The Real Deal
I found the recipes in this book to be easy to follow, and to me the food tastes just like restaurant Chinese food. I have had a great time shopping in the local Asian grocery store, but many of the ingredients can be purchsed at any grocer. I got adventurous and made potstickers and they are so yummy with the suggested dips, that I had to make more!
A treasure for vegans and vegetarians
As someone who was born with a milk allergy, I have always loved Asian food. When authentically made, it is almost always dairy-free, yet rich with so many different flavors. I often take my ability to enjoy flavors of the East for granted, since cuisines such as Chinese can actually be a minefield for those who are on even more restrictive diets, such as gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, or vegan. In fact, in reading this cookbook (yes, I actually read all cookbooks before I trial recipes), my eyes were opened to just how may recipes use animal-based ingredients. The Chinese are not shy with their use of eggs, chicken, beef, pork, duck, seafood, and condiments such as oyster sauce.
While I can cook from most Chinese cookbooks, Bryanna made me realize that this isn't quite as easy for vegetarians. To solve this problem, she not only created mock recipes for meat-filled steamed dumplings, egg foo young, sweet and sour pork, and kung pao chicken, but she also goes to the root of the "problem," the ingredients. You will actually find recipes in this book for homemade, egg-free won ton wrappers and animal-free oyster sauce and duck sauce.
This cookbook really is a must have for vegetarians and vegans who are yearning for some good, comforting, Chinese food. For myself (a non-vegan), I am still happy to put this book among my petite collection of cookbooks that get used. The various homemade sauces look like they will be quite fun to experiment with, and I have been very curious to trial making Chinese buns and dumplings at home.
Bryanna focuses on authenticity with all of her regionally inspired cookbooks, yet you shouldn't need a trip to the Asian market when first starting out with this cookbook. Most of the recipes, including the homemade sauces, use everyday "American" ingredients, but in a few of the recipes, she doesn't hesitate to use Chinese vegetables.
This book is OK.
I appreciate what the author was trying to do with this book; it's great to have a source for Chinese-style mock meats. However, after trying several of the recipes, I found that they just aren't as good as I thought they would be.
I was excited to use vital wheat gluten to whip up a batch of seitan, but it turned out to be incredibly gummy. I assume this problem is avoidable, but the directions in the book don't give much guidance: "Mix until it forms a smooth, firm dough. Knead briefly." There's no information about what to do you if instead of a smooth dough, you end up with a rubbery, bouncy ball. (Perhaps it's better to mix and knead by hand rather than using my mixer? Tips like this would help a lot!)
As far as the regular recipes go, they are hit and miss. The simpler the recipe, the better they seem turn out. The page on Basic Stir-Fried Chinese Vegetables contains really useful information, and the recipe on the facing page for Stir Fried Chinese Broccoli is a winner. However, the "Beef" and Broccoli with "Oyster" Sauce and the Kung Pao "Chicken" are just OK, and Mapo Doufu was downright weird. But I will still continue to work my way through the book; I would like to try the Lemon "Chicken" and some of the versions of the Steamed Savory Filled Buns.
Overall, it is a decent resource for vegetarian Chinese cooking. For people who are interested in this topic, it's probably a good place to start. I would recommend using store-bought seitan though!
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