Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery

I have had this book for twenty years, it is in tatters, since I have made almost all the recipes it contains. It was immensely helpful in getting me going re cooking Chinese food myself, and the results vary from very good to excellent. The explanations are very straightforward, there are few complicated recipes. My favourites include shrimp with sesame, lemon chicken, steamed fish with ginger and scallions, and the list goes on.

It's not a large book but it presents an excellent selection of authentic but easy-to-follow recipes. Unusual ingredients are well explained to make them easy to find in your local Chinese/Asian market. I have tried several of the recipes and every one has been a tasty authentic success. A great little book!

Ken Hom has established himself as my favourite Chinese recipe author with this book.He begins with a brief history of the varied cuisines of China, and moves on to describe most of the ingredients used later in the book. Mr. Hom's attempt at describing the techniques needed to produce the dishes in the books are, however, not as enlightening as his ingredients section. He also includes a few suggested menus to get you started. The recipes themselves are quite good, but I would definitely say they are not suited for the beginner. He does not give advise on the actual cooking of the meal, but mearly a list of ingedients, how they should be prepared, and when to add them to the dish. As for the variety of dishes, it is quite good. Mr. Hom draws his inspiration from all corners of China.It should be noted none of them recipes could be considered authentic, but rather as a sort of neo-Chinese variety. The only major downfall of this book, as I see it, is that almost all of the recipes are for meat dishes. Only 29 of the 214 pages of recipes are dedicated to vegetables. This is definintely not the book for vegetarians. This asise, I believe Mr. Hom has written a marvelous book for both westerners and those more familiar with traditional Chinese cuisine.