What Chinese cook books would you recommend? I've been meaning to go the Central LA library to look up more cookbooks. . . my favorite Chinese ones are Irene Kuo's The Key to Chinese Cooking and Murdoch Books' Food of China (for the pictures). Though the Bite of China TV series seems to be the most educational . . .
Okay, here are the Chinese cookbooks I've been collecting and working from, in order of usefulness especially for someone fairly new to this. Note: my bias is trying to stay as far away from Cantonese/Chinese-American recipes as possible, so keep that in mind.
Every Grain of Rice -- Fuschia Dunlop
If you only buy one Chinese cookbook, get this one. Dunlop knows her stuff, the recipes are not overly complex, and you will only need a few nonstandard ingredients. This contains some recipes that overlap from her other books, but in many cases they're refined versions. Good photography, but not every recipe has a photo.
All Under Heaven -- Carolyn Phillips
A large book, packed full of recipes from every region of China. Chinese cuisine isn't a single thing, it varies hugely by region, and this is an admirable attempt to give at least a taste of the different regional styles in a single book. Very well-written. No photos, all pen-and-ink illustration. This is the second book you should have after Every Grain of Rice, and you could spend years working through just those two books.
The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking -- Barbara Tropp
I think this one is out of print, but worth having. Another fairly exhaustive overview of Chinese cooking. No photos in this one either but I've found some very good recipes in it.
All of Fuschia Dunlop's other books: Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, Land of Fish and Rice, Land of Plenty.
These cover different regions of China. Good photos in the first two, no photos in the last one, but it was her first book and the most comprehensive on Sichuan cooking. She has a new book on Sichuan cooking coming out in October, I don't know if it's an update or a completely new one. All of her books are worth having if you're filling out a Chinese cookbook shelf.
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There is one cookbook that I regret buying, and it's sometimes mentioned here on KKF: Breath of a Wok by Grace Young and Alan Richardson.
There is some info about woks, but nothing you can't find elsewhere. Most of the book is focused on Chinese-American (Cantonese) recipes, heavy on the sugar. I'm not really into that. The author also deprecates a style of cooking ("passing through oil") that's a bit messy, but essential to some of the authentic recipes in the other books listed above. I wouldn't recommend this unless you just want some beauty shots of woks.
