Excellent insight to authentic Chinese and not.
Growing up with a Chinese mother who cooks the best chinese, I have developed a very good palate. I consider myself a foodie and relish in cooking, but always go back to the basics, which is Chinese.

This book is an excellent source of inspiration for people who can cook and also easy enough for beginners. A review here said the food was bland and I beg to differ. Growing up in Hong Kong, the Chinese I know relied on the freshest ingredients to deliver the best flavours. Spices were used minimally. Only when you travel inland to Szechuan do you truly encounter the fiery stuff.

Ching has given us classic recipes and more modern westernised ones. She allows you to use your common sense, you are able to add more or less of what you like. She is playful, personal, light and very likeable.

I didn't give it full marks as I found it lacked in the dessert department. The Chinese do make wonderful desserts and are excellent bakers. Other than that, this cook book is highly recommended.

Not so easy
I entirely agree with the first reviewer, in that these recipes are among the tastiest food I've ever eaten - and I've been cooking for over 30 years, including Chinese food. The only criticism I would make is that in some places the text is somewhat light on detail. Anyone tackling the "Spicy dofu & edamame beans" needs to be aware that you will need a non-stick saucepan to fry the dofu. Since I cook with cast iron saucepans, and stainless steel is widely used, the injunction "careful not to break the bean curd" needs to be supported by this information. There are a number of other lacunae of this sort in the text which give rise to doubts and ambiguities regarding timing and technique. In case anyone thinks that this somewhat petty, I should note that I'm currently using these recipes four days out of seven. More importantly there will be those coming to this kind of cooking for the first time, so that a little extra detail would not go amiss.

Bland and Samey
There must be some easily pleased folks around judging by the reviews. Well, I'm not one of them. I've seen the series and bought my wife the book and we both agree that it's, to say the least uninspired. Most of the recipes use the same basic ingredients regardless of the meat or fish content and generally end up tasting like a rough amalgam of far eastern food. I've travelled extensively woorldwide through my work and there's not a shred of doubt that most of these rather bland same tasting dishes do not do justice to the real thing. I will admit happily that once in while when you fancy a generic Chinese style dish, this book provides something quick and easy. And as the only things required are garlic, ginger, sherry and a bit of soy sauce it doesn't really matter what page you open - they are all the same. So even chosing a meal doesn't require any thought. To round up, bland, uninspired but quick and easy.

Excellent chinese recipes with the Ching twist
I already had and liked Ching's China Modern but this is easily the better book. I've got a library of chinese cookery books, but if you bought only one I'd recommend this one. It's even replacing my trusty, bespattered and dog eared Ken Hom. I find the most appealing thing about Ching's recipes is that they offer a very personal, modern 'take' on many traditional recipes. I also find that hers tend to be punchier with more flavour and pizzazz than many other versions. Maybe it's my despoiled western palate but I prefer her flavoursome approach. The Chili Chicken sauce will become a mainstay of my repertoire (and yes it can be distinctly lively); ditto the Dan Dan noodles and our favourite the Gong Bao. Her approach gives you confidence to take ownership of these recipes and even add your own twist. There's a good range as well, this book is equally useful as a everyday weekly reference with many recipes that fit in easily with a busy workaday lifestyle and aalso as a resource for entertaining friends, special occasions and for party food. I can't think of many books that are so down to earth useful and can take much repeated traditional recipes and yet reflect the author's personality and tastes. The errors cited in the Singapore Noodles are well pointed out though, it should definitely be 2 teaspoons of tumeric (not tablespoons). I'd go one further though and substitute a mild or medium curry powder. All in all I'd rate Ching as the new Ken Hom for the modern cook.

I love this book!!
I always thought that chinese food would be difficult to make, but this book proved me wrong as these recipies are easy and quick and also the best chinese food i have ever had. After buying this book, you will never want takeaway again when it is so much better to make it yourself. It is also good that Ching explains that history behind some of the dishes and also gives valuable information in the back for people who are not acquainted with chinese cooking or ingridents. The only problem is that some of the ingridents are not avaliale in most supermarkets such as wonton wrappers, however that does not change the fact that this book is great and also a must have for any cook.

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