Dorothy Huang's Chinese Cooking

This book has the consistently best recipes among all my Chinese cooking books. The flavors and textures of the meals are outstanding and they are easy to prepare. No required "deep frying" of meats, just stir fry. Some favorites include the potstickers (pan fried dumplings), beef with pan fried noodles, beef and asparagus stir fry, pork with mung beans stir fry, hot and sour soup, and won ton soup. It should be a mainstay of your Chinese cooking library.

I've used Dorothy's book for over 10 years and it still has some of the best dishes. She lists the ingredients from dry to wet (this is great for measuring spoons), rarely deep fries anything, and yet it still tastes delicious. My favorites include the potstickers (pan fried dumplings), pork and mung bean sprouts (p. 101), and her barbequed pork. Her meals are nutritionally correct.

When I moved to Houston in 1982, I was determined to learn to cook chinese. Through sheer luck, I found Dorothy's book in a local book store. My recommendation is to use the recipe verbatim the first time, then improvise according to your own tastes afterword. My daughter is now married and a mother and I have just ordered the book for her. She will SCREAM with joy when she receives it, but I am giving up much of my mystique...she thinks I came up with all these dishes myself. Oh, what we do for our beloved children. Thank you, Dorothy.Love, Cynthia

Great for beginners who want to learn Chinese cooking the quick and easy way! Being a partial vegetarian (no red meat), my only complaint was that there weren't enough fish, chicken, and vegetable recipes.