Cookbooks with Chinese Recipes in English

[MTH123]

Can we talk about cookbooks with Chinese recipes that are written in English? My Chinese isn’t advanced enough to look up recipes in Chinese. It’s very intimidating to me, to say the least. Maybe someday, my Chinese will advance enough to be able to do this. But, that time is not now.

 

After using free resources on the internet for about a year, especially YouTube, I broke down and looked into cookbooks. I was looking for cookbooks that had authentic recipes. This wasn’t easy to determine at all. I took my best guesses. I scoured the internet for articles, comments on articles, forums, etc. Some of the best information I found was in comments on articles by random people.

 

I’ve found a motherload of great recipes in cookbooks in English! Yay! Um, yes, this is a hobby that I’m willing to spend more money on, because my husband and I love Chinese food so much. We’ve eaten at the only 5-star restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan countless times for free, because one of my dad’s friends owns the restaurant. So, our palates for eating Chinese food grew to be much greater than most Chinese restaurants in the U. S.

 

I have minimal talent for cooking, but it is just enough that I can make better Chinese dishes at home than most Chinese restaurants in the U. S. Great recipes are very forgiving of minimally talented cooks. This is partially why I’ve been on the hunt for great recipes. I’m still relatively early into this project. I’ll eventually try on the order of 100 recipes.

 

It was hard to decide which cookbooks to buy. I ended up kind of running amuck buying cookbooks.

 

My Favorite Chinese Cookbooks So Far

 

My favorite Chinese cookbook so far is All Under Heaven (2016) by Carolyn Phillips. It has recipes from 35 Chinese cuisines! I had no idea how many different Chinese cuisines I had eaten and how very many of them I love to eat, e.g., Zhejiang Province, Shanghai, Taiwanese, Cantonese, even Hakka, etc., etc., etc. Carolyn Phillips also has a great blog with a lot of recipes that aren’t in her cookbook. It’s: https://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com/. Check it out!

 

Saying that China is one cuisine is like saying that Europe is one cuisine. How many cuisines are in Europe? Carolyn Phillips breaks down Chinese cuisines into 35 cuisines in her cookbook. It’s a great read. And, I’ve learned a lot from it. It has helped me in my hunt for foods in Asia that I like and can’t find in the U. S. Then, I can try to make the foods myself.

 

A very close second to All Under Heaven by Carolyn Phillips is cookbooks by Fuchsia Dunlop. They include Land of Fish and Rice (2016) and Every Grain of Rice (2012). I’m not into spicy foods, but Fuchsia Dunlop is more famous for Sichuan and Hunan cuisines. Sichuan cuisine is the most popular cuisine inside China. Hunan cuisine, which is considered to be spicier than Sichuan cuisine, is the second most popular cuisine inside China. (Cantonese cuisine is the most popular cuisine outside China. It is known for being more delicate.) You can’t go wrong with any Fuchsia Dunlop cookbook.

 

Out-of-Print Chinese Cookbooks in English 

 

Some of the best Chinese cookbooks in English are out of print. My favorite so far is The Key to Chinese Cooking (1977) by Irene Kuo. Similar to Julia Child’s Joy of Cooking, it covers everything from beginner to expert. So, for beginners, it’s more suitable than Carolyn Phillips’ or Fuchsia Dunlop’s cookbooks. It also has great recipes. You can’t go wrong with this cookbook. You can get it for a reasonable price in the used-book market.

 

I’m also impressed with the cookbooks listed below, which are available in the used-book market for a reasonable price. The cookbooks aren’t listed in any particular order: Similar to Irene Kuo, if I remember correctly, most-to-all of the cookbook authors below have also been called the Julia Child of Chinese cuisine.

 

• ·      Yan-kit’s Classic Chinese Cookbook (1993) by Yan-kit So

• ·      Chinese Kitchen (1999) by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

• ·      Florence Lin’s Chinese Regional Cookbook (1975) by Florence Lin

• ·      Pei Mei’s Chinse Cook Book Volume I (1969) by Pei Mei

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Lower Tier of Cookbooks?

