Chinese Cuisine [Paperback]

 

 

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The Wei-Chuan Publishing Company (apparently connected with the Taiwanese Wei-Chuan Cooking School), has produced a good number of Cookbooks, mostly dealing with Chinese cookery but also coveing other Asian cuisines as well. I own over a dozen of these now and I like all of them. More importantly, I like all of these books for tmuch he same reasons and, accordingly, I have decided to do a general review that applies to each of them and then provide a few individualized comments where appropriate.

Basically, the Wei-Chuan publications are authored/editored by several different persons but the format is largely the same. Each book is divided into logical sections (Meats, Vegetables, Appetizers, etc.) and nearly every recipe is accompanied by a good photograph of the result with some recipes having additional pictures of the preparation as well. This feature alone makes these books well worth the purchase. Another feature of this cuilinary series is that the books are written in China and, at least as far as the books on Chinese cuisine is concerned, the reader need have no issues with 'authenticity'. I personally also like the fact that all of the books are written in Chinese characters and then translated into English. This has has an added bonus of occasionally providing some unintentional amusement due to a particularly 'unfortunate' translation but I specially like it as I am teaching myself Mandarin and these books are excellent learning tools. I often take one on the plane with me when I travel (along with dictionaries) and can spend hours happily translating passages. It is amazing how often the actual translation of a recipe title bears little resemblance to the English title provided.

Finally, I have to say that the recipes in all of these books are interesting and he ones that I have tried to reproduce have worked out well. Mainly though, I just like reading through these books for inspiration and enjoyment. The money I have spent has been repaid many times over.

The We-Chuan books I currently own are as follows:

Chinese Cuisine - Very good introductory section. Recipes range from simple everyday dishes to exotic banquet style delicacies.
Chinese Dim Sum: Wel-Chuan Cultural and Educational Foundation - Great 'step-by-step' pictures for many recipes. Bit too much emphasis on sweet rather than savoury for my personal taste.
Chinese Snacks - More of the same as in the Dim Sum book. No 'step-by-step' pictures but I actually like this book better.
Chinese Appetizers and Garnishes - I haven't attempted much from this book but I am thankful for the great 'step-by-step' pictures provided.

Favorite Home Dishes Chinese Cooking - As the name suggests, most of the recipes are simple and, thus, easy to prepare.

Chinese Cuisine Beijing Style - Lots of Imperial Banquet dishes and many exotic foreign influenced meals that have been 'Chinesified'.
Chinese Cuisine: Cantonese Style - 75 Cantonese recipes. Good recipes with nice pictures but a sparse introduction.
Chinese Cuisine Shanghai Style - Typically good Wei-Chuan quality but probably my least favorite of the 'regional' Chinese cookbooks.
Chinese Cuisine-Taiwanese Style - Excellent Book. Some truly unique recipes I have never seen elsewhere. I love to browse this volume.
Chinese Cuisine: Szechuan Style - I love Szechuan food especially but I would still treat this book as a favorite anyway.

Indian Cuisine - A nice book but be aware that the recipes Indian dishes for the Chinese palate, not Indian.
Vietnamese Cuisine - Great recipes.
Japanese Cuisine - Nearly as good as many books I have that are written by Japanese chefs.
Korean Cuisine - My favorite of the We-Chuan non-Chinese cookbooks so far,
Singaporean, Malaysian & Indonesian Cuisine - My least favorite Wei-Chuan book so far. Somewhat interesting but I don't look at it much.

Finally, I have a new Wei-Chuan book on order and will continue to buy from time to time. I will review separately as I read these new books.

I'm Chinese and with most of my Chinese friends, our parents don't actually have recipes for the stuff they cook, so we have to search high and low for good cookbooks with recipes for authentic home-made Chinese dishes (AND written in English). This book isn't bad. The downside is that its recipes are mostly of dishes found at restaurants...not very helpful, especially when I don't really care much to make stuff like sharks fin soup at home. However, given that it has a TON of recipes to choose from, it's still pretty useful. I tried 2 of the spare rib dishes, followed it exactly, and they both turned out pretty well! Recipes are pretty simple and really easy to follow. As some reviewers have mentioned, there are also some pretty exotic recipes in there (like "Saucy Pig Hocks"). All in all, not a bad book, but I think my next one will come from the Chinese bookstore instead.

This book is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. My family immigrated to this country when I was 10 so I grew up eating all these dishes. Unfortunately, my Chinese is very rusty so I can't really read a Chinese cookbook written in Chinese. The other Chinese cookbooks written in English are not very authentic. I have been looking for this book so long! It's perfect for someone like me who grew up eating these dishes and want to continue the tradition of Chinese cooking. Perfect for a Chinese American who want to learn Chinese cooking but can't read Chinese. I can't say enough about this book. The format in English and Chinese is an excellent idea. The recipes are also easy to follow. The ingredients are easy to obtain if you go to an Asian supermarket.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic and Highly Recommended
This book is a good introduction to the Wei-Chuan series for anyone with basic kitchen skills. It includes clear explanations of techniques and ingredients, with no pandering or... Read more

Published on Feb 1 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy-to-follow steps and final dishes taste like they should
I had this book for more than three years, originally took from my sister who owned this book for another 7 years (I am an international student from Taiwan, but before coming to... Read more

Published on Jan 22 2004 by W. Wang

4.0 out of 5 stars Authentic Chinese Cuisine
This is more of an advanced cookbook, at least for me. I bought "Chinese Cooking Made Easy" at the same time and that book is more homestyle cooking while this book has... Read more

Published on Mar 12 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Gotta get the entire collection!
I've had this book for 5 years i found it by chance in a bookstore and I love it! My copy is falling apart and covered in drips! Read more

Published on Jan 5 2003 by Candace A. Gee

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely Authentic. . .
My mother (who is Taiwanese) has a couple books by the author and when I started to stock up on my own collection of cookbooks I bought this. Read more

Published on Sep 18 2002 by Diane E. Lowe

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful real Chinese recipes
I used to think that Chinese food was all about sweet and sour pork and chicken chow mein. I've learned a lot since then. Read more

Published on Jun 20 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, excellent, excellent
I am an American-born and raised Caucasian and have never lived overseas. I do have a large circle of Chinese friends, all of whom were raised in China, Hong Kong or Taiwan. Read more

Published on May 21 2002

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