The Woks of Life
Bill, Judy, Sarah, and Kaitlin Leung
Tomato Egg Stir-Fry
Garlic Fried Chicken Wings
Oil-Crackling Shrimp
Char Siu Roast Pork
Steamed Pork Patty with Preserved Mustard Greens
Tomato Egg Stir-Fry
4 stars
Easy to make and well blended flavors. Perfect for a weeknight meal or lunch. The recipe says it makes two servings but I was able to stretch to serve three people.
Garlic Fried Chicken Wings
3.5 stars
Very tasty but a bit laborious to make. Plus you have to figure out what to do with all the peanut oil afterwards. Good for a special occasion or when you have time.
Oil-Crackling Shrimp
5 stars
Absolutely delicious! It’s good hot, it’s good cold a few days later. A tremendous dish and not too hard to make if you’ve got the time to devein and peel the shrimp. The actual cooking is straightforward, though potentially dangerous with oil splatters. Worth it in my opinion though. A must try.
Char Siu Roast Pork
4 stars
A really great recipe. It’s detailed but the food tastes very close to restaurant quality. The deep red color is missing in ours because we didn’t use food coloring to dye it. We wanted to see it without first. Maybe if we had got the visuals going, it would have tasted more like the Chinese vendors on Clement Street. Mind over matter and all that. Still, a fun recipe to try.
Steamed Pork Patty with Preserved Mustard Greens
3 stars
My mom made this one. My grandmother had made a version of this when she was growing up, so my mom wanted to try this recipe. Not exactly like Nana made but a good solid recipe. Mom collected all the oils that had cooked along the meat and saved it to place on servings of the dish. She likes the added flavor. This dish is not for me, I may not fully appreciate the preserved mustard greens, but I wouldn’t knock it for those who do enjoy the ingredient.
Overall, “The Woks of Life” is a stellar cookbook that brought Chinese cooking to my life. I had for some reason got it into my head that Asian cooking is so difficult and out of reach. Maybe I felt I lost the opportunity to learn Chinese cooking since my grandmother had not had the opportunity to teach me. I missed my chance with her but this cookbook showed me how untrue that notion is because these recipes are totally accessible. A familiar blend of flavors and fantastic meals made from this wonderful family cookbook. 5 stars all around.
Comments