Easy Chinese recipes Family favorites from dim sum to kung pao

Even competent cooks may find preparing good Chinese food at home a daunting task. The task calls for both special equipment and unique ingredients not found in typical Western pantries. Nevertheless, Chinese cuisine's popularity demands that conscientious cooks learn how to prepare some familiar Chinese dishes to avoid the expense of restaurant dining or carryout. Keeping matters simple without descending into the simplistic, Low presents a few dozen standard Chinese recipes from both Cantonese and Sichuan traditions. She has limited her ingredients to those generally available in supermarkets offering standard Chinese inventories. She suggests substitutions for authentic but more complicated techniques, such as using frozen puff pastry for barbeque pork triangles, beloved by fans of dim sum. Noodle dishes, now so popular among young people seeking bargain meals, find plenty of variations here to please anyone. Most recipes serve two to four diners, depending on accompaniments. Color photographs supplement these recipes.--Knoblauch, Mark Copyright 2010 Booklist

Readers looking to re-create their favorite dim sums and Chinese restaurant dishes will love Low's first cookbook, which includes easy recipes for dumplings, stir-fries, noodles, soups, and other well-known dishes. In introductory guides to equipment, techniques, and ingredients, Low deftly explains how novice cooks can better achieve authentic flavors and textures. For example, she suggests soaking shrimp in an egg-white and starch mixture to create a crisp, "bouncy" mouth feel. Fans of Low's popular blog, Rasa Malaysia (rasamalaysia.com), will appreciate new recipes and recognize Low's voice, photography, and food styling. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.