A Chinese cuisine reference portfolio

[yakima]

Three books to deal with Chinese cuisine:
1. Invitation to a Banquet, by Fuchsia Dunlop;
2. The Woks of Life, by the Leung family;
3. The Wok, by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.

These will get you from total greenhorn to seasoned, too cocky, broncbuster.
No. 1 does not have recipes for the dish explored in each chapter. No. 2 provides a workaround, detailing many similar recipes. No. 3 details the why and how, with more recipes.

I worked thru these books kind of backwards; 3, 1, 2. And benefitted from the opening of a locally owned tea and spice shop. Brian has been very willing to bring in items. I try to avoid Amazon, etc..

On a sidenote, if I were USA President, I would have Fuchsia Dunlop in my kitchen cabinet, for her knowledge of Chinese history, geography, and culture.

[FireMan]

I just posted about Fuscia Dunlop’s newest book, it is great. I would add as a must read Breath of Wok & Stir Fry to the Sky’s Edge by Grace Young. As owner of 22 other Chinese cook books there is plenty to dig into & experience more than the western fare that is available. What you don’t know is & can be oh so wonderful.

[hoovarmin]

So why are you holding out on us with these Chinese dishes at the SUWYC thread! I want pics, man!

[mgaretz]

I would also add Beyond Bok Choy - a nice guide to other vegetables you'll find in the Asian grocery.

https://amzn.to/49W54O7

[acorgihouse]

I have been listening to Fuchsia Dunlop's newest, Invitation to a Banquet, since FireMan mentioned it. Her descriptions are beautiful, make my drive time interesting. BTW, yakima her other books are ALL recipes. I have 4 of them, each w several hundred pgs of recipe after recipe. Her cooking seems largely Sichuan, but she covers it all. Although I don't think I have 22 Chinese cookbooks, I have a lot, and also very much recommend the two Grace Young books noted above. Breath of a Wok not only has wok cooking, but the first third or so is about history, making and using woks. Quite interesting. I fell in love with the Woks of Life family when they were in an episode of Andrew Zimmern's Family Dinner. I want to shop the Asian market with them! I read their site, and got their cookbook when it first came out. The Amazon delivery guy was walking up with it when I opened door. He shook the box, said "book", and I said "Woks of Life." He said "I LOVE that family!" and proceeded to tell me all about the Kitchen Aid mixer he just found on a flash sale, and how excited he was. The next generation of AR I'm guessing.

[yakima]

@acorgihouse,
My first was Invitation to a Banquet, about 3/4 thru it. Then ordered and received Woks of Life, and just yesterday ordered Dunlop's Sichuan cookbook. Fortuitously, a spice and tea shop has recently opened. At my request he now carries ras el hanout and Sichuan pepper. An Asian market just opened last week. Both are nice complements to the plethora of Mexican markets we have.

I remarked somewhere on this forum, that if I were US President, I would have Fuchsia Dunlop in my back pocket for her experience and knowledge of China and its cultures.

[STEbbq]

Food history book alert SheilaAnn !

Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food https://a.co/d/btkbvCK

[SheilaAnn]

How did I miss this thread? Thanks for the shoutout STEbbq

this is my arsenal:



I also have a book on hainan cuisine that I can’t find. The author spoke at my club once. The thousand recipe book is not great. But it has sentimental value. And while lucky peach is not specifically Chinese, I LOVE this book!

I have read about Dunlop! Fantastic. I need to remedy her absence on my shelves.

[SheilaAnn]

I will also add the #2 above is a solid website! I often refer to it.

[STEbbq]

Which site is that?

[SheilaAnn]

@STEbbq

https://thewoksoflife.com/

[FireMan]

If you go to Mala Market you might get an autographed copy plus it is a dynamic Sichuan store.

[FireMan]

Not to show off, but to show you my addiction.
Plus, some 15-18 years ago this is what I broke my teef on in learnin to cook. My wife was an unbelievably good cook, so I chose a venu that she was not well versed in.
Shoot, this led me into grillin and bbq. My early days in grillin & Q was ok until Amazin Wibs.

[acorgihouse]

Interesting, so much overlap, and then not. This is my Chinese shelf, the other Asian, Korean/Japanese/etc are shelved separately mostly. My own oddball shelving system. SheilaAnn that Susannah Foo was prob my second Chinese cookbook. The first was the Dorothy Huang, I bought when I took her cooking class at some supermarket, decades ago when I lived in Houston. She signed it, dated in 1994. I've been loving Chinese food ever since, still can't roll a decent egg roll, though I keep trying.

[STEbbq]

https://themalamarket.com/collections/chinese-housewares-gifts/products/invitation-to-a-banquet-the-story-of-chinese-food-by-fuchsia-dunlop

https://themalamarket.com/collections/chinese-housewares-gifts/products/the-food-of-sichuan-cookbook-by-fuchsia-dunlop