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Rating: 
Summary: This cookbook does not use conventional measuring system
Review: I had great trouble using this book due to the measuring system this cookbook uses. For example, one recipe calls for "4 2/3 oz. (132 g) cake flour (66%)" What does this mean? How many cups or tablespoon is "4 2/3 oz."? What is 66%? and what is "cake flour"?
Rating: 
Summary: A unique collection of Chinese-bakery favorites.
Review: I was thrilled to find this book, which happens to include a recipe I had been seeking (and begging from Chinese bakeries, to no avail) for the last six years. You know how you walk into any Chinese bakery in the United States and see a range of treats, from the very traditional Chinese ones to the peculiarly Chinese renditions of baked goods in the European and American traditions? Well, this book presents recipes for lots and lots of Chinese-bakery treats, covering the whole range, from east to west. Among the more traditional Chinese treats are moon cakes filled with sweet red bean paste surrounding a savory egg yolk, little cakes of chewy pineapple filling wrapped in a short-crust pastry, savory curry and pork pies, little eggy custard tarts, and the childhood favorite of mine whose recipe eluded me all these years: "bo lo mien bao, "commonly known as "pineapple buns" even though there is no pineapple in it, because of the pattern made when the crusty golden topping cracks during baking, and in this book inartfully called "Rolls with Scaly Crust" but absolutely delicious! For afficionados of Chinese baking, this book gives recipes for making the mysterious "Invert Syrup" and "Lye" I have seen referred to but not explained in some old recipes. As for the traditionally European and American bakery treats, what I love is that these are the typically Chinese renditions of western favorites. If you have not been to a Chinese bakery and tasted the way the Chinese and other Asian peoples like their western baked goods to taste (and think they should taste!), just imagine a world in which yeasted bread loaves, rolls, buns, and doughnuts are all made with a white and fluffy sweet-roll dough, even when the treats that are filled with savory fillings. Imagine cakes with the finest, fluffiest of textures: American Strawberry Cake; Vanilla Chiffon Cake, Chocolate Chiffon Cake; Raisin Swiss Roll, and the deliciously different Cheddar Cheese Cake. Evaporated milk is widely used in Chinese baking in place of fresh milk, but some of the recipes call for fresh milk or cream, such as Caramel Pudding and Chocolate Chiffon Pie. The techniques given for Basic Pie Shell dough and the Basic Tart Shell dough are unconventional, but, as once could say is the theme of this entire collection, that's the Chinese take on it! I highly recommend this book to bakers who want to create Chinese-bakery favorites at home, especially to those who are always feeling that they live too far away from a Chinese bakery or who like western bakery treats the way they are made in Chinese bakeries. Beautiful color photographs of the finished items as well as step-by-step color photos of many of the techniques. Clear Instructions in English and Chinese. Avoirdupois and metric measurements. A unique collection of hard-to-find recipes. You will love this book!
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