The Asian Slow Cooker: Exotic Favorites for Your Crockpot

by Kelly Kwok

Named one of the best cookbooks of 2016 by the Washington Post.Faster, Easier, Tastier and Healthier Than Takeout Kelly Kwok, founder of Life Made Sweeter, provides great new flavors to try in your slow cooker. These simple and delicious recipes will have your favorite Asian dishes waiting for you right when you get home. With the press of a button, you can make authentic dishes that are healthier and tastier than their restaurant counterparts. You'll experience a wide variety of flavors; choose spicy, vegetarian, noodles or rice. There are even recipes that have 5 ingredients or less. Extra long day? Kelly’s fuss-free one-pot and skillet recipes will have dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less—and with only one pan to wash, cleanup will be a breeze. Whether you're in the mood for General Tso's Chicken, Pad Thai Noodles with Chicken, Beef Chow Fun, Panang Curry, Mapo Tofu or Tom Yum Hot and Sour Soup, you can have fast, delicious meals every day of the week the easy way.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

335 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 13, 2016

Reviews

[Kathleen Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Asian Cookbook! I love using my slow cooker and I love Asian food, well most of it anyway.
This cookbook gives you a selection of recipes from Beef and Broccoli,
General Tso's Chicken, all favorites of mine and hubby's.
 
 
There is a section for One Pot and Skillet Meals, another favorite way to
cook my favorites. Chicken Chow Mein, Classic Fried Rice, and Teriyaki
Honey Shrimp Soba Noodle Bowls to name a few.
 
 
The next section, Skip the Stovetop features a lot of sandwich, wraps and
taco's. Who can not have their favorite Asian spicy recipes, this section features,
Szechuan Beef, Dan Dan Noodles and Fire Cracker Chicken Tacos.
 
 
Another section, Meatless Mondays, features meatless recipes that are
like side dishes like Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce, Mapo Tofu, and Thai
Red Curry Vegetables. All great sounding recipes.
 
 
This next section is my favorite as I love to make soups, in the winter, I
make a pot each week. Asian Beef Stew, Chinese Hot and Sour Soup,
and Vietnamese Pho Beef Rice Noodle Soup. Yum!!
 
 
And what cookbook could not be complete without a desert section?
Mandarin Orange Cheesecake, Matcha Green Tea Cake and Mango
Coconut Tapioca Pudding.
 
The book wraps up with a detailed section on slow cooker basics, how to
stock your pantry for Asian cooking, acknowledgements and about the
author and a very concise index.
 
So after perusing this awesome cookbook, I do intend to try a lot of the
recipes. Easy to follow directions, great descriptions and wonderful
photograpy make this a great cookbook to have.
 

[Tamye Whitener · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic cookbook. Beautifully laid out, well written, with easy to follow instructions.

I was very impressed with this cookbook. The photographs were drool inspiring, and made me eager to try each and every recipe. The recipes themselves were easy to follow, with great tips to make the best meal possible. In fact the only thing difficult I found with this book, was deciding which recipe to try first.


The first section of the book was filled with some of my favorite take out recipes. Now I can make them at home. Next was one of my favorite sections. “5 Ingredients or Less”. I don’t know about you, but I love the ease of making a yummy meal, without a lot of fuss. I recommend the Ginger- Glazed Cod or Sweet Chili Chicken Drumsticks. If you like pumpkin, you will love the Thai Pumpkin Curry Soup. The next section was “One-Pot & Skillet Meals” which was filled with a medley of tasty favorites and new-to-me recipes. The “Skip the Stove-top” section offered up a great selection of warm tummy fillers, without firing up the stove. I’m in love with my slow cooker again. No standing at the stove, stirring every other minute to prepare mouth watering, hot meals. “Fiery Favorites” supplies a flavorful mixture of tease the palate with differing levels of heat. “Meatless Mondays” has something in it for everyone, not just vegetarians, such as “Mango Sesame Lentil Lettuce Wraps” and “Teriyaki Pineapple Portobello Burgers”. The “Sensational Soups” section is perfect for the colder months, when I crave homemade soup. Then to finish things off, “Delectable Desserts”. Basically YUM! I can’t wait to try the “Black Sesame Brownies”.

All the recipes were easy to follow. But what I found really nice was the Slow Cooker Basics, as well as the concise section on “Stocking Your Pantry for Asian Cooking” and the index. Because face it. I did not grow up making Asian food. I went to a restaurant to get my cravings satisfied. Now I can meet them at home, without a ton of fuss.

I highly recommend this book for the beginner to the advanced cook. Enjoy! I know I am.