 

Perhaps a lower tier of cookbooks is the following, not in any particular order:

 

• ·      China: The Cookbook (2016) by Kei Lum Chan and Diora Fong Chan. This is basically a huge cookbook of recipes from all across China. I’m not sure that the recipes rise to the level of Carolyn Phillips’ or Fuchia Dunlop’s recipes. But, they look pretty good.

• ·      The Food of Taiwan (2015) by Cathy Erway. I bought this cookbook, because I wanted more recipes that were specific to Taiwan. So far, so good. The main question is whether they rise to the level of Carolyn Phillips, who lived in Taiwan for many years and provides many Taiwan recipes on her blog for free. Maybe I could find a way to improve the recipes with insights from people like Carolyn Phillips.

• ·      Chinese Street Food (2018) by Howie Southworth and Greg Matza. Regular cookbooks don’t usually have recipes for street food. There are many street foods that I love. I don’t know how good the recipes are yet. If they aren’t what I expect, then maybe I could find a way to improve them.

• ·      Chinese Cookery Secrets (1993) by Deh-Ta Hsiung. I thumbed through this cookbook and wasn’t sure that I saw any secret that I didn’t already know from internet research. But, it probably still has helpful information or recipes.

• ·      The Gourmet Chinese Regional Cookbook (1976, out-of-print and bought used for a reasonable price) by Calvin B. T. Lee and Audrey Evans Lee. This cookbook hasn’t made a particular impression on me so far, but I haven’t read it carefully yet.

• ·      Chinese Cooking for Pleasure (1987, out-of-print and bought used for a reasonable price) by Yong Yap Cotterell. This cookbook supposedly has recipes that aren’t in other cookbooks. I haven’t looked closely at it yet.

• ·      Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees (2015) by Kian Lam Kow. I’m not sure this author actually made all of his recipes, which is apparently a problem in the cookbook industry. But, if I’m advanced enough, I can probably overcome it and modify the recipes, like I did for Moo Goo Gai Pan (Mushrooms and Chicken). I bought the cookbook more for Chinese cooking techniques. I like that part of it. But, that part probably doesn’t have anything that a cookbook like Irene Kuo’s The Key to Chinese Cooking doesn’t have. Regardless, it’s a pretty good cookbook.

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Food Science

 

I’m a retired engineer, so I can’t help my outer geek from being attracted to food science. But, there is a limit to my interest in it. (I prefer mechanical engineering and not all specialties within mechanical engineering either.) I don’t plan to be very well versed in food science. I only plan to pick up some useful concepts for my level of cooking.

 

Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat

 

Even though the cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat isn’t about Chinese food science, it is my favorite food-science cookbook so far. Initially, I was skeptical that a cookbook with this title would be very helpful. But, professional chefs, like Samin Nosrat herself, talked about it. So, I thought, “What the heck?“ I’ll get it. It is definitely all that it is talked up to be. It’s truly amazing. It’s also pretty simple.

 

I want to take a side trip for a moment. To me, MSG is like salt on steroids. My mom didn’t cook with it. An aunt on my dad’s side cooked with it in generous amounts. I never developed a habit of cooking with it, even after seeing how my aunt cooked with it. To me, salt can accomplish the same basic effect as MSG, if enough of it is used. Salt Fat Acid Heat helps determine the optimal amount of salt.

 

The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

 

Even though the cookbook The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt isn’t about Chinese food science, it is used by professional chefs. It’s accessible to home cooks too. It is a great cookbook. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt also writes great articles for Serious Eats (https://www.seriouseats.com/j-kenji-lopez-alt-5118720). He also puts out some fun YouTube videos, which include cooking Chinese foods.

 

The Art of Chinese Cuisine by Hsiang Ju Lin and Tsuifeng Lin.

