Complete Chinese Cookbook

by Ken Hom (Firefly Books, 352 pp., $35)

Although traditional Chinese cooking methods (stir-frying, blanching, steaming) are among the healthiest, Chinese restaurant food in America has degenerated over my lifetime, with many formerly wholesome dishes replaced with poor-quality meat or seafood, battered and deep-fried, and drenched in one or another overly sweet, sticky sauce. Much Chinese takeout has descended to the depths formerly reserved for fast food.

But the desire for the flavors of Chinese cuisine remains, and this cookbook is a godsend. With it in hand, it is possible to go into the kitchen and whip up a batch of sweet-and-sour pork or broccoli with oyster sauce or walnut chicken, using time-honored, healthful Chinese methods as well as the most wholesome of ingredients. Chef Ken Hom, who primarily writes for the UK market, provides mostly dishes popular in the West (cashew chicken, pepper beef, Mu Shu Pork) along with a smaller number of dishes popular in Hong Kong (stir-fried lamb kidneys, steamed pork loaf) for the more adventurous. These recipes are authentic and simple. You don’t need to have a huge amount of exotic ingredients on hand; most recipes in the book can be made with only soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger on hand. A few recipes call for oyster sauce, chili bean paste, or hoisin sauce, but for the most part they call for fresh ingredients, simple techniques, and just a few Chinese staples.

Because Hom’s home base is the UK, the recipes are a bit bland regarding the use of hot peppers; a few call for sweet bell pepper when I think a Thai chile or jalapeño would be preferable. Other than this easily remedied oversight, this is the most useful book of Chinese cookery I have ever run across.

This article appears in December 9 • 2011.

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Kate Thornberry worked in renowned Austin restaurants for 30 years while pursuing a reasonably successful career in music. She began contributing to the Chronicle in 1988 and became a regular contributor to the food section in 2006.