I was given this book free in exchange for an honest review.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like that this cookbook branches out into flavors that aren't often seen in slow cooker cookbooks, but I also am not inclined to make beef with broccoli in a slow cooker when it can be made on the stove in 20 minutes or so.

[BookBec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book -- I borrowed it from the library and will be purchasing a copy for myself. The recipes I've made so far were straightforward and tasty, and many others are appealing. Recipes are printed on a single page each (no annoying page turns between ingredients and instructions). And the photos are great.

A few quibbles, though. (1) The margins at the center of the book are too small, so the recipes on right-hand pages have their ingredient measurements disappearing into the shadows of the book binding. (2) The photos and summaries don't always match the recipes. For example, the Asian Beef Stew has a summary lauding its flavors of lemongrass and ginger, which aren't in the ingredient list, and the Bahn Mi Bowls include something yellow in the photo (pineapple? orange?) that's nowhere to be found in the ingredient list. (3) Trust your own judgment -- I chose to use one can of coconut milk in the green curry instead of the odd amount called for (a size I've never seen on shelves, between one and two normal cans), and the lesser amount of liquid was plenty.

[Katelyn Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO AMAZING. This book is filled with great tips, recipes and ingredient lists for familiar and wonderfully new foods and dishes in Asian cuisine - all wrapped in a ribbion of time efficiency.
Can a person really ask for more??
Plenty of meatless recipes alongside soups, salads, and classic takeout favorites.
I already made one of the more simpler recipes, terriyaki chicken, and it turned out great! Give this book a try, I am sure you will be happy you did! : )

[Martha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why make a fast, easy and delicious recipe take longer than necessary? I tried several of the recipes from this book but did not always follow the slow cooking procedure. Seemed like a waste of time. Though the condiment and spice combinations were exceptional, I didn't feel the slow cooking enhanced the effort of preparation.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

my review got toasted but suffice it to say this reads like a book from end to end and the quality, images etc are enticing plus now seeing the website I am even more impressed. I never saw the need for a slow cooker..... hmmmmm :) #umYumm

[Garry Whitmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far the recipes tried have given good results. This is originally an American publication and while the conversion to metric is good there are many chinese-american classics rather than more familiar anglo-chinese favorites.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This combines 2 of my favorite things (crockpot and Asian cuisine), so between those and the fact that the recipes look easy enough (plus, they’re all crockpot cooked), of course this is getting 4 stars and a trip over to the ‘Zon to purchase a physical copy of my own.

[SassieMolassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of the recipes looked great. I love the regions and countries represented here. But here's the deal, if I'm going to have to use an oven or stove top, I might as well just keep on using it to keep cooking it. 🤷‍♀️

[Hana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything in this book looks so yummy! I saved quite a few recipes that I'm eager to try. Hoping that this will curb some of my takeout cravings.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything looked promising, but I did not like the resulting meals.

[Margaret Gerberding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew you could make Asian food in the slow cooker? Goodbye, takeout!

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

These recipes look delicious. I'm going to be picking out a few later this month for a birthday scoff.

[Jennifer Denney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it, the recipes are easy to follow and the Orange Cheesecake is the best

[Artina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent cookbook where I would be interested in making at least 85% of the recipes. Easy to make them bariatric friendly.

[RaeAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made beef chow fun stir-fried noodles, and it was really yummy. It gave me confidence to branch out into new ingredients like fish sauce and Oyster sauce.

[Antonia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much salt!! This cook book made me realize the lethal amount of sodium in Chinese cuisine! The recipes call for “low sodium” soy sauce, which is still high in sodium, especially when a recipe calls for one cup of it. I reduced the amount of soy sauce in half, and substituted the rest for water and they still tasted okay. Substitute all the broths with water and the food still tastes fine. Many of the recipes call for “browning” the meat beforehand, which is a waste of time. If you’re going to do that, may as well finish it off in the wok! I put the meat directly in the slow cooker and it tasted okay. The ingredients were easy to find in my grocery store, so that was convenient. An okay cookbook, but not worthy of the hype it received.

