The Book of Malaysian Cooking

In its roughly 50 parts, all written by experienced cooks and cook book writers, HP Books' "The Book of ... Cooking" series takes you to the cuisines of various regions of the U.S. and around the world; all in easy to follow, well-explained recipes. This installment, the Book of Malaysian Cooking, starts with a brief introduction into the basics of the Malaysian cuisine, the necessary equipment and a glossary of ingredients, and then presents recipe suggestions for all major courses, from soups, starters and snacks to accompaniments and desserts. Special chapters are dedicated to fish, poultry, (red) meat, noodles, rice, vegetable and vegetarian dishes. Classics such as coconut sambal, nonya chicken, rice with lemon grass and assorted curries, satays and stir fries appear next to unique recipes such as fragrant shrimp, okra in spice sauce, spinach with sesame and spiced fish in banana leaves. From aromatic chicken to wonton soup, this collection of recipes, while not all-encompassing, is a great introduction to the richness of the Malaysian cuisine - and at a relative bargain price, to boot. Also recommended for fans of Asian cooking: this series' installments on Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese and Chinese Cooking, on Stir-Fries, and on Curries and Indian Foods. Also recommended: Around the World Cookbook Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes from the Cooks at the Legendary Restaurant (Cookery) Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian: More Than 650 Meatless Recipes from Around the World On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals (4th Edition) Textbook only Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition - 2006

This Malaysian cookbook has photos of each item with the recipe so you can see what it should look like. It has a helpful section at the beginning of the book explaining ingredients & equipment. There are a wide variety of recipes to choose from with a helpful index in the back of the book. The format is easy to follow and the recipes are very tasty! I recommend this book to anyone wanting to make malaysian dishes for their family & friends. :)

I highly recommend this book, which to my mind is the best of the recent books on Malaysian cooking. Unlike some of the others, which have extensive accounts of culinary influences or lengthy travel anecdotes, it concentrates on the basics: how to prepare a wide range of delicious Malaysian dishes. Instructions are very clear and precise and the layout is attractive (mostly one recipe per page and great color photos). Results are not only terrific but it seems pretty much foolproof. I've made about a quarter of the 80+ dishes described in the book and not one has been disappointing. If you can't get to Penang or KL head out to your local asian store for the ingredients - the rest is easy.