Product Description
That's My Food! is a collection of easy recipes for making delicious Asian food in the typical American kitchen. Written in a casual style, it is perfect for the person who loves to eat Asian food - but has always been a little afraid of trying to cook it. Overcome your fear and learn how easy it is to make great Asian food! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a great and simple asian american cook book
this simple cook book was such a great book to get.
i was suprise by how simple and easy it was to follow the directions
and even the writing can be cute at times
i would recommended any one in getting this book ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Hot and Spicy asian cooking

I gave it as a gift, but my friend loves it and has started to use some of the recipes.

Do you like spicy foods?
This cookbook is a paradise for the senses.In Asian cooking (and in this case, "Asian" includes India and a few African dishes, as well as the familiar Southeast Asian countries), spices do more than flavor the food.They add color, smell and texture, transforming simple meats and vegetables into a seductive and sumptuous feast, one that is consumed with the eyes and nose as well as the mouth and tongue.The combination of heat and spice is what really makes Asian cooking stand out, combining flaming chili peppers with cinnamon and coconuts, or lemongrass and lime leaves.

"The Complete Book of Hot & Spicy Asian Cooking" does a good job of living up to its name.Its heavy, thick and packed with recipes.Every recipe has a stunning photograph, and everything looks delicious.The recipes are sectioned off into styles of cooking, like "Appetizers and dips", "Laksas and soups", "Chicken and duck", "Fish and Seafood", "Vegetables and salads", "Drinks" and "Sauces, stocks and condiments".There are 9 sections in total, with each section having around 20 or 30 different recipes.Unfortunately, the recipes are not identified by their regions, and only in a few cases will you know what country the recipe comes from.This isn't really a big deal, but it is always nice to know when dealing with a pan-Asian cookbook.

Of course, anyone trying these recipes will need a fully-stocked spice cabinet.There is nothing subtle about these flavors!However, none of the ingredients are particularly rare, and the only thing I haven't been able to track down are the banana leaves required for a couple of dishes.Otherwise, it is cilantro, ginger, cinnamon sticks, cloves, lemongrass, garlic, turmeric and all the other wonderful spices associated with Asian cooking.And of course chillies. Lots and lots of chillies.The author has written a nice opening section on the various types of chillies, and which are best for each regions recipes, as well as a tutorial on preparing the various spices and how to get the best flavor from them.

I found all of the recipes easy to follow, and the results delightful.A few favorites: "Potato soup with Thai spices", "Chili, salt and pepper squid", "Crab in chili oyster sauce", "Green beans with lemon miso", "Spiced couscous", "Corn and shrimp cakes", "Duck and green chili curry", "Salmon with sweet pepper sauce".Every recipe I have tried has been fantastic, and I am still picking out the next ones to cook. ... Read more

Product Description
Finally, a cook's guide to the delicious, nutritious, and slightly mysterious asian produce that crops up in grocery stores and corner markets everywhere--water spinach, chinese broccoli, bok choi, kohlrabi, lemon grass, kaffir lime, and more.Comperhensive, lively, and spanning Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, and other cuisines, this book will become a trusted favorite for everyone who wants to bring these exciting flavors to their kitchen and table.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Great Aid to shopping for asian greens!!!
This is a really good book, I shopped for vegetables in a store that only had the chinese writing above the produce, but with this book I was able to find all the vegetables I wanted.

I tried a few recipies from the book the last few weeks, and they are quite tasty...

Very easy to use, and a great guide when shopping in a market where no one speaks English or all the writing is Chinese!!!

An average book with good recipes but poor reference info.
`Asian Greens' by Anita Loh-Yien Lau is a poor book with a few good points that make it a real disappointment that the author and her editors could not put together a more useful volume.

The few good points of the book are that the presentation is relatively straightforward and simple and the photographs of the produce is better than several other books on the same or similar topics. The most similar book I have reviewed on the same subject is Sara Deseran's `Asian Vegetables'. And, aside from the somewhat odd way this book has with the color photographs of vegetables, it is in almost every way a more rewarding book. It is certainly free of the many errors of fact and oddities of layout, which infest Ms. Lau's book.

While Ms. Deseran's `Asian Vegetables' is better than the title under consideration in this review, it is still not a very weighty book. It is a typically colorful Chronicle Books issue that gives a pleasantly light treatment of its subject. If you want the straight poop with lots of details, get neither of these books and spend your money on `Bruce Cost's Asian Ingredients', which covers the full range of Asian groceries, albeit with no pretty color photographs.

Getting back to Ms. Lau's effort published by St. Martins Griffin, I am really surprised that such a respected publishing house as St. Martins would let this get out under their imprimatur. The three most annoying problems with the book are errors in fact, the loosely assigned names given for products, and the odd arrangements of topics. The most glaring error is the statement that the Thai Bird pepper is stronger than the Habanero. I know the Thai Bird chile is hot, but last time I checked out the Scolville scale, the Habanero was still king of the roost. This entry is also an example of my second gripe in that the chile is labeled as Bird's Eye chile. While this is a confirmed name for this little red devil as checked in Jacki Passmore's `The Encyclopedia of Asian Food and Cooking', it is not the name most commonly known to western readers. Most other books refer to it as the Thai chile or the Thai Bird chile. Similar examples of weak naming are in names for `Basil' and `Eggplant'. Both are very common products in Mediterranean cuisine, yet the author does not avoid confusion by giving us a name appropriate to the Oriental product, since she makes the point that the oriental product is different from the western product. Giving aubergine as an alternate name for eggplant compounds the confusion. A linguistic conservative would argue that `aubergine', being a French / Italian name, should only be applied to eggplants grown in France and Italy, not to the distinctively different Japanese eggplants.

