Everybody's Wokking

After taking a cooking class from the owner of a Thai restaurant about 18 years ago, I began a collection of Oriental cookbooks. I have to say that Yan's "Everybody's Wokking" - despite the cheesy title - is one of the best. Many of the recipes are extremely flavorful (not necessarily hot-spicy, although there are those, too), and the recipes feature flexibility and SIMPLICITY. Few have more than a dozen ingredients, and although you'll need an Asian food store for a few items, most of the ingredients can be found in a typical grocery store. I cook more recipes more consistently from this book than from any other. Lemon chicken - chunks of chicken breast, dipped in cornstarch and walnuts, deep fried and dipped in sweet and sour sauce built from lemon and ginger! The best pork chop recipe of my entire life, featuring Chinese five-spice, orange juice and carmelized onions! Chicken thighs marinaded in cilantro, garlic and turmeric and baked or grilled. Sweet and sour shrimp soup - with lime juice, cilantro, green onions, jalapeno, and mint! Flavors coming out your ears and eyes! Get it. Use it! It's great!

My wife bought me this cookbook a few years ago and recipes from it are now a key part of our weekly menu planning. Each of the recipes we've tried is easy to do just by following the clear, extremely practical instructions. The pages of such well-loved recipes as the Pad Thai, My Uncle's Poached Fish and Tomato Beef are splattered with soy sauce and ketchup (one of Martin Yan's favorite ingredients). Now I'm planning to buy a copy for my niece who got married this year. Buy this book if you need a Chinese/East Asian cookbook that you plan to use throughout the year !

This is a great book for anyone who wants to learn how to cook Chinese food. The recipes are simple to follow and they don't take up a lot of time. The dishes are delicious. It's a good cookbook for someone just starting to learn how to cook, too. My friends all borrowed this book when I first got it; now they all have their own.