The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen

by Grace Young, Alan Richardson (Photographer)

The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen, with its 150 recipes culled from a lifetime of family meals and culinary instruction, is much more than a cookbook. It is a daughter's tribute -- a collection of personal memories of the philosophy and superstitions behind culinary traditions that have been passed down through her Cantonese family, in which each ingredient has its own singular importance, the preparation of a meal is part of the joy of life, and the proper creation of a dish can have a favorable influence on health and good fortune. Each chapter begins with its own engaging story, offering insight into the Chinese beliefs that surround life-enhancing and spiritually calming meals. In addition, personal family photographs illustrate these stories and capture the spirit of China before the Revolution, when Young's family lived in Canton, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. The first part, "Mastering the Fundamentals," provides instruction on the arts of steaming and stir-frying; the preparation of rice, panfried, and braised dishes; the proper selection of produce; and the fine arts of chopping and slicing. Part Two, "The Art of Celebration," concentrates on the more elaborate, complex, and meaningful dishes -- such as Shark's Fin Soup and West Lake Duck -- that are usually made with rare ingredients, and sweets such as Water Chestnut Cake and Sesame Balls. The final part, "Achieving Yin-Yang Harmony," explores the many Chinese beliefs about the healing properties of ginseng, gingko nuts, soybeans, dong quai, and the many vegetable and fruit soup preparations that balance and nourish the body. The stories and recipes combine to demonstrate the range of Cantonese cooking, from rich flavors and honored combinations to an overall appreciation of health, well-being, and prosperity.

In addition to the recipes, Young provides a complete glossary of dried herbs, spices, and fresh produce, accompanied by identifying photos and tips on where to purchase them. Unique traditional dishes, such as Savory Rice Tamales and Shrimp Dumplings, are also illustrated step by step, making the book easy to use. The central full-color photo section captures details of New Year's dishes and the Chinese home decorated in celebration, reminding one that these time-honored traditions live on, and the meals and their creation are connections to the past.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Reference, Nonfiction, China, Culinary

304 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 1999

About the author

Dubbed “The Stir-Fry Guru” by the New York Times, Grace Young has devoted her career to celebrating wok cookery. Her accolades include a James Beard award for her cookbook Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge and a James Beard nomination in 2018 for The Breath of a Wok video. She has won five IACP awards including the prestigious 2019 Culinary Classics Award for The Breath of a Wok, (the “youngest” book to be inducted into the Cookbook Hall of Fame). It also won the Jane Grigson Award for distinguished scholarship. Grace’s latest video, the Wok Therapist was released in 2019. Her family’s wok, which dates back to 1949, is currently displayed at the Museum of Food and Drink’s Chow exhibit and will soon be relocated to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History where it will continue to serve as a significant artifact of Chinese American culinary history.

Reviews

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up in a used book shop because I recently bought a wok and wanted some recipes to prepare in it. Boy-oh-boy was I in for a wonderful surprise. This is so much more than a cookbook - the recipes are wonderful, especially the Lemon Chicken, which has only a few ingredients and is incredibly easy to prepare, but develops into the most intensely flavorful dish I've ever eaten or prepared in about 15 minutes total time! Virtually all of the food featured is Cantonese - which is somewhat more mild and accessible than other regional cuisines.

What this book really offers you is:
1) An inside view into both the Chinese and Chinese-American experience through foodways.
2) Careful and thorough descriptions (most with photographs) of Chinese ingredients - what they are, how they are packaged, where to find them (typically) in a Chinese market, etc.
3) A potentially different way to think about food: meditation, tradition, honor, health, love.

I am sure this is a book I will come back to again and again - not just for the recipes, but to access the wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen.

[Cecilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best cookbook ever. so many of these recipes resonate with my lived experience, and there are also so many that are outside of my mom's cooking arsenal and outside of my parents' own cooking legacy. i've learned so much about herbal soups through this book - which is one way i take care of my health - and so much about my culture. sometimes it is bittersweet when it only barely resonates, knowing that my experience of my culture is only the tip of the iceberg. there's a huge sense of loss but there's also huge possibility of a certain kind of reunion with what the DNA of my cells knows only, but not my own lived experience.

i love all the personal stores that grace young includes. i haven't read this cover to cover, only flipping through for snippets and recipes here and there. but it's a book i will treasure forever.

[Irene Yam · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ever wanted an all in one book about what it's like to grow up in San Francisco Chinatown and get a sense of family and holiday traditions, this is your book. Grace pours her heart in sharing her fondest memories of her family. Each recipe has a backstory and all have been tested. So if you follow her recipe, you’ll do fine!

I’ve gifted this to many friends who are and aren’t Chinese. Everyone loves reading the book when they aren’t thinking what to make, just alone the stories make you want to cook! There’s also a great glossary that I even use myself as a kid who grew up in Chinatown. The photos help, especially when shopping. The glossary reminds me of the smells, and all the fresh food stands throughout Chinatown.