Possibly the greatest annoyance in this book is the sloppy arrangement of topics. It is probably entirely too picky to complain about the fact that close to half of the vegetables discussed in the book are not greens. It is not too picky to point out that under the `Greens Guide' to green, purple, orange, brown, and red vegetables, one section is labeled `Fruit Vegetables' and it lists four melons, a gourd, and eggplant. The sense of the title is that these are fruits that are commonly counted among the vegetables, but the book gives no hint that this is the intent of the section.

A similar annoyance is the fact that the book contains a chapter of recipes for fish, yet two major recipes in the `Side Dishes, Soups, and Salads' chapter are primarily seafood recipes. This chapter also has a `Meat and Poultry' chapter of recipes, yet the `Side Dishes...' chapter contains recipes with chicken. I have seen this before in other books, but not in books which are about such a very specific subject.

A final annoyance in the produce naming is the fact that the author gives several synonyms for each lead English name, with no indication of the language from which these names come. This is not trivial, as when you are looking for a bottle gourd in a Vietnamese grocery store, you would want to know which of its seven (7) names is used in Vietnam. Another fact which makes this an important observation is that there are several excellent books on this subject which do go to the trouble of giving us the Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, and Tagalog names for these veggies, not to mention the Latin scientific name.

This book is a weak title in a field for which there are a surprisingly large number of better books available. Like all the other reviewers who rate the book so highly, I agree the recipes are decent, but this is simply just an average cookbook with general information on the ingredients which is below the average level of quality for books on this subject.

Versatile, practical, every-day recipes
This is a cookbook used both by myself and my grown son.I bought it for the very simple but elegant recipes such as Wilted Amaranth in Pine Nut Dressing, Mixed Vegetables with Peanut Sauce, and Quick Asian Greens Soup.In all cases the recipes are flexible i.e. one can readily adapt the recipe to the vegetables at hand.My son, however, focuses on recipes such as Chicken with Thai Basil and Beef Brisket Stew with Daikon.

In all cases, ingredients are readily available in an urban area.The instructions are clear.

That is not to say that the recipes are perfect.Chicken with Thai Basil, for example, is too salty for our taste ... so we cut the fish sauce with sake.The Asian Vegetable Stew, a recipe that caught my eye when purusing the book, has an excellent flavor but I have yet to find a butternut squash that will cook sufficiently when instructions are religiously followed - so I keep experimenting with how long to cook the squash alone.However, these recipes are so simple and versatile it takes little effort to adapt to one's own taste.

In short, I highly recommend this cookbook.

Greens are Good!
How refreshing to read a cookbook which is both informative, easy to follow and is written simply and cleanly.

Being located in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia to be exact) I find this book well suited to the modern Australian taste bud and palette.Australians are very familiar with and fond of Asian cooking, if not always the authentic version, at least some formulation of it.Ms Lau's book provides easy at home directions for the new home cook/chef starting out, which is the category I fit into.As with the UK's Jamie Oliver, "Asian Greens" is adventurous, and the layout is such that it invites the reader to try new things which at the same time are not difficult or daunting.

I can see this book being a favourite in Noosa (Queensland) and Byron Bay (New South Wales) if people can get their hands onit.I discovered it by looking on amazon.com

I particularly like the the glossary of vegetables, the so called "Greens Guide".For the non-Asian or the uninformed, this guide is most helpful for getting what you want and need into your shopping cart/trolley/basket.

Many of the meals are great for the single person who is oft not inspired to cook (this does inspire!), while also being suitable for couples and families.

I enjoyed the personl anecdotes and descriptors with each recipe.I particularly like the cover and the layout of the book and the information about the author.With chefs like the wonderful Jamie Oliver about, we want some character and fun in our writers and presenters and a little bit of who they are.

The new approach to cooking - keeping it simple, clean and fun, it what we all needed and I am excited to add this book to my slowly growing pile of useful books (and tossing the huge, complicated ones out!)

I just love love love the Asian pesto on page 47, the choy sum and tofu on page 77 and the unusual spiced tofu and long beans with turkey on page 94.

I liked the low level use of pork, as being a non-pork eater it is great to find a book not bursting with this meat.I much prefer the emphasis on the greens, tofu, fish and other meats in the book.

