Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Damn Good Chinese Food: Dumplings, Egg Rolls, Bao Buns, Sesame Noodles, Roast Duck, Fried Rice, and More—50 Recipes Inspired by Life in Chinatown

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Damn Good Chinese Food is a well written Chinese cookbook with recipes by Chris Cheung. Due out 23rd Nov 2021 from Skyhorse Publishing, it's 208 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a graphically appealing, well written, and accessible cookbook with an array of Chinese/American fusion recipes to appeal to most tastes. I really liked the layout and formatting. The introduction covers the basics, with a good overview of tools, ingredients, techniques, and supplies (which might not be familiar to many western cooks). The recipes which follow are arranged roughly thematically: dumplings (the author is a -virtuoso-), Chinese American, vegetables, fish & seafood, meat & poultry, small snacks, birthday dinner, and sweets.

Each recipe has its ingredients listed bullet style in a sidebar. Measurements are given in US standard only. (There's a metric conversion chart in the back of the book). Special tools and ingredients are also listed, along with yields and cooking directions. The ingredients are mostly easily sourced at any moderately well stocked grocery or international foods store. Nutritional information is not provided.

The recipes and tutorials are well photographed in color. The serving suggestions are very well styled and give visual cooks information about presentation and serving (especially important for cooks who are not familiar with all of these dishes). Essential info, alerts, facts, tips & answers are highlighted in text boxes. The book includes a cross-referenced, hyperlinked index.

Five stars. There are a large number of really tasty recipes here. We've tried a number of them at home and they've all been wonderful and error free. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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