Authentic Chinese Cuisine

I am in love with this cookbook. I used to eat a lot of authentic Chinese food when I was younger and have been missing it for years. This book makes it so easy to recreate dishes that I used to eat as an omnivore and they taste even better as vegan! It took me about 3 trips to an Asian grocery store to get all of the ingredients that I needed but it was totally worth the effort. I love that the author even incorporated mock meats that you can find at the store, my favorite being "Mock Duck." If you're serious about venturing into Chinese cooking, you absolutely need this book.

I found the recipes in this book to be easy to follow, and to me the food tastes just like restaurant Chinese food. I have had a great time shopping in the local Asian grocery store, but many of the ingredients can be purchsed at any grocer. I got adventurous and made potstickers and they are so yummy with the suggested dips, that I had to make more!

As someone who was born with a milk allergy, I have always loved Asian food. When authentically made, it is almost always dairy-free, yet rich with so many different flavors. I often take my ability to enjoy flavors of the East for granted, since cuisines such as Chinese can actually be a minefield for those who are on even more restrictive diets, such as gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, or vegan. In fact, in reading this cookbook (yes, I actually read all cookbooks before I trial recipes), my eyes were opened to just how may recipes use animal-based ingredients. The Chinese are not shy with their use of eggs, chicken, beef, pork, duck, seafood, and condiments such as oyster sauce. While I can cook from most Chinese cookbooks, Bryanna made me realize that this isn't quite as easy for vegetarians. To solve this problem, she not only created mock recipes for meat-filled steamed dumplings, egg foo young, sweet and sour pork, and kung pao chicken, but she also goes to the root of the "problem," the ingredients. You will actually find recipes in this book for homemade, egg-free won ton wrappers and animal-free oyster sauce and duck sauce. This cookbook really is a must have for vegetarians and vegans who are yearning for some good, comforting, Chinese food. For myself (a non-vegan), I am still happy to put this book among my petite collection of cookbooks that get used. The various homemade sauces look like they will be quite fun to experiment with, and I have been very curious to trial making Chinese buns and dumplings at home. Bryanna focuses on authenticity with all of her regionally inspired cookbooks, yet you shouldn't need a trip to the Asian market when first starting out with this cookbook. Most of the recipes, including the homemade sauces, use everyday "American" ingredients, but in a few of the recipes, she doesn't hesitate to use Chinese vegetables.

Bryanna's Italian cookbook "Nonna's Italian Kitchen" must be the very finest ever example of vegan cookbook published to this date. And now she's done it again - with this wonderful vegan cookbook on Chinese cuisine, taking you all the way through dumplings, dim sum, noodles, soups, stir-fries, ... and vegetarian "mock-meats" that were invented thousands of years ago by strict buddhist monks. Whereas it used to be quite a work to rinse out the starch of a flour ball so that only the protein (gluten) was left, the arrival of pure gluten powder makes this a snap to prepare at home. While some recipes are somewhat elaborate which acquire some routine (making dumplings, spring rolls, etc.), there are several quick recipes (stir-fry chapter a.o.) that are very easy to prepare. It is an excellent cookbook if you love chinese foods, and the innovative inclusion of above-mentioned "mock-meats" makes it a cut above the rest. The pages are jam-packed with one tasty recipe after the other - this is a shining example that you do not need to feel deprived when embarking on a vegan diet.

Authentic Chinese Cuisine For The Contemporary Kitchen offers a superbly developed compendium of vegetarian Chinese recipes similar to those found in a Buddhist restaurant. Bryanna Grogan brings her expertise to bear in offering delicious, nutritious recipes for homemade "Mock Meats"; savory snacks and appetizers; dumplings and breads; rice; noodles, soups, and sauces; stir-fried dishes; braised, steamed, and stewed dishes; and even sweets. From Shanghai Spring Rolls, Mandarin Pancakes, and Savory Rice Porridge, to Duck Sauce, Buddha's Delight, and Walnut Cookies, Authentic Chinese Cuisine For The Contemporary Kitchen will quickly became a personal and family favorite for those pursuing a vegetarian lifestyle.