I thought since I live in an area with a large Asian population that I would enjoy this book, but that is far from the case. Not only it is the smallest of the Wei Chuan books, it has some nasty Western recipes in there as well. Simple is better. Why didn't they put more vegetable recipes like steamed Chinese brocoli with vegetarian oyster sauce? Instead they have a positively putrid recipe for potato salad and even vegarian hamburger! It's not worth $7.95 or $12 with shipping. They need to redo the recipes, do more things with tofu, and even some brown rice clay pot recipes. I can't find very many recipes which I would make.
Review #2
Very! Very! Disappointing!
I was anticipating receiving this book, as I enjoy vegetarian food and don't mind meat substitutes, but was disappointed to find that almost all of the recipes call for "prepared" Asian meat substitutes (vegetarian cuttlefish, dried gluten balls etc.) that are nearly *impossible* to find, even online, it seems. Perhaps if one lived in a city that has a *large* Asian population and well stocked groceries, it wouldn't be a problem. I cook Asian and ethnic foods quite a bit, and my local Asian grocery is quite good, but I've never encountered any of these. Perhaps some could be substituted with TVP or similar, but the descriptions of the meat subs are so vague ("vegetarian meat," "vegetarian meat chunks" with corresponding pictures that really don't resemble anything I've ever seen before) that I would be afraid to try. I am familiar with the Wei Chuan cook books and realize that most already assume that you know something about what you're doing, but this one is particularly vague. So, I would really skip this book unless you have access to these unusual items (which frankly, sound very good and I would like to try!)
Review #3
Very Very Vegetarian
This cookbook is very, very bad. The recipes are really unappetizing. There is a picture given with every recipe, but all of the food looks gross. I have been a vegetarian for 12 years and LOVE Chinese food, but this cookbook is the pits. This cookbook seems to cater to vegetarians that still crave the taste of meat. Most of the recipes call for fake pork (gross) or chicken, fish(eel, cuttlefish even). Do not invest in this cookbook.
List Price: $7.95
Price: $6.63
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