Land of Plenty by Fuschia Dunlop

Leave it to a Westerner to write the perfect Chinese cookbook. Fuchsia Dunlop's Land of Plenty is probably the most authentic volume on Sichuanese cooking in the English language. Asian cookbooks tend to fall into two categories -- those filled with flowery prose about the mysticism of the cuisine, but don't have authentic recipes to back it up, and basic translations of Asian cookbooks with cursory explanations and poor recipe testing (ie. "1 t of salt, or 1 T of salt? Whatever...it's all good."). Honestly, I'd had trouble finding a Chinese cookbook that I really loved...until now.

Land of Plenty launches Fuchsia Dunlop into an elite category of writers whose work becomes *the* authority on their respective subjects. Yes, it's that good. Dunlop begins the book with descriptions of the common ingredients of Sichuan cuisine, and the various cooking techniques. I love the detail that she brings to these descriptions. She doesn't just leave it at stir-frying, she describes over 5 different types of stir-frying. This eye for detail really helps readers to achieve a great dish. Thanks to the adherence to authentic ingredients and clear instructions, the recipes turn out beautifully.

A few caveats... If you do not like spicy food, you probably shouldn't get this book. This book only covers Sichuanese food, so you won't find any dim sum, Cantonese dishes, or Westernized Chinese favorites. One more thing... some of the ingredients may be difficult to find. In particular, Sichuan peppercorns, which are included in half of the recipes, were recently illegal to import into the US due to the possibility of harming local crops. This ban has been lifted, and you should be able to find them from Asian markets and several mail order shops. Some will say this is heresy, but if you really can't find the peppercorns, you can omit them from some dishes and still get a good result; it won't be quite the same as the real thing, but it will still be enjoyable, and probably better than what you would get at your average Chinese takeout.

If you're looking for something spicy, authentic, and delicious, Land of Plenty is simply a must-have.

Chinese Cuisine by The Wei-Chuan Cooking School

The Wei-Chuan Cooking School has released a series of cookbooks covering the whole range of Chinese regional cooking. Chinese Cuisine collects many of the most popular dishes from the other volumes into one convenient package. The best way to describe these books are no-nonsense. You aren't going to find charming anecdotes about someone's grandmother, and the power of their cooking. You will find plenty of well-tested recipes with authentic ingredients and beautiful photos of the resulting dishes.

These series may be more challenging to those new to Chinese cooking since the instructions, though accurate, are not very detailed. There are a lot of ways to hang yourself here. In addition to that, many of the ingredients are going to be difficult to find. Despite these drawbacks, I'm still recommending this series because of their authenticity. Experienced amateur chefs will be able to produce excellent results using the book's instructions and a bit of common sense. You can't really say the same for the great majority of Chinese cookbooks out there. As for the hard-to-find ingredients, judicious use of substitutions will still yield great tasting food.

If there is one type of Chinese cooking that appeals to you in particular, I encourage you to seek out the other volumes in the series which deal with each region's cuisine in more detail.

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