I also use this for all my family holiday meals. I never get tired of reading the stories. This book is a gem. It’s more than a cookbook, but gives you a real-world experience of what it's like to eat, and grow up in a Chinese American family.

[Timothy Deng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned more from this book than from being Chinese. Wish the Chinese characters were written out more often in the text (not just as titles) or in pinyin.

[Eliel Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting culture stories and recipes.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esoteric

Extremely detailed. Almost too much. Very esoteric book that will appeal mainly to folks of Chinese descent. Ingredients are nothing most folks would encounter!

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book that is quite difficult to categorise and define. It is not just a cook book, it is not just a guide to Chinese cuisine, it is not just a book about culture...

Yet when examined together it is just a perfect fit. It is not something you really want to dip in and out of, at least on first reading, as you will gain much more benefit by reading it end to end and then, as required, dip back in again.

In essence this is a compilation of a close family's experiences about food, a collection of memories, a tribute by a daughter to her mother and extended family, a celebration of the various superstitions and philosophies in Cantonese society. A real labour of love.

The reader is not assumed to be an expert in Chinese food and culture, yet equally the reader is not treated like a fool. As you read through you gain a lot of knowledge and information which the brain ever-so-carefully files away in different places for later recall. Fundamental basic building blocks such as rice are carefully and reverentially covered in extensive, wonderful detail so one can begin to appreciate how and why certain ingredients can hold such a sway in Chinese cooking. Consideration is also given to the various cooking methods utilised so one can begin to appreciate how small changes can create a large impact (sometimes for the worse). Even how a vegetable is chopped can, within the overall balance of the dish, make a difference. Quite remarkable really!

Throughout the book over 150 different recipes almost appear as an afterthought but that is clearly not the intention. It might be fairer to say that the "surrounding" text which accompanies the recipes is not just filler, but in fact a central, crucial part of the overall proposition. Just like a good sandwich should have a quality bread and tasty filling, the recipes are the tasty filling to the quality bread (of information).

Food as an item for celebration is a large theme throughout the book and the author shares how certain foods are key "members" or participants at any celebration. Many of the ingredients used are harder to find, particularly in more Western markets, and invariably there is a greater degree of complication involved in their preparation. This book may give you more confidence to try things rather than just leave a certain thing out as you have a greater appreciation to the contribution and balance each ingredient can make.

The book is rounded off with consideration of the various beliefs about the healing properties of ginseng, gingko nuts, soybeans and the like. An extremely comprehensive glossary of ingredients typically used within Cantonese cookery is provided to help the wary and provide further background information.

Overall, a wonderful book. Not quite one that would be used for daily cooking when you need to dash through it for inspiration but nonetheless many of the recipes can be a very regular appearance at your table and it is probable that this book will not be gathering dust somewhere on a distant bookshelf…

The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing, written by Grace Young and published by Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-84739-9, 282 pages. Typical price: GBP18.


// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked to read the sections in between the recipes, when the author discusses the philosophy of Chinese cooking (for instance, buying produce is equivalent of a treasure hunt in which you search for the best of the best, and never something you'd delegate to vons.com or someone else), and the technique (for stir fry, heat the pot but not the oil). Unfortunately, I doubt I'd ever use most of the recipes themselves(even though there is lots of nice details about how to cook), because many of them contain too many difficult-to-find ingredients. Some of the simpler ones I think I could use.

[Candice M (tinylibrarian) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first cookbook I've found that contains recipes that accurately duplicate the Cantonese dishes that I grew up enjoying. It even contains fuller explanations of many of the cooking/eating/food theories that I grew up hearing from my parents! (My paternal grandfather was an herbalist and many of the theories behind herbal health also apply to cooking.)

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly enjoy her writing style. This is the type of cookbook that reads like a novel or a memoir; the stories are excellent. I'm not sure how many of these recipes I'd be able to make, given that she frowns on substitutions, and we don't have a huge Asian population here in central Ohio, but I will gamely try!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book actually has tons of recipes my parents would make when i was a kid, and they taste just like how i remember them. Good range of peasant food and celebration food, including dumplings!

[Tam]

Purchased for the illuminating chapter on medicinal tonic soups. Could be a five-star if I ever get around to cooking from it ...

[Phyllis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent to use when learning to cook authentic Chinese foods. I made the steamed eggs and it turned out beautifully.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must Cantonese cookbook for anyone who's grown up with comfort food as this.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The recipes are pretty much standard Cantonese fare, but the connective tissue, the interludes and overview chapters, make this one pretty much a "must read" book. It's a cultural critique, as well as a cookbook, that gets at the heart of the problem of having two heritages-- both Chinese and American. I'm finding that these sort of "stranger in a strange land" cookbooks are becoming my favorites. The author acknowledges that they are attempting to recover a heritage that they aren't really expert or trained in, while adapting it to a new homeland with different ways. This is much better, and more satisfying to read than the sort of "food tourism" (at best) or "food porn" (at worst) often found in ethnic cookbooks. While I preferred her wok book overall, this one is a close second. A good and lively read.