CHINESE FOOD MADE EASY: 100 simple, healthy recipes from easy-to-find ingredients | 
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| Author: Ching-he Huang
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: £17.99
Buy New: £8.49
You Save: £9.50 (53%)
New (19) Used (5) Collectible (1) from £4.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 53
Media: Hardcover
Edition: TV tie-in ed
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.8 x 7.6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0007264984
EAN: 9780007264988
ASIN: 0007264984
Publication Date: July 7, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 Chinese Food Made Easy, the clue is in the title. December 4, 2008
This book certainly, as the title suggests, makes chinese food easy.
Having made several attempts at chinese cooking, over many years and using several different chinese cook books, it is only since using Ching's book that I have achieved the results I wanted.It is the best book I have ever used and Ching must be congratulated on it.
Fantastic receipes and very useful options and tips. When doing chinese food I only use this book now.
Authentic Chinese cooking December 4, 2008
I am of Chinese heritage and I can proudly recommend this book. It was about time someone came up with this book for those of us who grew up on Chinese cuisine but find the traditional recipes too difficult to tackle on a day to day basis. Ching's food is typical of home-cooked Chinese food, with exceptions, the recipes here are those you will not normally find on the menu of any Chinese restaurant because these are the recipes that are passed down from generations of home cooks. Some reviewers said the food was bland and I beg to differ. The combination of flavours and ingredients are subtle at times but in no way bland. People forget that when eating out in Asian restaurants, the food is richer because of all the additional flavourings (eg msg) and also because restaurant cooking involves specialist utensils (such as very high heat woks with swirling amounts of cooking oil !) and that's why it tastes different to home Chinese cooking. Most Chinese people don't eat those kind of food on a regular basis. Also, the British are too accustomed to letting spices and flavourings cover up less than good quality ingredients whereas in real Chinese cooking, the fresher your ingredients, the better the outcome of your dish. Ching's book embodies this principle by letting the ingredients speak for you rather than overwhelm, say a fresh fish, by lashings of flavours. I loved her steamed fish with beer ! Excellent and a recommended buy.
 Excellent insight to authentic Chinese and not. October 16, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Growing up with a Chinese mother who cooks the best chinese, I have developed a very good palate. I consider myself a foodie and relish in cooking, but always go back to the basics, which is Chinese.
This book is an excellent source of inspiration for people who can cook and also easy enough for beginners. A review here said the food was bland and I beg to differ. Growing up in Hong Kong, the Chinese I know relied on the freshest ingredients to deliver the best flavours. Spices were used minimally. Only when you travel inland to Szechuan do you truly encounter the fiery stuff.
Ching has given us classic recipes and more modern westernised ones. She allows you to use your common sense, you are able to add more or less of what you like. She is playful, personal, light and very likeable.
I didn't give it full marks as I found it lacked in the dessert department. The Chinese do make wonderful desserts and are excellent bakers. Other than that, this cook book is highly recommended.
Not so easy September 25, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I entirely agree with the first reviewer, in that these recipes are among the tastiest food I've ever eaten - and I've been cooking for over 30 years, including Chinese food. The only criticism I would make is that in some places the text is somewhat light on detail. Anyone tackling the "Spicy dofu & edamame beans" needs to be aware that you will need a non-stick saucepan to fry the dofu. Since I cook with cast iron saucepans, and stainless steel is widely used, the injunction "careful not to break the bean curd" needs to be supported by this information. There are a number of other lacunae of this sort in the text which give rise to doubts and ambiguities regarding timing and technique. In case anyone thinks that this somewhat petty, I should note that I'm currently using these recipes four days out of seven. More importantly there will be those coming to this kind of cooking for the first time, so that a little extra detail would not go amiss.
 Bland and Samey September 15, 2008
9 out of 19 found this review helpful
There must be some easily pleased folks around judging by the reviews. Well, I'm not one of them. I've seen the series and bought my wife the book and we both agree that it's, to say the least uninspired. Most of the recipes use the same basic ingredients regardless of the meat or fish content and generally end up tasting like a rough amalgam of far eastern food. I've travelled extensively woorldwide through my work and there's not a shred of doubt that most of these rather bland same tasting dishes do not do justice to the real thing. I will admit happily that once in while when you fancy a generic Chinese style dish, this book provides something quick and easy. And as the only things required are garlic, ginger, sherry and a bit of soy sauce it doesn't really matter what page you open - they are all the same. So even chosing a meal doesn't require any thought. To round up, bland, uninspired but quick and easy.
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