Sally Chu's Easy Chinese Cooking

Rating:
Summary: Garnish Techniques and Tips Along Make This Book Standout
Review: This is a unique English/Chinese cookbook. In the forward of the book, some of the author's more prominent students (including a wife of an Ambassador) have painted her a perfectionist. And indeed, in the presentation department, Ms. Chu is in a class by herself. Most Chinese chefs focus on the three basic characteristics of good food - flavor, color and smell, but Ms. Chu also pays special attention to the garnishes to highlight the presentation and teaches the reader on how to select the best and the freshest ingredients. After all, she stresses, freshness makes the dish.

The special sections of the this book include Decorative Fruit and Vegetable Carving; Glossary of Special Ingredients; Preparation of Dry Ingredients; the Selecting, Processing and Preserving of Bamboo Shoots; Processing basic Ingredients; Types pf Chicken and Cooking Styles; How to Select Seafood; and Measurement of Weight and Volume. The recipes in this book are classified in Meat, Seafood, Vegetable, Egg & Tofu, Soup and Noodles, Rice and Snacks.

The recipes in this book will turn out looking great even when you make them at home. If you are looking for recipes that are quick and easy, this book is not for you, as I have spent a lot of time trying to perfect the garnishes. But if you want to make your kitchen labor a tasty, colorful, aromatic feat and best of all, fit for a banquet table, you will find this book just what you've been searching for.