Highly recommended!
This was originally a book of my mother's but I've been hogging it ever since I chanced upon it in her living room. Even though the recipes are easy, the flavors were very refined and tasty. I've got my own copy now and must say, if you are stuck for something to give for X'mas, this is a nice gift for anyone who loves to cook but doesn't want to spend too much time in the kitchen. ... Read more

Product Description
Here at last is a book which contains all cooks need to know about the growing list of Asian vegetables found in supermarkets, farmers' markets, Asian grocery stores and specialty gourmet shops. With attractive watercolors and photos, A Cook's Guide to Asian Vegetables helps you to identify more than 125 vegetables commonly used in Asian cuisine.
This book offer a wealth of information on fresh, preserved and dried vegetables and herbs: appearance and preparation, traditional herbal remedies, recipes and serving suggestions.A Cook's Guide to Asian Vegetables is a delightful and much-needed reference for the cook, epicure and novice to Asian cuisine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Now you know your Asian Veggies!
Wendy Huttons "Cooks Guide..." is an essential for anyone who has the luxury of living in a city where fresh Asian veggies are abundant. It has the ever important visual guide to dozens of veggies, dried & preserved foods as well as herbs and gourds. Explains where they are from, medicinal uses, vitamin and nutritional content, and there are even some simple recipes to give you a springboard to test your knowledge. I have taken this book with me into Chinatown and had much luck. The pictures are clear (some are water colors, some are photographs) all are helpful. A reference guide for the western cook who wants to go Asian.

The most necessary book in your kitchen
I came across this book in a discount bin. I have since bought this book for 8 of my friends. The title is misleading; this book includes everyday vegetables and their nutritional and medicinal values. If you want to eat healthier this is the book for you. It contains fruits, vegetables, beans and recipes. I often take this book to the grocery with me because the book also has pictures and descriptions. If you've ever gone into the store and seen things you didn't recognize this book will help you. If you want to add vitamins, minerals or proteins to your diet, then this is for you too.
Each selection description includes: Appearance & Flavor, Choosing & Storing, Preparing, Nutritional & Medicinal Properties and Culinary Uses plus a picture. You can't go wrong with this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Gujarat is one of the most prosperous States of India. Gujarati people love their feasts and festivals and no such occasion goes without special preparations in their kitchens.


Gujarati cuisine is a vegetarian gourmet's dreams come true. It is a vegetarian wonder with complete nutrition derived from leafy vegetables prepared in innumerable variations and subtly flavored with spices. Simple, practical, down-to-earth and wholesome, Gujarati cuisine truly reflects the heart of the state..............

Introduction 6
CHAKLI 15
UNDHIYU 18
DAAL PARATHA22
DAL DHOKALI 25
GUJARATI KADHI 29
KHAMAN DHOKLA 32
KHANDVI 35
KHICHU 38
KAKDI NU RAITU 40
KHAJOOR NA GHUGRA 43
OSMAN 46
RINGAN NU OLOO 49
SUKAVNI 51
TINDORA NU SHAAK 54
CHHUNDO 57
GUNDA 59
MASALA PURI 62
SHRIKHAND 65
TREVTI DAAL 68
TOOR DAAL 71
VANGI BATATA BHAJI 74
VAGHARELO BHAAT 76
KHAMAN KAKDI 79
LASANIYA BATATA 82
LILVA NU BHAAT 85
MAKAI NA BHARTA 88
MASALA SUPARI 91
ASOONDI 94

.............................................................
Print ISBN: 978-0-557-60378-7 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Artfully produced Thai cookbook
This lovely book is artfully produced, with 2-3 attractive photographs per recipe, both of the food prep and the finished product.

This isn't just a cookbook. It is a primer on Thai history, cooking techniques, ingredients, equipment, and more, with over 60 non-recipe pages.

The recipes are given both in metric and US measurements. For example: 900 ml / 1 1/2 pints / 3 3/4 cups vegetable stock.

The recipes are explained with clarity, so that even if one is unfamiliar with the dish, it's easy to follow the instructions.

This book will help you produce beautiful, interesting, simple, delicious Thai meals.

This book is published in hardback as Thai Food and Cooking ... Read more

Product Description
INTRODUCTION
Vietnam is a country of natural beauty with a coastline of sandy beaches stretching about 2000 miles (3225 km) from the northern to the southern tip of the South China Sea. Along the coast, fishing is the main livelihood. The majority of Vietnamese people are Kinh race people (87%) with the remaining of 53 different ethnic minority groups. For more than 2000 years, the country has been subjected to a near continuing series of foreign occupations from China, France, Japan, and America. One consequence of these occupations is the lasting influence on Vietnamese cuisine. Among Vietnamese dishes, perhaps the best known in the West is Pho, a noodle soup. Another is the deep-fried spring roll called Nern in the north, and Cha Goi in the south. Rice is a staple food used as a side dish, or a main dish when combined with other ingredients, such as beef, pork, chicken, or seafood. Vietnamese dishes consist of many different blends of herbs and spices. Most dishes are not fiery hot, nor greasy. Seafood and vegetarian dishes like An Chay are very popular. Today, Vietnamese cuisine is gaining increased international attention due to the fact that it is quite healthy.

This book is an introduction to a new generation for a delicious journey through Vietnamese cuisine. While the combination of flavors may seem experimental to some, they will result in a savory experience. All ingredients used in these recipes can be found in supermarkets, natural food stores or in Asian food markets. It is our pleasure to share these quick and delicious Vietnamese recipes with you. Enjoy the good nutrition that comes with it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Its strength is its weakness
Most of these recipes are one page each, with a main picture, an ingredient list, and four small pictures chronicling the four "simple" steps on each page. This layout works well with a truly simple dish like Fresh Spring Rolls (Goi Cuon).