[Tamera · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to try this cookbook but my review is disappointing to write. The good is that I love the layout and there are lovely drool worthy pictures of most if not all recipes. Recipes seemed easy... until i tried to find ingredients for my first recipe, Szechuan beef. The author warns about some ingredients not being in normal grocery stores, and if i want authentic i understand i need authentic ingredients. After $25 at an Asian supermarket, and at least $10 more for 1 pound of beef (i bought more but caution had me pull back on using $20 bucks of beef) i eagerly started... and it was not good. I don't know, it was ready early because the amount was too little for my 3.5 q cooker and i didn't want it to burn. It had a smell and an aftertaste i didn't like, and i narrowed it down to maybe the Chinese wine or dark soy sauce (very molasses). I didn't think it tasted Asian despite ingredients from an admittedly indifferent Asian seller ( communication issues). I also didn't like the texture (not smooth sauce). As is always the case, my husband thought it was ok and seemed more Asian than stuff i have tried in the past. Will i try another recipe? Maybe if only to try and use ingredients. However, i need to wait some time before doing that. At this point i am not rating it as I only tried one thing, and reviews are great for the cookbook. It might be operator error. The layout and pictures are nice.

[Angela Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Asian Slow Cooker is a beautiful book. Literally--and figuratively. The Asian Slow Cooker cookbook holds probably the most beautiful recipe photos of any cookbook that I own. I wanted to try every recipe in the book--from just the photos alone! Then--I realized that almost all of the recipes were really designed to be easy to prepare. That is also a beautiful thing when I have about 40 minutes to make dinner on a busy weeknight!

Every recipe isn't for the slow cooker. I love my slow cooker--but, I wasn't sure that I wanted more than a handful of Asian themed crockpot recipes. This book has a nice section of slow cooker recipes--but, also offers one pot meals and skillet recipe ideas that minimize prep time and clean up time (and can be made quickly and easily if I didn't plan ahead with the crockpot!)

How do the recipes in The Asian Slow Cooker taste? Isn't that the real test of a cookbook? I haven't tried an actual slow cooker recipe from the book yet--but, I did try the Spicy Mongolian Beef and Pineapple and the Pad Thai Noodles with Chicken recipes. And I didn't change them. At all. (If you know me--you know that I can never leave a recipe alone.) I left these two recipes alone--and they turned out great. The flavors worked completely well. They balanced perfectly. And--the recipes used minimal, realistic ingredients that were easy to find, easy to use and likely to be used again in my Asian cooking.

Would I recommend The Asian Slow Cooker? I cook a lot of Indian foods. A lot of Mediterranean/ Middle-Terranean foods. I try to cook Asian foods--but, I'm not all that good at choosing "good" Asian recipes when I search online. I had positive results from the first two recipes that I tried from this book. The recipes are easy and I am 2 for 2 on dinner wins with the whole family. I know that it's so easy to just "go online" and grab a recipe--but, when you find a recipe book that works for your family--you need to grab it too! I have only a few printed cookbooks--but, the The Asian Slow Cooker has joined them on my e-reader! I would certainly recommend this book to those fairly new to Asian Cooking--and to those seeking to make some of the recipes a little easier and less time consuming.

[Laurla2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

-this book caught my eye as i was looking thru the slow cooker cookbooks at the library. something different, something interesting. i'm glad i found it.

-has a picture for EVERY single recipe. just how a cookbook should be!

-includes one chapter on 'one pot' or skillet recipes not using the slow cooker, but the rest is slow cooker recipes.

-a lot of the slow cooker recipes say to brown the meat first, but the author says you can skip that step if you prefer. and i did so, and the recipes were still great.

-recipes that interested me:
beef and broccoli, chicken lo mein, korean style short ribs/galbi, orange beef, sweet and sour chicken, chinese five spice pork tenderloin, ginger glazed cod, pineapple teriyaki beef, beef chow fun stir fried rice noodles, chicken chow mein, honey garlic chicken sliders, vietnamese lemongrass pork chops with rice, mandarin orange cheesecake, chinese steamed spongecake.

[Sue Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - I will start by saying that I am a cookbook collector!!! And besides cookbooks - I love my Slow Cooker!!! So, I was really impressed with being asked to check out a slow cooker cookbook!!!

I love the pictures and recipes in this book. While reading through the book, I was thinking of what I should put into the crockpot next!!! I also love how the author also tells stories and gives really interesting background information with some of the recipes. The first recipe that I did try was the Sriracha Chili Chicken Wings -- I loved how they were full of flavor but not overly spicy!!! I can't wait to try out more recipes.

If you love cooking with your slow cooker - this book will definitely give you a lot of interesting and flavorful ideas.

[Ash Kemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really easy to follow book if you want something besides the same boring old soup and chili in your slow cooker.  Especially if you're feeding six people or less, you don't necessarily want stew every week so I highly recommend giving this book a try if you're feeling adventurous, but want recipes with easy to find ingredients and reliable outcomes.  We tried the Chicken Chow Mein and it satisfied all the adults in attendance to the meal.  Definitely would be interested in further books from this author, hopefully with some more of these easy to do recipes!

Thanks to the author and PBT for the review opportunity!