Do you want to cook Chinese?

Good Read

IF YOU HAVE been following this blog for any time – since late February this year – you'll know that I've been cooking for almost sixty years. (See Ship's Cook) I've been preparing a wide variety of dishes in that time including Eastern European, Italian, French, English, and Mexican. I have gone so far as to create my own recipes and been temped to write a cookbook: Cooking in a 19” Cast Iron Skillet. Sounds yummy, doesn't it? But writing a cookbook is no simple chore, especially for someone like me who tends to eyeball ingredients rather than measure them. And, the end result is always changing. To me, that's part of the adventure of cooking. It's always good and it's always different. Unfortunately, that doesn't work so well for the cookbook user. When I decided to try my hand at Chinese cuisine, I shopped carefully for the best cookbook on the subject. That's when I discovered Eileen Yin-Fei Lo.

Inasmuch as I was not blessed to be raised by a Chinese mom, I purchased Eileen Yin-Fei Lo's book, Chinese Kitchen.
 It seemed the best of her books to begin with because Chinese Kitchen is not just a book of recipes. It is an encyclopedia of, well, the Chinese kitchen. It begins with the cultural heritage as well as the ingredients founds in the Chinese larder and the tools including the two principle ones, the wok and the cleaver. This is essential information for anyone who has never shopped for a good wok or who wouldn't recognize a fresh bok choi if one were thrown in their face.

Click to purchase on Amazon

Armed with Eileen's expert advice, I purchased my wok from a distributor in San Francisco that imported them from China. It wasn't the sort of thing that I would have selected if I hadn't read her book first. Who would have guessed that those hammer marks were important? They help hold the food on the sides away from the hot oil while other ingredients are cooking in the center.

Anyone who takes their food seriously knows that the best dishes require the best ingredients. The best ingredients for Chinese cuisine are found at Chinese markets. A winning smile, an engaging personality, and a pretty face go along way to encouraging the proprietors and customers to help you select the best. Having none of these qualities, I had to rely on Eileen's instructions. 

My first results surprised me. I didn't achieve the kind of food that I had expected, like the food that I had purchased at Chinese restaurants and take out joints. This was authentic, really good Chinese food! Seriously good. 

To be honest, even well written cookbooks can't help some people. I had a married friend in law school whose wife couldn't boil water. (Sorry, I know that's a platitude, but it was literally true in her case.) I tried to help. I gave her the a copy of the Culinary Institute of America cookbook and strict instructions to use only those recipes that I helped her with. Her first attempt to strike off on her own almost ended the young marriage.

These days, there are several websites that provide excellent recipes. My favorites include 

• All Recipes Recipes are ranked by user's ratings and users post modifications they're used to adjust them to their own taste. Registered website users can bookmark their favorite recipes for future reference.
  
• America's Test Kitchen Well-tested recipes as well as great comparisons of kitchen tools and equipment to help you get the most for your dollar. Also features episodes of their television programming providing you with step-by-step demonstrations.
  
• Food Network The companion website to the cable television Food Network featuring some of America's favorite chef's, their recipes, and video presentations. 
  
• National Institute of Health I found this website by accident while searching for a recipe to prepare one of my wife's favorite dishes: Chicken Marsala. Unfortunately, it is loaded with cholesterol and calories. However, the NIH version is a healthful alternative as are all their recipes. Check it out, especially if you are on a special diet to loose weight, reduce cholesterol, or for diabetes.
  

However, I never found a website for Chinese cuisine that served me better than Chinese Kitchen, and it is one of the few cookbooks that I have kept.