They work not so well for more complicated dishes. For Tomato and Crab Noodles (Bun Rieu), the last (fourth) step instructs: "Pour meat mixture into boiling stock. Season stock with fish sauce and sugar. Add tomato. In a large bowl, place noodles and pour over soup." OK, how long is the meat mixture in stock supposed to be cooked at boiling? Should the heat be turned down at some point to cook the mixture (because it can quickly get overly dry)? What about the tomatoes? Is this a simple blanching to peel off the tomato skin? Or should the tomatoes be cooked until they're softened? A few of the meat dishes require marinating but too many leave out the length of marinade time.

In short, for the sake of keeping the recipes seemingly simple, the instructions leave out too many critical details.

I appreciate the ingredients page with pictures at the beginning, but it is by no means comprehensive. And I wish that if the recipe called for unusual ingredients like Vietnamese soy sauce (which I can't find in NYC's Chinatown) then it would suggest substitutes. I also agree with some of the previous reviewers who said some of these recipes are too salty, almost inedibly so.

Despite all these criticisms, I still give this a cookbook 4 stars because if you have some experience with cooking, and if you have eaten enough homemade Vietnamese food, you can recreate your favorite dishes relatively easily and reliably. I appreciate the simple 1-2-3-4 approach as it seems less intimidating than some of the Vietnamese cookbooks I have -- books that are lovely to look at but don't inspire me to try because they seem so laborious. I now cook with this one and occasionally reference the others if there's a missing step here or there in these recipes. Try this book. You just have to experiment with these recipes and you'll soon be able to fill in the gaps that will allow you to cook some very tasty Vietnamese meals.

Good cook book for beginners
This book is a good cookbook for beginners.The ingredient lists are simple.Most of them can be found at your local grocery stores.I've tried some recipes.The taste is closed enough to mama's home cooking.

I'd keep looking
I bought this book because I'm new to Vietnamese cooking and I thought it would be a good starter cookbook. It was disappointing to say the least. A lack of instructions does not make it easy for me. I don't like guessing at what I'm supposed to do. There are various things that leave you scratching your head - like one recipe that lists coconut milk and then neglects to tell you what you're supposed to do with it.

There are plenty of pictures but even some of them are incorrect.
Some recipes will list an ingredient and then show a picture of something different. My Vietnamese friend says that some of the recipes are not even Vietnamese!

I did make a few of the recipes that turned out good but I'm looking for something better.

Excellent Betty Crocker style cookbook
Like a Betty Crocker recipe, these recipes use shortcut ingredients like store bought soup base or a combination of ready made sauces.I would recommend this book for someone who wants to get good Vietnamese food on the table with little hassle but not for someone who wants to learn how to make authentic Vietnamese.My mom would smack me with a chopstick if she saw me using Ketchup as an ingredient!Best things about this book are the step by step pictures of the cooking process and the ingredient pictures.It's so much easier to go to the Asian grocery store and know by sight what to look for.I also appreciate that the dishes look very close to how it would be served at home, not an over-stylized, gourmet plateing.

Highly recommended cook book
Simple yet with the right info pictures and instructions...and with practice, Vietnamese cooking won't be so intimidating.Highly recommended for beginners like myself.I was hoping to see a recommendation for substitute ingredients, such as lemon grass... if you can't find lemon grass, what can you substitute with, and daikon, ??? I live in Italy and most required ingredients are non existent. ... Read more

Product Description

"When I was growing up, my mother did all of the cooking at home and the variety was endless. But it was her everyday Chinese home cooking that I remember best—the often-revisited stir-fry dishes that are simple, easy, delicious, and part of the culinary repertoire of most Chinese families. I hope you will enjoy this collection of some of my favorites. Perhaps some will become part of your everyday cooking, too. So come with me to my kitchen and let me share with you what the Chinese do in theirs." —Helen Chen

Enjoy Easy Chinese Stir-Fries Like These:

• Chicken with Mushrooms and Snow Peas
• Braised Party Wings
• Spicy Chunking Pork
• Sparerib Nuggets in Black Bean Sauce
• Stir-Fried Broccoli Beef in Oyster Sauce
• Spicy Beef Shreds with Carrots and Celery
• Coral and Jade
• Flower Squid with Mixed Vegetables
• Bean Curd with Black Mushrooms and Bamboo Shoots
• Ginger-glazed Carrots and Parsnips

Customer Reviews (4)

Easy is right - very well written
You can't go wrong with these recipes - these mostly-cantonese dishes are superb, with accurate full page color photos and clear instructions with ingredients you can find at any asian market. I don't fancy the sweetness of Chinese/American dishes and have improved the recipes by adding less sugar (especially in recipes that already have hoisin or dark soy sauces), but either way the dishes have worked out great. Her attention to generating just the right amount of sauce / gravy for the dishes adds a restaurant touch and improves their display, something that other cookbooks often don't get right.

