Recommend me some Cookbooks for Chinese food?

[FabricLiveBaby!]

Let us know how it goes! Don't forget to take pictures!

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I marinated pork mince for a chow mein from that book the other night. Was very nice!

 

[maomao]

Let us know how it goes! Don't forget to take pictures!

Beef on the right. Mrs maomao's dumplings on the left:

Far too much food for two adults and a nine-month old. Beef was lovely but next time will cut even thinner and deep fry for longer to try and get the proper hard chewy taste. I used a really nice piece of beef and wanted to keep some of the texture. Could do with more chilli too. I used 3 big red chillies instead of the half suggested and it still wasn't hot enough.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

That does look lovely! Is that some chow mein action going on as well?

 

[maomao]

That does look lovely! Is that some chow mein action going on as well?

No, that's spicy and sour shredded potatoes and peppers.

 

[pengaleng]

cookin' with coolio

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

Looks awesome. Chilli's are funny beasts, aren't they? Here in Poland we get "super hot" chilli's, which are in fact rubbish and weak.

The beef does need to be deep fried the fuck out of, so tl yeah, I'd never use the best cut for it.

Looks great though! Really great!

 

[QueenOfGoths]

Made the Dan Dan Noodles last night, they were fantastic!

Tonight is two Ken Hom recipes, Twice Cooked Pork and Sweetcorn with Chinese Sausage

 

[maomao]

Looks awesome. Chilli's are funny beasts, aren't they? Here in Poland we get "super hot" chilli's, which are in fact rubbish and weak.

I tested a bit raw first and it seemed pretty hot. We do like our chilli though.

 

[pengaleng]

god I haven't cooked properly in about three years

 

[moose]

god I haven't cooked properly in about three years

Sort it aaaaht, missus.

 

[pengaleng]

I only saw cookbooks, I didnt see about chinese food, cookin with coolio aint really appropriate lol

it's easier to buy delivery food

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Bumping this thread as I've now got my own kitchen and just put up shelves in there for my tiny cookbook collection to grow into.

Ordered 10 cookbooks from Amazon last night. Most probably won't be great, but hey at £2.81 Inc postage I can take a few risks.

Still want the Fuchsia Dunlop one though. I may put it on the Xmas list or just be weak and buy it later.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Annoyingly my new kitchen is electric

Putting money aside for a 5 burner gas hob with a big central one for woks. My girlfriend doesn't see it as so much of a priority as I do!

 

[Cid]

Been seasoning a nice carbon steel wok... Had to use a blowtorch to get the coating off/do the initial heating, but it was fun and looks great. Also seems to be working well so far. Mostly doing basic veg stuff in it for the moment (to build up the non-stickiness a bit), maybe try some meat in it soon. I have done prawns in it, there was a worrying proteiny/burny patch but came off without recourse to soap in the end. Also a bit oil-heavy.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

It certainly fun. I did two when I found a Chinese supermarket. Second went better then first. You really do have to scrub them before seasoning. Anyone used the salt rather oil method. It all gets rather hot.

I can't retreat mine easily again not having gas and it doesn't look its best, but does the job and no black bits.

I was quite fanatical to start with about the no soap thing, but find its not that much of an issue. I did have to resort to wire pan the other day after a rice noodle dish that suggested pouring beaten eggs over the Noodles to stop them sticking...

 

[Cid]

Did it in the workshop, which helped... I fucked off the scrubbing (because I only have a cold tap, and no heating) and just burned everything off - it worked, no lingering chemical flavours. I did give it an initial scrub with wire wool, but judging by the amount of acrid smoke (fortunately I also have a decent mask!) that came off that wasn't very effective.

 

[Maharani]

Have you got Gok Wan's cookbook. I love it.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Have you got Gok Wan's cookbook. I love it.

I've not. I've tended to avoid celebrity chef cookbooks and probably doubly so his, but could be convinced. What's good/different about it?

 

[wtfftw]

Easy stuff but good.

I posted the contents on page 1.

 

[Maharani]

I've not. I've tended to avoid celebrity chef cookbooks and probably doubly so his, but could be convinced. What's good/different about it?

It's healthy, simple and bloody tasty. You only need about three or four main Chinese ingredients to make most of his dishes. I was given it as a gift so wouldn't have bought it myself but defo recommend it.

 

[Cid]

Got Land of plenty (the US version of Sichuan cookery and still in print) for Christmas. Is good so far... Done Kung pao chicken, Hong shao rou, gan bian si ji dou. Need to pick up/make some more Sichuan ingredients to get the most out of it, but short on time/money at the moment. I've tried rigidly following her recipes and combining with a bit of googling/seriouseats/epicurious browsing - both work well. It's quite reference-booky, the old style format where recipes have no illustrations but you have a couple of glossy page photo sections. Personally quite like that and has the advantage of covering a lot more ground that the sort of coffee table-format recipe book.

 

[moose]

Any good recommendations for more veggie-orientated Chinese cook books?

FabricLiveBaby! need not respond

 

[pinkmonkey]

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.

I'd second this, the thing with Ken Hom is he usually provides a shopping guide with photos of ingredients. I now know my way around a Chinese food wholesaler thanks to this. But it was watching youtube tutorials that enabled me to perfect steamed rice and egg fried rice. We cook and eat a lot of Chinese food, now. Can I add that I picked up 'Ken Hom cooks Thai' for £2 in a charity shop and it was excellent, especially the flavoured rice dishes section. It was a great introduction. Once you've nailed the basics you can then move onto recipes posted by native Chinese, online.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Oh yes. Finally managed to replace the electric hob with gas. The middle one has two circles of frames and a wok holder.



I feel stir fry coming on.

 

[trabuquera]

Oh, the rush of POWER ... Glad you got it sorted out UnderAnOpenSky - no one should be condemned to something stir-fried (more like gently steamed into submission) over electric. Gas is the way to go. Always. (and you can now roast smoky whole aubergines right over the flame as the Botanical God intended.)

Enjoy the stir fry.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Hang on. What. You can cook things direct over gas?

 

[The Boy]

Hang on. What. You can cook things direct over gas?

The aforementioned aubergine, but also peppers. I used ti do Something else as well which escapes me.

 

[trabuquera]

Yeah, anything vegetable where you want to get a nice smoky chargrill exterior on it, you can do direct over the flame if you have a pair of tongs and the patience to keep turning and monitoring it so it doesn't actually catch fire. Aubergines, peppers, tomatoes can be held a cm or two over the naked flame without exploding or doing anything really weird (though you might have to clean that lovely hob of some spattered juices). Don't tell anyone, but most sorts of teacake / crumpet / muffin / can also be toasted straight over the burners and might even taste better than they do warmed up in one of those high-tech enclosed "toaster" contraptions.

So go buy some new tongs! You can never, ever have too many tongs.

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

Oh yes. Finally managed to replace the electric hob with gas. The middle one has two circles of frames and a wok holder.

View attachment 100663

I feel stir fry coming on.

Can I just say... FUCK YOU.

/jealous rage


Seriously though, I've always wanted a wok burner. My husband won't let me have one on account that this building has no gas so we'd have to duck about with cans.