or cutesy comments, but the processes and ingredients will quickly get familiar since they are largely repetitious. Chinese cooking is often a combination of only a few familiar things, but done with pristine technique and yielding delicious results. It is one of the world’s best and most sophisticated cuisines. Before the book was lost in a box, I tried Vegetarian Stir-fried Scrambled Eggs and the end result was better than it sounded. It was delicious. And while I also plan on acquiring some Fuschia Dunlop cookbooks (having famously made Chinese cooking accessible to Western cooks), I don’t think my Chinese cookbook library need reach any further than that and this.

This is basic and apt. I will be spending years and years ignoring MSG on the ingredient list, but otherwise, I plan on using this cookbook for authentic and delicious meals. A couple caveats: American Chinese is not on the radar, at all. No fortune cookies, Almond Boneless Chicken, or General Tso’s. Even dishes we might sort of recognize are going to go by some descriptive name here that we wouldn’t recognize. We’re just going to have to be adventurous, take risks, and strive to better our techniques. Write notes when we discover a familiar taste. Also, it would be difficult for a Western home cook to pull off a whole Chinese meal from this cookbook. It would take an enormous amount of coordinating and flipping around, putting together all the pieces—sauces, dishes, accompaniments, etc. that would be included in a traditional Chinese meal. However, simplifying it down to the American one or two things with rice or pre-made eggrolls is going to be your best shot for a normal breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

***REVIEW WRITTEN FOR THE STARVING ARTIST BLOG***

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in Chinese cuisines, this book is "a must," as my Turkish students would say. It's a great book to read from as well as to cook from. I've learned quite alot from the book in the short time I've owned it. I find that reading about Chinese food is valuable as a prelude to eating it, becasue the flavors are quite subtle. Knowing what's in the flavor base of a soup stock, for example, (4 kinds of pork in addition to chicken) allows me to appreciate --and search in my mind/mouth for-- the flavors to which I might be otherwise oblivious.

Though many of the recipes are quite complex, many are also manageable for the week-night chef.