The dishes taste like the restaurant's
The chicken with snow peas and the broccoli beef turn out excellent.I own another chinese cookbook and I was always disappointed at the results.The recipes on this cookbook are simple, but very tasty.There is no need to prepare a cornstarch paste in advance.I just need to get a few other ingredients to be able to try the other recipes.I look forward to doing that.My husband and I already think the book was worth buying.The only problem I see is that the book lacks pictures of all the recipes.I'd like to see what the dishes look like so that I can compare them to mine.

Both fabulously easy and fabulously interesting
This is one of the best Chinese cookbooks I have and I have at least thirty. It's simple fare but not boring. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. Very creative meals. Chen really knows how to put a cookbook together.

a great simple stir fry book.
I own Helen Chen's larger cookbook, "Helen Chen's Chinese Home Cooking" and consider it one of the best Chinese cook books a person could have. Many of the recipes in it have been favorites of mine, and some of the easier ones are duplicated in this slender newvolume of stir fries. For the beginning cook, this book may be less daunting. From it, I've now cooked "Garlicky Green Beans"-quite tasty, "Shrimp in Tomato Sauce"-delicious, "Kung Pao Chicken"-yummy and fiery, and ""Kan Shao Green Beans"- stellar. Obviously, I am looking forward to woking my way through the remainder of its pages. I own many other books on Chinese food and cooking, but I can think of few of them as uncomplicated as this which manage to produce such deep, rich, tasty sauces. ... Read more

Product Description
The absolutely unpretentious Basic series brings the Orient to the tables of the next generation's home chefs. With this new title, kitchen novices will be wrapping spring rolls, pickling ginger, making peanut satay sauce and exploring Asian barbeque with ease.

From the southern tip of India to the shores of Maylasia, Basic Asian takes the reader on a culinary exploration that all palates can appreciate. The first section of the book covers all of the basic ingredients and cookware necessary for preparing authentic Asian dishes. Demystifying fish sauce, explaining how to use a steamer and reviewing the fine points of wokking, Basic Asian makes even the most elementary chef feel like a pro. The recipes in the second half of the book combine ingredients and technique into easily executed meals for parties of all sizes. Loaded with color photography, clean design, and humorous text, this book makes Asian food basic.

• easy-to-execute recipes bring the flavors of asia to your table.• includes traditional and creative ideas for making entrees, condiments and side dishes.• comes complete with an illustrated glossary of terms.• detailed color photography shows you how to present the dishes ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Simple but always Flavorful Recipes
This is my go to book for Asian cooking. The recipes are always easy to follow, fairly simple to put together and always delicious. It has a great section on the various key ingredients and spices used in Asian cooking and the helpful hints sprinkled throughout the book are really helpful. I have a large library of Asian and Middle Eastern cooking books, but when I want something that I can really count on for dinner, I reach for this book.

basic but fabulous!
I bought this book as a gift for my daughter who was interested in learning Asian cooking.Knowing very little about the food, this was a perfect introduction.We have both started using it and found it to be very informative and easy to understand.The recipes cover all regions (from India to Japan and China to Vietnamese and Thai)so you are able to try out many different types of Asian cuisine in one handy book. Photos of ingredients and finished dishes are provided for each recipe.But this book is more than recipes! Half the book is devoted to the ingredients: the basics,what you should have on hand, what you should try, what is expensive and not for everyone, etc.There is a basic shopping list of ingredients and we found this very helpful when visiting our international grocery! Even if you are not a fan of Asian food, if you love to cook this is a great book to learn new ingredients, tastes, and styles. Lovely book, great gift, and great resource for any chef. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Just like Dad's cooking
I've never found a more accessible Maharashtran cookbook -- perfect for the casual Western cook. ... Read more

Product Description
Thailand's unique blends of hot and sweet, sour and salty, make its food utterly different from that of its neighbors, even though many of the ingredients are the same. In Thai Cooking you'll learn how to create over 60 of these delicious blends in your own kitchen--everything from fresh curries and tangy salads to pan-fried noodles and barbecued seafood. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Awesome Recipes for Thai Sauces
For me, my enjoyment of Thai cooking is in its broad variety of sauces which combine sweet and spicy tastes.This book does a great job of revealing the "secret" ingredients and preparation methods for making and replicating many of the sauces I enjoy at my favorite Thai restaurants.For the "mix master" types that are into "fusioning" unlikely flavors to create new and novel taste experiences, but in a traditional Thai context, this is the perfect "how to" book for you. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

no more campbell's!
I am no cook.in fact, campbell's soup is a staple in my diet.but i somehow managed to successfully make the coconut chicken soup recipe and it tasted delicious.the directions were easy and it didn't take more than twenty minutes.buy the book.it is worth it.

no more Campbell's
I am not a chef.In fact, Campbell's Soup is a staple in my diet.But I tried the Coconut Chicken Soup and the Crab Claw recipes and was successful!It was simple and didn't take long to make.I recommed you buy the cookbook.If I can cook these Asian dishes, anyone can!

