Essentials of Asian Cuisine

For so many of us, Asian cuisine beckons like a beautiful tropical pool. And yet, the most we ever do is test the water with a tremulous toe or two. But now Corinne Trang, award-winning author of Authentic Vietnamese Cooking, has taken on the prodigious task of being both swimming teacher and siren, lifeguard and fearless mariner, to lure us into the deep water with her Essentials of Asian Cuisine.

At 590-plus pages, this is a big book. It is beautifully illustrated, for those who need to see where they are headed, and just as beautifully thought out, for those who want to get where they are going. The destination is the food of Asia, with China as the wellspring. The territory Ms Trang has mapped includes Indonesia and the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan and Korea--as well as greater China. She does not pretend to be definitive--that would take an encyclopedia. Rather, Ms Trang assures the reader that much of what they know of western cooking applies to the east. She begins with familiarity then builds in self confidence, chapter by chapter, recipe by recipe.

There are sections on the Asian pantry, the basics of tools and techniques and an overview of the working fundamentals of building a dish or a meal. Then the book breaks out into chapters on "Condiments, Stocks and Starter Soups", "Rice, Noodles, Dumplings, and Bread", "Vegetables and Herbs", "Fish and Seafood", "Meat and Poultry", and "Sweets and Drinks". She ends her book with notes about Asian food rituals and sample menus and sources. The recipes are refreshingly short, concise and to the point. A reader could begin by cooking what is already familiar, then expand into the many delicious alternatives Essentials of Asian Cuisine has to offer. Before you know it you'll be swimming like a natural without a second look back. --Schuyler Ingle, Amazon.com

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