Homestyle Chinese Cooking

by Yan-Kit So

Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1977. $16.95

Paperback, ISBN 0-89594-883-4

Cookbooks these days are more than recipes, this one is no exception. It begins, thanks to help from a Hong Kong based Chinese food historian (already mentioned elsewhere in this issue) T.C. Lai, discussing the history of China's cooking vessels. The wok (guo) and the cauldron or pot (fre) are detailed as the two most important cast iron pans of early Chinese culinaria (before the Common Era). Also mentioned are the six-handle pot, the three-legged pan, and various other protobations and transformations preceding the present day work, lid, ring, and spatula-like scoop.

After a wonderful historical overview complete with illustrations and a short preface, four special techniques and twenty-one ingredients are discussed. The recipes are in chapters titled: Soups, Steaming, Stir-frying, Sauteing and Pan-frying, and Braising; all are ways to maximize techniques in the all purpose cooking pan called "The Wok". In keeping with the historical introduction, several good references are given, for those so inclined, they are excellent resources. A recipe index completes this Chinese cookery volume in a "Homestyle Cooking Series" (other books already in the series are for Mexican, Middle Eastern, Thai and Indonesian, and Italian cookery).

The recipes are sandwiched around eight color photographs bound into the center of the book; there is one page before each chapter elucidating the technique, and a few black and white computer-type illustrations and line drawings that provide pictorial decor. The recipes are clear, most are easy, a few exotic; some even questionably Chinese, in the traditional sense. They range from a Ham Chow Mein to Stir Fried Creamed Cauliflower to Lamb Kidneys in Marsala Sauce.

I am partial to the recipes for braised dishes as they are most valuable when preparing a many-course Chinese meal. The Eggplant and Bacon doesn't taste too Chinese as is, but adding a barbeque sauce (see these reviewed in the March 1998 issue) changes that. Barbeque sauce was also a welcome addition to the Braised Beef Steaks. Two or three tablespoons in each recipe or one tablespoon of Chili Sauce with Garlic worked wonders for me.

In the soup chapter, the Mussels in Soup and its recommended ginger root and cilantro made it jump from France to China. Among other recipe sets, the Steamed Beef with Bamboo Shoots is a gem and the Slippery Eggs and Shrimp a fascinating omelet already adapted for western ease as it uses frozen shrimp. Though no match for its real Chinese counterpart, none-the-less it wins points for simplicity and ease of preparation, and many of my guests didn't know the difference even though I had it in two bowls that came as first's and second's that most indulged in.

Knowledgeable readers will note the author's Cantonese roots when perusing the Steamed Rice recipe (among others). It starts with the phrase "Rice is the staple..." ignoring the large northern half of China where they use more millet wheat, corn, sorghum and grains other than rice.

Most recipes have southern roots, some have British overtones, too. They are good and Ms. So entices the reader to make them international. Any or all of them add to a flavorful culinary repertoire, no matter where one lives. Family and guests can be impressed when you prepare more than just stir-fried Chinese dishes.