Cook Easy! Eat Healthy! Fruits and Vegetables

by: Du Shaopeng, complier

Hong Kong China: Haibin Tushu Gongxi 2003, Hardbound
ISBN: 962-365-982-2

Reviewed by: Jacqueline M. Newman
Spring Volume: 2004 Issue: 11(1) page(s): 27

This book, one is a series of three by the same main compiler. They all begin with: Cook Easy! Eat Healthy! These books are both good and interesting, and more than just recipes. They are firmly bound soft-covered volumes made as are hardbound books, with sewn professional bindings and will withstand lots of use. The recipes are bilingual, the other titles: Grains -Beans - Fungi; and Poultry & Seafood.

They have lots good going for them, though all is not perfect. Each volume has one recipe for each of entries, this one has forty-seven different fruits and vegetables.

Every food item has two pages with one or two color photographs of the food item in question, discuss nutritional value, Chinese properties attributed to it, and cautions about when the Chinese recommend not eating this particular food, and other traditional Chinese medicinal information. Each food also has two more pages for its one recipe, a color photograph of the completed dish, and details about several common cooking practices. These recipes are complete and easy to follow. After the recipes is seasonal information, health conditions, and more about that book's particular food category. A different set of information is in each book, some with all-year do's and don'ts about their use.

The health information, written and checked--each by a different Chinese herbalist, is clearly stated and easy to understand. These three books are a wonderful introduction to Chinese food as medicine and are good for those with no or limited Chinese food/medicinal understandings.

Cauliflower with Jinhua Ham
Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 pounds cauliflower, cut into two-inch pieces
1 Tablespoon corn oil
1 clove garlic, peeled
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cornstarch mixed with three tablespoons cold water
1 Tablespoon Jinhua or Smithfield ham, minced
Preparation:
1. Bring two quarts of tater to the boil and put the cauliflower into it keeping it boiling for three minutes, then drain.
2. Heat oil and fry garlic for one minute, then add broth, milk, and salt and simmer for three minutes. Remove the cauliflower to a serving bowl.
3. Add cornstarch mixture, and stir and when it thickens and clears, pour it over the cauliflower. Sprinkle with the ham and serve.

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