 

I thought I should buy a book about Chinese food science, if I could. I’ve thumbed through this cookbook and have had a hard time understanding it so far. I may need to read it carefully to understand it.

 

Conclusions

 

I am by no means well versed in Chinese cookbooks in English. I’m only getting started. So, please share your opinion!

 

[abcdefg]

I've used recipes by several of the people on you list, but don't own any of their books. Carolyn Phillips, Fucsia Dunlop, Kenji. Usually reliable and accurate in my experience. Agree with your observation that Chinese cooking is hugely diverse. I admire Samin Nosrat and make two or three of her recipes again and again. (Love her buttermilk-marinated roast chicken.) 

 

I enjoyed talking to vendors in the wet market about how to prepare the ingredients that they sold. Each stall usually had a focus. This one sold tofu, that one sold lettuce, that one sold apples, and so on. So the seller often was a "mini expert." I would go home and try their suggestions. Sometimes I'd make snapshots and show them next week and at the same time ask about refinements or seek clarification on points where I'd had trouble.

 

What I learned is that part of their expertise often came from growing the stuff as well as selling it. One cousin or brother stayed on the farm, while the sister or wife took things to market. Furthermore, being thrifty Chinese people, if something didn't sell out, it often got turned into part of the family meal that night. So they had plenty of personal experience cooking the same things they sold. 

 

I had friends in Kunming who were very good cooks that would show me how to make specific things on request, either in their kitchen or in mine. Not a whole meal. That was so valuable, and so much fun.

 

What was also fun and extremely important was learning how to shop for the best ingredients. In fact, that was probably the most important thing of all. Had two friends, both middle-aged housewives, who let me tag along with them in the wet market. I would carry the shopping bag and learn what to look for. One was a retired teacher. Week one, she would explain and demonstrate. Week two, she would make me do it to show her if I had learned.  

 

Many times people buy crap ingredients and wonder why they don't taste right when they followed the recipe to the letter. So many simple things matter. One friend insisted I only buy vegetables early in the day. I kept arguing and resisting. Thought it was nonsense. But the vendors mist them with water all day long so they will look fresh and appealing. By late afternoon they are waterlogged and well along the road to being rotten. Some look great, but are soggy inside. 

 

My cleaning lady was always harping at me about proper home storage of fruits and vegetables. She made sure I took them out of the plastic bags immediately and put them in round-bottom bamboo baskets where air could circulate. She would fuss if I put them in the fridge. "Buy less and use them up." 

 

By contrast, my brother in Austin and his wife go to the grocery store once every week or ten days, buy $200 worth of top produce, come home and stuff it all into a huge refrigerator. Take it out and cook it after it is just about dead. Wonder why it has no flavor; eventually throw a third of it away. 

 

Early one day, in summer, I was shopping for tomatoes at the wet market and saw a young chef in starched whites carefully selecting that day's ingredients. He saw me watching him and nodded in greeting. I said hello and we talked. I asked him why he bought the cheaper tomatoes instead of the big beautiful ones that were a little more expensive. 

 

He explained the cheaper ones were riper, priced lower so they would sell fast. The vendor knew they wouldn't be good tomorrow. But they were perfect for the dishes he would make that day. The big ones also were priced higher because they looked nicer, had more eye appeal for casual buyers. That didn't matter to him. Only flavor and texture counted. He insisted on tasting everything before buying, even vegetables that would need to be cooked before serving. Said that was accepted "chef practice," and I began doing it too when possible. 

 

The shoppers in the market were so smart. I learned a lot from them. Also learned a lot from the vendors. And they were usually eager to help once they realized I was interested, not some tourist just passing through. (Another rambling answer. Sorry.) 

 

 

 

[MTH123]

@abcdefg Your post is such a great post! Please don't worry about rambling in one of my threads! A huge weakness of mine is how to choose fresh vegetables. I especially don't know how to determine when tomatoes are the optimal ripeness. It's partially why I used canned tomatoes, lol. I've been thinking on and off about buying a book called Ruffage to help me learn.