Delicious and easy!
I've always been intimidated by ethnic food before but this book has made me more confident in the kitchen.Chef Wong explains ingredients, techniques and even gives suggestions for what to look for at the grocery store.Thanks!And great recipes! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

Full of great ideas!
I'm a chef and this book it's just great!! I love this book because the recipes are great and the pictures helps a lot to have an idea of plating. I totally recommend it because it's full of very good ideas for appetizers to make at home or even in a restaurant! If you're looking for asian-fusion recipes this is the book!

One of my favorite cookbooks
This has become one of my favorite cookbooks. It is perfect for extra special dishes for parties, or for two. The dishes are not difficult to prepare, have delicious flavors, quick to prepare, and are all shown in wonderful photos beautifully presented.
This cookbook has classy recipes with a modern flair and gourmet flavors but didn't use exotic hard to find ingredients. I regularly cook the miso marinated black cod, and also love the satay. I think this cookbook would suit home cooks that like pan asian gourmet food, without hours of preparation, although the dishes all come out deceptively looking like you have spent much time making them...highly recommended!

Sorry, it's a beautiful presentation, but...
I agree the book is visually well presented and appealing, but the content is not suitable for home cooks, nor aspiring chefs.I admit I am 'flexible' in the use of 'fusion' cooking and terms, but I had definite ideas in mind when I read "Asian TAPAS".The (Spanish) tapas I know and love are not so labor intensive, nor contain such large shopping lists of ingredients.Elegant food?Absolutely.Flavorful and interesting food?Without a doubt."Tapas", as I know them?Absolutely not - the French influence of intense preparation and manipulation (not a bad thing, don't misunderstand me), is inappropriate here - frustratingly intense efforts for 'tapas'.Also, where in the U.S. does a typical home cook/aspiring chef find, or more importantly, Afford, abalone??It's my understanding that the finest North American source of abalone was California, and, greedy folks as they are, they overfished their abalone to extinction.Do you have the staff required to do all the mise en place and prep work for these works of art?Some cookbooks are more the display of the talents of the author chefs, rather than a source of encouragement and teaching to home chefs.This is the second time I have bought a cookbook without visual inspection - I will not do it again.

A beautiful recipe book that blurs cultural lines
Co-written by an executive chef, Asian Tapas: Small Bites, Big Flavors is a beautiful recipe book that blurs cultural lines in its presentation of exciting flavors from Bali, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, China, and more. From Flaky Cashew Nut Puff Pastry Squares, to Summer Green Tea Noodles with Mussels, to Spicy Crab Salad Sandwiches and more, the preparations within combine traditional ingredients to create inventive and mouth-watering, succulent dishes. Each recipe is accompanied by a full-page color photograph that captures the dish with the precision of a skilled artist. A beautiful, captivating compendium recommended for kitchen cooks of all skill and experience levels who want to try preparing something a little different.
... Read more

Product Description
This compendium of quick and easy Asian recipes is chock-full of healthy and flavorful variations on new and traditional foods.Each of the over 250 recipes included take no longer than 30 minutes to cook-the same amount of time it takes to make rice!
With chapters organized by country or region, and opening with a brief history and description of the food, 30 Minute Asian Recipes provides an accessible and enjoyable glimpse into the mysteries of Asian cuisine.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

30 minute asian meals
This cookbook promises quick and tasty meals, and it delivers. The variety of recipes allows you to sample the tastes of a region without commitment to any one of them.It is a great way I to introduce yourself and your family to Asian cooking.
I gave this book as a gift.Cook is happy.Family is happy.

Perfect for newcomers to Asian cuisine.
Asian food is often noted for its involved time preparation which keeps many a home cook from experimenting with it - but with 30-MINUTE ASIAN MEALS in hand, you can put together an Asian dinner as quickly as any other cuisine. The cooking strategy is based on how long it takes to prepare rice - so the entire dish is ready at the same time. From quick preparation tips to a range of dishes from across Asia, from China to Thailand and Indonesia, chapters pack in maps, black and white photos, and easy instructions perfect for newcomers to Asian cuisine.

First look, very good!
I just bought the book today for my wife's birthday.
First look, very nice book with simple and good recipes.
... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

A top pick any general lending library strong in ethnic cooking will find popular and eye-catching
Malaysian Cooking: A Master Cook Reveals Her Best Recipes is packed with lovely large-size color photos by Masano Kawana inspired by her childhood memories, and offers dishes any Asian cook will find appealing. From Bean Sauce Noodles with Prawns and Sausage, spiced with sweet soy sauce and chili paste, to Ginger Soy Chicken with Rice Wine, filled with herbs and flavor, this is especially recommended for its focus on Malaysian dishes, as usually Malaysian fare is not given its own book but blended in with more general 'Asian' cookbooks. A top pick any general lending library strong in ethnic cooking will find popular and eye-catching.
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Gourmet and elegant family dining Southeast Asian style!
Homestyle Southeast Asian Cooking is an inspiring compendium of dishes that are exotic put easy to prepare. From Tiger Lily's Special Sweet & Sour Sauce, Biriyani (Savory Rice with Meat), and Sri Lankan Lamb &Spinach Curry, to Indonesian Spicy Omelet, Stir-Fried Squid withVegetables, and Steamed Butter Cake, Homestyle Southeast Asian Cooking willturn ordinary family dining into a gourmet affair. Homestyle SoutheastAsian Cooking is enhanced with a meal planning guide, lists of essentialand alternate ingredients, glossary, and index. ... Read more

