Recommend me some Cookbooks for Chinese food?

[UnderOpenSky]

I bought myself a bloody big wok recently and have been eating lots of tasty stir fry stuff. It's great as often if I'm by myself I can't be bothered to spend much time cooking, but this feels like I'm getting a proper meal. However a bit variety and ideas are always good, so thought I'd ask for suggestions for other flavour ideas and more complex things if I'm cooking for other people as well.

That said I'm getting pretty good results so far by just throwing soy, fish, oyster, hoysin, plum and shaoxing together in different ratios

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Of course the danger of going down this route is that I will no longer appreciate most takeaway food as much in the same way that learning how to cook curries has done.

 

[Epona]

Of course the danger of going down this route is that I will no longer appreciate most takeaway food as much in the same way that learning how to cook curries has done.

I know that feeling, my homemade madras is exactly the way I like it.

 

[wtfftw]

Chemistry was given a gok wan book which is good. Gok cooks Chinese. It's got quite a variety.

Picture of contents page -


Forgot that would embed.

 

[Epona]

I worked out how to cook a few favourite dishes that I used to get as takeaway food after I developed a peanut allergy a couple of years ago (my local takeaway/restaurant which is really good uses groundnut oil as is only right, but I have to replicate using sunflower oil at home) but because my husband is pescetarian, I only know how to do a few seafood and veggie dishes. Salt and pepper squid is a firm favourite!

 

[crustychick]

I like szechuan Chinese food so I love the book Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop. You need szechuan ingredients though!

 

[Ms T]

Anything by Fuchsia Dunlop.
Breath of a Wok or Stir-frying to the Sky's Edge by Grace Young

 

[maomao]

Ken Hom's Complete Chinese Cookbook is very comprehensive. Ching He-Huang has some good recipes but the Eat Clean Wok yourself to health book is a bit shit.

 

[8115]

Fuchsia Dunlop is supposed to be very good, I got one for my mum who is a great Chinese cook because she has borderline ocd and is excellent at cutting everything up very neatly.

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

I bought this book when I was at university from the catering library. It's out of print now but it's without doubt the best cook book I've ever owned. Chinese comes out tasting just like it does from the takeaway plus some more traditional type recipes too.! Really good, well detailed, and goes in to technicalities in the foreword about how you should approach Chinese cooking.

As I said, it's now out of print but you can pick up a second hand copy for peanuts on amazon. Seriously, you can buy it for £0.01 (+p&p). Go look.

Really worth it. Go buy it. I could not live without this book. Best book I ever bought. Honest.



International Cuisine: China: Amazon.co.uk: Christine Yau, Norman Fu, Deh-Ta Hsiung: 9780340811184: Books

 

[Thora]

I have the Gok Wan one too, tbh I only cook about 4 things from it but the recipes are very easy to follow.

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

Fuck Gok Wan. TV Chef cook books are shit.

I cannot recommended this book enough.

 

[maomao]

+

Fuck Gok Wan. TV Chef cook books are shit.

I cannot recommended this book enough.

View attachment 82551View attachment 82552

Gok's cookery show on Ch4 was pants.

 

[wtfftw]

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

The battle of the books.

Recipes. The pages are a bit splattered.. (sorry)

 

[wtfftw]

Page 66 now please.

 

[Pickman's model]

anything by ken hom

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

You can pick up potato starch from a Chinese supermarket.

For tomato sauce I use the juice from a can of tomatoes/passata. Not ketchup.

 

[Fez909]

Chinese Food Made Easy

The recipes are both easy and taste amazing.

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

I have that one too Fez909. It's not bad - the fried rice recipe is really nice but a bit more "mum's kitchen-y", there's not much wok work either, mainly concentrating on soups, salad and steaming. I used it a few times but then returned to International Cuisine -China, because it's just all round better, easier to follow and tastier (I have rather a lot of cook books).

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

.

 

[maomao]

FabricLiveBaby! Page 62 please. I want to try the crispy fried chilli beef and need the marinade. Cheers.

 

[wtfftw]

FabricLiveBaby! Page 62 please. I want to try the crispy fried chilli beef and need the marinade. Cheers.

Oooh. Ta. I didn't spot that bit.

 

[Winot]

Another vote for Fuchsia Dunlop. You don't need to get *all* the ingredients; as long as you can get Sichuan pepper, black vinegar and chilli paste then you can do a passable version of most of the recipes.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Thank you everyone.

I've just ordered the one FabricLiveBaby! suggested, because it was so cheap, but will take my time choosing another. They seem to hold their price (which suggests they are good!) as most cook books are quite discounted after being out a while, but stops them being such impulse buys.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Following a link on Amazon I saw this. The ultimate for car camping chinese cooking. Maybe I should buy one for my Alps trip this summer.

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

OMG WANT!

I only have an electric hob in my flat (no gas in the block) so cooking in a wok is impossible. I use a large flat bottomed aluminium pan. Works OK.

So glad you bought the book. You will not be dissapointed.

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

FabricLiveBaby! Page 62 please. I want to try the crispy fried chilli beef and need the marinade. Cheers.

Will do Moo! I'm out and about at the moment. It's got soda bicarb and rosewater in it afascr. You only marinade for an hour and it's used to tenderise the meat. You might have to wait till this evening when I get back for more.

 

[maomao]

Will do Moo!

??

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

Here's a chow mein in to get on with while you wait (again, sorry about the state of the pages )