Every Grain of Rice: A Taste of Our Chinese Childhood in America

by Ellen Leong Blonder

EVERY GRAIN OF RICE conveys the experiences and flavors of growing up between two cultures, through the lives of Annabel Low and Ellen Blonder, two Chinese-Americans raised as sisters in a hardworking northern California household. This unique introduction to Chinese cooking contains nearly 100 authentic recipes, many of them quick-to-prepare, home-style dishes that are rarely found in cookbooks. 170 watercolor illustrations by Ellen Blonder.

Genres: Cookbooks, Art

207 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 1998

Reviews

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great recipes, lists very useful techniques, and good for people seeking some more gluten-free options for cooking (although the book does not mention the gluten-free aspect specifically).

This book is a treasure for anyone who wants to know not only the recipes but the techniques to Chinese cooking. There are also great stories here from each of the authors in which they describe their childhood memories related to recipies or techniques. I personally am going to have to go out and buy the book after I return it to the library because there are entirely too many things in the book worth knowing that I have not read in any other cookbook.

NOTE: This book is also a great book for people with Gluten intollerance as many of the recipes are gluten-free, or require minor ingredient modifications such as using a wheat-free soy sauce.

[May · Rating 5 out of 5]

95% of the recipes of the book brings up childhood memories for me. I have never seen a cookbook that actually included recipe for stir-fried shrimp and ketchup before! I always thought it was yet another quirky family tradition of ours until I came upon the recipe. I had such a hard time finding a copy of this cookbook for my personal collection but thank goodness I did!

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I were ever to attempt cooking Chinese food at home, I would start by trying some of the recipes in this book. The authors share anecdotes about coming to America and how their families adapted their cooking to the ingredients available here. The stories give a taste of Chinese-American live and the recipes in between are less complicated that what I've seen in other Asian cookbooks.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I haven't actually cooked much from this book. But the family memories and lovely illustrations of this Chinese American family are fantastic.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of wonderful stories, but I wish there photos instead of the drawings (though they are beautiful).