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First published in 1988, Bruce Cost's Asian Ingredients was immediately hailed as one of the most comprehensive and fascinating books on Asian foodstuffs ever written. Now fully revised and updated, Asian Ingredients offers a wealth of information on identifying and using the often unfamiliar ingredients in traditional bottled condiments. This book's clear black-and-white photographs make it easy to identify ingredients in your local supermarkets or Asian grocery, while Cost's carefully researched notes explain how to select, store, and cook with these wonderful foods. Cost also includes more than 130 simple recipes for sumptuous Asian specialties. Cooks can create the dramatic flavors of China, Japan, and southeast Asia in their own kitchens with this indispensable resource. 

Customer Reviews (9)

Cast iron wok
For Christmas i got a cast iron wok... which was really exciting. However, I don't cook a with Asian flavors, though i wanted to learn. So i ordered this book to get an idea of what flavors other than soy sauce and sesame oil there were. I was pleased to discover that this book goes into extensive detail about so MANY ingredients it kinda makes your head spin with possibilities. So I would recommend this to anyone who wants to start out learning Asia's copious amount of yummy tasting ingredients.

GET THE ORIGINAL! (not this flawed reprint)
I already own the original 1988 hardback edition, which is a superb and immensely useful book: more than five stars!Here on Amazon it should be easy and cheap for you toobtain that original edition, and I urge you to do so, for it is far better than this edition, despite the publisher's false claim that this one is "Fully revised and updated".

As an owner of the original, I feel tricked and cheated by the publisher.When I ordered this purportedly "new" edition I somehow overlooked the completely accurate Amazon customer review entitled: "Fully revised and expanded"...NOT

Indeed, not only have I yet to find anything new in this reprint, but there are far fewer photographs than there were in the original.For example, ALL of the photos of the labels on the bottles and jars of the many recommended sauces and condiments are GONE!When scanning the shelves of a large Chinese supermarket the photos in the original edition were extremely helpful in identifying the right brand, and their absence from the reprint is inexplicable and inexcusable.

Even the photos that are included are often not the same as in the original edition...and are much WORSE!Have you ever seen ingenious photos of familiar objects taken from vantage points contrived to disguise what it is that has been photographed?Well, some of these new photos are like that (quite unlike the clear and helpful photos in the original edition). To be specific, I defy all but the most experienced Asian chefs to even identify the photos on pages 23, 41, and 42, as being lemon grass, choi sum, and gai lan, respectively.Whereas the photos in the original edition showed the bases of these plants (crucial for identification) these new photos show only the very tips!

I have immense respect for Mr. Cost, and living in San Francisco I was lucky enough to go to his iconic Monsoon restaurant many times before he moved on to the much bigger Big Bowl project in the mid-west (which I have also been to and which is also very good).I can only imagine he was too busy to pay attention to the details of this reprint, for I cannot imagine that someone of his intellectual and culinary caliber would be happy with the end result.

Having exhausted my supply of bile, let me end by saying that if you do not already own the original edition and cannot find a second hand copy of the same, then you should immediately click on the Buy Now button for this reprint.Flawed as it is, there is still no other book like it in the English language: you owe it to yourself to have it.

P.S.Mr. Cost's earlier book devoted to ginger is equally invaluable, containing many absolutely fantastic recipes.This book has yet to be reprinted, but second-hand copies are readily available here on Amazon: Ginger East To West: The Classic Collection Of Recipes, Techniques, And Lore, Revised And Expanded.

Must Have Asian Food Reference
Being an Asian-American born in the US, sometimes we need something to understand Asian cooking and foodstuffs ourselves! I consider Bruce Cost the ultimate Asian food expert considering he's not Asian! Everything is explained in an easy to understand manner and is authentic as any Asian food reference. His Big Bowl cookbook is also excellent.

Buy This Book. Superb Presentation of East Asian Foods!
`Asian Ingredients' by Bruce Cost is one of those books like Patience Gray's `Honey from a Weed' and Claudia Roden's `New Book of Middle Eastern Food' which gets cited as THE authority on its subject by culinary heavyweights such as Ruth Reichl and Alice Waters. So, in my quest for the perfect culinary library, I really need to read and review this book. I am very happy to say that the reputation of this book is not overdone. It is one of the finest books on culinary ingredients I have seen on either Oriental or Occidental cuisines. The author states from the outset that his objective was not to give us an encyclopedic work. What we get is much closer to some of the finer books on Mediterranean cuisine such as Nancy Harmon Jenkins `The Essential Mediterranean'. In many ways, Cost's book is far more practical, albeit less analytical than Jenkins' work.

Cost deals with the fairly homogeneous food world of Japan, Korea, China, Viet Nam, and Thailand. He mentions India as an influence on Thai cuisine, but does not deal directly with Indian cuisine, as it is substantially different from the cuisine of China and the rest of the Far East. The book also does not deal with the cuisine of the Philippines or Indonesia, as the cuisines of these two nations are heavily influenced by European colonization beginning in the 16th century.

