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Cultural Relics | Home » » The Food of China | | | | | | | Description: | | A lavishly illustrated volume that presents a wide range of Chinese dishes from the major culinary regions and examines the influences that have shaped the cuisine. Expertly photographed. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Deh-Ta Hsiung | | Hardcover:
| 296 pages | | Publisher:
| Murdoch Books | | Publication Date:
| 2001 | | ISBN:
| 1740452844 | | Package Length:
| 12.1 inches | | Package Width:
| 9.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.1 inches | | Package Weight:
| 3.75 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 9 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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 Excellent Chinese food now on our table without going to carry-outJul 20, 2010
This book is very easy to follow. So, we are able to prepare some much-loved Chinese dishes at home, and we can avoid the carry-out. My son,(22 y.o.) who loves to cook, uses it very successfully and frequently.
 heavy on photosFeb 09, 2009
Great, authentic recipes, lots of good info, but rather more photographs than I like in a cookbook.
0 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Beautiful bookJan 04, 2008
This is a beautiful book for the coffee table, and there are recipes that are not difficult to make and very tasty. All you need is a wok and a steamer.
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Authentic recipes, gorgeous photographs, great productionMay 23, 2005
I lived in Taiwan for three years and traveled extensively around China, so I am frequently disappointed with restaurants in the United States that allegedly serve Chinese food. Most serve a very weak imitation of Chinese food that has been hopelessly compromised by humoring the American palate. The literature suffers from the same flaws: either painfully basic or elaborately contrived foods--never capturing the true cuisine and eating habits of ordinary Chinese people.
This book is a truly amazing reversal of that trend, and therefore, of course, it is out of print. Gorgeous, lush pictures beckon you in and expertly selected dishes described in pragmatic English keep your attention riveted. I cried out to see the turnip cakes that every street vendor in Taiwan offers for breakfast prominently featured in the first pages. Then dumplings! And steamed buns! Every chef in America that proports to do Szechuan cooking should be dragged kicking and screaming to inspect the simple and elegant recipe for Kung pao chicken on page 130.
Did I mention the gorgeous fold out pages? The treatment for Peking Duck describes in great detail the proper way to make the dish and gives a case study at Quanjude Restaurant. (Update: I've bought and gifted several copies of this book, and I was surprised and dismayed to discover that some copies of the book do not have the fold out pages. I was hoping to be able to mention different ISBNs so that readers could distinguish, but both copies that I have, one with the foldouts and one without, have the same ISBN #1-74045-284-4. You could ask the seller of the book if the pages following page 134 and page 190 have foldout sections. Or inspect yourself if you have the book in hand, of course. Very strange! Still a wonderful book, either way, but given a choice, the extra fold outs are well worth the effort.)
Speaking of gifts, I gave this book to a Shanghainese Chinese friend and she said that the recipes were very authentic. She said it was the first cookbook that she felt like she could make something out of and serve to her parents. That's a better endorsement than anything I could say.
This is truly a book created with love and knowledge. I am bewildered as to why it is out of print.
9 of 10 found the following review helpful:
The food of China by Nina Somonds and Deh-ta HsiungNov 27, 2002
I originally purchased this book in Beijing to help me with my cooking when I lived there. I enjoyed it so much that I have since purchase 5 copies to give as gifts when I returned to the US. The ingredients are readily available both here and in China and the food is delicious, easy to prepare and traditional to China. I heartily recommend it, even to the novice chef. Most of the recipes have limited ingredients and are easy and quick to make and my friends always rave about the end product. The photographs make this look like an amazing coffee table book, but they are functional as well giving many step by step illustrations on techniques. Well worth the money and a must for people who enjoy Chinese food that is sensational.
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