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Stone Carvings | Home » » A Spoonful of Ginger : Irresistible Health-Giving Recipes from Asian Kitchens | | | | | | | Description: | | From Nina Simonds, the best-selling authority on Chinese cooking, here is a groundbreaking cookbook based on the Asian philosophy of food as health-giving. The 200 delectable recipes she offers not only taste superb but also have specific healing properties according to the accumulated wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine.
The emphasis is on what's good for you, not bad for you. It's primarily a question of balance: eating in harmony with the seasons; countering yin, or cooling, foods (spinach, tomatoes, asparagus, lettuce, seafood) with yang, or hot, foods (ginger, garlic, hot peppers, beef) and neutralizers like rice and noodles.
Feeling tired? Ms. Simonds offers a spoonful of ginger in her hearty chicken soup. A cold coming on? Try Cantonese-Style Tofu (to sweat out the cold) in Black Bean Sauce (healing to the lungs and digestion). Your immune system needs building up? Wild mushrooms (a cancer deterrent) are tossed with soba noodles (a stress reliever). Concerned about cholesterol and clogged arteries? Instead of giving up all the foods you love, indulge in Yin-Yang Shrimp with Hawthorn Dipping Sauce.
Whatever your health concerns may be, you will find the right restorative and satisfying recipes. Babies and toddlers have special needs, as do adolescents, pregnant and menopausal women, the aging--and all of these are addressed with specific recommendations. The wealth of information Nina Simonds offers here derives from her extensive research into the evidence amassed over three thousand years by practitioners of Chinese medicine, and from her interviews with leading experts today in food as medicine, who offer their firsthand testimony.
It is all here in this remarkable book. But, above all, it is the range of dishes, from the exotic to the earthy, that will convince you that you can enjoy marvelous food every day--relishing its good taste and knowing it is good for you. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Nina Simonds | | Hardcover:
| 336 pages | | Publisher:
| Knopf | | Publication Date:
| April 20, 1999 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0375400362 | | Package Length:
| 9.4 inches | | Package Width:
| 8.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 2.7 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 24 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
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 Great Asian DishesApr 26, 2010
I love this book. This was my first mostly Chinese cook book in my kitchen. I've made
-Ma Po Tofu
-Spicey Seafood Stew
-Turkey Congee w/ rice instead of Barley
-Silken Congee with Enoki Mushrooms and Egg
-Chili Chicken with Cashew
-Clay Pot Chicken
-Tandori Chicken
-Beef with Golden Noodles
-Garlic Beef with Broccoli
-Flash COoked Greens with Garlic
-Roasted Asparagus with Soy Vinaigrette
-Malay BBQ Chicken
-Dad's Chinese Chicken Wings
-Chicken with Vegetables
-Steamed Salmon and Bok Choy
OVerall many of the dishes are super easy to make. And if you just have the staple ingredients of Rice Wine, Vegetable Oil, Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, corn starch, Garlic, Ginger, and scallions you can make most of these dishes. You'll need a good Carbon Steel/Cast Iron Wok. Of course there are other ingredients for specialty dishes but if you have what I listed at all times you're pretty much set to go.
My only complaint is that some dishes are a bit inconsistent with the sauces. I found the Garlic Beef wayyyy to garlicy. The steamed salmon really doesn't need that sauce. It makes it way too rich. I like a simpler dash of soy sauce and super hot oil poured over a steamed fish so it crackles. The Chicken and Vegetable dish always needed more corn starch or it would be too watery, and the Roasted Chicken dishes were always set way too high for the oven. 400 and 500 degrees would burn my chicken after 45 minutes!!! I'm more of a fan of Roasting High for 24 minutes at around 475/500 and then roasting for another 45 in at 325 degrees.
Other dishes were a bit off and simplified and I wasn't too fond of them. Like the cilantro and fish filets and this simmered pork cube dish with veggies. The meat got all dry and the vegetables became bitter and sludgy.
There are many more dishes I really want to try out like the Tofu Dishes and some poultry dishes. I catered more to the Chinese inspired dishes and sorta wasn't too interested in the Japanese inspired ones.
I wouldn't say its completely authentic chinese....but I think it definitely is captures the important parts of the original dishes she picked up in her travels. She might simplify with some of the chopping of spices into finer pieces, or substitute different meats. She will mention all of this in her recipes. I think some of her recipes even improved on dishes I'm familiar with while others still needed a little more work.
Another word of warning is that some or if not most Chinese Cooking requires a super hot powerful gas stove which pretty much flash cooks your food in a matter of seconds. If you don't have that (like most people) I recommend heating your walk up pretty high and not overpacking it with food so that the food actually gets stir fried rather then steamed. That pretty much was a tough thing to figure out and I think if I had a stronger stove it would make these dishes taste even better.
Great Book. Get it and you'll be satisfied
 A Spoonful of GingerApr 11, 2010
My husband's acupuncturist has this book in his office, available for his patients to browse and borrow. Steve brought it home for me to read and I was sold! This book is delightful to read! Nina Simonds has collected not only excellent recipes, but stories of how food is used as medicine, gifting us information culled from years of travel and numerous interviews with chefs and Practitioners of Chinese Medicine. The presentation is beautiful as well. Currently the BEST cookbook I own. I don't often sit down and read through a cookbook like I did with this one, exclaiming again and again "I love this!" I like this cookbook so much I immediately bought three copies, one for me and one for each of our married daughters (one of whom is an acupuncturist herself).
Awesome, Delicious, Nutritious--it doesn't get better than this!Sep 06, 2008
After being consistently surprised with the quality of recipes I've made from this cookbook, I felt compelled to throw in my .02 to anyone looking for great, fresh, off-the-hook recipes that not only taste good, but are really good for you. My taste-testers are a tough bunch--two adolescent boys and a hubby that's slowly coming around to eating healthier. I just made the "Vegetarian Roll-Ups" the other night to rave reviews. I've tried the "Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup", the "Healthy Hot & Sour Soup," the "Chinese Cinnamon Barley Soup", "Garlic Beef with Broccoli," and the "Roasted Asparagus w/a Sesame Vinaigrette," ALL of which rated an A or better. My response to the reviewers who complained that the recipes were too bland or were only for people who ate "Chung King" garbage is that I absolutely disagree. If you think these are too bland--then just up the aromatics, people! If you want delicious, feel-good, smell-good, invigorating recipes that are nutritious to boot, then get this cookbook. The only downsides are that some of the recipes have a long prep time, and in the "Vegetarian Roll-Ups" recipe it omits what to do w/the tofu. So there are a couple of typos, but the trade-off is SO worth it if you've got the time.
Great cookbookJun 25, 2007
I love this cookbook! The blurb on the jacket by Nora Pouillon says it better than I could. "Recipes that not only are full of flavor and taste delicious but most of all are good for us - balanced, energizing, and nurturing. Nina Simonds teaches us about the importance of yin and yang in our diets and show us that food is fundamental to our lives and our health. Food is our daily medicine and Nina's book helps us make this connections again." And not only are the recipes fairly simple and the ingredients easy to find, this cookbook is fun to browse and read.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Beautiful CookbookMar 10, 2006
The book is organized well and has beautiful pictures. Recipes are clear and easy to follow, and so far, have proved to be delicious!
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