One of the best things about Cost's book is that it is organized in such a way to make it a pleasure to read for background information. While I have never sat down to read the Larousse Gastronomique for pleasure, I read Cost's book from cover to cover with great pleasure, skipping a very few subjects on which I was very familiar. Costs book is divided into the following seven (7) major chapters:

Fresh Ingredients including Herbs and Seasonings, Vegetables and Fungi, Meat, Poultry and Eggs, Fish
Preserved and Processed Ingredients including Dried Ingredients, Cured Ingredients, and Soy and Coconut
Condiments and Sauces including Soy based condiments, Fish based sauces, Chili based sauces, Vinegar and spirits, and Flavored oils
Spices, Sugars, Nuts, and Seeds, including Spices, Sugar, Nuts and Seeds
Rice
Noodles and Wrappers
Flours and Thickeners
Cooking Fats and Oils

One of the most dramatic lessons to be learned from this book is the fact that like the Mediterranean respect for dried and preserved ingredients such as salted cod, dried pasta, and dry beans, Asian dried ingredients such as seaweed, vegetables, fish, and mushrooms are highly regarded ingredients in their own right. They are not `second best'. By drying and concentrating their flavors, they bring something to the party that is simply beyond their fresh precursors.

Another fairly dramatic discovery is the fact that while so many of the spices prized by Europe and so greatly desired by Renaissance Europe were grown just next door to China and Japan, these spices such as black pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon (cassias) really did not and still do not play a big part in East Asian cuisine, except for Thailand, which is influenced by the curries and other spices of India. Northern China and Japan almost totally reject the use of the `cookie spices' except for ginger, which is used heavily throughout the region covered by the book.

It is interesting to see both the harmony and the dissonance created when one lays Mediterranean and Far Eastern cuisine side by side. Some of the biggest parallels are the importance of garlic, pork, mushrooms, cilantro, and New World (capsicum) chilis. Some differences are in the relative importance of drying versus salt curing. As Nancy Harmon Jenkins points out, salt is much more important in the Mediterranean cuisines simply because the Mediterranean is saltier than the oceans, so it is a lot easier to acquire than on the Pacific Rim. There are some salt cured pork products, with hams very similar to Smithfield hams, but nowhere near as much of the Charcuterie / salume culture of Western Europe. The greatest differences between the two areas lies in the use of milk. There is simply no milk culture in East Asia from cows, goats, sheep, or buffalo. The Chinese and Japanese feel the same towards Europe's more aromatic cheeses as westerners may feel about fermented fish sauce, birds nests (dried bird saliva), and seaweed. Where the European uses animals' milk, the Asian uses milk refined from soy or coconut.

An important part of this book, more important than similar samples in most other books of this type, is the recipes, especially for things such as fish and chicken stocks, which are far simpler than comparable French stocks. They are not just simpler; there is a whole rationale in the Chinese cuisine against including vegetables in chicken stock recipes.

Two of the most useful aspects of this book are the recommendations on how to best use Asian markets and which commercial preparations are of a high quality. I had some reservations regarding a local Chinese run farmer's market with a fish counter until I read Cost's description of Asians' regard for freshness in fish. The `Iron Chef' episodes where virtually all seafood ingredients are presented live is not for the sake of show business. These people are SERIOUS about their fresh fish! Note that while this book was originally written and published in 1988, the new paperback edition was revised in 2000, so the numerous comments about which prepared brand name ingredients are the best should be fairly current.

This book is so good you will be remiss if you buy any other book on East Asian ingredients without first reading this new edition. Other books may offer better coverage of selected aspects of this subject, but this book is certainly the gold standard against which other books should be measured!

Very highly recommended, especially if you like to read about food as well as eat it.

A Cookbook in Reverse
Asian Ingredients is a cookbook in reverse. The familiar formula dictates that a little of the cookbook is dedicated to some cultural background titbits and a glossary; the rest is devoted to recipes. Cost, as his title indicates, offers us a major tour of the foodstuffs with just a sprinkling of recipes throughout. And that is exactly why the book appealed to me. Here you get the best bookish knowledge mixed with personal experience as he gives ingredients not just names, but cultural context, almost bringing them to life as if historical characters. Soy sauce, he tells us in the introduction, "evolved from ancient methods of fermenting and preserving meat and game ¡K" The Chinese value fresh water fish above salt water because the latter are considered to be already partly preserved (less fresh) - salted by the water they swim in. Amongst gems like these are plenty of practical advice for both the market and kitchen. But while the book includes a Region of Use listing for each ingredient, the geographical origin of each recipe is unfortunately left a mystery. The book is also crying out for a separate recipe index. You would not buy this book for the recipes alone but I tried four or five and whenever I wore my reading glasses and did not try to cut corners, I ended up with some really good food. Simple Roast Chicken with Sichuan Pepper (I was drawn to the word Simple), for example got the thumbs up from my friend Linda. The photographs being black and white are not always as illuminating as they should be, and there may be a few questionable facts. For instance, we learn that Dong gwa (gua) is Cantonese for Winter Melon. Not mentioned is the fact that this pronunciation is virtually identical in Mandarin. All in all I would call this an excellent reference. ... Read more