Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook: A Novel [Paperback]

I was about 6 years old and my father was graduating from law school. Our whole family gathered at a fancy Chinese restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, for a feast such as my young eyes had never seen before.

I was thrilled with the unusual dishes that arrived at our table in a steaming, colorful stream of aroma and artistry. I drank endless cups of hot, black tea loaded with sugar that I was allowed to pour myself(!) and watched with glee as wontons were heaped into my bowl and long, lacquered chopsticks were handed to me to attack my plate with...the main course for me was a beef and tomato delight that I can still smell...when I close my eyes and try...

Many years later, in 1984, I was overjoyed when the first wonderful printing of 'The 1000 Recipe Chinese Cookbook' took place. Finally, I had found a much-needed guide on how to capture the perfection of Chinese sauces, techniques, and menus with ease. Up to that time, all that seemed available were anemic, predictable books on the most basic of Chinese dishes (sweet & sour soup, etc.), and even then, the ingredients had been so 'westernized' that the resulting dishes never tasted quite right---just not authentic.

Until Gloria Miller authored her impressive cookbook, no one seemed to understand the real needs of a cook when preparing Chinese dishes. Gloria dispels the mystery and confusion surrounding this traditional cuisine and gives us very easy approaches to mastering simple techniques and using ordinary kitchen tools to achieve perfect results.

Gloria aims for delicious, distinctive results--whether you are a beginning cook, or a student of the culinary arts, your results will be the same, as were mine--magnificent!

This book is so much more than a volume of tremendous recipes--it is a Bible of Chinese cuisine, made visually excellent with Earl Tollander's illustrations. They add a charm that only pen and ink sketches can provide. You will also appreciate the concise organization of its contents; the recipes are separated from the books' second section about the background of the Chinese diet and its regional variations. Finally, just like a good meal ending with a great dessert, the third and last section covers supplementary information such as setting a Chinese table, stir-frying tips, Chinese teas, using chopsticks and much, much more.

The 1000 Recipe Chinese Cookbook is essential to all who love Chinese food and can do a little something in the kitchen. It would make a terrific housewarming or wedding gift--and it will never become outdated.

When you buy it, try the recipe on page 474--'Deep Fried Lobster and Vegetables.' It's my favorite!

There are countless chapters on ingredients, techniques, tools and everything else one needs to know. And an unending supply of recipes and variations on recipes. All of this is done in a well-written, reader friendly style that engages the budding Chinese cook and unfolds a whole new world of cooking. I don't know if there really are a thousand recipes here, but I can testify that I have eaten at least a thousand meals that were cooked based on these pages.

When this cookbook was written, Chinese food stapes that we take for granted today were often hard to come by. To overcome this, Miller spends a considerable amount of time on substitutes. This is still important today, even when all the key spices are readily available on the internet. One you grasp the principles, almost anything is eligible for a trip to the wok.

This is one of those landmark cookbooks. Dating back to the beginnings of the popularity of oriental cooking, it has been the mainstay of a generation of cooks. While most cookbook's tend to alternate chitchat with recipes and a smattering of explanation, Miller's book is a primer on the theory of Chinese cooking that contains a whole spectrum or information. If you want to get past the occasional stir-fry, this is your best roadmap.